Record on server, transcode/comskip on client - is it possible?

[topperdude]

Is it possible to use the GBPVR server to simply record a show and then use the client PC to transcode and run comskip on the show?

Few reasons I'm considering this:

• The machine is otherwise stable
  
• Transcodes atleast till it produces ~100MB of the output file using ffdshow. The output file is in correct format so doubt if its a codec issue.
  
• Have narrowed it down, per input from other forums, to most likely be bad memory or CPU thermal paste/overheating issues and I am unable to spend time in the near future to open the server and fix this (plus never done it before so there's a possibility I may end up spending more time than I set aside for this )
  
• The 'client' PC is more powerful (3Ghz, 3GB RAM) and could possibly run comskip/transcoding in almost near real time
  

If possible, can the client PC monitor the server and start the transcoding/comksip in real time (just like the server can do).

Thanks,
-Topper

[K.S.]

monitoring the server from a second machine can get a bit nasty. when should the client start transcoding/comskip? when the recording stops? how should it determine the recording has finished?
if you really want to do that, better take a look at psexec form sysinternals. add whatever you want to do in postprocessing.bat on the server & let the server start that process on the client.
some hints:
1. you'll have to use user/pwd in cleartext on the server, cause the postprocessing is run as local system.
2. you can also use any user on the client maching you like (does not need to be the logged on user), as long as that user has access to the server dirs it will work & you will not be bothered with any dos boxes starting up.
3. if you do 2. you should be aware of one point: if anything goes wrong you wont see anything (error messages / questions / user input requests)

[Gedanken]

Couldn't you just setup something like stattik's transcode script on the client and have that polling for new shows. It will run comskip, transcode, and update the database using sqllite if you configure it properly. That should all work over a network share.

Or, alternatively, you could modify that script to read from a queue file that you generate from the server in the parallelprocessing.bat file.

Neither is pretty and it would require a user to be logged in unlike K.S's suggestion.

If you try the psexec route, you could try running the service as a specific user. That may solve the credentials issue.

[topperdude]

monitoring the server from a second machine can get a bit nasty. when should the client start transcoding/comskip? when the recording stops? how should it determine the recording has finished?
if you really want to do that, better take a look at psexec form sysinternals. add whatever you want to do in postprocessing.bat on the server & let the server start that process on the client.
some hints:
1. you'll have to use user/pwd in cleartext on the server, cause the postprocessing is run as local system.
2. you can also use any user on the client maching you like (does not need to be the logged on user), as long as that user has access to the server dirs it will work & you will not be bothered with any dos boxes starting up.
3. if you do 2. you should be aware of one point: if anything goes wrong you wont see anything (error messages / questions / user input requests)

I agree that monitoring the server can be tricky, however:
a) The client can start transcoding/comskip using the same logic that the server uses currently. For instance, even today, the GBPVR config tool has logic to determine when it should start transcoding/comskip (setting in the Processing tab). The client can use this same setting to figure out when to start/stop transcoding

b) Regarding how does it know recording has started/stopped - In the wiki section for setting up client GBPVR machine, I noticed it mentions that the client can point to the same db as the server. So, I am assuming that the client has access to the same information as the server regarding what jobs are scheduled, what time a recording starts/when it stops etc and can use the same setting as today (in the Processing tab) for starting/stopping recording.

I guess what I am unsure of is whether the client can directly access the folder where the files are stored on the server (maybe map a drive on the client to the base recording folder on the server and use that to find the folder/file of show being recorded?) or if the server hides this information from the client and just sends the a/v stream to the client which then renders the show? :confused: If its the latter, then I would imagine what I am looking for is probably not doable today and may need code change/new release.

I tried manually scheduling a batch file for the transcoding to start 5 min after the recording started on the server, but windows scheduler insists on password or it wouldnt start the job (I understand XP does not like tasks scheduled without a password because it stores the credentials locally and none of the accounts on the client have passwords )

Couldn't you just setup something like stattik's transcode script on the client and have that polling for new shows. It will run comskip, transcode, and update the database using sqllite if you configure it properly. That should all work over a network share.

Or, alternatively, you could modify that script to read from a queue file that you generate from the server in the parallelprocessing.bat file.

Neither is pretty and it would require a user to be logged in unlike K.S's suggestion.

If you try the psexec route, you could try running the service as a specific user. That may solve the credentials issue.

I did look at stattik's autotranscode script and got all excited but when I downloaded and opened the file, I realized it was a batch script. Unfortunately, I am no expert in the batch scripting and dont want to end up in a situation where I change something an unknowingly break something else and end up spending hours trying to figure out what went wrong (or even worse - put the server out of commision and be unable to record my scheduled recordings :eek: ).

I am also looking at similar tools written by zehd (ZProcess, ZTools) and might install these on the client and play with them a bit (will have to first upgrade the client from 0.99.12 tho' ), although I am not sure if I can have those tools use my own ffmpeg command line options (similar to the <CustomConversion> section in the config.xml).

-Topper

[K.S.]

I am also looking at similar tools written by zehd (ZProcess, ZTools) and might install these on the client and play with them a bit (will have to first upgrade the client from 0.99.12 tho' ), although I am not sure if I can have those tools use my own ffmpeg command line options (similar to the <CustomConversion> section in the config.xml).

so, at the moment, you have your custom conversion working with specific ffmpeg command line options, right? if yes, you're ready to roll

I agree that monitoring the server can be tricky, however:
a) The client can start transcoding/comskip using the same logic that the server uses currently.

to clear one point for the specified conversions in config.exe: the Client (aka User Interface, no matter on which machine) does not start anything. no transcoding/comskip. no nothin'. thats done in the background from the GBPVRRecordingService. the one on the server does not care about any client in regard of postprocessing. the recording service on the client does not know anything about the server, so 1. there is no way for it to start any postprocessing & 2. i guess the postprocessing is started from the same thread which started the recording.

b) Regarding how does it know recording has started/stopped - In the wiki section for setting up client GBPVR machine, I noticed it mentions that the client can point to the same db as the server.

yep, that's true but of no help

I guess what I am unsure of is whether the client can directly access the folder where the files are stored on the server (maybe map a drive on the client to the base recording folder on the server and use that to find the folder/file of show being recorded?) or if the server hides this information from the client and just sends the a/v stream to the client which then renders the show? :confused:

to add to your confusion: both can be true, depends upon how you've configured client access (streaming/net share)

if your're unhappy with the way the server behaves in an client/server environment, request your need on the wishlist. i won't hold my breath about that exotic request

let's get back to business. you're not confident with batches but still want to get it done on the client. i've got you a cooking book:

1. on the client, create a new user & set a password. (it does not hurt if you log on with that user to watch it working, usefull for debugging if needed)

2. the path to the recording has to be the same on both machines. you have 2 options here:
- if your recordings dir on the server is i.e. d: you have to map that drive to the same drive letter on the client (obviously difficult with c:\my_recordings)
- change your recordings dir to point to an UNC path. if your server is GBPVRSERVER, put a share on the recordings dir like \\GBPVRSERVER\recordings (you'll need to change the recording service to run under a specified user profile, otherwise localsystem wont have access to that share even as it is a local share)

3. put the following in postprocessing.bat on the server (you can also give comskip a try in parallelprocessing.bat, might work)

Code:

psexec \\PC-CLIENT -u Username -p Password -e -n 300 "C:\your path to\comskip.exe" %1
psexec \\PC-CLIENT -u Username -p Password -e -n 300 "C:\your path to\ffmpeg_conversion.bat" %1

4. put the following in C:\your path to\ffmpeg_conversion.bat on the client

Code:

"C:\your path to\ffmpeg.exe" -i %1 [insert your options] "%~dpn1_conversed.mpg"
rem either move the conversed recording or delete it
move %1 "%~dpn1_old.mpg"
rem del %1

move "%~dpn1_conversed.mpg" %1

if it does not work (for whatever reason), add a pause to the batch on the client and copy&paste the content on that dos box