RecordingsManager

[omaha_jeff]

I like the idea of RecordingsManager, however I am experiencing difficulties getting it to run comclean. Here is the relevant bits from the RecordingsManager.xml file.

Code:

    <StayAliveMinutes>0</StayAliveMinutes>
    <RefreshIntervalSeconds>10</RefreshIntervalSeconds>
    <PollIntervalMinutes>1</PollIntervalMinutes>
    <ComSkip>
        <Enabled>True</Enabled>
        <ProcessInProgressRecordings>True</ProcessInProgressRecordings>
        <Monitor>True</Monitor>
        <MonitorIntervalMinutes>10</MonitorIntervalMinutes>
        <MaxRunning>1</MaxRunning>
        <RunComClean>True</RunComClean>
        <ExcludeChannels>
            <Channel>1</Channel>
            <Channel>15</Channel>
        </ExcludeChannels>
        <ExcludePrograms>
            <Program>Hardball with Chris Matthews</Program>
        </ExcludePrograms>
        <Folders>
            <Folder Pattern="*.mpg" Recursive="True">C:\temp\gbpvr\Recordings</Folder>
        </Folders>
    </ComSkip>

The comskip process runs just fine, so does the Rename portion. I have MaxRecordings disabled currently.

I have comclean.bat in the GBPVR directory. The mpgtx.exe is also in the GBPVR directory. comclean.bat works when called from the command.
line from comclean.bat:

Code:

set mpgtx="C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\mpgtx.exe"

Note: My actual postprocessing.bat file is:

Code:

RecordingsManager %1

-Jeff

[omaha_jeff]

switch to gbpvr folder where comskip rest and run comskip >vers.txt

returns the following:

Code:

The commandline used was:
comskip

Usage:
  comskip  [-h|--help] [-w|--debugwindow] [-n|--playnice] [--zpcut] [--zpchapter] [--videoredo] [--csvout] [-p|--pid=<int>] [-t|--ts] [-d|--detectmethod=<int>] [-v|--verbose=<int>] [--ini=<file>] [--logo=<file>] <file> [<file>]

  -h, --help                Display syntax
  -w, --debugwindow         Show debug window
  -n, --playnice            Slows detection down
  --zpcut                   Outputs a ZoomPlayer cutlist
  --zpchapter               Outputs a ZoomPlayer chapter file
  --videoredo               Outputs a VideoRedo cutlist
  --csvout                  Outputs a csv of the frame array
  -p, --pid=<int>           The PID of the video in the TS
  -t, --ts                  The input file is a Transport Stream
  -d, --detectmethod=<int>  An integer sum of the detection methods to use
  -v, --verbose=<int>       Verbose level
  --ini=<file>              Ini file to use
  --logo=<file>             Logo file to use
  <file>                    Input file
  <file>                    Output file

Detection methods available:
      1 - Black Frame
      2 - Logo
      4 - Scene Change
      8 - Fuzzy Logic
     16 - Closed Captions
     32 - Aspect Ratio
     64 - Silence
    255 - USE ALL AVAILABLE

Errors:
ComSkip: missing option <file>

However the header in the output to the screen reported:

Code:

Comskip 0.79.25, made using:
mpeg2dec-0.4.0 - by Michel Lespinasse <walken@zoy.org> and Aaron Holtzman

To be complete, comclean doesn't output a version string when run, but inspecting the batch file shows:

Code:

@echo off
Rem comclean.bat Version 0.0.6
Rem Adapt to your framerate times 100 (PAL=2500/NTSC=2997)
set framerate=2997
Rem Adapt to where mpgtx.exe can be found
set mpgtx="C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\mpgtx.exe"

Just to be clear, comskip is running as it should via RecordingsManager. It is comclean that is causing me grief.

If I put both in the parallelprocessing.bat file:

Code:

comskip %1
call comclean.bat %1

It will run just fine when GBPVR calls postprocessing.bat. However, I would like a little more control of when comclean is run and it looks like RecordingManager is designed to give me that control with the ExcludeChannels and ExcludePrograms. I just can't get it to run comclean.

I'm attaching my RecordingsManager log file where you can see it renaming and scheduling comskip to run, but I can't find any entries about scheduling or attempting to run comclean.[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

[turkey]

First thing to try: change stay alive minutes to 1 or 2.

I use recordingsmanager, but only to rename my recordings, so I can't help you debug recordingsmanger. However, if all you want to do is run/not run comclean on certain channels/shows, there is a work-around. Add these lines to your batch file, after the recordingsmanager line.

Code:

::include channels
if "%2" == "45" goto comclean
if "%2" == "46" goto comclean

::exclude channels
if "%2" == "3" goto no_comclean
if "%2" == "34" goto no_comclean

::exclude programs
if /I "%1" == "Hardball with Chris Matthews" goto no_comclean

goto no_comclean

:comclean
comclean %1

:no_comclean

You can add as many "if" lines as you want, adjusting the numbers and show names as appropriate.

[itc_sburnett]

I had my 'stay alive' set to 5 that didnt seem to help. I solved the trouble by changing the order in which things are performed. I turned OFF comskip and comclean in the recordingsmanager.xml, edited the postprocessiong bat to run comskip %1 then comclean %1 then recordings manager...now it all works...except, when playing back on my Dlink DSM320, the darn video freezes at each comclean splice

[omaha_jeff]

I think comclean/mpgtx just chops the file and smudges the timing. When I transcode I get warnings about bad timing. However, the my 320 can play the transcode just fine.

Here is what I want:
comskip
comclean
rename
transcode
maxrecordings/archive
I want to be able to include/exclude by channel/program whether or not comclean is run. comskip can always run since it's non-destructive. I want the file renamed like what recordingsmanager can do and then I want it automatically transcoded, the original mpg file deleted and the database updated to point at the transcoded file.
I also want to say how many recordings to keep and then on a show by show basis say whether to just delete the transcoded file or put it somewhere else on my network for archival purposes. Oh yeah, I want the transcoded avi to be tagged with info.

I see lots of bits and pieces of this here and there but none of them seem to work well with one another. Everyone has a different itch to scratch -- not hard to imagine, this kind of process is very personal.

I'm about ready to write my own plugin to do it "my way". I might just do it too if I can get a few minutes to think it out. I think maybe seperate tools that can read from one configuration file. Maybe run it from parallelprocessing with comskip leading the way. The batch file suggestion earlier in the thread was interesting but doesn't answer the need for maxrecordings/archival or how to update the database with the transcoded version of the file.


... maybe ..

[humpty]

First thing to try: change stay alive minutes to 1 or 2.

I use recordingsmanager, but only to rename my recordings,

This is what I want to do. By following another thread I think I saw that I should be able to rename a show from Law and Order_03252006_093208.mpg to Law and Order - s03e06 - New Friuts.mpg.

Is this true?

I am currently using rename recordings and it will rename to "Law and Order - New Fruits.mpg" but I REALLY want the episode and season info in the file name.

If this can be done can somebody please send me an idea of what my XML has to look like to do this? I do not want to run comskip or comclean - just need new names.

Thanks!

[turkey]

The gbpvr database does not include the episode and season number. So, you can't use gbpvr to add this info. My suggestion is to figure out where to get that information, and write a script that will add it to the filename. Check out epguides.com and see if you can get that info.

Also, i am not sure, but i think that xrecord may get that info and put it into a database that you may be able to access.

[humpty]

Thanks.

I know that MyVideos gets info from tv.com and this is where I have been manually getting the info from. But I am not a programmer so I will just keep manually doing it. I had just thought that they had found a way somehow.

Oh well... someday.

[omaha_jeff]

Actually, my tool can't find an episode entitled, "New Fruits", but s03e06 returns "Helpless"

Well, I got off my can and wrote some code. See my previous message.

Before I wrote this message, I just hacked out some rough code to see if I could find the season/episode info and use it in the rename function. It's looking good so far. I want this too. My little utility is too undocumented to release on the public as yet, but it can do everything I wanted (see earlier msg) plus some other cool mencoder tricks. The other great thing, is that it can do as little as you want, in the order that you want. Meaning, it could be used for just renaming. It's got more options for renaming than any other utility out there because I wanted more than just "series - title"

It does have a powerful config file, options are turned on/off based on Program Name/Channel/Default settings. ProgramName settings override Channel settings which in turn override default settings.

Does your GBPVR machine have access to the Internet? Because, the season/episode# isn't in the GBPVR database so I have to fetch it from great expanse.

Second question - is anybody else interested in such code?

[turkey]

I'd be interested in what you have come up with. Don't worry about extensive documentation...just post it and let us play!