Clarifications needed for XP-MCE

I got ahead of myself and bought Showanalyzer to work with Dvrmstoolbox available from the greenbutton website. I am very happy with the speed at which it can find and mark commercials, but due to the lack of documentation for both programs and the frequent version upgrades, I am not sure if I have the settings correct. I am only interested in setting up the program to find the commercials in windows media center


My first question is what I need to have checked on the output page.
I only have the xml option selected. Do I need the use "absolute file path" and "output commercials as they are found " checked?

Also, when I run the DVRMSFilewatcher program, do I need to load a profile somehow or put anything into any of the boxes?

Thanks Again!

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by hgupta

I got ahead of myself and bought Showanalyzer to work with Dvrmstoolbox available from the greenbutton website. I am very happy with the speed at which it can find and mark commercials, but due to the lack of documentation for both programs and the frequent version upgrades, I am not sure if I have the settings correct. I am only interested in setting up the program to find the commercials in windows media center

I'm not sure if I should apologize for frequent upgrades. On the subject of documentation, there is a kind soul out there that has written a 30 page(!) manual. I did a final review of it this morning, so I'm hopeful that he may share it soon.

Originally Posted by hgupta

My first question is what I need to have checked on the output page.
I only have the xml option selected. Do I need the use "absolute file path" and "output commercials as they are found " checked?

On the output page you should have the DVRMSToolbox selected and then put the full path of the CommercialsXML directory in the Save to: block. The "absolute file path" and "output commercials as they are found" don't apply to your situation.

Originally Posted by hgupta

Also, when I run the DVRMSFilewatcher program, do I need to load a profile somehow or put anything into any of the boxes?

I'm going to have to defer to the author on this one because I just don't know.

Originally Posted by hgupta

Thanks Again!

You're welcome.

Jere

[babgvant]

The first time you run the file watcher app, it will ask you to configure it... the only thing you need to supply is the output directory, assuming that the watched directory is correct.

click ok and you're done...

of course there's a caveat to that (couldn't be that easy ). the FW app uses the processing conditions to determine with action profile to run on the dvr-ms file when MCE is finished with it. by default, it uses an action profile that converts the dvr-ms to mpeg, and then runs SA on it to produce a commercials xml file. if you registed SA, then you will want to change this to run SA directly on the dvr-ms file (assuming that you just want to produce the comercials xml file).

here's where it get's [more] complicated. because the PC are meta data based, and the combinations of actions into action profiles (there are several default action profiles supplied); you have a wide variety of different things that you could do with the dvr-ms files.

for e.g., I created some custom PC and prioritized those PC above the "Every File" PC to perform, or not perform specific actions based on meta data... one of those PC looks to see if the recorded show was on PBS, because PBS doesn't have commercials (at least in the tradional sense) there's no point in runnning SA against it, so that PC has the "do nothing" action profile assigned to it. another PC looks for shows with "premiership soccer" in the title, and I created a custom action profile that detects commercials, cuts out the commercials, outputting a new dvr-ms file, then it converts that dvr-ms file to a wmv, and moves it to a different folder.

let me know if you have any other ?s.

Wow, both programming gods answered! Thanks!

Jere_Jones, I think I have your program now set up as I need it. I can't wait to see the manual for this program. I am really impressed that someone wrote a 30 page manual for this. Wow. I hope it wasn't the same guy who wrote the manual for my motherboard!

babgvant, I think I confused myself by reading all 48 pages of the thread on the green button page! I have a few questions that remain.

the only thing you need to supply is the output directory, assuming that the watched directory is correct.

If I am just finding and marking commercials, what should I set the output directory to?

if you registed SA, then you will want to change this to run SA directly on the dvr-ms file (assuming that you just want to produce the comercials xml file).

I did register SA. How to I change the action profile in DVRMSfilewatcher program to run SA directly on the dvr-ms file? I think I was able to do it in the DVRMStompeggui program, but it isn't intuititive in the filewatcher program. Do I use that nativecommdetect profile that was on the greenbutton site? Do I change an argument? Also, what should I use as the output directory?




Anyways, you guys rock! I don't know why this has been more confusing than anything else I have attempted. but i know it will be worthi it in the end!

i'm getting really, really poor commercial detection in showanalyzer. I was going to try school house to help, but it isn't clear what kind of file I am supposed to open. I tried to open a dvr-ms file, and an xml file, but neither opened. What am I missing?

[Jere_Jones]

The School House operates on the video file itself. So you should be opening the DVR-MS file.

Can you be more specific about what happens when you try to open a DVR-MS files?

Jere

for some reason I can't view dvr-ms files. There is sound, but screen remains blank. But its not a school house problem, because I can't view them in windows media player 10.

They work fine in windows media center.

Does anyone have any idea what may be wrong?