STV: SageMC 16x9 Version 6.x (latest dev build)

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by flachbar

For TV shows the menu adds a 'Record Series" button, and in certain situations it will then already reach the max number (7).

If I add it, I'm sure I'll shortly get a complain that sometimes the buttons get cut off ...


Dirk

That makes sense. I just hadn't noticed a situation that maxed out the buttons. Oh well, no big deal for me since I first noticed it in "options" before I even realized that it was in the left menu on movies.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by Muchacho

During all this I noticed a few things that I think would be good additions-
1- back in the day when you pressed select on the OSD it would bring up the timebar on the bottom and the little info screen on the top. I used to use it all the time to check the time and see how much was remaining on the show. It seems to have changed and in the "select on OSD" menu none of the options bring that back. I think it would be nice to have that as an option.

Hi Muchacho,

you can still do this by pressing the 'Info' button ...

Dirk

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Hi Dirk,

I hope you wouldn't mind adding the ability to:

1. Log out of Windows, exit all programs
2. Reboot Computer
3. Shut Down Computer
4. Sleep Computer

To the exit screen of SageMC. In particular the one I would use most is numero uno. I have a MCE remote and I put the client in the bedroom to sleep when I am done for the evening. The problem is that because FSE is enabled it doesn't always wake up in a great mood. If I exit Sage, log out of Windows, and sleep the computer, I am able to wake it up in a more cooperative state. With the MCE remote and native drivers (not using HIP or anything else) I can't relaunch Sage from the remote. If I am logged out of Windows, it relaunches when I select with the remote to log back on.

TIA,

B

There will be two new properties in the next version:

sagemc/exit_cmd
sagemc/exit_cmd_args

which will allow you to specify an application with arguments which gets executed before SageTV exits. You can use a utility like e.g. nircmd to do all the things you mentioned above. I tested it here, and it works fine.

Dirk

[pvr599]

Again, I'm sure this question has been asked somewhere, but I've searched now for 6 hours and have been unable to find a clear answer or post.

Could someone please tell me or direct me to the post that tells me how to setup commercial skipping using SageMC 6.10a? I am so clueless that I don't even know what to download. I have downloaded the latest (I think) of Comskip & Dirmon. Is that all I need.

Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

[ke6guj]

OK, two more feature requests, probably already implimented

More file info, like filesize and recording quality.

Also, show padding in the timeline.

[Muchacho]

Originally Posted by flachbar

Hi Muchacho,

you can still do this by pressing the 'Info' button ...

Dirk

Thanks-

I will configure my remote.

[Muchacho]

Originally Posted by pvr599

Again, I'm sure this question has been asked somewhere, but I've searched now for 6 hours and have been unable to find a clear answer or post.

Could someone please tell me or direct me to the post that tells me how to setup commercial skipping using SageMC 6.10a? I am so clueless that I don't even know what to download. I have downloaded the latest (I think) of Comskip & Dirmon. Is that all I need.

Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

It is easier than you would think. I set it up the other night and wish I had set it up when it was first released!

I used comskip and dirmon2. Unpack both, change the comskip.ini file so that edl file writing is enabled. Set up dirmon2, just like the pics on the top of the dirmon2 thread. Just change the box so that comskip.exe is run instead of show analyzer. I would leave the box unchecked about hide window until you are sure that it is all working.

Install and start the service and then after one window pops up stop the dirmon svc. Check and make sure that the log file shows that everything when well and then start up sage, enable comskip in the sageMC options. then look at the show and see that the commercials are blocked out. SageMC makes this part a no-brainer and it works sweet from the sage side.

Then you are pretty much set. I found it helpful to have the task manager enabled when setting it up and looking to make sure that only one comskip was running at a time. If you mess with it all too much sometimes dirmon will have started two comskips and it slows it all down.

It takes a while to run through all your recorded programs, especially all the kids shows that we have. Then your all set, it runs in the background, does not eat up many resources, and you will wish you set it up years ago.

I still have a problem with comskip finding the .ini file. I wound up putting a copy of the .ini file in each of the directories where my recordings are stored and it works fine.

I also have not found a way to let my HD's power down with dirmon polling my drives. I think it would be nice if there was some way of not checking when nothing has been recorded so the HD can power down... I imagine that may be tough to do though.

Good luck, it is not that hard

[blade]

Just a few things to add.

Originally Posted by Muchacho

I used comskip and dirmon2. Unpack both, change the comskip.ini file so that edl file writing is enabled. Set up dirmon2, just like the pics on the top of the dirmon2 thread. Just change the box so that comskip.exe is run instead of show analyzer. I would leave the box unchecked about hide window until you are sure that it is all working.

When setting up comskip to use edl files also add "output_default=0" (without the quotes) to the comskip.ini. This will prevent comskip from generating a txt file. You may also want comskip to process "live TV". This allows it to start processing the show as it is still recording. This is also set in the comskip ini file. When setting up Dirmon2 to use edl set the trigger to edl instead of txt.

I found it helpful to have the task manager enabled when setting it up and looking to make sure that only one comskip was running at a time. If you mess with it all too much sometimes dirmon will have started two comskips and it slows it all down.

Once all of your current files are processed you may want to run more than 1 instance of comskip at a time, especially if you're processing live TV and have multiple tuners. An hour long show can be processed in just a couple of minutes. So you can imagine how little processor power is required to scan the show in real time. If you have 4 tuners you could run 4 instances of comskip and process them as they record and by the time the show ends comskip is finished with all of them.

I still have a problem with comskip finding the .ini file. I wound up putting a copy of the .ini file in each of the directories where my recordings are stored and it works fine.

A better way is to leave the ini file in the comskip folder and add "--ini=C:/ComSkip/comskip.ini" to the command line options in dirmon2 (you would of course change the path to whatever path your ini file is located at). This way comskip is only using the one ini file and when changes are made to it you don't have multiple files to change.

[pvr599]

THANK YOU!!!

One quick question, I'm pretty sure I have to install Dirmon2 to it's own directory, but what about comskip? Does that go to it's own directory or to the SageTV\SageTV directory?

EDIT: Or does it matter at all?

[blade]

Originally Posted by pvr599

One quick question, I'm pretty sure I have to install Dirmon2 to it's own directory, but what about comskip? Does that go to it's own directory or to the SageTV\SageTV directory?

Its own directory.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by pvr599

THANK YOU!!!

One quick question, I'm pretty sure I have to install Dirmon2 to it's own directory, but what about comskip? Does that go to it's own directory or to the SageTV\SageTV directory?

You can put this anywhere you want (but I'd recommend putting it in its own folder), because you can specify the actual location in DirMon2.


Dirk

[JDizzy]

Originally Posted by flachbar

Hi JD,

which version of SageMC are you running ? And do you mean a 'DVD' button on your remote, or the DVD menu on the main menu ?

Dirk

Sorry, I think it was a false alarm or a system hiccup....rebooted, tried several other DVDs that worked, went back to suspect DVD and it would not load again.. tried yet another and it loaded so I think bad DVD..

I am running v6.10a that 'Kricker' posted a few pages back. I wanted the MovieTimes plugin and couldn't get it installed but read where he already had it in STV so that was the ticket...(thanks!) and the trailers play flawlwssly with mplayer))... also running WebRadio and Showanalyzer (which also works flawlessly!).

IMHO, Sage WITH MC and a few other tweaks is by far the best out there.
This is the 1st time I have been able to play music, videos, dvd, and record tv without switching programs and remotes...

A BIG thanks to all!

Is anyone considering working on the music end of Sage as far as:
Visualizations (love that dripping paint effect)
or music lookup similar to what the Webradio displays, or MC in the videos.

This is the last area I feel is weak. I was loading J River Media through Sage but it requires a different remote. (I am using the Hauppauge 45 button but also have Snapstream Firefly which works with JRiver). I also found that if JRiver goes into fullscreen visualizations you cannot return to Sage without using the mouse. JRiver rocks but I hate getting stranded there....

Tootles...
JD

[pvr599]

Ok, I followed all the directions here and can see the .txt fle Dirmon created. I opened Sage and enabled comskip. I checked one of the recored programs I had and I don't clearly see, on the timeline, where commercials are blocked out. I watched the show for a while and the commercials are still there.

I've attached one of the .txt files so you can see if it looks right.

As I have a show playing in Sage and have the recordings folder open, I can see Dirmon2 creating a TXT files, so I can see that LiveTV is working. I also see the Command Window open and looking like it did initiate Comskip.

I know that this should be a very simple setup, but I always manage to make things overly difficult

[JDizzy]

Originally Posted by pvr599

I know that this should be a very simple setup, but I always manage to make things overly difficult

No, that's my forte!

Make sure you have Commercial Skip enabled in the TV options menu (right click while watching live tv)
OR,
I used comskip and it worked fine BUT it was taking 80% of my resources. I switched to Showanalyzer and that droped to 40%.
May I suggest Showanalyzer?? It can not detect commercials in realtime but will run right after the show finishes...takes about 8-10 minutes to process an hour show.
I basically extracted their zipfile into the program files/sagetv/sagetv/showanalyzer directory (I think you just extract into root Sage directory and it creates the Showanalyzer directory), and followed the directions. You must also download their copy of comskip and drop it into the program files/sagetv/sagetv directory (where you have your comskip file now)and also 2 codecs but that is well documanted. Their comskip file basically tells Sage to use Showanalyzer rather than the orginal comskip. BTW Showanalyzer requires a key (2 week trial free) but is well worth the $10 bucks...

Enable the Commercial Skip options in setup and also make sure you have Commercial Skip enabled in the TV options menu (right click while watching live tv)

Do a search in this thread on 'showanalyzer'

BTW, I never did use Dirmon and everything worked fine?!!
JD

JD

[pvr599]

HMM, well that's a new way to do it. I'll give that a try too.

Funny, I think that's why I got so confused from the start. SO many ways to set this up and not one clear cut answer which I think that's what most people here are looking for.

After I try the Dirmon2 & Comskip way (since I already have that started) I'll try your suggestion and thank you.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by flachbar

There will be two new properties in the next version:

sagemc/exit_cmd
sagemc/exit_cmd_args

which will allow you to specify an application with arguments which gets executed before SageTV exits. You can use a utility like e.g. nircmd to do all the things you mentioned above. I tested it here, and it works fine.

Dirk

Thank you!

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by pvr599

Ok, I followed all the directions here and can see the .txt fle Dirmon created. I opened Sage and enabled comskip. I checked one of the recored programs I had and I don't clearly see, on the timeline, where commercials are blocked out. I watched the show for a while and the commercials are still there.

I've attached one of the .txt files so you can see if it looks right.

As I have a show playing in Sage and have the recordings folder open, I can see Dirmon2 creating a TXT files, so I can see that LiveTV is working. I also see the Command Window open and looking like it did initiate Comskip.

I know that this should be a very simple setup, but I always manage to make things overly difficult

If you are using a client, you have to make sure that it uses the exact same paths to the recording directories as the server (usually achieved by using UNC paths). Do a search on UNC and comskip in the forums for details.


Dirk

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by JDizzy

No, that's my forte!

Make sure you have Commercial Skip enabled in the TV options menu (right click while watching live tv)
OR,
I used comskip and it worked fine BUT it was taking 80% of my resources. I switched to Showanalyzer and that droped to 40%.
May I suggest Showanalyzer?? It can not detect commercials in realtime but will run right after the show finishes...takes about 8-10 minutes to process an hour show.
I basically extracted their zipfile into the program files/sagetv/sagetv/showanalyzer directory (I think you just extract into root Sage directory and it creates the Showanalyzer directory), and followed the directions. You must also download their copy of comskip and drop it into the program files/sagetv/sagetv directory (where you have your comskip file now)and also 2 codecs but that is well documanted. Their comskip file basically tells Sage to use Showanalyzer rather than the orginal comskip. BTW Showanalyzer requires a key (2 week trial free) but is well worth the $10 bucks...

Enable the Commercial Skip options in setup and also make sure you have Commercial Skip enabled in the TV options menu (right click while watching live tv)

Do a search in this thread on 'showanalyzer'

BTW, I never did use Dirmon and everything worked fine?!!
JD

JD

I use SA in real time. I have it set to run up to 4 or 5 shows at once. Take a look at the config/command line parameters.

B

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by JDizzy

I used comskip and it worked fine BUT it was taking 80% of my resources. I switched to Showanalyzer and that droped to 40%.

You can instruct comskip to use less CPU resources by specifying the '-n' option. So you would use e.g these command line options in DirMon2:

-n --ini=E:\video\comskip\comskip.ini


Dirk

[bcjenkins]

I just set up a new client machine, installed SageClient, Sage16x9 and then 6.10a. I can't seem to recall how to turn on the HD icons. Also, on my main machine, I was able to place weather on the front menu. How did I manage that feat? I can't even find weather now.

TIA

B