Starting to test Comskip with h.264 support

[HuMan321]

Originally Posted by erik

You could also try to set
max_volume=0
to enable automatic max_volume setting as the audio levels with DD are sometimes much different

Thanks Erik

I should have mentioned that this advice was the only change I made to the stock ini file. I have now changed the detect method from 43 to 47 and am testing that.

This quote from a post is what I am basing it on.

"The tuning depends on the content and not on the source.
Set
detect_method=11
to get the least agressive settings
Increase in steps to 43,47,101,111
Or any other combination".

I saw you had mentioned volumeslip to 150 as another change.
I am hoping you or others can share settings that have worked for them on ts files.

[Skiier__Dude]

Originally Posted by HuMan321

Did you ever resolve this? I am also having trouble tweaking ts files with DD.

I am using the latest (comskip80_025_donators.zip)

No, I've not been able to resolve this one. I worked with Erik and last time we spoke about 4 weeks ago he was looking at updating some code to fix. I sent him a copy of a recording and there is certainly something amiss. Comskip will mark commercials about 50% of the time, but they are generally way off.

We've been renovating our house this summer so haven't been watching TV, but that job is now done so I will be able to spend more time correcting this Comskip issue now.

[Skiier__Dude]

Just a further note on this issue -- when Comskip does an analysis from recordings on the HDPVR, it reports the recordings at 25fps. The source is Canadian Satellite TV and should be 29.96fps.

Comskip also reports "Panic audio buffer" in the log.

These messages lead me to believe that something odd is going on with the HDPVR recordings. The only significant change Ive made is to upgrade to the latest version of the HDPVR software -- I might try to downgrade to an older version to see if the recordings can be fixed.

[HuMan321]

Originally Posted by Skiier__Dude

Just a further note on this issue -- when Comskip does an analysis from recordings on the HDPVR, it reports the recordings at 25fps. The source is Canadian Satellite TV and should be 29.96fps.

Comskip also reports "Panic audio buffer" in the log.

These messages lead me to believe that something odd is going on with the HDPVR recordings. The only significant change Ive made is to upgrade to the latest version of the HDPVR software -- I might try to downgrade to an older version to see if the recordings can be fixed.

I am now using SJQ to run Comskip, but it seems I remember when setting it up with Comskip Monitor in the past that I saw it was setup as default to 25fps. I made the change to 29.96 and never thought much about it.

Just recently I upgraded to the lastest donation version and now i am wondering if mine may be defaulted back to 25fps? Not sure how to check though since I am using SJQ. I will look more into this after I get home from work.

[gplasky]

Comskip uses an .ini file to set its settings. It shouldn't matter what mechanism you use to trigger the run. Be it Comskip Monitor, Dirmon2 or SJQ. (Unless you have some long command line with a bunch of settings calling it.)The .ini file should be in the same directory as comskip or you call out the path of the .ini file with a switch.

Gerry

[erik]

Originally Posted by HuMan321

I am now using SJQ to run Comskip, but it seems I remember when setting it up with Comskip Monitor in the past that I saw it was setup as default to 25fps. I made the change to 29.96 and never thought much about it.

COmskip no longer uses the fps setting in the ini file but reads the fps from the input file.

[erik]

Originally Posted by Skiier__Dude

Just a further note on this issue -- when Comskip does an analysis from recordings on the HDPVR, it reports the recordings at 25fps. The source is Canadian Satellite TV and should be 29.96fps.

Comskip also reports "Panic audio buffer" in the log.

These messages lead me to believe that something odd is going on with the HDPVR recordings. The only significant change Ive made is to upgrade to the latest version of the HDPVR software -- I might try to downgrade to an older version to see if the recordings can be fixed.

That would explain nicely the audio panic and the bad detection quality.
Did you already upload a sample of such a 29.9fps recording?

[Skiier__Dude]

Hi Erik,

Yes, I uploaded a sample of a video back in June -- you and I discussed it and there are certainly some odd things going on with the recording. You'd mention the fade-to-black wasn't black, and there were the audio panic messages. I sent you an email a couple of days ago with the details of our conversation.

[Skirge01]

I seem to have very good commercial detection, except when the network logo shows up on a commercial. Does anyone have some suggestions for how to get those instances flagged as commercials?

[Skirge01]

Well, I managed to fix that particular issue by setting the following:

logo_present_modifier=1

However, now comskip is deleting the final few minutes of a show; basically, everything from the last commercial break until the end of the entire recording. I'm still playing around with various settings, but if anyone has any ideas, feel free to chime in.

[Taddeusz]

Where is the placement of the offending logo? And does it differ from the normal network logo?

I ask this because my local ABC affiliate displays a station ID in the upper right corner of the screen that is always present. I had to set an option to limit the logo search to the lower half of the image. Otherwise it wouldn't flag any commercials for that channel.

[Skirge01]

For the particular recording I'm using for tweaking, it's always in the lower right corner and never moves anywhere else. It's also the exact same logo throughout the entire show. It's not even animated at any point.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

For the particular recording I'm using for tweaking, it's always in the lower right corner and never moves anywhere else. It's also the exact same logo throughout the entire show. It's not even animated at any point.

That's a difficult one. I guess I'm lucky on the one channel that displays their ID all the time. It was easy to filter from detection.

Maybe if you post captures of what is displayed during ads and during programming someone can figure something out.

[Skirge01]

I must've run about 25 different combinations, but I finally found it. I had raised the detect method up when I was having issues with logo'd commercials and I didn't think to drop it back down. As soon as I put it back at 43, the last few minutes of the show were immediately flagged properly.

Still, thanks for chiming in!

[psicat]

What version of comskip are you guys running with support for HD-PVR recordings? I have tried 80.025 and it does not seem to work (does not detect frame rate or resolution and just dies).

I'm running Win7 32-bit with a Core2Duo machine. Stock INI file and running from the command line with "comskip.exe -t".

[Skirge01]

Mine run via SJQ, but I'm using version 0.80.023.

[razrsharpe]

Not sure if you're using the donators version or not... but just in case... you need the donators version of comskip to work with hd-pvr recordings.

http://www.comskip.org/ then click on the "Make a Donation" link

[psicat]

Originally Posted by razrsharpe

Not sure if you're using the donators version or not... but just in case... you need the donators version of comskip to work with hd-pvr recordings.

The donation is no big deal, but I really hate PayPal (typically I refuse to use it). After testing ShowAnalyzer, I was hoping that I could try out ComSkip to see if it works. ShowAnalyzer crashes and generally is unstable (with an ugly GUI). I was not impressed and will not purchase it.

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Mine run via SJQ, but I'm using version 0.80.023.

Version 0.80.023 is freely available, so I might just try an older version and see. Is any configuration necessary before it will process HD-PVR recordings? Or is the freely available version crippled for H.264?

BTW, my HDHomeRun OTA recordings seem to run OK.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by psicat

Version 0.80.023 is freely available, so I might just try an older version and see. Is any configuration necessary before it will process HD-PVR recordings? Or is the freely available version crippled for H.264?

I believe all freely available versions are crippled (even old ones) and will not process H.264 successfully.

[Skirge01]

razrsharpe is right, you need the donator version. I believe the versions numbers may be the same, but it's only the donator version which has the HD-PVR capability.