SageTVTranscoder Plugin

[jvl711]

This plugin is an updated version of the "CORE" SageTVTranscoder.exe that comes with SageTV. This version is based off of FFmpeg version 4.3.1. The project is being maintained as a fork to the FFmpeg project, so hopefully it will make it easier to upgrade to future versions.

FAQ:

Q: What does the SageTVTranscoder do in SageTV?
A: It is responsible for a number of different tasks:

1. Realtime transcoding of video files that are either in an unsupported format, or because of bandwidth limitations
2. Thumbnail generation of media files. This is how SageTV creates the thumbnail image for recordings
3. Conversion of recordings/library content to different formats
4. Media format detection for formats that require the external format detector. I believe that is every except for .ts/.ps, and mp3 files.

Q: Why should I care about this? Seems like this does the same thing as the original SageTVTranscoder.exe?
A: Good question, there are a number of enhancements from using the newer version of FFmpeg:

1. Support for transcoding and encoding into h265 and other newere codecs
2. Support for identifying newer codecs and containers
3. Potential performance increases in all the areas SageTV utilizes the SageTVTranscoder
4. Stability improvements because of years of bugfixes and enhancements made by the FFmpeg team

Q: How do I install this?
A: It is available under as a SageTV plugin under General. It is called SageTVTranscoder (FFmpeg) Windows x64. There is currently only a x64 build available. This needs to be run on a x64 bit version of windows, but can be run from either a x32 or x64 bit install of SageTV

Q: What do I do if I find an issue/bug, or have an enhancement request?
A: You are free to bring up, or discuss any issues/bugs or potential enhancements here, but I would like it if you would please enter an issue into the github repo for tracking purposes. You can do that here under issues: https://github.com/jvl711/SageTVTranscoder-FFmpeg

Q: Can I contribute to this project?
A: Why yes you can! The project is a fork of FFmpeg, and is written in C. I could use help maintaining this, and there is definitely some code I do not understand and could use assistance with. You can fork the repo and submit pull requests. You can reach out to me on the forums, patreon or github. If you are not a programmer I am sure you could help with guides and general support.

Github Link: https://github.com/jvl711/SageTVTranscoder-FFmpeg

Versions:
v1.0.0 - Initial feature complete (Beta) release
v1.0.1 - Added x32 windows build
v1.0.2 - Fixed an issue with thumbnail generation on client machine. "stv://127.0.0.1/" translated to locally accessible path.

[wayner]

A question regarding thumbnail generation - I believe that the thumbnail is created at an interval of something like 30 seconds after the start of the recording. Is that the case? And can this thumbnail time offset be changed by the user? In an ideal world it would be good to have the offset time be confifurable based on Show Title, just like the custom skip times plugin. For example, for sporting events you may want the thumbnail to be at 900 seconds into the recording.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by wayner

A question regarding thumbnail generation - I believe that the thumbnail is created at an interval of something like 30 seconds after the start of the recording. Is that the case? And can this thumbnail time offset be changed by the user? In an ideal world it would be good to have the offset time be confifurable based on Show Title, just like the custom skip times plugin. For example, for sporting events you may want the thumbnail to be at 900 seconds into the recording.

Hi Wayner,

It will behave the way that SageTV does currently with thumbnail generation. I think there is a setting that you can choose the time for how far by default into a show the thumbnail is created. Any option you can configure in SageTV today should be supported...

This is attempting to be a one to one replacement of the current SageTVTranscoder, so all current functions "should" work the same.

I think it may makes sense to add something like this to the core SageTV to possibly allow the configuration on a favorite. I will tell you in my own system, that I do not even use the ones that come from SageTV. I actually pull them down from TMDB. They seem to be picked by the user base, and are a much better representation of the show.

Thanks,
Josh

[nyplayer]

I still get bad audio when testing to always transcode locally on all my devices ... It cracks and is distorted.... also when watching Comcast H264 with transcoding get no video.

Maybe somebody that has a FireTV can also test this.... see if they too suffer from distorted audio.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

I still get bad audio when testing to always transcode locally on all my devices ... It cracks and is distorted.... also when watching Comcast H264 with transcoding get no video.

Maybe somebody that has a FireTV can also test this.... see if they too suffer from distorted audio.

I just ran thru this on my server, and it seems to be working fine. Can you confirm that you have the right version of the Sage.jar. The HD fixed transcoding will only work with my patched jar file.

From reviewing the logs you sent me, it looked like SageTV was not passing the correct options.

Thanks,
Josh

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jvl711

I just ran thru this on my server, and it seems to be working fine. Can you confirm that you have the right version of the Sage.jar. The HD fixed transcoding will only work with my patched jar file.

From reviewing the logs you sent me, it looked like SageTV was not passing the correct options.

Thanks,
Josh

I think that might be it I rebuilt it and did not get your Sage.jar maybe you should post your jar on the first page. There is no mention about the new jar.


Edit that was it ... maybe update your instructions that a new jar is needed and post where it can be downloaded.