Commercial Advance Beta Release

[laurenglenn]

Originally Posted by littlerm

Jere_Jones, is it possible to enable blank frame detection, scene change detection, and fuzzy logic at the same time (disabling logo detection)? I record Seinfeld re-runs on TBS and logo detection doesn't work because the channel logo doesn't appear until about 30 sec. after commercial breaks.

Change detect_method to:

detect_method=5 ; 1=black frame, 2=logo, 4=fuzzy logic, 15=all

When I tried it, Comskip showed that it was detecting by Fuzzy Logic and Black Frame only.

Also, Jere.... one thing about Comskip logo detection's 2-pass... In the STV, the COMSKIP.EXE execute process command continues onto the next file after the first pass is made. This causes two COMSKIP's to run at the same time. The results end up OK, though; it just bogs down the system a little bit with the disk thrashing.

Also, could you set up COMSKIP to allow us to override one of the INI values by passing a parameter to the EXE? This way, with the example given with Seinfeld, COMSKIP can still use logo detection on channels that work fine with it.


Thanks,
Lauren

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by laurenglenn

Change detect_method to:

detect_method=5 ; 1=black frame, 2=logo, 4=fuzzy logic, 15=all

When I tried it, Comskip showed that it was detecting by Fuzzy Logic and Black Frame only.

It says it doesn't use it, but internally, it still does. This will be fixed in the next version. But, you've got the right idea and this will work in the future.

Originally Posted by laurenglenn

Also, Jere.... one thing about Comskip logo detection's 2-pass... In the STV, the COMSKIP.EXE execute process command continues onto the next file after the first pass is made. This causes two COMSKIP's to run at the same time. The results end up OK, though; it just bogs down the system a little bit with the disk thrashing.

Can you verify that they are both actually doing something. On my system, there are 2 comskips in memory, but one (the one that was launched by Sage) is just waiting for the second one to finish and isn't using any resources.

Originally Posted by laurenglenn

Also, could you set up COMSKIP to allow us to override one of the INI values by passing a parameter to the EXE? This way, with the example given with Seinfeld, COMSKIP can still use logo detection on channels that work fine with it.

Since this request comes from an STV maker, how can I say no? I'll look into it. The current parameter handling code couldn't do it. I'll have to find something better... (Jere goes into a programming daze)...

Jere


Thanks,
Lauren[/QUOTE]

[laurenglenn]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

It says it doesn't use it, but internally, it still does. This will be fixed in the next version. But, you've got the right idea and this will work in the future.
Can you verify that they are both actually doing something. On my system, there are 2 comskips in memory, but one (the one that was launched by Sage) is just waiting for the second one to finish and isn't using any resources. Since this request comes from an STV maker, how can I say no? I'll look into it. The current parameter handling code couldn't do it. I'll have to find something better... (Jere goes into a programming daze)...

I may just put in a delay of 10 minutes between Sage COMSKIP detection when in Sleep mode. But I could've sworn that there were two TXT files generated at the same time..... Let me check tonight just to see if it really is running twice.

Thanks for looking into the request...

Lauren

[Snuffy2]

I've recently upgraded from the version included in Malore's last comskip to 0.32. Now comskip doesn't seem to be working, sorta. When I drag & drop a mpg onto comskip it runs & detects commercials, but when Malore's autoruns comskip it just gives blank txt files seeming to say that there were no commercials. Any Ideas?

ALSO, is there any way to change the throttle back times to go over midnight? For example, I'd like to throttle it from 5pm to 3am everyday. Is that possible?

Thanx
Justin


My configs:
comskip.ini
**********

detect_method=15	; 1=black frame, 2=logo, 4=fuzzy logic, 15=all
verbose=0		;show extra info
fps=29.97		;frames per second (NTSC=29.970, PAL=25)
border=10 		;border around edge of video to ignore
max_brightness=180      ;frame not black if any pixels checked are greater than this (scale 0 to 255)
test_brightness=60      ;frame not pure black if any pixels checked are greater than this, will check average brightness (scale 0 to 255)
max_avg_brightness=50	;maximum average brightness for a dim frame to be considered black (scale 0 to 255)
max_commercialbreak=305	;maximum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
min_commercialbreak=44	;minimum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
max_commercial_size=180	;maximum time in seconds for a single commercial or multiple commercials if no breaks in between
min_commercial_size=1   ;mimimum time in seconds for a single commercial
require_div5=0		;0=off, set=1 to only mark breaks divisible by 5 as a commercial.  Standard sizes (15,20,30,45,60,90,120 second) 
div5_tolerance=1.01
give_up_logo_search=600	;in seconds, how far into the show to search for a logo before giving up
play_nice_start=1700	;at what time of the day should comskip slow itself down
play_nice_end=0300	;ending time for self slowing
delete_logo_file=1	;delete logofile after use?

sage.properties
************

...
background_commercial_processing=true
background_commercial_processing_awake=true
background_commercial_processing_recording=true
...

[Jere_Jones]

One more time:

If you're having trouble with comskip, set verbose=10 and email me the log file.

Regarding the play-nice setting, I just made the code changes so it will work in the next version.

Jere

[laurenglenn]

I had a similar problem with paths and the TXT file not being created. Just make sure on the EXECUTE_PROCESS command that you use the Video File's path as the working directory. Put COMSKIP in your WINDOWS directory (or any other directory in your PATH statement) and it should work fine.

The detection is actually sooooo much better than the earlier version. Great work guys!

Lauren

It's a slight change that should be made to the STV that needs to be done.

Lauren

[Snuffy2]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

One more time:

If you're having trouble with comskip, set verbose=10 and email me the log file.

Regarding the play-nice setting, I just made the code changes so it will work in the next version.

Jere

Here you go. Log is attached. .txt file couldn't be attached because it is empty.

BTW - I set detect_method=5 the logo detection didn't seem to be working so well & I think I've got an idea as to why.

I use a cable box to tune to my channels. What that means is that when I start recording my show (ie. on Ch3) the recording begins on whatever channel in was previously on (ie. Ch 102). I then can see, on the recording, 003 pop up on the screen and then the channel switch to Ch 3. Mu thought is that it might be getting the logo from the old channel and then trying to apply it to the new channel. Not sure if that's true or not, just a thought.

Thanx for the timely response to the play nice settings, I can't wait to try them.

Thanx Again
Justin

[Snuffy2]

Originally Posted by laurenglenn

I had a similar problem with paths and the TXT file not being created. Just make sure on the EXECUTE_PROCESS command that you use the Video File's path as the working directory. Put COMSKIP in your WINDOWS directory (or any other directory in your PATH statement) and it should work fine.

The detection is actually sooooo much better than the earlier version. Great work guys!

Lauren

Where is the EXECUTE_PROCESS command?

ComSkip is in my Windows Directory (C:\Windows\) and in SageTVs default folder (C:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV) as well, both with the same .ini file.

As posted above, when I set verbose to 10, the log file is being created and it seems to be detcting commercials, but then a blank .txt file is being created without the commercials that it found in the log file.

[Jere_Jones]

Version 0.40

Additions
- ini file now has more options. See the descriptions here
- play_nice is more intelligent. It will span midnight if the start time is after the end time.
- max_avg_brightness is more intelligent. It will adjust itself depending on the brightness of the recording.
- The generated logs are more now more helpful
- If comskip can't find the ini file it will search for it. If the ini is found, comskip assumes that the exe is in the same directory.

Bug fixes
- ComSkip is now much more intelligent and flexible about how it is run.
- I hope that all the problems running the second pass are now fixed.
- The ini file itself and the ini wiki page now reflect the correct values for detection methods. Everyone using version .30 or later should adjust accordingly.

Hopefully this will fix the problems everyone is having. So if ComSkip isn't running correctly or if it isn't detecting commercials correctly (or at all), install this version.

Source files are available upon request.

Jere

<EDIT>
Pulled version 0.40 until source of crash can be determined.
</EDIT>

[Snuffy2]

ComSkip 0.40 seems to be crashing on the 2nd pass. It detects the logo, then goes to run it again & it crashes. I'll try to get you any more info you need, but I figured I'd at least start with that.

EDIT: If I manually restart ComSkip on the mpg it crashed on, it starts up the 2nd pass & runs just fine.

[White94Cobra]

Let me change that to...

Thanks for the quick updates! If I disable logo detection it works quite well. But...

Comskip v.40 is crashing on me as well. About 30 seconds into a file it crashes on ntdll.dll. If I set the max detect time for the logo to 1 it goes through fine.

[JasonJoel]

v0.40 is crashing on me, also, with the default .INI file. Haven't experimented further.

Jason

[Jere_Jones]

To those of you that noticed that 0.40 crashed, thank you for letting me know.

All I can say is... "Oops..."

Apparently you can't create a file that includes quotes in the name. Who knew?

Anyway, that has been fixed, it creates the correct file and also should recover from failure more gracefully. I also beefed up the logo detection and improved how comskip handled too much/too little/none logos.

Older ini files are not necessarily compatible with this version. Be sure to review the ComSkip Ini Info Wiki. It will explain what is possible with the ini.

As always, the source files are available upon request.

Enjoy,
Jere

[JasonJoel]

Well, v0.41 is working for me so far. Is auto-scanning a file right now. No crashes yet.

Thanks.

Jason Bottjen

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

To those of you that noticed that 0.40 crashed, thank you for letting me know.

All I can say is... "Oops..."

[Deadbolt]

I have found that even with verbose=0, comskip leaves a .log file when it is finished.

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by Deadbolt

I have found that even with verbose=0, comskip leaves a .log file when it is finished.

The only reason I can thing I think of is that comskip can't find the ini file. Take a look at the log file. Early on it should say if it's using an ini file or not.

Jere

[Whiskeyjack]

Hi all,

First, big thanks to malore and jere jones for doing this. It really rocks!!! Or it would if I could get it to work properly.

So to the problem...

When I run comskip on a show commercials it will detect and create the .txt file. But... when I run SageTV (nielms 1.5 stv) the breaks are there but at the wrong time. Ex. One show I tested on gives a break at frame 21785 which translates to somewhere around 14 min 30 sec, now SageTV goes and autoskips some 1-2 minutes before that. If I test it in Mediaplayer the break is spot on, exactly on the second.

Could this be because of the PAL frames or...?? I have changed the .ini file to 25 frames.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks!
Whiskeyjack

[nielm]

Whiskeyjack -- is the problem that the commercials are detect at the wrong time (ie wrong frame numbers in .txt file) or are they being displayed / skipped incorrectly in my STV?
(could be a pal/NTSC thing... 21785 frames == 12m7secs)

... actually, just looked at the code... yes it is a PAL/NTSC thing: my code assumes 29.97fps... I will fix this in a future version of my STV It also explains why comskip never worked for me!

You might try Laurglenn's STV she has a setting in detailed setup->enhancements for 29.97/25fps

[samson]

I am using Version 0.41 with nielm combo STV v1.5
It seems that for every show it creates two .txt files is this new or is somthing wrong with my set up ?

[Whiskeyjack]

Alright, thanks nielm. That explains it. Hope you get the new version out soon I like your stv best of the ones that support comskip. Making and removing menu's makes for a higher Wife Approval Factor