Utility: ShowAnalyzer Beta

[KJake]

so far, so good. i've processed a couple of shows now without crashing.

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

Version 0.5.2 posted:

- Corrected broken compatibility with the comskip proxy.
- Registering will let you know if it was successful or not.
- Fixed live output.
- Fixed crash when trying to process an open file across a network.
- Fixed inabilty to connect to nielm's webserver if it was secured.
- Fixed garbage episode name when there was no episode name.
- SAConfig: Fixed throttle time validation error.

Jere

So the registry work around is now NOT needed with this version?

[abasu2003]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

Can you take a look in global.ini and see if the settings are being saved correctly?

You should see something similar to:

[SageTV]
Pause When Playing = 1
Pause When Recording = 0

I have removed some of the lines, but those two lines are the important ones.

Thanks,
Jere

Yeah, I took a look at it and it is saving it the way you have it.

[Stuntman]

Since going to 0.5.2 I am seeing a lot of .d2a files.. what are these, and do I need them.. and if I don't, is there a way not to generate them??

Thanks!

[Surtr]

Maybe I didn't search hard enough, but I can't find an answer to this -- What does integration with Nielm's webserver add?

[aperry]

Say, Jere, I saw in another thread that you stated that closed captioning helps greatly in the commercial detection stuff. I know that my PVR-500's don't currently have CC available, so does that mean it won't work as well with a show recorded by them?

Plus, I know that more and more commercials these days have CC. As that expands even further, is that going to cause problems in detection?

[DFA]

Jere:

Couple questions:

1. Does SA run/use more than one "Profile" rather than just the top most one? I have different groups of channels that do not need to be parsed for commericials and hve those channel group ranges listed in different profiles. Time will tell anyway but would like apriori knowledge.

2. Does "free" version not run as fast and/or effectively as purchased version?

Great work. Two great products: DirMon and SA!

DFA

[Wheemer]

SA needs the webserver so it know greater detail about the shows, such as channel number. Then you can setup channels that you don't need processed.

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by Ken C

Are the default settings in ShowAnalyzer the ones best for USA ?

No, they aren't. The default settings are the best compromise I can come up with for where ever you are.

Jere

[JasonJoel]

Well, that's no good. Make defaults that are perfect for me in the USA without my having to do any work or tweaking...


Jason

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

However, it appears that it is marking the beginning of the commercial about 4 seconds too soon

If it is jumping a full 4 seconds early, take a look at the logs (level 0 is sufficient) and see if there is a 4 second block. If there is, drop the "Too short" multipilier to .5 or something.
If not, then it is likely a sync issue internal to Sage. You can always see if the cuts were frame accurate with VirtualDubMod (free) or VideoRedo (not free).

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by geogecko

So the registry work around is now NOT needed with this version?

Correct. However, don't remove it. That key is still needed. Only now, it is taken care of when SA is installed.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

Since going to 0.5.2 I am seeing a lot of .d2a files.. what are these, and do I need them..

Those files are a byproduct of the free audio decoder. They are needed while it is decoding the audio. After that, feel free to delete them.

Originally Posted by Stuntman

and if I don't, is there a way not to generate them??

The built in decoder's don't generate them.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by Surtr

Maybe I didn't search hard enough, but I can't find an answer to this -- What does integration with Nielm's webserver add?

Some channels may need different settings, or may not need to be analyzed at all. You may not want to analyze movies, or documentarys. The "Automatic Profile Selection" page in SAConfig allows you to specify these things. The catch is that these tidbits of information are not in the MPEG. SA has to get them somewhere, so it get's them from the webserver.

It also allows you to pause SA if you are watching a show or recording a show (see the bottom of the SageTV page in SAConfig).

If neither of these things interest you, then don't worry about setting it up.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by aperry

Say, Jere, I saw in another thread that you stated that closed captioning helps greatly in the commercial detection stuff. I know that my PVR-500's don't currently have CC available, so does that mean it won't work as well with a show recorded by them?

Right now, SA doesn't use the CCs at all. It can extract them to a file, but it doesn't actually use them for detection. Hence, no impact on accuracy... yet.

Originally Posted by aperry

Plus, I know that more and more commercials these days have CC. As that expands even further, is that going to cause problems in detection?

It's not just a matter of if the captions exist or not, the captions themselves tell you a lot about the segment. The codes used are also helpful.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by DFA

1. Does SA run/use more than one "Profile" rather than just the top most one? I have different groups of channels that do not need to be parsed for commericials and hve those channel group ranges listed in different profiles. Time will tell anyway but would like apriori knowledge.

SA always uses the global profile and it will load the default profile unless a different one is specified. For what you want to do, take a look at the "Automatic Profile Selection" page in SAConfig. Notice that one of the options for which profile to use is "DoNotProcess" which will, as you may have guessed, not process them. It will create an empty .txt file to indicate that the SA should not run on that show again.

Originally Posted by DFA

2. Does "free" version not run as fast and/or effectively as purchased version?

The free version is not nearly as fast as the "purchased" version. It should be as effective though. One other difference, the "purchased" version is MUCH more tolerant of errors in the file than the "free" version.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

As some of you are aware, I've been "swamped" lately with SA support requests and such. If I don't get to your question or post immediately, I will as soon as I get time.

Thanks for all the patience.

Jere

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

Notice that one of the options for which profile to use is "DoNotProcess" which will, as you may have guessed, not process them. It will create an empty .txt file to indicate that the SA should not run on that show again.

That's a pretty good lead-in for my question. What happens if the HTPC is rebooted while SA is processing? IIRC, SA initially creates a 0 KB .txt file, so I'm thinking that the next time DirMon scans the folder (after reboot) it won't (re)process the episode because the 0 KB .txt is present.

No worries about getting to my questions. Except for some minor issues, SA is working damn fine for me.

[Xsabre]

Originally Posted by JasonJoel

Well, that's no good. Make defaults that are perfect for me in the USA without my having to do any work or tweaking...


Jason

Sarcasm doesn't translate well to text therefore I hope this is what it is.

[bhageman]

First, installed the free version last night. Everything is working perfectly! I'm impressed with a.) ease of install b.) the comskip replacement trick c.) how much faster SA processes files.

Couple of non-urgent questions:

1.) Happy to buy ShowAnalyzer to support your future development efforts, if I do, how do I install? Delete the 3rd party decoder dll files and reinstall? Or delete the whole app plus dll's?

2.) I have Nielm's webserver installed and it launches at start-up, but I just moved from a static IP to a dynamic IP and haven't really bothered to use it lately, so I don't even know if it is working. Does it actually have to "work" (ie: accessible via the Internet) to get the ability to "turn off" SA on specific channels (ie: public television, etc...) or does it just need to be running. And will SA see it if it is running, or do I need to config SA?

3.) Sage plays about .5 second of commercials before skipping. No big deal, but when everything is this easy, people get nitpicky. Is there any kind of fine tuning that can be done to eliminate this either in SA or Sage? Someone else mentioned a 4 second gap or you mentioned checking logs, but I thought a half second gap might be correctable some other way.