Comskip Monitor: Announcement

[mattdcknsn]

Thank you for taking the time to make this, I installed it and it has worked out of the box with almost no problems. The only issue I have is with HD content. The comskip is correct 85% of the time, does anybody else have suggestions to tweak comskip so that is works better with both SD and HD?

Its not that big of a deal, I only have 1 HD show for every 6 SD ones, so if it comes down to a choice I'll keep the SD settings.

Thank you again for your work.

[Naylia]

Just wanted to pipe in that this has worked out really well for me. Comskip did struggle with Desperate Housewives in HD and I'm waiting for another recording of DH to see if it's particualr to that show, or just a possible HD issue, or if I should upgrade to a version that outputs edl files instead. Any thoughts?

[wheelrandolph]

Hi,
I'm using edl files and it worked great last night with Desp. Housewives. This comskip monitor has worked VERY well for me and only rarely is out of sync on commercials. (edit: comskip monitor doesn't edit commercials, comskip does--wasn't thinking too clearly there.)

Randy

[erik]

If one of you is having problems in using comskip on certain HD shows feel free to ask me for help.
Instructions on how to do this can be found here

http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/viewtopic.php?t=34

[jkohn]

I found that the latest version of Comskip released a week or two ago has made a huge improvement for 720p HD (ABC and FOX). Before that comskip didn't find any commercials at all on the 720p programming for me, but now it's working very well. We don't watch Desperate Housewives, but we've been watching Lost, The Nine, Prison Break, and a few others on ABC and FOX and it's now working with all of them.

BTW I'm outputting EDL files, not TXT, and using the latest version of the comskip playback plugin that's compatible with Sage 6 (and even transport streams).

[Naylia]

Has the latest version of Comskip been bundled in with the Comskip Monitor? Or do I need to update that seperately?

[jkohn]

When I downloaded Comskip Monitor a few weeks ago, it did not have the latest version of Comskip. I had to download that separately: http://www.kaashoek.com/gbpvr/

[hemicuda]

just a little question about this program....

why does it set off zone alarm when I run the .bat file? first asking for server rights then for network access.

[Naylia]

I think this is why:

Thanks Erik!

I hope to do so soon. My main drawback as a programmer is that I'm a web application developer and haven't written any other GUIs unless you count Applets or Cobol terminal screens. But it seems like the servlet with the self-contained web server seems to be doing the trick for the moment.

The fact that the default comskip config file works 98% of the time for me is also a contributor to my procrastination

I've loaded comskip 79.61 so I'll report back if that fixes my issues this coming weekend. It was only ABC shows that is was having trouble with so thanks for the help!

[hemicuda]

ah, i see. fyi for anyone else, if you dont give it a pass in ZA the service tends NOT to install itself. i have a habit of locking down my system and trying to know what's doing what w/ my NIC so this bit me first time around.

[roxy99]

Wow super easy setup! Got it working on my Sage server in 10 minutes.

Just one problem, my MVP doesn't skip the commercials.

[JREkiwi]

Originally Posted by roxy99

Just one problem, my MVP doesn't skip the commercials.

roxy99, your MVP runs on a different properties file from your server and so is probably still running the default STV.

You could either do an import of the Comskip playback STVi on the MVP or I prefer to just setup my STV on the server and then point my MVP to the same STV as my server is using. It means that operationally everything is the same on both the server and the MVP.

John

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by JREkiwi

roxy99, your MVP runs on a different properties file from your server and so is probably still running the default STV.

You could either do an import of the Comskip playback STVi on the MVP or I prefer to just setup my STV on the server and then point my MVP to the same STV as my server is using. It means that operationally everything is the same on both the server and the MVP.

John

I did the first thing you said- import the STVi from the mvp. Works like a charm.
This is a really great tool.

How do I re-point the my MVP to use the same STVi as the server?

[JREkiwi]

Originally Posted by roxy99

How do I re-point the my MVP to use the same STVi as the server?

On the server go to Setup/Help/System Information
The Current STV File is listed there.

On the MVP go to Setup/Detailed Setup/Advanced
Go to SageTV Application package. Click on it and select the xml file that was listed in the server System Information. You will get a pop-up saying "Load New SageTV Application Package?. Are you sure you want to replace the Application package?"
Select Yes and your done.

A couple of things to remember
1. When you do any imports on the server, the STV name will change and you will need to go through this process again if you want to keep them in sync. (Still easier than importing everything on the MVP)
2. Although your server are now using the same STV, they still have different properties files, which is where many of the customizable settings are stored. (Like Autoskip for Comskip playback, FF and RW times. Although they generally are things that once you have them setup they don't need changing)

John

[AngelofDeth]

comskip is producing both txt and edl files. I see the setting to turn on edl files in comskip.ini, but nothing for txt files. Is there a way to turn off txt files if you also want it to generate edl files?

[JREkiwi]

Originally Posted by AngelofDeth

comskip is producing both txt and edl files. I see the setting to turn on edl files in comskip.ini, but nothing for txt files. Is there a way to turn off txt files if you also want it to generate edl files?

In the comskip.ini add

output_default=0

John

[Steep]

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been to the forums in a while. I've been pretty busy with my job, some travel, and watching the Atlanta Falcons lose football games.

Originally Posted by hemicuda

just a little question about this program....
why does it set off zone alarm when I run the .bat file? first asking for server rights then for network access.

I know more about developing web apps than windows clients so I created the setup program as a web application that runs on port 8181. The web app shuts down after configuration is finished. That's probably the reason for the zone alarm warning for the program needing network access. However, the program doesn't go out on the internet or anything. Comskip Monitor installs a service and runs in the background. This is probably the reason it asks for server rights. I don't run zone alarm so I can only speculate. I can assure you that there is nothing malicious about Comskip Monitor. The Java source code is included with the download and I think the Comskip code is open-source as well.

Originally Posted by jkohn

When I downloaded Comskip Monitor a few weeks ago, it did not have the latest version of Comskip. I had to download that separately: http://www.kaashoek.com/gbpvr/

I'll update Comskip Monitor with the latest version tonight. Like I said, I've been pretty busy and I was wanting to finish up an easier network configuration screen, but am not done working out the kinks.

Thanks for all the positive feedback, but eriK and his predecessors deserve all the kudos.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by Steep

Thanks for all the positive feedback, but eriK and his predecessors deserve all the kudos.

Don't be so modest. You too desrerve praise. Before your app, I was inimidated by Dirmon and Showanalyser.

RE:- new comskip- can I just updte the comskip files without a full reinstall or do I need to change something in the comskip.ini as well?

[AngelofDeth]

Originally Posted by roxy99

Don't be so modest. You too desrerve praise. Before your app, I was inimidated by Dirmon and Showanalyser.

Yes, this was very easy to get working... Comskip seems a bit more accurate, but I didn't really do a fair comparison. Would be nice if the monitor could do a channel filter like SA does, so shows without commercials can be skipped.

[Steep]

Originally Posted by roxy99

RE:- new comskip- can I just updte the comskip files without a full reinstall or do I need to change something in the comskip.ini as well?

You don't need to re-download Comskip Monitor if it is working for you, just download the new version of Comskip and update in one of two ways.

1) Install the new version of comskip into some folder C:\comskip_version_number\
Then run Comskip Monitor's setup.bat program and point it to your new comskip files C:\comskip_version_number\comskip.exe and comskip.ini.

2) Unzip your new comskip files into your \ComskipMonitor\comskip_version_number\ directory.

The only change that the pre-packaged Comskip that comes with CSM has, is the output_edl=1 flag set in the comskip.ini file.