Plex Scanner and BMT Agent for SageTV

[nkd]

Originally Posted by PiX64

I don't use MCEBuddy to process commercials. I have it grab the video from the sagedirectory directly, and tell it to use the sagetv comskip.ini. If you already run commercial skip on sage, then there is no reason to reprocess the commercials (unless of course you wanted to use ShowAnalyzer or something of that nature). I attached 3 screens of all of my settings for you. I have 2 encoding profiles that i Use, to process the same 3 reccording directories in 2 passes. I use the filtering available for mcebuddy to only send certain recordings to certain profiles... if that makes sense

Thank you very much!! ... I will try that out this evening when I get home ...
Couple of questions

1. I do process commercials on Sage so just pointing MCEBuddy to Sage's comskip.ini file is good enough for MCBuddy to not process commercials and to strip them?
2. Other than mp4 do you know of other formats that are very Roku friendly? I want to find a way to reduce MCBuddy processing time. Disk space is really not an issue for me

Now back on fanart topic, I checked and I did have the Phoenix plugin installed and it does download fanart but it is not being picked up for all the shows. For instance last night the fanart shows up for Motive but not for Rookie Blue. I did check and conformed that the fan art does exist under the users directory in SageTV install folder. I see in a post above that there could be name conflicts but from what I remember names the match. If you can guide me to where the scanner log, as well as the BMTAgent logs are I can send them to you (sorry I am not very plugged into these things).

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by nkd

Thank you very much!! ... I will try that out this evening when I get home ...
Couple of questions

1. I do process commercials on Sage so just pointing MCEBuddy to Sage's comskip.ini file is good enough for MCBuddy to not process commercials and to strip them?
2. Other than mp4 do you know of other formats that are very Roku friendly? I want to find a way to reduce MCBuddy processing time. Disk space is really not an issue for me

Now back on fanart topic, I checked and I did have the Phoenix plugin installed and it does download fanart but it is not being picked up for all the shows. For instance last night the fanart shows up for Motive but not for Rookie Blue. I did check and conformed that the fan art does exist under the users directory in SageTV install folder. I see in a post above that there could be name conflicts but from what I remember names the match. If you can guide me to where the scanner log, as well as the BMTAgent logs are I can send them to you (sorry I am not very plugged into these things).

no problem at all.

1) if the comskip file exists in the directory that the sage recording is in and the directory that you are pointing MCEbuddy at, you should not be processing commercials at all in mcebuddy. It should auto detect a comskip file and use it rather than reprocess
2) roku play nice formats: see attachement and taken from here: http://wwwimg.roku.com/static/sdk/DeveloperGuide.pdf
encoding site: http://roku.yt1300.com/
3) if using windows right click on the plex media server icon in system tray and click on the "plugins ddirectory" (i think its called) that will take you to all plugins. go up a level and you will see logs.
4) You may be running into issue if you aren't running the latest code on the google code site. You may also be having fanart issue if you have the plex library detecting changes and automatically adding items to your library. If you have it set that way, as soon as a recording starts you will not have fanart available in bmt until the recording finishes. therefore when the plex scan starts, there is no fanart for the item. Try performing a deep scan of your plex directory for sage recordings.

[nkd]

Originally Posted by PiX64

no problem at all.

1) if the comskip file exists in the directory that the sage recording is in and the directory that you are pointing MCEbuddy at, you should not be processing commercials at all in mcebuddy. It should auto detect a comskip file and use it rather than reprocess
2) roku play nice formats: see attachement and taken from here: http://wwwimg.roku.com/static/sdk/DeveloperGuide.pdf
encoding site: http://roku.yt1300.com/
3) if using windows right click on the plex media server icon in system tray and click on the "plugins ddirectory" (i think its called) that will take you to all plugins. go up a level and you will see logs.
4) You may be running into issue if you aren't running the latest code on the google code site. You may also be having fanart issue if you have the plex library detecting changes and automatically adding items to your library. If you have it set that way, as soon as a recording starts you will not have fanart available in bmt until the recording finishes. therefore when the plex scan starts, there is no fanart for the item. Try performing a deep scan of your plex directory for sage recordings.

Thanks for the info and help ... Attached are the 2 log files that i think you need (I could pull them remotely). Couple of things that may assist in debug

1. I am running the latest code from google (at least i think i am)
2. I DO " Update my library automatically" in Plex enabled. So that could be the issue
3. When Rookie Blue fanart did not load i manually loaded it in Plex using the art that was downloaded by Phoenix plugin

P.S. I changed the file extensions to txt as log was not allowed

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by nkd

Thanks for the info and help ... Attached are the 2 log files that i think you need (I could pull them remotely). Couple of things that may assist in debug

1. I am running the latest code from google (at least i think i am)
2. I DO " Update my library automatically" in Plex enabled. So that could be the issue
3. When Rookie Blue fanart did not load i manually loaded it in Plex using the art that was downloaded by Phoenix plugin

P.S. I changed the file extensions to txt as log was not allowed

I don't see the failing shows you were talking about in that scanning or Agent log. Please remove your sage recording directory, empty recycle bin, clean bundles, and then readd the section... once the scan is done, then please resend the logs.

[nkd]

That did it ... I think the order in which I deleted things matters to clear a cache
Sorry for wasting your time …

On a slightly different note for other folks that may be interested, I have been able to significantly speed up MCEBuddy processing by using “TS Uncompressed” profile. For a 1 hr shows it takes about 10 minutes to process and strip off the commercials using the edl file created by Sage. And the file works wonderfully on Roku.

There is one issue that I need to debug this weekend though, for one of the shows using Sage generated edl file the first 30 seconds or so is missing. This is not the case when watching on Sage. I was following along the processing that MCEBuddy does and as a part of stripping off the commercials it creates multiple video partials at commercial breaks and then combines the parts together. I captured the first one (this is where I have the missing 30 sec) and I see that this partial is already missing the 30 sec. So MCEBuddy is doing something to strip off the first 30 sec. But this issue is for the MCEBuddy forum …

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by nkd

That did it ... I think the order in which I deleted things matters to clear a cache
Sorry for wasting your time …

On a slightly different note for other folks that may be interested, I have been able to significantly speed up MCEBuddy processing by using “TS Uncompressed” profile. For a 1 hr shows it takes about 10 minutes to process and strip off the commercials using the edl file created by Sage. And the file works wonderfully on Roku.

There is one issue that I need to debug this weekend though, for one of the shows using Sage generated edl file the first 30 seconds or so is missing. This is not the case when watching on Sage. I was following along the processing that MCEBuddy does and as a part of stripping off the commercials it creates multiple video partials at commercial breaks and then combines the parts together. I captured the first one (this is where I have the missing 30 sec) and I see that this partial is already missing the 30 sec. So MCEBuddy is doing something to strip off the first 30 sec. But this issue is for the MCEBuddy forum …

No prob at all, glad u got it working.

I too was using the ts uncompressed but the issue I was having was that while it seemed to work ok, when frwd and rwd not so much. Roku and plex go right back to buffering and seeking to the right spot for plex to start transcoding.

[nkd]

You are absolutely right, but I think in my case it is ok as we don’t tend to do much ff and rw whilst watching a TV show. They key for me was to speed up the processing …

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by nkd

You are absolutely right, but I think in my case it is ok as we don’t tend to do much ff and rw whilst watching a TV show. They key for me was to speed up the processing …

If you donate to MCEBuddy there are a whole slew of features that you get added to your software. If you search there forums, there are also quite a few which don't process the videos at all, just recontainer them, and or just cut commercials.

there is for sure one that is a recontainer to mp4 (which is the prefered format for Roku) but I didn't have much luck getting my OTA HD recordings to play back nicely with it.

[nkd]

wow ... I will surely need to look at that
thanks for the pointer

[bialio]

Is there a centralized wiki or post or thread with all the info regarding getting Plex and SageTV integrated? Before I spend 3 days reading through this thread I thought I'd ask if there was a 'grand summary' somewhere

btl.

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by bialio

Is there a centralized wiki or post or thread with all the info regarding getting Plex and SageTV integrated? Before I spend 3 days reading through this thread I thought I'd ask if there was a 'grand summary' somewhere

btl.

indeed there is! :-)

https://code.google.com/p/sagetv-for...acenter/w/list

also, feel free to ask questions rather than digging through entire thread.. that is cumbersome to say the least.

[bialio]

I watched the video on youtube that had comskip type info, and you talked about buffering and not buffering.

Generally speaking, what's the story on supported media file types and how do they work with Roku and/or other clients?

For instance, I use makemkv to rip DVD's and have a bunch of HDHR mpg2 and HDPVR .ts (h264) files - how will these work? Will they require transcoding? etc

[Taddeusz]

Is there a way for Plex to be able to use comskip edl files or do I have to preprocess them if I want ads skipped?

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by bialio

I watched the video on youtube that had comskip type info, and you talked about buffering and not buffering.

Generally speaking, what's the story on supported media file types and how do they work with Roku and/or other clients?

For instance, I use makemkv to rip DVD's and have a bunch of HDHR mpg2 and HDPVR .ts (h264) files - how will these work? Will they require transcoding? etc

Yeah, but ONLY on devices that don't support that native format. So Roku for example doesn't play nice with mkv or straight mp2 for example. When playing these files Plex Media Server (PMS) will detect your client requesting the video, and then determine the best format for on the fly encoding. in the roku case its mp4/m4v h.264 with AAC audio or AC3 Passthrough. Seeking on plex is GREAT, but there is some things to keep in mind. The introduction of the new "indexed media files" in PMS allows you to get thumbnail view when seeking, but if transcoding, plex will need to first seek to the spot you stopped, and then start transcoding from there to get you a "buffer of video" to play.

To avoid any buffering and transcoding (which isn't bad if you have the horsepower) i use MCEbuddy to convert all of my recordings into 2 buckets. bucket 1 is for Wife and kiddos (fast transcoding, and not Highest possible Quality) bucket 2 is HD quality mp4 which takes my server roughly 45 minutes is to transcode. On both buckets I use the option to remove commercials, and then don't have to, for the most part, seek at all. seeking with mp4 is solid. its quick, no transcoding, and much more desirable in my opinion. One of the videos i posted shows how well MP4 works on the roku with seeking, starting, thumbnails, etc. If you can't find it lemme know and Ill look for it, or create a new one for you.

"
2) roku play nice formats: see attachement and taken from here: http://wwwimg.roku.com/static/sdk/DeveloperGuide.pdf
encoding site: http://roku.yt1300.com/
"
above quote taken from here http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...&postcount=682

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Is there a way for Plex to be able to use comskip edl files or do I have to preprocess them if I want ads skipped?

to Date, there is no support for reading chapter files in the plex app. I am not 100% sure if it is a limitation of the Plex Roku Channel, or the Roku itself. Probably a little from column A and a little from Column B.

If you are running the newest PMS, then index media file option is in the advanced settings of the WEBUI MEdia Manager. This take awhile to generate, but once you have them its super nice for seeking, and makes skipping over commercials less annoying. (if you dont' want to process the video of course.)

[bialio]

Have you (or anyone) tried a Google TV + Plex / SageTV mashup?

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by bialio

Have you (or anyone) tried a Google TV + Plex / SageTV mashup?

I have not, but have read that the newest googletv interface for plex native app is pretty slick. video playback and transcoding will be the same restrcitions as i mentioned above of course (based on what formats gtv will play).

Samsung has GREAT support for plex, LG support is lackluster from what I have read:

http://plexapp.com/connected/index.php

Im anxiously waiting for plex native apps to support chromecast. They are working on it is all I know.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by PiX64

to Date, there is no support for reading chapter files in the plex app. I am not 100% sure if it is a limitation of the Plex Roku Channel, or the Roku itself. Probably a little from column A and a little from Column B.

If you are running the newest PMS, then index media file option is in the advanced settings of the WEBUI MEdia Manager. This take awhile to generate, but once you have them its super nice for seeking, and makes skipping over commercials less annoying. (if you dont' want to process the video of course.)

I think preprocessing the video would be a waste of space as only a few recordings are ones that I watch away from home with Plex. My wife and children don't yet use Plex. Probably won't until our extenders no longer work. So any way for Plex to use the edl files would be preferable.

Just downloaded and installed the latest PlexPass version. Not sure I'll enable the indexing feature though. I have a lot of existing media that I'm sure would take forever to process.

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I think preprocessing the video would be a waste of space as only a few recordings are ones that I watch away from home with Plex. My wife and children don't yet use Plex. Probably won't until our extenders no longer work. So any way for Plex to use the edl files would be preferable.

Just downloaded and installed the latest PlexPass version. Not sure I'll enable the indexing feature though. I have a lot of existing media that I'm sure would take forever to process.

so something to conder - only transcode and cut the the shows you watch in plex... mcebuddy has a pretty robust ui which allows you to use searching (so to speak) to tell mcebuddy EXACTLY what to process

for example JudgeJudy* would process only JudgJudy files... ~*JudgeJudy* would NOT process those files... its pretty simple to setup.

lemme know if you want some help.

[bialio]

After playing with Plex some, what I find myself not liking is the lack of media aggregation - there are so many "sections" - Movies, Recorded Movies (sage), TV, Recorded TV (sage) - I want all my TV shows together, and all my movies together.

It seems like a reasonable frontend for playback though - especially getting sage content onto a tablet. But I want my sage content on my TV, along with Netflix / Amazon / Hulu etc. With a single interface and remote to control it all.