Plex Scanner and BMT Agent for SageTV

[wayner]

I use SJQv4 to kick off a Handbrake process to automatically encode all kids shows to MP4 format and store in a folder based off of the show name. It works well but requires some CPU resources.

[mkanet]

Sorry for the off-topic response; but, I couldn't help but think... what kind of a media playback device that doesn't support cableTV and ATSC OTA recordings? I did a quick search on google; but didn't see anything that suggests that (except for a couple of old forum posts).

If you do decide to add yet another generation of re-encoding (H.264) to already very-compressed cableTV media files; you may consider NOT to delete your "original quality" mpeg2 recordings after you convert it to H.264 (keeping two copies). That way, all your software and hardware that do support mpeg2 (such as PLEX and SageTV clients) wont be unnecessarily limited to the lower quality re-encoded files media files you make. This is especially true when also trying to stream these media files to PLEX/SageTV clients; where their transcoders will re-encode yet again for a 3rd time.

For all your high bitrate mpeg2 files (such as untouched 19.2Mbps ATSC encoding), adding a subsequent 2nd (or even 3rd generation re-encoding for streaming) should still be acceptable video quality; especially on portable devices.

Originally Posted by bialio

Is there a 'defacto standard' utility that does a good job converting HDHR (ie mpg2) into a format that is more Roku friendly (ie h264)?

I've never had much luck transcoding. But I think it's almost to the inevitable point now - I'm growing weary of switching between sage extenders and roku/plex clients...

btl.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Sorry for the off-topic response; but, I couldn't help but think... what kind of a media playback device that doesn't support cableTV and ATSC OTA recordings? I did a quick search on google; but didn't see anything that suggests that (except for a couple of old forum posts).

If you do decide to add yet another generation of re-encoding (H.264) to already very-compressed cableTV media files; you may consider NOT to delete your "original quality" mpeg2 recordings after you convert it to H.264 (keeping two copies). That way, all your software and hardware that do support mpeg2 (such as PLEX and SageTV clients) wont be unnecessarily limited to the lower quality re-encoded files media files you make. This is especially true when also trying to stream these media files to PLEX/SageTV clients; where their transcoders will re-encode yet again for a 3rd time.

For all your high bitrate mpeg2 files (such as untouched 19.2Mbps ATSC encoding), adding a subsequent 2nd (or even 3rd generation re-encoding for streaming) should still be acceptable video quality; especially on portable devices.

Not all Plex clients can playback MPEG2 or interlaced H.264. Most ARM devices such as Android phones/tablets are very poor at decoding or don't have the correct CODEC capabilities. I have a Raspberry Pi that I've been toying with as a Plex client and while it will play MPEG2 video it can't seem to deinterlace the video. It also has a problem with my interlaced HDPVR recordings. They play too slowly and they are not deinterlaced. When I had a Nexus 7 I tried repeatedly to get it to play non-trancoded video but nothing would work properly. That is the reason I finally settled on Plex. But I also don't pre-transcode stuff. Everything is in it's "raw" state until Plex does its thing.

[wayner]

And iDevices don't play MPEG-2 natively either.

[bialio]

Roku doesn't support mpeg2 encoded video. Neither does the new amazon FireTV. In my use case it's the uncompressed ATSC encoding that I want to move over to h264 so that these devices can play it back.

Ideally I want to not have the PLEX MS doing on the fly transcoding of my recorded TV content.
btl.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by bialio

Roku doesn't support mpeg2 encoded video. Neither does the new amazon FireTV. In my use case it's the uncompressed ATSC encoding that I want to move over to h264 so that these devices can play it back.

Ideally I want to not have the PLEX MS doing on the fly transcoding of my recorded TV content.
btl.

I personally don't see what's wrong with on-the-fly transcoding as long as you have a machine that is up to the task. For me processing power is much cheaper than storage. My Plex is running on a decent quad core. I don't want to delete the originals for the times that we watch through SageTV at home. I have enough media that I would need to purchase more drives to keep lower quality duplicates. Leveraging the processing power I already have with Plex's sync feature gives me great flexibility. I can prepare stuff I know I will watch on my iPad and still have the ability to stream everything else on-the-fly.

[bialio]

I don't like having to wait for seek and skipping. Which on the fly transcoding seems to introduce.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by bialio

I don't like having to wait for seek and skipping. Which on the fly transcoding seems to introduce.

That is a bit annoying. That's the reason I started using sync for stuff that I know I will be watching remotely.

[bialio]

On an unrelated note, I see some media durations in PLEX from sage recordings that are Whack. One file had an 18 minute duration, but it was 1:04:00 in reality. Then another 1:04:00 had a 3:26:xx duration.

I'm seeing this from the iOS plex app.

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by bialio

On an unrelated note, I see some media durations in PLEX from sage recordings that are Whack. One file had an 18 minute duration, but it was 1:04:00 in reality. Then another 1:04:00 had a 3:26:xx duration.

I'm seeing this from the iOS plex app.

The best solution i have found for transcoding is using MCEBuddy. I persoally just let Plex transcode on the fly, but I def. understand your frustration with the buffering. I would try out MCEBuddy or DVRMSToolbox. I have also found that the built in SageTV Transcoder for Apple TV Widescreen is quite good.

[wildgoose]

I just installed sagetv for plex by following the direction here:
http://code.google.com/p/sagetv-for-...allingAndUsing

All my TV recordings are imported in correctly. Shows are correctly grouped under name/season/etc.. Show/episode detail also shows up correctly for I think most of them.

But, none of the image shows up.

Anyone know what's going on? Thanks!

[mkanet]

Yes, that sounds like the same issue some of us are having; including me. There isn't a fix for this issue yet. Hopefully soon.

Originally Posted by wildgoose

I just installed sagetv for plex by following the direction here:
http://code.google.com/p/sagetv-for-...allingAndUsing

All my TV recordings are imported in correctly. Shows are correctly grouped under name/season/etc.. Show/episode detail also shows up correctly for I think most of them.

But, none of the image shows up.

Anyone know what's going on? Thanks!

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by PiX64

The best solution i have found for transcoding is using MCEBuddy. I persoally just let Plex transcode on the fly, but I def. understand your frustration with the buffering. I would try out MCEBuddy or DVRMSToolbox. I have also found that the built in SageTV Transcoder for Apple TV Widescreen is quite good.

MCEBuddy now handles SageTV recordings quite nicely as long as you have a valid properties file. I use CMT to generate the properties file then I have mcebuddy transcode rename and move to a NAS using the proper Plex naming conventions. I also have it rename all my recordings in place. So all my recordings are properly named.

[wildgoose]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Yes, that sounds like the same issue some of us are having; including me. There isn't a fix for this issue yet. Hopefully soon.

Anyone know what the issue is? Is this a bug in the sage side of things, or the plex side? If plex side then I know a little bit of python so maybe I can tweak the python code to make it work?

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

MCEBuddy now handles SageTV recordings quite nicely as long as you have a valid properties file. I use CMT to generate the properties file then I have mcebuddy transcode rename and move to a NAS using the proper Plex naming conventions. I also have it rename all my recordings in place. So all my recordings are properly named.

thats right, I remember you emailing me about that. I totally forgot about it with everything going on... Ill have to check it out.

What setting are you using in MCEBuddy for transcode? custom or did the dev add a new one for roku?

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by wildgoose

Anyone know what the issue is? Is this a bug in the sage side of things, or the plex side? If plex side then I know a little bit of python so maybe I can tweak the python code to make it work?

There is no garauntee that this is the same issue mkanet is having. I have seen this issue before and there have been various fixes for it on my side. I am continuing to look into mkanets issue but have had some family emergencies (like real ER emergencies) come up in the past week.

IF you would please, PM me and I will give you my email address. I will provide you with instructions, and an updated file with better logging. I would then need the log files emailed back to me. Its important to follow the steps i give you as close as possible. thanks!

[Taddeusz]

Can the scanner be limited only to shows that have finished recording? I ask because last night I was recording the new Cosmos. Apparently it did a scan during the show. Because I have Plex set to automatically sync all unwatched episodes to my iPad it proceeded to transcode it and ended up getting only 27min of the show on my iPad. Had to stream the rest.

Usually this isn't a problem but because I've been keeping all the Cosmos episodes it's able to actually track everything I've watched. Apparently Plex isn't smart enough to keep track of shows of the same name that come and go however.

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Can the scanner be limited only to shows that have finished recording? I ask because last night I was recording the new Cosmos. Apparently it did a scan during the show. Because I have Plex set to automatically sync all unwatched episodes to my iPad it proceeded to transcode it and ended up getting only 27min of the show on my iPad. Had to stream the rest.

Usually this isn't a problem but because I've been keeping all the Cosmos episodes it's able to actually track everything I've watched. Apparently Plex isn't smart enough to keep track of shows of the same name that come and go however.

the only way would be to fiddle with the scanning time. in plex you can have it scan on an interval, or "watch" the folder and scan everytime it sees a change. There is no way to exclude "currently recording shows" from plex scanning. Plex doesn't care if its a growing file, just that it is in fact a file you want scanned into the library.


MKANET and wildgoose - you guys are in fact having the same issue which is related to a Java exception being returned by GetAbsoluteFilePath. I will be working on this again this week. Things have slowed down with the family crisis and I have some time now to look. hopefully will have some answers soon. Would you guys be willing to test fixes out for me? If so send me an email.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by PiX64

the only way would be to fiddle with the scanning time. in plex you can have it scan on an interval, or "watch" the folder and scan everytime it sees a change. There is no way to exclude "currently recording shows" from plex scanning. Plex doesn't care if its a growing file, just that it is in fact a file you want scanned into the library.

Maybe I don't understand how the scanner works but can you not limit the retrieval of metadata only to recordings that are completed?

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Maybe I don't understand how the scanner works but can you not limit the retrieval of metadata only to recordings that are completed?

The scanner itself is a very basic animal. IT simply scans physical files and adds them to the plex media stack for metadata retriveal by an Agent. In this case, we have to access the sagex in order to retrieve the basic metadata needed by plex to add an item to the stack i.e. ShowName, Episode Name, Season Number, Episode Number, Year. This information is not contained for the most part in the filename which is why built in Plex Scanner doesn't fit the bill. You could probably modify the scanner in such a way which it would not only grab the necessary metadata to add the media item to the stack, but also check the CurrentlyRecording. If it is yes, then skip the file. the issue with this is that it would be fixing a specific use case and most likely caused undesirable effects for others.

1) if library is set to update every time folder changes, this could cause continuous scanning during a recording (major slow down of plex)
2) other people like myself like the shows to show up immediately when the recording starts, and update the metadata upon the completion of the show. (I personally don't use syncing of items on a regular basis)
3) I am not certain that plex will handle this gracefully. Theoretically it should scan the file, realize code has chosen NOT to add it to the stack, and then upon next scan add it if CurrentlyRecording == False
4) This is essentially the same thing has scheduling a scan to occur periodically throughout the day (I realize there are edge cases where you have a scan set for say 12:00 AM and you decide to record a show at 12:00 AM one night.. well the same issue you are reporting, would happen again.
5) I thought there was an option to say only sync when or sync at xyz time.. but i could be wrong.
6) It may work but it will force other users to not have upto date info in plex SageTV recordings library section because i am insiting that an item only be added in the event that it isn't recording.... If the general concesus is that this doesn't matter, then it may be worth making the change.