Recommendations for commercial skip?

[KScott]

I tried the Comskip donator version and could never get it to start automatically. I configured it based on the recommended settings from a thread in the Comskip forums. I installed the latest versions of DVRMS Toolbox, plugin, and ShowAnalyzer which worked automatically without any hassle.

SA catches at least 90% or more of the commercials so I'd recommend it

I thought about trying SA, guess I will.
Erks me that I paid for the donators Comskip and can't get it to work.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[KScott]

Hmmm, I installed ShowAnalyzer v1.0.
I fumbled around and made a setting or 2 and it started processing the .wtv's automatically.
Seems very slow to process, though.

Switched back to Comskip. immediately saw same errors as before.

[barnabas1969]

Hmmm, I installed ShowAnalyzer v1.0.
I fumbled around and made a setting or 2 and it started processing the .wtv's automatically.
Seems very slow to process, though.

Switched back to Comskip. immediately saw same errors as before.

By default, SA runs in a lower process priority so that it doesn't suck up too much CPU (which would negatively impact your ability to navigate the Media Center menus and guide). It will take 100% of the CPU when nothing else needs it. You can also run multiple threads of SA.

Here's a good guide to follow when setting up SA:
http://thedigitalmediazone.com/2010/11/ ... ia-center/

Here's how to tweak it for 100% accuracy:
http://www.engadget.com/topics/hd/2010/ ... ection-ac/

[adam1991]

As you've already figured out, automatically detecting commercials is not an easy thing to do and while tweaking your way to 100 precent accuracy is not for the faint of heart; it is technically possible thanks to the new profiles feature in ShowAnalyzer. And while many of these settings aren't terribly useful until SchoolHouse is released, other settings like AutoMark and Smoother are very simple and effective at correcting specific detection problems.

[winterescape]

I tried the Comskip donator version and could never get it to start automatically. I configured it based on the recommended settings from a thread in the Comskip forums. I installed the latest versions of DVRMS Toolbox, plugin, and ShowAnalyzer which worked automatically without any hassle.

SA catches at least 90% or more of the commercials so I'd recommend it

I thought about trying SA, guess I will.
Erks me that I paid for the donators Comskip and can't get it to work.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Kscott, did you try turning off UAC? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... -on-or-off

[JazJon]

I've never played with commercial skip yet either over the years. Will/Should comskip work in Win 8?

[KScott]

I tried the Comskip donator version and could never get it to start automatically. I configured it based on the recommended settings from a thread in the Comskip forums. I installed the latest versions of DVRMS Toolbox, plugin, and ShowAnalyzer which worked automatically without any hassle.

SA catches at least 90% or more of the commercials so I'd recommend it

I thought about trying SA, guess I will.
Erks me that I paid for the donators Comskip and can't get it to work.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Kscott, did you try turning off UAC? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... -on-or-off

Yes, UAC is off.
I've given up on it for now.
It was suggested that I post over at http://babgvant.com/forums.
I've done so but no resolution as of yet.

[KevinRush]

Hello,

I am considering installing either ShowAnalyzer or Comskip, but was wondering if there is a way to edit the number of seconds that the built in skip a head and skip back feature uses? I believe it skips ahead 30 seconds and back 7 seconds. I think I would like to tweak it to maybe 28 and 12.

Thoughts?

Best Wishes.

[mdavej]

Of course:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10762/in ... ia-center/

I think making skip work the way you want it is far simpler and more reliable than any of this comskip nonsense. Realize also that comm skips can also be done with macros. "6 SkipFwd", for example, will instantly skip 3 minutes. You can also skip a specific number of minutes and seconds using mmss and FFWD. For example, 5123 FFWD will skip 51 minutes and 23 seconds.

[adam1991]

What "nonsense" are we talking about here?

I installed DTB and ShowAnalyzer four years ago. It works. Not sure what's "nonsense" about it.

[mdavej]

It takes a lot of time and effort to make it work well, and even then it's never 100%. Just saying it's a lot easier to press a few buttons or make a few macros. Besides, I like some commercials.

[mcewinter]

^^ +1

I prefer Showanalyzer myself. Nothing nonsense about it, commercial skip is one of the best features to add to a HTPC. These are the instrctions I followed...the screenshots are almost enough to get you through after aquiring the necessary software.

http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/08/setup-dv ... pping.html

[STC]

It takes a lot of time and effort to make it work well, and even then it's never 100%. Just saying it's a lot easier to press a few buttons or make a few macros. Besides, I like some commercials.

Noooononononononoooo !!!

Pressing buttons to skip commercials? I'm not sure I understand you...

Auto commercial skip is a most magical thing and much prized in our home. It would be the most valued feature that I would dearly miss when the time comes to stop using MC.

Lazy factor ten is what I aspire to in this department. I automate everything i can.


/edited

[mcewinter]

It takes a lot of time and effort to make it work well, and even then it's never 100%. Just saying it's a lot easier to press a few buttons or make a few macros. Besides, I like some commercials.

Noooononononononoooo !!!

Pressing buttons to skip? I'm not sure I understand you?

Auto skip is a most magical thing and much prized in our home.

Lazy factor ten

It also keeps kids from seeing commercials and asking for stuff.

[adam1991]

It takes a lot of time and effort to make it work well, and even then it's never 100%. Just saying it's a lot easier to press a few buttons or make a few macros. Besides, I like some commercials.

Disagree. Sure, it's never 100%; so what? You know what else is never 100%? Pressing a few buttons or using macros that don't align to what's on screen.

I've managed to tune ShowAnalyzer to within an inch of its life on CBS, which is one of the worst offenders.

Let technology do the work for you.

[mdavej]

Sounds like I need to give SA another shot.

[STC]

SA bottled for me compared to Compskip, but does work well for others.
YMMV.

[adam1991]

I have to say, when I build my Mark II system I'll go the comskip route.

But since it wasn't out when I built Mark 1, and SA was the only choice, that's what I went for--and I see no reason to disturb a working setup just to futz around for no real reason.

[Gravydog]

I use SA and all the online guides seem to say to use SA with DVRMSToolbox and DTBAddin but I have found that DVRMSToolbox is not needed, SA and DTBAddin alone do it all. I have the .xml files written to my Recorded TV folder and if I watch a recorded show on another PC on my network that has DTBAddin installed it skips commercials there as well. If you have SA set up right it only creates .xml and .log files for each .wtv recording. Has anyone found a way to stop it from creating the .log files?

Rob

[Scallica]

I use comskip which works very well. I would like to schedule comskip.exe to automatically run on new files in the recorded TV folder. Does anyone have a working approach to this? I looked into MCEBuddy and it seemed absurdly complicated.