Commercial Skip Process running but not showing up when watching show

Looks like it just started today as shows earlier in the week worked as expected. The logs show the commercial skip is running but it's not reflected when watching the show. It did detect the first 30 seconds prior to the show (I have DVR set to start 30 seconds prior to show start).

I've included the logs below as well and what I believe is pertinent information:

OS where DVR is running: Windows 10 - Windows Microsoft Windows 10 Home
10.0.18362 Build 18362(updated earlier this week from Windows 7)

DVR Version: 2019.11.07.0453

Commercial skip checked

Log:

2019/11/08 21:59:30 [TNR] Opened connection to 10771656 for ch6.1 WTVR-HD
2019/11/08 21:59:30 [DVR] Recording for job 1573268370-13 from 10771656 ch6.1 into "TV\Blue Bloods\Blue Bloods S10E07 Higher Standards 2019-11-08-2159.mpg" for 1h3m29.9973457s
2019/11/08 21:59:30 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1573268370-13
2019/11/08 22:03:00 [TNR] Closed connection to 10771656 for ch35.1 FOX
2019/11/08 22:03:00 [DVR] Finished job 1573261170-5 WWE Friday Night SmackDown
2019/11/08 22:03:00 [DVR] Processing file-76: TV\WWE Friday Night SmackDown\WWE Friday Night SmackDown S21E45 2019-11-08-1959.mpg
2019/11/08 22:03:00 [DVR] Waiting 21h56m29.4478842s until next job 1573347570-ch6126 The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!
2019/11/08 22:03:01 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 76 (TV\WWE Friday Night SmackDown\WWE Friday Night SmackDown S21E45 2019-11-08-1959.mpg)
2019/11/08 22:26:52 [DVR] Commercial detection finished with 6 markers.
2019/11/08 22:43:02 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using natpmp
2019/11/08 23:03:00 [TNR] Closed connection to 10771656 for ch6.1 WTVR-HD
2019/11/08 23:03:00 [DVR] Finished job 1573268370-13 Blue Bloods
2019/11/08 23:03:00 [DVR] Processing file-77: TV\Blue Bloods\Blue Bloods S10E07 Higher Standards 2019-11-08-2159.mpg
2019/11/08 23:03:00 [DVR] Waiting 20h56m29.3535229s until next job 1573347570-ch6126 The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!
2019/11/08 23:03:02 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 77 (TV\Blue Bloods\Blue Bloods S10E07 Higher Standards 2019-11-08-2159.mpg)
2019/11/08 23:14:55 [DVR] Commercial detection finished with 2 markers.

Which client?

Apple TV 4k running Channels 3.2.31

1 Like

From the looks of the log, it appears that there wasn't a problem with the commercial scan; it reports that it found 2 markers. You also mentioned that it correctly tagged the beginning of the broadcast as not part of the program, so it's definitely working.

What is most likely happening is that the program wasn't able to detect when a commercial break was because of the broadcast itself. More frequently networks are now changing how they air commercials, place their logos, and other such things to ensure that you can't easily skip their commercials. (After all, that's how they're paying for the broadcast ... at least in theory :wink:

It definitely looks like it is trying to process the file to identify the commercials, I agree. I tested a couple of shows this morning with the same results where it's picking up commercials during the initial 30 seconds I have pre-show start but nothing beyond that. The odd part is it was working flawlessly earlier this week.

The weird part for the Friday Night Smackdown file log indicates it found 6 markers but when we watch the show there are 3 commercial markers (the initial 30 secs and 2 others), not 6. I included a screen shot below from my iphone running client 3.2.31.

A "marker" is simply where there's a change, so the 6 markers are:

  1. The initial commercial break before the start of the program.
  2. The end of the first program segment/the start of the first commercial break.
  3. The end of the first commercial break/start of the second program segment.
  4. The end of the second program segment/start of the second commercial break.
  5. The end of the second commercial break/start of the third program segment.
  6. The end of the program/start of the commercials once the program has ended.

So while it may only look like 2 commercial breaks were detected, that screenshot and your description shows that there were actually 6 "markers", but only 2 commercial breaks mid-program.

Thank you for the clarification and I learned something today. I tried another recording today and the commercial skip operated as expected so I believe your “theory” is accurate.

Thanks for the help and education. I love Get Channels and the service provided. Keep up the great work!

1 Like

Is there a setup guide to use MCEBuddy and Get Channels DVR? I reviewed the content here but the info is fairly challenging to follow (at least for me). The most helpful info was at this link MCEBuddy - Channels DVR files but still challenged.

The integrated commercial skip is still working sporadically for me. I did a test using a recently aired show where the integrated skip did not mark any commercials during the show (but did detect the first 30 seconds prior to the show starting) and ran the same show through MCEBuddy and it detected all commercials and removed them. I am running the latest version of the DVR.

Thanks!

I am sure MCEBUDDY is using a different INI. If you want there is a way to use the MCEBUDDY INI. You can post the MCEBUDDY INI if you like.

Below is the channels dvr INI all options except the below are comskip defaults

verbose=10
detect_method=123 ;; everything but scenechange
punish_no_logo=0
cc_correct_type_modifier=1
length_nonstrict_modifier=1.5 ;; required before below due to comskip.ini parsing bug
combined_length_nonstrict_modifier=1
min_show_segment_length=222
min_commercialbreak=45
use_existing_logo_file=0
logo_fraction=0.39
delete_logo_file=1
output_vdr=1
output_edl=1
output_ffmeta=1
output_ffsplit=1
thread_count=1
lowres=1

So being a noob to Channels DVR; how can I look at my settings?

If you mean Channels DVR comskip.ini settings, that's documented all over the forum.
By default when enabled it will copy it's default comskip.ini to the Logs folder
ChannelsDVR\Logs\comskip\fileid#\comskip.ini

There are also instructions on the forum for overriding the Channels DVR comskip.ini with your custom modified version.

If you mean MCEBuddy, can't answer that one as I don't use it.

I use a slightly modified comskip.ini and let Channel DVR do the heavy lifting with it, then fine tune things I want to keep by using VRD TVSuite (which uses frame accurate editing) to cut the commercials. I find the default Channels DVR comskip to be pretty accurate and like that it errs on the side of caution (not skipping show segments).

Here's my custom comskip.ini

verbose=10
detect_method=123 ;; everything but scenechange
punish_no_logo=0
cc_correct_type_modifier=1
length_nonstrict_modifier=1.5 ;; required before below due to comskip.ini parsing bug
combined_length_nonstrict_modifier=1
min_show_segment_length=222
min_commercialbreak=25
use_existing_logo_file=0
logo_fraction=0.39
delete_logo_file=1
output_vdr=1
output_edl=1
output_ffmeta=1
output_ffsplit=1
thread_count=2 ;; default is 1, 2 results in 50% CPU usage for me
lowres=1
output_videoredo3=1 ;; for VRD TVSuite
videoredo_offset=0 ;; for VRD TVSuite

MceBuddy you can find the ini here C:\Program Files\MCEBuddy2x\comskip