Playon + Comskip + EDL Files

[tonyt57]

So, I have the EDL Export checked in Advance, but I'm not getting the EDL file next to the recordings imported from PlayOn.
Is this supposed to happen automatically, or is it necessary to perform a Re-Detect commercials in DVR->Manage?

[chDVRuser]

If they're PlayOn Cloud recordings, they already have the commercial markers inside the MP4 files (I think as chapter marks, view one with VLC player and see) that are imported. Comskip doesn't get run on them.

[tonyt57]

Thanks, is there a way to export to an EDL file?
Attempting to cut the commercials with ffmpeg.

[chDVRuser]

Not sure. Good luck with cutting.
I trialed it and did one recording.
When I discovered they're variable frame rate HEVC, I dropped it.
My video editor doesn't edit VFR (variable frame rate).

[chDVRuser]

@tonyt57

is there a way to export to an EDL file?

Only thing I can think of is try doing a Refresh Metadata on it to see if Channels DVR gives you an EDL file.

[tonyt57]

Refresh Metadata didn't, only Re-Detect Commercials in DVR->Manage did by running comskip.

[bnhf]

@tonyt57

Refresh Metadata didn't, only Re-Detect Commercials in DVR->Manage did by running comskip.

No need to do that, there's an OliveTin Action to create an EDL file based on a PlayOn recording, and it's super fast:

It'll do an entire path at a time as well:

OliveTin for Channels: An Interface for Misc Channels DVR Scripts & Tricks

I've been working on a Channels DVR specific version of the OliveTin project. The idea is to make this a central interface for the various scripts people have developed, and miscellaneous tricks that require Python, cURL, jq or whatever. I'll build and maintain the container, including whatever dependencies are required for your favorite script or command line magic for Channels DVR. Here are some screenshots of a few things I have running so far, just to give you an idea of what's possible. I'…

[kcshield]

In case you do not have Olive Tin (and don't want to install/use it), it is based on a very simple bash script which you could use directly to generate the .edl for playon recordings, see:

OliveTin for Channels: An Interface for Misc Channels DVR Scripts & Tricks

Just tossing out a script I use to take PlayOn recordings and build .edl files based on the fact that PlayOn files usually (at least in my experience across several of their streaming sources) have "Chapters" that indicate Advertisements. This is a simple bash script that takes the filename (or can feed in wild card like *.mp4) and outputs an .edl file. It does use ffmpeg to read the file to get the Chapters data. I have been using this manually for 100+ recordings now, and have not seen any …