You might have to edit the generated VRD Project file using a good text editor to make the path to the recorded file on your Mac mini work with VRD in Parallels.
Don’t understand how to get the VRD project file when I can’t find the comskip.ini file to edit to create the VRD project file
Run commercial detection on a recording.
After it's done processing, look in your ChannelsDVR folder where your TV shows and Movies record to.
In the ChannelsDVR folder is another folder named Logs.
In there is another folder named comskip.
In that is folders for each file that comskip was run on and there you will find the default comskip.ini used by Channels DVR.
i.e. ChannelsDVR/Logs/comskip/1048/comskip.ini
i guess Im missing the obvious. I added output_videoredo3=1 to every comskip.ini I could find including those located in the ChannelsDVR\Logs\comskip folders. Im stlll not getting a VideoReDo project file
I believe I need to find the actual default comskip.ini file Channels uses to generate the data in the Logs folders.
In a post above a default comskip.ini is referenced as being copied to an override location location on my Mac
Thanks in advance
or re-run comskip after editing the comskip.ini?
Was off the grid for a few days.
Look at this thread
You need to put the modified comskip.ini in the data directory.
Not sure where that is on a Mac.
You may want to ask @tmm1
Be aware that if the default comskip.ini changes with an update to your Channels DVR, you need to update your override comskip.ini in the data directory with the changes.
Maybe @tmm1 could include the VideoRedo output in the default comskip.ini, since it's just another small text file to output.
I havent been able to find the default. Agree it would be nice to have the default .ini output a VideoRedo project file
I'm using the current beta version 2019.02.12.0028 of Channels DVR.
Not sure if this is working as designed, but if you have an override comskip.ini in your data directory, Channels DVR does not copy it or the default comskip.ini to the Logs/comskip folder. If you rename your override comskip.ini in the data directory to comskip.bak, then Channels DVR will copy its default comskip.ini to the Logs/comskip folder.
@tmm1 would you consider adding the VideoRedo Project file output to the default comskip.ini?
output_videoredo3=1
New user here, still learning the ropes. I've done both the edl hack and edit comskip.ini to generate a VideoRedo vprj file. Is there a way to get channels DVR to copy & rename the Vprj file to the recordings directory instead of (or in addition to) the edl file?
Welcome to the Channels Community!
Not that I know of. @tmm1 ???
For me they end up in the comskip folders for each recording,
i.e. ChannelsDVR/Logs/comskip/1048/video.VPrj
That VRD Project file contains the DVR's native OS path to the recording.
i.e. on my Synology NAS it's /volume1/arkives/ChannelsDVR/TV/NOVA/NOVA S46E13 2019-07-24 The Planets Mars 2019-07-24-2200.mpg
You may have to edit the Project file and change the path or just choose to search for the file from within VRD after you double-click the Project file to open and it complains it can't find the video file because you're not running VRD on the same PC/OS that you record to.
Your name sounds TiVo-ly familiar
Just wanted to add that comskip is obviously pretty much hit or miss depending on the channel recorded. I like the markers in the VRD Project file as I have it pretty much down how to quickly find/mark segements in VRD after using it for years. I can process and frame-accurate cut comms in VRD manually in a few minutes on each recording.
The nice part of ChannelsDVR comskip marking is they're like CUT&Chapter marks in VRD and let you skip over them without them being removed. I use these markings for shows I don't archive just to watch them in VRD and then delete them.
Yes, same username on the TivoCommunity forums. I'm looking into alternatives and want to keep using VideoRedo for reviewing commercial cuts before archiving. I'd like to automate as much of my video archive workflow as possible. The file naming and absolute path references are just inconveniences. I can get around them if needed.
That sounds a lot like something Moyekj would say from TivoCommunity forums.
Ah yes, Kevin Moye, author of kmttg.
It's a great utility and I still have it but rarely used anymore since I rarely use my TiVo's either.
You'll like the fact Channels uses Gracenote EPG data which TiVo used before becoming RiVo and converting to Rovi data.
This is available now.
This is the way I've been using Channels DVR so far:
- record programs with the DVR
- use Avidemux to manually remove commercials from recordings without re-encoding
- move the clean recordings to Plex for viewing
My recordings are 90% from TV Everywhere so the video files are H.264 in MPG containers.
Using Avidemux works pretty well, especially without re-encoding the videos. No need to re-encode since the recordings are originally already compressed in H.264 at the source.
There are times though when it is a bit annoying because you can briefly hear half a second of the end of the commercial break at the very beginning of a new segment of the program when I cut the videos. It seems to happen mostly with recordings from the Hallmark channel. It's just the sound, not the video. I'm a perfectionist so I wish it was cleaner.
I'm not sure whether it's an issue/bug with Avidemux or not.
So I've been looking for alternatives for removing commercials. I found LosslessCut but it turns out that it doesn't support the TVE format natively and that slows down previews. It's so bad that for me it's unusable.
That brings me to VideoReDo that I've seen mentioned around here. I haven't tried it yet, I've only watched videos on YouTube so far. If this tool is better than Avidemux for removing commercials without re-encoding, I don't mind spending the money for it if it makes my life easier.
It's not very clear to me whether VideoReDo can cut videos without re-encoding. In the last video that I watched, it seemed to show that it was encoding but in the process I caught messages saying "fast frame copy" so I'm not sure.
Before I spend (waste?) time on it, I figured I would ask Channels users directly how you actually use it. Maybe provide a step-by-step guide, if you don't mind. 
Convince me to use VideReDo. 
VideoReDo is a Windows program.
VideoReDo will cut commercials and allow you to save in the same format (mpeg transport stream) and same codecs (video and audio) that Channels DVR recorded in. It also allows you to re-encode to other formats if you want.
fast frame copy is essentially VRD copying the frames you didn't cut out, it only has to re-encode a few frames around the cut points.
I love using it since the latest integration that created a VideoReDo Project file next to the recording. You just double click the .vprj file and it opens the recording with the ads marked in red. Adjust markers as necessary and save the new ad free video.
I've been using it since version 3. Now at version 6.
You can get a free one month trial at their website and ask questions in their support forum.
https://www.videoredo.com/en/
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Thanks for the explanations!
OK, now, that's cool! That means I don't have to worry about starting a new segment of the show on a key frame. Encoding black frames should be trivial and not visible.
Even better!
With the added support in Channels, I think it's a no brainer!
Thanks. You have convinced me to try it! 
Also, in VideoReDo, if you enable thumbnails, there is a audio waveform of sorts below the video thumbnail that will tell you if audio is silent or not. I usually just advanced to the next or previous i-frame with silent audio to mark my commercial cut.
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Nice. Thank you for the tip!
Bonus point: it even creates chapter markers at the cut points! This is something I usually do manually using MKVToolNix.
After using on just two movies, I love it!
Transitions are beautiful, exactly what I want.
I turned on the option to generate the vprj files from Channels and life is great.
I'm sold on VideReDo.
Thanks!
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