Feature Request - file date/time

[KryptoNyte]

Would it be possible to have the final file output from VAP retain the original (pre-processed) file's date and time?

[dlflannery]

The output file time stamps are determined by the VRD process. VAP would have to remember the input file timestamp and then change the properties of the output file after VRD finishes with it. I expect some complications due to Win7's touchy permissions policies but possibly it could be done.

First, though, what about cases where the final output file is produced by a process run by the VAPpostProcess.cmd script? VAP cannot handle that because it doesn't know that file name or location, in general. Or doesn't this apply to your process flow?

What is the motivation for this? Maybe there is another approach.

Also, VAP processes files in the order it detects them in the monitor folder if that helps.

[KryptoNyte]

I'm not really sure how you could achieve this in a post-process situation (say, with Handbrake for example), with the exception of "shelling" the application processing the file, waiting for it to finish, and then getting a handle on the file for the update in data/time.

It's actually, fairly important if you're processing weeks worth of programs, and the only way to really identify the program with the SE0XEX, is where you have to use the date of the (original) recording to identify which show is which.

[KryptoNyte]

Don't quote me on this, but as I recall, "mediashrink" did this.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48009&page=1

[dlflannery]

I'm not really sure how you could achieve this in a post-process situation (say, with Handbrake for example), with the exception of "shelling" the application processing the file, waiting for it to finish, and then getting a handle on the file for the update in data/time.

It's actually, fairly important if you're processing weeks worth of programs, and the only way to really identify the program with the SE0XEX, is where you have to use the date of the (original) recording to identify which show is which.


Don't quote me on this, but as I recall, "mediashrink" did this.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48009&page=1
You didn't answer my question of whether you need this after post processing.

What kind of names do the files have? They don't include any portion of the episode name that could be used to identify them? If not, is there any way to get the recording time/date into the file names?

I'm not sure what to get from your MediaShrink link.

[KryptoNyte]

Let me describe my current procedure;

1) SageTV records program to VAP monitor directory.
2) VAP grabs the file when it's done, Does QFS, Adscan (comskip), deletes processed inputs and then waits for me to cut
3) I stop VAP processing, manually make the final cuts and save the project in Video redo.
4) Start processing, and let VAP finish up the Videoredo cuts and saves the final file as mpg2 program stream.

At this point, I manually run the encoding using handbrake CLI to mkv, I have one profile for 720p input, and another for 1080i input files. More accurately, I actually use "mediashrink" as it automates a number of things, but most importantly, I can drag and drop the mpg files onto desktop shortcuts and mediashrink takes it from there.

At some point, I'd like to configure VAP to take care of this last encoding step, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet, need a little time to get that going in VAP as it appears the capability is there.

To answer your question, yes, it would be good if the date/time was preserved whether post-processing is done or not. I personally don't use post-processing at this point, based on what I understand "post-processing" to mean with regards to VAP. Regarding filenames, I do nothing to change them, until all processing is complete, and then I do that manually. An example filename is "TVseriesName-EpisodeName-725145-0.mpg"

The point I was trying to make with MediaShrink is that the author of that software has managed to retain the file's original date/time, even after all the various applications have done their thing. I haven't paid attention to how he did it, but it works, and can be really handy.

[KryptoNyte]

DL, I must confess, I don't really know how the post-processing feature of VAP works, so I'm afraid I'm a bit deficient in this conversation. I'll try and work on understanding that feature this weekend.

[dlflannery]

Take a look at this post: http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/showpost.php?p=88456&postcount=22
and the post-process script attached to it.

I assume your example file name ("TVseriesName-EpisodeName-725145-0.mpg") is what you assign manually to the output file. What is an example input file name? Also, what is the number in that file name?

If the series name and either (1) the episode name or (2) the original air date are contained in the input file name, you can set up an input file name parsing template that will pick them out, then get all the metadata from theTVDB.com, plus VAP can automatically rename the output files per your example, and put them in different folders for different series if desired.

[KryptoNyte]

The example posted was slightly doctored up to be more generic for our purposes here, but yes, that's actually the original mpg filename that SageTV saves.

A couple more real-world examples:

BorntoExplore-Labrador1BearsasNeighbors-787341-0.mpg
CultureClick-787342-0.mpg

According to Sage, the 6 character string is the TV show's "AiringID." Some shows by nature have a series name, and single runs of course do not.

The attached image shows the show properties for "Culture Click" in the SageTV Web Interface.

I'm playing around with the cmd file ... getting there.

[dlflannery]

The example posted was slightly doctored up to be more generic for our purposes here, but yes, that's actually the original mpg filename that SageTV saves.

A couple more real-world examples:

BorntoExplore-Labrador1BearsasNeighbors-787341-0.mpg
CultureClick-787342-0.mpg

According to Sage, the 6 character string is the TV show's "AiringID." Some shows by nature have a series name, and single runs of course do not.

The attached image shows the show properties for "Culture Click" in the SageTV Web Interface.

I'm playing around with the cmd file ... getting there.
Now I don't understand why the file timestamp is important for identifying the video. Seems like the title contains enough info to identify it, no?

[KryptoNyte]

I'm not sure yet, I can't access that thetvdb.com right now to see how that works.

I guess if I can eventually get VAP to use HandbrakeCLI and then autoname my files to something like this:

FRINGE S03E03 - The Plateau.mkv

then perhaps it wouldn't be needed. I guess I just kind of liked the idea of the original timestamp being retained in the event it would help identify a program upon some kind of filenaming problem, but it sounds like that could really turn into a major undertaking with all of the options that VAP gives the user.

[KryptoNyte]

Handbrake is integrated and working now, but I haven't deciphered the file renaming convention yet.

By any chance, would you know what switch I'm missing to allow handbrakeCLI to complete, without the user intervention of "press any key to continue," that is required to exit the CLI window?

Here's my altered HB section (still in progress) of the VAPpostProcess.cmd:

REM %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
rem START USER-DEFINED PARAMETERS
rem options for HB CLI. Copy from GUI Query Editor for example
set hbOptions= -t 1 -c 1 -f mkv --decomb -w 1280 -l 720 --crop 0:0:0:0 -e x264 -b 2000 -2 -a 1 -E copy:ac3 -6 auto -R Auto -B auto -D 0 -x b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=50

rem input file extension
set inExt=.mpg

rem output file extension (.mp4 or .m4v)
set outExt=.mkv

rem all folder path values should end with the '\' character
rem destination folder for encoded output video
set outDir=C:\Share\VAPOutput\

rem path to handBrakeCLI.exe
set HBpath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Handbrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe

rem path to AtomicParsley (which is distributed with VAP)
set apPath="C:\Program Files (x86)\VAP\AtomicParsley.exe"
rem END USER-DEFINED PARAMETERS
REM %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

[KryptoNyte]

I'm getting closer to understanding this, DL, you've pretty much convinced me this feature would be unnecessary in most scenarios.

[dlflannery]

Looks like theTVDB.com is down for some intervals this weekend:
http://forums.thetvdb.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7487
VAP can be configured (Advanced Configuration) so it will wait to process any new files in the monitor folder until theTVDB.com can be reached. It keeps trying to connect every 5 minutes.

[KryptoNyte]

I didn't even know that site existed. I'm eager to see it when it's back up. I've been using TVguide.com and the likes to manually alter filenames for a couple years now. Clearly, VAP's an eyeopening experience.

I had no idea just how capable it was when I first started playing around with it.

[dlflannery]

Handbrake is integrated and working now, but I haven't deciphered the file renaming convention yet.

By any chance, would you know what switch I'm missing to allow handbrakeCLI to complete, without the user intervention of "press any key to continue," that is required to exit the CLI window?

Here's my altered HB section (still in progress) of the VAPpostProcess.cmd:

REM %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
rem START USER-DEFINED PARAMETERS
rem options for HB CLI. Copy from GUI Query Editor for example
set hbOptions= -t 1 -c 1 -f mkv --decomb -w 1280 -l 720 --crop 0:0:0:0 -e x264 -b 2000 -2 -a 1 -E copy:ac3 -6 auto -R Auto -B auto -D 0 -x b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=50

rem input file extension
set inExt=.mpg

rem output file extension (.mp4 or .m4v)
set outExt=.mkv

rem all folder path values should end with the '\' character
rem destination folder for encoded output video
set outDir=C:\Share\VAPOutput\

rem path to handBrakeCLI.exe
set HBpath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Handbrake\HandBrakeCLI.exe

rem path to AtomicParsley (which is distributed with VAP)
set apPath="C:\Program Files (x86)\VAP\AtomicParsley.exe"
rem END USER-DEFINED PARAMETERS
REM %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
There is a pause statement in your batch file -- comment it out (or delete it). For debugging, the pause statement allows you to inspect the response(s) from things done in the cmd script before closing the command window.
Also, you might need to enclose the HBpath string in quotes.

[dlflannery]

If you set up metadata-based output folder renaming each series will have a distinct output folder. Then you can put a distinct VAPpostProcess.cmd in each folder so that different HB parameters can be used for different series, e.g., 720 vs. 1080.

If there is no .cmd file in the metadata-based output folder, the one in your configured output folder is used (if present).

[KryptoNyte]

Understood. The removal of the debug pause and added quotes did the trick on HB. I'll start fooling with the file naming this next week.

I initially thought I would dump each mkv into it's final archive folder with the rest of the series mkv's, but now I'm thinking that I may drop all files to one folder, create one universal VAPpp.cmd file, and then move them into final archive directory manually after watching them, which should keep track of watched/unwatched shows.

[KryptoNyte]

Thanks for the help by the way. I see pretty much everything you've explained here was clearly available in the PDF manual. I definitely should have spent more time digging through the manual, but the personal help was appreciated.

[dlflannery]

Thanks for the help by the way. I see pretty much everything you've explained here was clearly available in the PDF manual. I definitely should have spent more time digging through the manual, but the personal help was appreciated.
You're welcome. Actually the PDF doc needs a lot of work, but may never get it. ;)

I've got some questions about the WDTV Live Plus if you don't mind:
1. How do you access the videos stored on your PC? Can streaming be initiated purely by remote control from the TV end, or do you have to start it on the PC?

2. Is WMC acting as the media server for the WDTV units?

3. Do you use the HDMI outputs of your WDTV units?

Another question:
I gather you're using an old version of HB because you want .mkv output files. Have you considered .mp4 output format?

[KryptoNyte]

1) I have all of my media directory setup as shared directories throughout the home network. This way any and all my devices can browse to the shared dir's and watch archived media. Well, okay, Android can't see them. I end up re-ripping my mkv's to a smaller mp4 for use on portables and then manually moving the media files to my portable Android devices - hopefully as time passes, I won't have to have the smaller mp4 files. The HDMI connection provides crystal clear 1080p video to your video device.

2) I use the WDTV units as a pull-type device, so there's nothing running on my media (archival) computer. The WDTV Live Plus HD is a device fully capable of rendering its own video directly from the video files themselves, whether from a shared network drive, or USB device plugged directly into it. You basically just browse your home network for shared directories on the WDTV device.

3) Yes, I use the HDMI output. On my home theater, however, I also use the optical out connector to my stereo system for audio throughput, or DTS handoff.

I would definitely be using mp4 format at this point in time if it wasn't for Apple's deficiency in implementing DTS audio in the mp4 container. So, at this point, the mkv container is the only one I'm aware of that's all-encompassing.

A couple other notes of the WDTV live plus devices;

Netflix works very well, if one hadn't cancelled their streaming portion of the account when their prices went up 50%. There is no Internet browser so to speak. Youtube works well, if you like that kind of content on the TV.

Most importantly, the WDTV USB ports (there are two). You can plug in an external hard drive, or two, and access both of these hard drives anywhere on the network (if you wish), so the WDTV basically [can] become a 100mbit NAS, and a cheap one at that. Heck, I grabbed one of my cordless keyboard dongles and slipped that in, and the keyboard works. There are also some approved wi-fi USB dongles that work, but I wouldn't recommend them - wifi and HD video just don't sit well with me.

The WDTV device has played every file I've thrown at it, with the exception of DV-AVI, those files that come off your old fashioned DV video cameras.

I've had one outstanding problem with the WDTV's in the house, occasionally the shared directory on my media computer can't be accessed from the WDTV interface. I've studied up on this, and read and read about it, but I just can't get it resolved. All I have to do is reboot the media computer with shared dir's and then it's working again. I would dig further, but it's a minor annoyance. This issue does not occur on WinXP computers with shared folders. Oh, and their bootup is slow, so I generally just leave them on and turn the TV off.

I know I sound like a salesperson for the WDTV devices, but in my opinion, for $100, they are simply that good at what they do.

I'd stick with the WDTV Live Plus HD device, the others, including those with internal hard drives, just aren't worth it.

[dlflannery]

Thanks for the detailed info! I've been keeping my eye on the WDTV for a while now and it sounds even better than I had pictured it.

Am I correct that copy-once protection does not prevent streaming from the shared drives via the WDTV units? (Although it apparently prevents processing with VideoReDo.)

I prefer to retain the ability to process files through VRD's QSF to clean them up. The 1212 HD-PVR seems a good solution to the copy protection although the single-channel limitation would be hard to take after having a dual-tuner TiVo for years. It will produce H.264 video only, per my understanding. What would be your process flow in VRD for these files? QSF plus ComSkip (using the "early access" donor's version to handle the h.264)?

[KryptoNyte]

I just stripped out the Ceton hardware, so I can't test, but I'm quite sure the ONLY way to watch copy-once material recorded by WMC is to use one of the approved "WMC extenders." And that list of hardware is really thin, in fact, I would list that as the major issue that will kill all of Microsoft's hard work in getting cablecard recording to a PC hard drive.

I should have mentioned, yes, you can use the WDTV as a client in the streaming environment, just not with the copy-once material.

I just got the 1212 HD-PVR setup, and I am really pleased with it. I'm still using SageTV, and plan to prop it up as long as I can. Most of the shows I record are on the local affiliates, so the combination of having SageTV + HDHomeRun(dual tuner for local channels) + HD-PVR looks like it will do the trick! I managed to get Sage to prioritize the tuners, so it always uses the HDHR's for locals, and only uses the HD-PVR for the encrypted stuff.

If you wanted to go crazy with it, I suppose you could grab (2) STB's and (2) 1212's and run like that. You do have one hurdle there in the control of the IR transmitters on multiple tuners (potentially).

As usual, you're ahead of me here. I'm not sure what my procedure is going to be yet, but we both agree that whatever the saved TV show file is, we want VRD/VAP abilities in full force.

I can tell you this, the .ts files saved by the 1212 are TERRIBLY SLOW to QSF, but the comskip doesn't seem too bad.

Let me ask you this ... I've never used QSF until I started using VAP a week ago. Is QSF really necessary?

[KryptoNyte]

I'll add this. The idea that I can't even use another PC as a WMC extender was really disappointing. Clearly M$ wants to ride the same money train that the Sat. and Cable companies do with their STB's.

[KryptoNyte]

Okay, the comskip is also quite slow with the h.264 .ts file from the 1212. I may have to grab the paid version.

Just to give you some idea (Q8300 quad core @ stock 2.50ghz on Win7 64bit);

QSF = runtime on .ts file is roughly 3 to 4 times the video duration (ouch)
Comskip = about 120 to 150 fps

I did a little research on the HD-PVR 1212 and it appears that h.264 is the only option as that was the decision on the internal hardware encoder. I did notice that you can save in M2TS, ts, and mp4. Sage only gives me the ts option, but I would imagine it doesn't really matter as VAP's final gives me pretty much whatever I please.

[dlflannery]

Okay, the comskip is also quite slow with the h.264 .ts file from the 1212. I may have to grab the paid version.
........
QSF = runtime on .ts file is roughly 3 to 4 times the video duration (ouch)
Comskip = about 120 to 150 fps
.........
I didn't realize the unpaid version of ComSkip would even do h.264. I may need to modify VAP to allow ComSkip to run on .mp4 or .m2ts file extensions. I will check into this issue, but I think it now defaults to using VRD Ad Detective on those files (because AFAIK the free ComSkip can't handle them). I think VAP allows ComSkip to run on .ts extensions because at one time I thought that extension always contained mpeg2 videos.

That long QSF time says VRD is re-encoding the file. Hopefully there is an output profile setup that would allow QSF without re-encoding. Come to think of it the problem may be intrinsic to VAP. When you configure a 2-step process flow (QSF followed by commercial scan), VAP is using an Mpeg2 PS temporary file for the QSF output (in the Temp(QSF) folder). This is another issue I need to check into. Actually this would also explain why free ComSkip is able to run -- it's actually getting a mpeg2 file as input. I'm afraid this may get complicated. VAP currently doesn't know what kind of video an input file contains other than a few inferences it makes based on the file extension. Even if it knows an input contains h.264, I doubt there is a generic h.264 output profile that would guarantee no re-encoding since there are parameter variations in profiles that could force it. Perhaps using the same output profile selected by the user (for final output) would do it. This requires some thought!

Back in the day (before VRD could do h.264) using a mpeg2 PS temp file posed no problems since all the inputs were mpeg2.

[dlflannery]

.........I should have mentioned, yes, you can use the WDTV as a client in the streaming environment, just not with the copy-once material.
.......
I'm not sure exactly what "in the streaming environment" means but let me frame a specific question:
If I put a copy-once file on a shared folder of my PC on my home network, but do not run any software on that PC for serving files, can the WDTV reach in and stream the file to my TV?

Also, if the file is not copy protected, can it do this?
Thanks.

[KryptoNyte]

I'm not sure exactly what "in the streaming environment" means but let me frame a specific question:
If I put a copy-once file on a shared folder of my PC on my home network, but do not run any software on that PC for serving files, can the WDTV reach in and stream the file to my TV?


No, the WDTV will not be able to watch copy-once content in any fashion.

[KryptoNyte]

Also, if the file is not copy protected, can it do this?
Thanks.

Yes, it can do that.

[KryptoNyte]

To use WMC7 as the media server, and be able to control WMC on the server as well as view copy protected content, these devices are the only approved extenders that I'm aware of;

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Browse.aspx?type=Hardware&category=TV%20Devices&subcategory=Extenders%20for%20Windows%20Media%20Ce nter

And after looking for those devices it became clear that pretty much everyone that manufactured them gave up on it, except Microsoft who will still gladly sell you an Xbox 360 or Elite to sit beside each television. That's not my idea of a sound solution.

When I dove into the Ceton PCIe cablecard adapter with 4 tuners, I was amazed at how capable the hardware was, but upon troubleshooting a couple issues upon installation, I started finding folks that were struggling with the downsides. For example, your computer uses some kind of rotating DRM key, and there are scenarios where this key is either lost, or the hardware tie is broken for one reason or another. So you end up having to reset the DRM key using a tool from Microsoft, and in turn, completely lose access to all of your copy-protected recordings.

The hardware is most certainly capable, but the system of copy protection is so strong that [as usual] it punishes the honest folks. It's just not there yet.

[dlflannery]

Following up on my post #26 above:

VAP does have a problem that it uses mpeg2 format as the temp(QSF) file in a 2-step process, except for TiVo file processing and special WTV process flow using the -forceWTV command-line argument.

Thus I've attached a modified test version with the following change:
If you are using VRD TVS4 (h.264 version) the following input file extensions will cause VAP to use whatever Output Profile you have selected (either in the GUI or via a match-string in Advanced Configuration) as the temp(QSF) file format:
".mp4", ".m2ts", ".mts", ".ts4", ".mkv", ".flv" and ".ts"
Thus if you use an Output Profile that doesn't require re-encoding, your QSF process should be very fast. All the listed extensions imply MPEG4 video except .ts and .mkv which can also contain MPEG2 videos. In any case it is important to use a profile that matches the input video type if you want a fast QSF (i.e., without a major recoding).

So give VAP081T1 a try on one of your TS H.264 files in a 2-step process. Try setting the H.264 MP4 output profile and see if your QSF doesn't go a lot faster. The test version will attempt ComSkip on .mp4 files. VAP has always allowed ComSkip to run on .ts files, on the assumption they contained mpeg2 video. Obviously running ComSkip on H.264 inputs will require the non-free version.

Unzip the VideoReDoAutoProcessor.exe file and replace the same-named file in your installation folder. (The attachment is not a VAP installer.)

[dlflannery]

No, the WDTV will not be able to watch copy-once content in any fashion.
Bummer and doesn't make sense either. The whole concept of streaming is that an additional copy is NOT produced. Even TiVo has been experimenting with streaming between TiVo's instead of the current multi-room-viewing (MRV) technique, which makes another copy and thus can't transfer copy-once content.

[KryptoNyte]

No, the WDTV will not be able to watch copy-once content in any fashion.

After some more reading, I'm not so sure this is correct. I'm seeing the WMC "Play to" feature here and there, and loose mention of WMDRM licensing in the WDTV Live Hub users guide ...

Hmmm. I may have to hook the Ceton card back up and give this a shot.

[KryptoNyte]

Okay, I think Barb Bowman pretty much clarified things for us here;

http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2011/02/12/wd-tv-live-hub-a-home-entertainment-dlna-love-story/

(this is a good article otherwise)

"The next thing I tried was Windows Media Center Recorded TV. All the DRM rules apply, but unprotected content, such as this Stargate episode recorded from SyFy (SciFi) streamed beautifully and looked and sounded great."

[KryptoNyte]

Regarding your post #31;

I understand the issue now, regarding matching file formats in-and-out, and how that affects the speed of the QSF. I am using VRD TVS4 (h.264 version). I have downloaded and copied in the new VAP file you provided.

Because my tuners/software dump both the mpg and ts files into the same directory, I have now configured VAP to handle the .ts in a profile that will maintain the h.264 .ts file as long as it needs to so that QSF and Comskip can process without having to re-encode the output file. That works well and there is no speed issues during processing.

I did, however, set the output profile for ts files to "h.264 transport stream" to maintain the original format and extension. I suppose either the ts or mp4 would probably work as long as it's h.264 based.

On a sidenote, donating for comskip h.264 capability is easy, figuring out what to do after you donate ... not so much. After Paypal, it kicks you to the download area, with a list of files, but apparently those aren't the donator files, one waits for a email with a link to the donator files, I've read. Which would explain why comskip won't process the ts files.

[KryptoNyte]

I've been basking in mpeg2 goodness for quite a while it seems, and these HD-PVR h.264 files are taking some serious processing time. Comskip mpeg2 vs. h.264 is like 210fps vs. 18fps.

[dlflannery]

That's disappointing. Have you tried VRD's Ad Detective?

[KryptoNyte]

I did try VRD's AD (in fact, I've used it for a year or so now). All the settings are left at default, and it really struggled to find commercial breaks. Or, rather, it didn't find anywhere near as many of them as comskip. I should also mention that VRD's seems much faster with h.264's.

I need to give this a little more testing before I draw any useful software comparisons.

Additionally, I'm not really sure the extra time for comskip is that big of a deal when it runs on it's own.

[dlflannery]

VRD AD has a fast/slow setting controlled by a check box on the "Black Level Parameters" tab in Ad Detective Settings. This setting also controls AD when VAP is running it. Here is the help comment for that setting:


Enable Fast Search: Enabling this checkbox will speed up the Ad-Detective scan by at least a factor of two by only processing I-frames and P-frames. If your transitions between programs and commercials are longer than 4 frames, then setting this option is an excellent to improve performance. If the transitions are very brief, then setting this option may reduce detection accuracy.

You may have this checked. If so you might want to try AD with it unchecked. There are aso several parameters for adjusting AD performance, and a "training" procedure. I've never played much with these things.

There is a COM function parameter that should allow VAP to control this setting, but when I tried it there was no apparent effect.

[KryptoNyte]

Here's an update on commercial detection; VRD vs. Comskip

Machine:
Q8300 (2.5 Ghz quad-core)
2GB RAM
Win7 64bit

VRD Ad Detective settings: (most left at default)
Enable Black Level Detection = checked (10% @ ea. edge)
Average Level = 35
Peak Level = 180
Max Contrast = 5
Display/Set Levels (all left at default)
Enable fast search = unchecked
CPU Priority = normal

Comskip Settings (all left at default, first ini setting is 43)

Source video:
(1) Mpeg2 PS file @ 5 minutes saved from HDHomeRun network tuner
(1) Mpeg TS (h.264) file @ 13 minutes 12 seconds saved from HDPVR

-------------------------------------
Mpeg2 file Results:

VRD = 21 seconds of ad detective processing per 60 seconds of source video
VRD processing time = 0.35 x source video duration
VRD process = 4 cores, 25% usage, even across all cores

COMSKIP = 18 seconds of com search processing per 60 seconds of source video
COMSKIP processing time = 0.30 x source video duration
COMSKIP process = 4 cores, 22% usage, even across all cores
-------------------------------------
TS file results:

VRD = 24 seconds of ad detective processing per 60 seconds of source video
VRD processing time = 0.40 x source video duration
VRD process = 4 cores, 95-100% usage, even across all cores

COMSKIP = 108 seconds of com search processing per 60 seconds of source video
COMSKIP processing time = 1.80 x source video duration (ouch)
COMSKIP process = 1 core @ 25% usage, 3 cores @ 3% usage
-------------------------------------

Both commercial detection apps found exactly the same breaks (all of them). I've only tested with these (2) smaller files so far, but it sure looks like VRD's ad detective software (fast search unchecked) is the only viable option with the h.264 TS file types, and it works about equally with the mpeg2 files. It basically appears that VRD is the only one of the two that is truly multi-threaded for the h.264 files, and uses 100% processing power to boot.

If anyone is aware if Comskip has any settings that provide greater efficiency with the h.264 files, or has anything helpful to add, please let us know.

[dlflannery]

Interesting results, especially for those who believe ComSkip is generally better than VRD Ad Detective.

[KryptoNyte]

Interesting results, especially for those who believe ComSkip is generally better than VRD Ad Detective.

If anyone can tell me how to make Comskip even remotely competitive with VRD on processing time and quality, I'm all ears. Otherwise, VRD's looking pretty good to me right at the moment.

[KryptoNyte]

Let's face it, for those of us that want a quick solution to processing saved TV shows, the $100 cost of VRD is a drop in the bucket compared to how it leaves everything else in the dust. I was very hesitant to pay down for VRD in the beginning, and even to this day I still think the interface is a bit clunky, but it didn't take long to see just how efficiently it works.