andy vt's tools & blog

Is it possible to not convert to DVRMS yet? I have this setup working pretty sweet and I am pretty novice, so thought I would just ask before wrecking anything. I'd like to skip the converting to DVRMS if possible because the Kalemsoft software I use for my touchpads will play .wtv but not dvrms.

 You're going to need to be more specific.  Depending on what you are doing the answer changes.

My apologies, I forget people use it for way more uses than I. I have it setup to skip commercials from recorded tv. Currently I have WTV Watcher convert them to DVR-MS then commercial skip. I'd like to cut out the convert to WTV watcher because I have a couple touchpads and use Kalemsoft Media Player to stream from my main computer, however, it is not compatible with DVR-MS.

Then the answer is yes.  Both comskip and Show Analyzer support .wtv natively.  Comskip you'll need to get the latest beta.  Show Analyzer you need Version 1.0 or above.

Note that each will require a payment/donation.

I recommened Comskip (www.comskip.org). This is still actively developed. The Show Analyzer application, while good, is all but abandoned. There have not been any updates on that front in quite some time.

I used very specific instructions I found somewhere, so I am nervous about how to set this up. Not a big deal to make a donation, but not sure I want to mess with it because it does work now.

Just make a copy of your profiles, and there is nothing to lose. In fact, if you're using comskip now, there's nothing to change, other than copying over the app and related files. Once you've done that, you basically need to remove any WTV > dvr-ms conversion settings. Everything else should be fine.

If you need specific instructions (and be specific with what you want to happen), just post back. Happy to help.

OK, thanks, I ventured over that direction and think I made a mistake....donated to Comskip and it took me to a download area. I downloaded the file, but think it's just the regular version. Read somewhere else I need a link emailed to me for the early access area, so probably have to wait to get the email link before proceeding....already took off WTV Watcher so don't want to reinstall it.

Yeah, you'll need to get a 'donator's' email from Erik. I just got mine yesterday.... took about a day to arrive.

after wrestling with DVRMSTB to convert WTV to DVRMS - showanalyzer (remove commercials) then back to a commercial-freeWTV; only to not have metadata on my commercial-free WTV files- jeez!!! I need the metadata for WTV MetaRenamer to work, so I went ahead an donated $10 to comskip. It looks promising. Will know once i get that email :)

You can carry over metadata with dTB directly. Comskip is not required for that. You just need to create a new context based on the original input file. Not that comskip is a bad thing -- I've been using SA forever, and just started with Comskip donation version yesterday. It's much faster, and although you (currently) give up live commercial detection, its seems less problematice (and again, faster) overall.

If you need help getting started with contexts, let us know. 

OK, I know I am a noob, so appreciate your help. I downloaded the new Comskip to my desktop, extracted it and double clicked the application (nothing apparent happened). Can you tell me what else I need to do? I poked around, but didn't find anything (I've already deleted WTV Watcher).

You need to replace the files in C:\Program Files (x86)\DVRMSToolbox\Applications with what you downloaded.  Make sure that you keep a copy of the old comskip.ini file.  You will need to copy one line over to the new comskip.ini file.  It is output_dvrmstb=1

I have no C:\ProgramFiles\DVRMSToolbox folder...UPDATE- I did find the old files on my I drive (I have programs here because I have a small SSD for my OS). I changed the output_dvrmstb=1......we shall see if it works.

Success! Awesome, thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.