We have introduced automatic removal of commercials for Plex DVR in the latest beta version of PMS 1.10.0.4516. This was a hugely popular feature suggestion and it is now ready for Plex Pass users to try out. To get this, make sure you are on the Beta Update Channel in Plex Web and that you have version 1.10.0.4516 or newer installed.
This thread is for gathering feature suggestions while this is still in beta. Tell us what you would like to see added to this feature or how things should work differently. Please do not use this thread to post issues you are experiencing with the beta.
I would like channel (and/or show) specific comskip.ini support. A lot of channels have drastically different methods of handling commercials. Some are more tricky than others: like ABC will often have their logo during commercial, certain shows need the last x seconds saved, PBS/HBO and other channels that don’t have commercials, etc.
I think closed captioning-based commercial detection is vastly underrated. You could push out a comskip.dictionary file full of known commercial captions that would greatly help commercial detection.
Also an option to remux to MKV with chapters would be great. And then if the clients could automatically skip the commercials based on the chapter name (or something like that). You used to be able to do this with Windows Media Center via an add-in and it worked p. well. Then you don’t lose any part of the show if commercial detection isn’t 100% accurate.
Is there a way to add a 1 second “fade to black” and dim the audio at the end of a trim? Probably too much to ask for, but sometimes the comskip cuts too abruptly. Or even a way to add a couple or 10 seconds after it thinks the show is done.
1-Post processing need more than filename argument passed: Needs Channel and TV program name so we can have different actions for different channels/programs rather than 1 generic.
2-Keep original. Need a way to archive the original on a specified file location in case the Comskips butchers the TV program. Right now there is no option to do this, so i wont be using this feature.
2.1-Recycle bin- Location where the originals uncut recordings reside and will be kept for a defined period of time.
3-Global Remove commercials from all schedule recordings. Right now the only way to disable this new feature is to go through all scheduled recordings and turn it off.
@jobrien2001 I would counter point 1 with need a way of specifying configuration files to use for a recording perhaps. If we can configure it as part of the recording settings no need to know the show or channel, Plex can use the file we specify. Mcebuddy is configured on my computer to use a specific comskip.ini file, I can move that file to Plex and specify the correct comskip file to use for that show.
I would like to see an option to also perform a remux along with the commercial cutting. Perhaps remux to mkv which wouldn’t take too much extra cpu and would increase the performance of playback on certain devices. My experience so far with the .ts container is not good. Currently using MCEBuddy to remux to mkv. It would be nice to have that all in one within the Plex Server.
I think the best thing would be for the DVR functionality to work correctly first, before trying to bolt-on new features. For me, maybe 1 out of every 4 records completely & correctly. Every update since going live with the new privacy policy, things have gotten less and less consistent. I want to love Plex as much as I used to before DVR.
@johnm_ColaSC said: @jobrien2001 I would counter point 1 with need a way of specifying configuration files to use for a recording perhaps. If we can configure it as part of the recording settings no need to know the show or channel, Plex can use the file we specify. Mcebuddy is configured on my computer to use a specific comskip.ini file, I can move that file to Plex and specify the correct comskip file to use for that show.
I agree with that feature but would also like the additional arguments passed for people who want to use their own scripts.
@johnm_ColaSC said: @jobrien2001 I would counter point 1 with need a way of specifying configuration files to use for a recording perhaps. If we can configure it as part of the recording settings no need to know the show or channel, Plex can use the file we specify. Mcebuddy is configured on my computer to use a specific comskip.ini file, I can move that file to Plex and specify the correct comskip file to use for that show.
I agree with that feature but would also like the additional arguments passed for people who want to use their own scripts.
An idea is to have variables like “$(DateTime)”, “$(FILENAME)”, “$(CHANNEL_NUMBER)”…
We need the option to create chapters instead of cutting out the commercials. Cutting out commercials isn’t 100% accurate, and this would allow quick skipping chapters while also having the ability to go backward/forward depending on the accuracy of comskip.
I would like to see an Ad-Skip Option on the TV Library that I create.
I currently have two TV Libraries, DVR (Ad Free) and DVR Recordings and I would like to be able to set an option that DVR Recordings are Ad Skipped, if placed into one folder (DVR Recordings).
Or If I select to place them into this folder (DVR (Ad Free)), then the folder would stop them being Ad-skipped
I currently use MCEBuddy & Comskip and here are the missing features that I would like:
Multiple commercial detection techniques. Bonus points if you (Plex) maintains a library of user-submitted .ini files tailored to a particular channel or show.
A method to select .ini files per channel or show or even filename. Must include wildcard flag to include/exclude matches.
Limit the post-processing to only occur during a block of time selected by the user to avoid high CPU usage during potentially peak viewing hours
Option to keep the original file (bonus points for option to keep the file for only X days) just in case commercial detection chopped off segments of the video
Allow remux/transcode of the video to another type
Allow import of donator version of comskip that processes mpeg2 files much faster
I tested supergirl and it taped well after adding the keep last seconds line in comskip.ini, It would be beneficial in a future release in plex itself extending the recording before or after in seconds rather than minutes.
@fudsak said:
6. Allow import of donator version of comskip that processes mpeg2 files much faster
It appears that Plex is already using the donator version of comskip. Just open a command prompt where Plex is installed and run “Plex Commercial Skipper.exe” (if on Windows) to see.
@tglass1976 said:
I’d like the option to manually run the commercial removal on files already in my library.
Absolutely this but with an option to limit by schedule, cpu/memory usage, only while idle (no active recording or playback), etc. I have terabytes of recordings and I wouldn’t want DVR or playback functionality to suffer while it’s retroactively removing commercials from old recordings.
1 for marking chapters vs deleting content and remuxing. I tried Arrow and Supergirl the other night and it cut out portions of the show on both of them. So that was a non starter, and took a long time to reprocess the files for viewing.
If i could just mark the commercial, I would still have a watchable program quickly after it aired, that benefits from the ability to skip a commercial with a button. I won’t be keeping the program for more than a couple weeks, so removing commercials to save size is not as interesting as being able to watch the entire show.
From a product state, I’m also not interested in myself learning how to tune the capability to work accurately. I would expect the vendor/product team to do that. If this was Tivo and it was cutting off portions of programs, unless a user spent hours tweaking files to get it to work, they would be crucified and die as a company if they pushed that need.
