TLDR: Is there any way to detect and delete commercials (or mark them to skip) on files not recorded on the Plex server? There is a check-box for detect intros but not commercials.
I have a bit of a strange setup. I record live TV on to a plex server in “House A”, save it to a HDD in “House A” and sync the library folder with Google Drive. That Google drive is synced to another plex server in “House B” and that is the main plex server.
The reason I have it set up like this is because “House A” and “House B” are on different continents and “House A” doesn’t have a fast enough internet connection to reliably stream content to “House B”.
The problem I have is that the server at “House A” isn’t powerful enough to detect and delete commercials without the fan spinning up and annoying the people who kindly let me leave a plex server under their TV. I’d like to make use of this feature instead of manually skipping commercials but I need the server at “House B” to do the processing. As far as I know, there isn’t a way to get Plex to run the commercial scan on a TV show library unless you have a DVR on the same Plex server. There doesn’t appear to be a check-box in the library settings.
Apologies for my previous, incorrect response!
It appears this is indeed possible.
You just need to fulfill a few prerequisites:
The server software version needs to be >= 1.21.2.3939
The server which shall do the ad-detection needs to have a DVR set up.
ad-detection needs to be enabled in the DVR’s settings
(I recommend “detect commecials and mark for skip” to prevent issues with A/V synchronicity after cutting the ads)
Then you need to edit the library(s), where the items in question are stored. Go to the ‘Advanced’ tab, scroll all the way down and enable Ad detection=for all items
(This option is only visible after ad-detection has been enabled in the preferences of the DVR!)
Now an ad-detection is performed when you perform a manual “Analyze” on any item in the library
Thanks for your reply Otto. If you read my original post I asked if the ad detection could be performed on a server that doesn’t have the DVR installed. Your response talks about needing to have the DVR set up on the same server.
You need to set up a DVR in Plex. Whether this DVR is then later used for recordings is a different matter.
However, doing so will enable you to detect ads in files which were recorded by a different software or a different Plex server, though.
It’d be really nice if simply adding the file to the library would trigger an analyze of the program to do the ad detection. I’m in a somewhat similar situation, but I’m recording stuff using NextPVR and it is putting the .ts recording file into a folder that is part of one of my libraries in Plex.
There doesn’t seem to be a way to add plex dvr without having a tuner attached to the computer that has the library. The computer in “house B” in my example.
Is there a way to enable Plex DVR for this workaround without having to buy another tuner that won’t be used except to set up the imaginary dvr?
