For a long time I’ve been using Argus TV as my PVR recording shows from my rooftop antenna. Argus will record the show and put the (large) .TS file in a folder monitored by MCEBuddy. MCEBuddy will then convert the show down to a nice small .MP4 file and move it to my Plex library. I have a scheduled task that fires off to clean up the old .TS files after their 7 days old (I don’t delete them after conversion in case I have to reconvert for some reason.) All this works well. The only drawback is that there is no good GUI for my wife/kids to use at the TV level to chose Argus shows to record. I have to set them up myself on the server.
I’m interested in moving to the new Plex DVR model because it provides for a nice GUI for my family to chose shows to record on my Amazon Fire TV stick. So, I added the /.grab folder as a MCEBuddy monitored folder. The issue I’m running into is that it looks like Plex will sometimes move the show (large .TS file) itself from /.grab to the Plex library folder. This does not happen all the time, only some time. In the instances where Plex does not move the file on its own, MCEBuddy converts it to a .MP4 file and moves it to my Plex library. It works very well. However, on the occasions where Plex moves the file itself from /.grab to my library, it does show up in Plex, but I’m stuck with this huge .TS file where a nice small .MP4 should be (had MCEBuddy done the work).
So, my questions:
- Can I stop Plex from moving the show on its own? I’d rather have Plex just record the show and let MCEBuddy take it from there as it monitors the /.grab folder.
- If #1 is “NO”, does anyone have an examples of ways to use a post-processing script to feed the file to MCEBuddy after its recorded by Plex cleanly?
Thanks is advance!
John - Thank you for your reply!
I did find that article but was not able to download the script. The link to the script goes to Zippy Share and I was not able to see a way to download it without having to load questionable apps on to my machine to do it. Does anyone have a copy of that script they can post?
Another question - Can I use a Plex post-processing script to simply move the recorded show from /.grab to the folder that MCEBuddy is already monitoring for Argus TV? Has anyone tried that?
Thanks!
Can’t post the script the author of the script doesn’t want anyone posting it. He tracks number of downloads from site. I have brought up the fact that the site seems a little sketchy. I downloaded using a private browsing session in a browser.
You could setup a post processing script to copy the file from the .grab folder to the folder mcebuddy monitors. You could move the file from the .grab folder just be aware that Plex will have an entry in the log file that says something like: Script has deleted file - silly script. I see the same entry because I have mcebuddy delete the original and move the converted file to the library.
Thanks John. I’ve created a bat file with a move . command and have it set to run as post-processing. I think this may be the best solution for me as the Plex recorded shows will just merge into the existing Argus workflow and be subject to the same MCEBuddy settings.
I’ve setup a test recording this morning. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Success! Created a batch file using:
robocopy “D:\TV Shows.grab” “T:\Recorded TV” /MOVE /S /V
…as my post processing script.
This effectively moves the folder containing the new show (.ts) to my folder monitored by MCEBuddy. MCEBuddy then converts it nicely to an MP4 and adds it to my library.
One (small) issue remains. It seems that the Plex DVR crates the folder in the library along with the season sub-folder when it records a show. For example: D:\TV Shows\Much Too Young (2017)\Season 2017. I don’t have MCEBuddy setup to use sub-folders so that season sub-folder goes unused.
I’m assuming that there is no way to shut that off? I’d prefer to just have MCEBuddy create the folders in my library if possible.
