I feel somewhat duped by Plex to be honest – although I allowed them to do it TO me. lol. I should have researched more, but all this talk about “cutting the cord” is, for me, utter utter nonsense.
If I want set a series to record, a search won’t find it. If you want to see what’s on later on a specific channel, you can’t. I don’t see the “pot luck” approach of visually scanning a stack of thumbnails on the off chance that something catches your eye to record.
I’m a huge fan of Plex, and use it every day, but the DVR in its current form is going to lie idle. If it was their intention to encourage Plex take up in the home, this isn’t it, certainly not as a replacement for your regular PVR or set top box.
@wally007 I’m trying to grab and embed the EPG data in files using MCEBuddy, but I haven’t found the setting to do so. Can you point it out (bullet 4 below)? Specifically, TVDB and IMDB data do not match the EPG data in plex, perhaps becuase there are two episodes in one (kids shows like Dinosaur Train). The EPG data in plex is correct (i.e. it matches the actual file I’ve recorded), so I’d like to embed those data into the file and then have Plex read that data. Thanks in advance for your help.
MCEBuddy.
Many use MCEBuddy to encode the video to their desired format. I dont.
I use it to:
1, pick up the finished recordings
2, rename it
3, change the container to mp4 ( takes about 1 minute for 60 minutes of HD recording)
4, embed the recording’s EPG metadata to the finished mp4 (so that Plex’ built-in personal scanner has all the EPG data I want it to have)
5, move the file to the final location (and create folder structure that Plex scanner will understand)
Why this is better than Plex DVR ?
1, DVBLink TV backend is truckload load more stable BACKEND than Plex DVR. (Their GUI blows but who cares about backend GUI)
-You can use ANY EPG source you can think of. EIT, XML, TV_ADviser etc… Gracenote is terrible EPG provider outside of US.
-You can use ANY TV tuner.
2, Post processing by MCEBuddy is flawless … I think i’ve had one failed remux in over 3 years I’ve set this up
-Developer of MCEBuddy actually responds to bug reports and fixes them almost immediately.
3, EPG metadata is embedded in the final output recording file
**4, MCEBuddy has post-processing option that allows you to run custom commands. I use this to create TV Show and Season screenshot using ffmpeg text module. ** This way ALL of my recordings (even the ones that dont have posters in the EPG) have posters in Plex.
To each their own, for some Plex DVR is good - but in my opinion it only looks good in marketing brochures.
So I have just been researching how to ‘cut the cord’. We currently have a Virgin Media UK TiVo, and if you have used one of these things you will know how mind-numbingly slow it is. In addition we are charged through the nose for it.
I was pretty close to deciding HDHomeRun + Plex was the answer but I came across the following stumbling blocks which through a spanner in the works, so I had a few questions:
A proper EPG - This is a biggie, even if I can find my way around this navigation system its a no-go for my girlfriend and guests. - to this end are there any plans for a ‘normal’ channel list style EPG for Plex DVR?
HDHomeRun - Their home page now only lists the one product - HDHomeRun connect, are they discontinuing their other product or is the company in any kind of trouble (I know they are devloping their own DVR service)
Amazon Fire TV - There is a landing page for Plex for Amazon fire TV, and on that page it lists the DVR functionality. So I wanted to check if SMB shares are still ok with the Fire TV? - also any Alexa integration?
How does Plex DVR hold up with a remote control rather than a keyb/mouse - again it has to be very user friendly to pass the girlfriend test!
Cheers!
. Most Streaming Services (PSvue, Sling, etc) are going with the Netflix look for an EPG. Use something like the free TitanTV to set up your Program Listings for time and date and then go to plex Program Guide and enter the program in Search and click on additional information and it will show if it finds it under program guide and then choose it (sounds more complicated than it is).
. When you go to program schedule, you can set it to show in Calendar View and it looks like a “normal schedule” of all the future recordings of the programs that you selected. But it takes a Browser. Most Windows computer will clone the screen to two devices. Run a HDMI to your big screen TV. Do the programming on the Windows Computer and watch it on the cloned screen sent to the TV or use a Roku.
. HDHomeRun Extend is available on the website. I just bought one not too long ago. Also search for Silicone Dust refurbished HDHomeRun Extend and pick one up for about $40,
. I don’t know anything about FireTV
. After it is programmed and recorded, the Roku does a good job of playing the recorded content. I can use an i-5 and playback Original 1920HD through the Roku but using the Extend, your can configure it to Highest or High Quality and get HD quality. If you have trouble playing it back, open where it is stored on the computer and try playing it back with a free downloadable VLC media player.
@Roooooty said:
I feel somewhat duped by Plex to be honest – although I allowed them to do it TO me. lol. I should have researched more, but all this talk about “cutting the cord” is, for me, utter utter nonsense.
If I want set a series to record, a search won’t find it. If you want to see what’s on later on a specific channel, you can’t. I don’t see the “pot luck” approach of visually scanning a stack of thumbnails on the off chance that something catches your eye to record.
I’m a huge fan of Plex, and use it every day, but the DVR in its current form is going to lie idle. If it was their intention to encourage Plex take up in the home, this isn’t it, certainly not as a replacement for your regular PVR or set top box.
When you do a search of a new show, i.e. Midnight Texas and nothing shows up, then click on SHOW MORE RESULTS and you will see it under PROGRAM GUIDE. The first time it was searching your LIBRARY and it didn’t find anything because it is a new show. Then it searched in the Program Guide and found it as a future show. Use a free Titan TV to set up your “TV Guide” to research what is coming with a normal style EPG.
@santiroberts said: @wally007 I’m trying to grab and embed the EPG data in files using MCEBuddy, but I haven’t found the setting to do so. Can you point it out (bullet 4 below)? Specifically, TVDB and IMDB data do not match the EPG data in plex, perhaps becuase there are two episodes in one (kids shows like Dinosaur Train). The EPG data in plex is correct (i.e. it matches the actual file I’ve recorded), so I’d like to embed those data into the file and then have Plex read that data. Thanks in advance for your help.
I use PostProcessing in MCEBuddy with AtomicParsley:
…and in Plex i use “Personal TV Show” agent. It reads mp4 tags.
I know some of the tags look weird (eg. ‘TV Show’ and ‘title’ tags have episode name and not the actual show name) but that is because the actual tv show name in Plex is always taken from the folder name and not from any mp4 tag. So for Plex you have to always make sure you have correct folder structure with season and stuff … (easily done in MCEBuddy with rename option set to CustomRenameBySeries=%showname%%recordyear%%showname% )
Plex’ dependency on metadata from internet is really f’ing stupid. EPG has data about the recording - use it (and if desired supplement it) but the way it is wrote in Plex is really only good for one thing - ad screenshots.
Here is what my recordings in Plex actually look like ( i also made a ffmpeg little one liner that creates screenshots with %showname% text overlay so that recordings look fine on iOS and other clients heavily dependent on posters/fan art).
@wally007 thanks wally! Totally agree on using the EPG data when it’s correct (and the online databases are not). I have converted a Plex recording into an mp4 file (“S01e29.mp4”) using MCEbuddy, copied it into the same folder as AtomicParsley, and run the following from the cmd line. It results in “No changes.” Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Thanks again.
you’re using Plex to record and MCEBuddy to postprocess ?
If so, ask MCEBuddy developer if there’s a way to get those variables (%episodename% etc …) filled in from Plex recordings.
I’m using Windows 7 MCE to record live tv and MCEBuddy is able to read wtv files metadata (MCE saves all EPG metadata into the recording video file (wtv).
@wally007 yes I’m using Plex to record. Very tempted to move back to WMC/Windows 7, as I don’t need to be able to record from the TV, only watch recordings. Thanks for all your help.
What works for me is using NextPVR to record TV programs (paid for EPG from Schedule Direct), MCE Buddy monitors the record folder for new programs and converts to MP4 and uploads to NAS. From there Plex works its magic and adds to the repository. Really working well.
I’m finding the Plex DVR functionality poor. I don’t mind the TS files, but half of them get corrupted or have no audio (at least with UK TV streams).
If it were less expensive, I would probably use the Channels App DVR functionality on my ATV4. Channels as a method to watch love to is amazing. The quality is really very good.
On Fire tv (version 2), the options are more limited and quality poor. I’m actually very unimpressed at the options there, and am almost ready to sell it, especially as the picture quality on ATV4 with Channels is just so good.
