I just read the Plexcerpts and it said we can now skip AND keep commercials!? For real? This would be awesome! Finally a feature I can use.
Is this in the public release or just beta? Wondering how it works. Is it adding chapter tags for commercials?
Ok, I set this up and on Android at least I get an option to skip Ads. But, I don’t see any chapter marks. How are the ads getting tagged? Can they be added as chapter marks? The way it is now it seems there’s no way to skip ads except in a Plex client that supports this new feature. Chapter marks would make it much easier and more universal.
Can someone explain how this has been implemented?
I just checked my settings under Live TV and DVR. Select the DVR Settings and scroll down to Detect Commercials.
You’ll see a new option “Detect commercials and mark for skip”.
I have no recording yet with this setting but next step will be to try and figure out how it works in the Roku client. I am guess it will be chapter marks but how to find and skip them will be totally new for me. Will be nice to get this since I have had it with Beyond TV for a decade. Maybe just maybe I will be able to retire my Snapstream Beyond TV box! 
They are auto detected in a similar way intros are, you cannot manually add the markers.
it post processes them after the recording.
But the file is getting saved with the “mark ads” option. Aren’t the ad marks getting saved somewhere, and if not, couldn’t Plex save them as chapter marks?
They are getting save in the database like all metadata and you can view them in the XML for your media file. The file itself isn’t getting edited. They will be towards the bottom of the XML where the intro markers, and chapters markerIDs are shown if they were added for the media item.
an intro or commercial marker looks like this in XML
<Marker type="intro" startTimeOffset="22407" endTimeOffset="43791"/>
a chapter marker which are a little more complex can have a title and a thumbnail image will look like.
<Chapter id="34602" filter="thumb=34602" tag="Previously On" index="3" startTimeOffset="15000" endTimeOffset="60000" thumb="/library/media/191591/chapterImages/3"/>
Ah, got it, thanks! Appreciate the explanation.
Can there be an option to scan for commercials in non-DVR libraries when a new item is added? I use Plex to play back recordings from a third party DVR system. (I’d use Plex DVR, but the other product has been around longer, and has some key options Plex doesn’t).
When I read the Plexcert it said that it was brought to us by the same people (dev team?) that did Skip Intro. Since Skip Intro runs on all items (DVR and Non-DVR recordings), I was under the impression that imported files would now get the Skip Ads treatment, but I could be wrong. I haven’t added anything to Plex with commercials recently and my ChannelsDVR is offline temporarily (but if Plex and Channels can share the same library but Plex adds Skip Ad info to the Plex XML, for those recordings, IT WOULD BE AWESOME)
Edit 1: Come to think of it, because they put the option under the DVR Commercials Settings, it probably doesn’t run on imported files like skip intros. I wish it did though. Whats the harm in running it on every imported file and marking it in the XML, Plex? It’s a non-destructive process. Maybe it taxes the CPU when there is a lot to process or something…
Edit 2: According to this user post, someone read that it will apply to older recordings via scheduled tasks.
I did some testing and apparently it pops up similar to the “Skip Intro” as a box on the Roku client. So the lack of chapter support on the client isn’t important for this. So far, in my quick recorded episode test, it seems to map closely to what would have been removed during post-processing.
I see there is this setting(see image) under the advanced tab under TV libraries. I am not sure if it’s working or not. I have scanned in files but it doesn’t seem to pop up for the videos that I know have commercials in them from earlier recordings I have.
I am going to run another scan and then look at the xml file to see if anything shows up.
I am running the latest PMS public release (Version 1.20.1.3252) and that setting is not there.
In what version of Plex Media Server are you setting the “Enable ad detection” option that you show in the screen shot.
I am on version 1.20.1.3252 as well.
I’m using the latest Plex media server with a Hauppauge WinTV quadHD on a Windows 7 Pro, Optiplex 7010 DT Dell PC. The new “Detect commercials and mark for skip” & the existing “Detect commercials & Delete” are both working for me. I was wondering which option uses less CPU resources (or if they are about the same). I typically view Plex via my Roku 2018 player. Thanks!
I just figured out why some of you see the ad-skipping option, and others don’t:
You need to enable the option for “Detect Commercials and Mark for Skip” in the DVR settings. Then it shows up in the advanced settings of libraries. If it’s disabled in the DVR, it doesn’t show up in the libraries. Heads up @adutchman.
Since enabling that option, I’ve tried scanning and analyzing those libraries, and nothing has caused it to scan for commercials. So I also can’t tell if the option is actually effective so far.
So I have Windows PMS Version 1.20.1.3252 and after setting the option in the DVR settings as shown, the detect option on the library was already set.
As for using this with the Roku client is does indeed pop up “Skip Ads” button in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This appears when the playback seem to be in the identified as ads section of the recording. One time is was a yellow background for the button and if you’re already in timeline details it seems to be black background.
Reminiscent of getting Skip Intro to work.
Since the interface doesn’t seem to track/change the setting to individual shows I have had the best results with setting the DVR default to “Detect Commercials and Mark for Skip” which then enables the advanced option on the “Movies” and “TV Shows” library in case you don’t want them scanned when new files are added. I had some luck with analyzing at the season level.
If you choose the brute force method of removing and recreating the “TV Shows” or “Movie” library just be aware that you have to open and save each scheduled recording to pick up the save to library location or it will fail.
Is this feature available in the Android client? I see it mentioned in the iOS changelogs, but don’t see it in the Android changelogs.
