MCEBuddy

I am looking to move the MCEBuddy forums to dedicated sub-forums on the Australian Media Center Community website. This is so there is one less log on for people to remember and to reduce my spam fixing time.  I'm wasting a lot of time deleting spam posts from China that I could use developing MCEBuddy.

As for hosting, I've had a few uptime and cost issues with the current hosting solution, so I will be moving the MCEBuddy site to another hosting provider and platform soon as well.

If all of these occur these pages will remain for reference for a while, like the last move of a few years ago, but will become read only.

Believe it or not, after ages MCEBuddy Beta 14 is here.  This the complete drop-in replacement for the existing MCEBuddy.  It runs as a service and converts your files, removes ads, etc.

Known bugs:

• MP4 files of greater than 2GB will not have their ads removed
• Stream based remux and DVR-MS files are not supported in the x64 version
• Internationalisation is not there yet
• The sample video that comes with Windows 7 does not convert (Landscapes.wtv)
• Service sometimes stops with an error

Please read the following!!

• Uninstall any existing MCEBuddy installation first
• Change your settings before starting the engine service
• The engine service can be started from control panel-administrative tools-services (under Windows 7) or simply by restarting your system
• It's still beta, but it's just bug fixing from here, all the core functionality is now there

I have just applied for an Excelsior Jet license, should it go through the remux stage will be a LOT faster!

Beta 13 is ready to be uploaded, just the setup tests to go, so it should be up this weekend!  After 2 years, it's finally almost here.  Oooohhhhhh, I can hardly wait!

I've complete the ad removal and conversion pipeline.  Note it is now completely different and new to the one used in BETA11.  Works for HDTV recordings of all varieties I have test files for, including the truly weird ones tat nothing else works with (H.264 + EAC3 and H.264 + AAC HE V2).  Phew!  What a slog!  Will get into a quick test cycle after Christmas and plan on releasing a command line test version of the whole schebang for BETA 12/13 or whatever I end up calling it in early January.

So that means:

• Automated ad scanning and removal with both comskip and showanalyzer (note that you will need the paid versions of these apps to work with h.264 video)
• Conversion profiles and methods now vary depending on the source video
• Moving the meta data from the video or source recording to the converted one if there is an appropriate meta data location for it.
• Writing picture banner (for shortcuts) to file from television and internet databases
• Uses the tool and profile based upon:
  • What is most likely to work
  • What produces the best quality
  • What is fastest
• Automatic cropping that copes with television (as most inbuilt auto crops don't, reliably)
• Maximum width setting (so it will only scale if it needs to)
• Standardised, adjustable quality range across all profiles and tools
• Configuration driven where possible
  • So I don't need to code as much when we get deep into optimisation
  • So you can tweak and optimise things yourself is you feel that way inclined
• Smart AC3 passthrough depending on destination container and profile

Still deciding on whether to use a database for logging and file history or not.  The code is there but I'm leaning away from it now for simplicity's sake assuming I can sort out the issues that some of the FOSS apps/code has with unicode filenames.

Once the command line pipeline is bedded down then we'll get into the service, tasks, internationalisation, jobs and the UI.  I might whack a basic UI early on for a single file conversion to help things along.

Need new ffmpeg build and handbrake libs to support DVR codecs used (aac he v2, AVS, etc.)

Currently going through the joys of cross-compiling

Completed

• Internationalisation base classes (support multiple languages out of the box)
• Database classes for file logging, event logging, reliable activity management and handling of unicode video (more multi-language support)
• WTV and DVR-MS -> TS reliable remux (> 90% success rate with robust error detection)

Currently working on

• Updated file conversion class 
• Local IPC class for UI - service separation and abstraction (allows multiple UI types for the class, Windows GUI, MCE Plug in, Mediaportal plug in, etc.)

MCERemux Beta 5 has been released.  I have moved back to TS as keeping sync with the extracted streams into MKV was proving erratic.  This build now uses just about every FOSS TS mux available to me in one utility to try to remux WTV to TS.  Sometimes it can be a little slow but it usually gets there in the end.

I am currently building this code into MCEBuddy 2.0 as it passes 98% of my test WTV files.  The remainder are AAC HE v2 and one that just won't work with anything for no readily apparent reason.

MCERemux BETA 2 is available!

I have given up on trying to use TS as an interim container as the process is simply not robust enough for an automated service such as MCEBuddy.  I have moved to Matroska.  The positiveis that it works with every test recording I have now, which BETA1 didn't.  This is EXCEPT for recordings that have AAC HE V2 audio.  Recordings of this type will have to wait until there is more open source support for the format.  

The downside is that for MCEBuddy 2.0, if your recording is WTV + H.264 you will only be able to remove ads if you are using ShowAnalyzer as comskip does not have native WTV support that I am aware of.  WTV + MPEG2 will still work.

Please test this.  I am now moving ahead with MCEBuddy 2.0 on the assumption this remux process works.  Please inform me as soon as you can (with example recordings) if this fails.  Also let me know if it works so I have a degree confidence.  

The MCERemux forum is here.

Finally, I believe WTV is cracked (for me) and I can return to MCEBuddy itself.

Derek

 MCERemux has been uploaded.  This will remux WTV and DVR-MS files to a TS container without conversion (transcoding).

This is a major step as it has been the main holdup for MCEBuddy 2.0.  That being H.264 support extraction for WTV using open source / freeware for conversions, remux and ad conversion.  This has only really been supported since June this year.

I am now in the process of adding this code into the next MCEBuddy build.  Please let me know how it goes as I will be relying on it completely for Windows Media Center systems.

 People, I've had a few server teething outages as I've moved this server to new infrastructure.  Everything should be good now and I expect this to be the last move for a while.  Unfortunately this has eaten somewhat into my 'coding week'.  I've got the native Windows WTV->TS testing tool done and i hope to write a setup wrapper for it over the next week or so.  If this works reliably with 95% of WTV recordings then I'll roll it into MCEBuddy 2.0 and get things rolling again.

Derek

June 26th starts "MCEBuddy Code Week".  I've put aside a full week to work on MCEBuddy.  Hoorah!  Work will be performed in the following steps:

1. Reliable, automated WTV and DVR-MS to TS remuxing with native windows code for both MPEG2 and H264
2. Code cleanup for existing 2.0 Beta
3. Possible move to a local database for better non-english lanugauge support and logging (BIG thanks to MCEBuddy donators for making this possible!!)
4. Update meta data stage to include logic for season / episode for TV series
5. A UI - at leasta  basic one to get us going
6. Better Mediaportal support for our mediaportal friends

That's enough for a week I think!

Please keep the recordings coming in.  I'm particularly after recordings that have multiple audio tracks, languages and are in H264 as this is the most difficult situation to deal with.

Some good news (for a change)!  I believe I've discovered a method to extract WTV recordings that will also support H.264/AC3 and intend to test it thoroughly before building into MCEBuddy 2.0.

To do this I need a LOT of different WTV recordings.  This includes HDTV (both H.264 and MPEG), analog TV and some copy protected ones (so I can detect this).  Please help!

To help, do the following:

1. Make a recording of less than 300MB.  About 100MB per minute is a good rule of thumb.
2. Post it to Rapidshare, here: http://www.rapidshare.com/ or share it using Bittorrent
3. Post the download or .torrent link in this forum http://www.mcebuddy.com/Help/Forum/tabid/152/forumid/34/scope/threads/Default.aspx

I'll download it and add it to the test cycle.  If I can reliably automate the process for the samples I get and I get enough samples then we have a way ahead for MCEBuddy 2.0!

Derek

There is no imminent release of MCEBuddy 2.  This is completely due to 1 reason only.

Muxing H.264/AC3 content and WTV (see previous post)

I have been looking, trialling, attempting, everything under the sun to find a way to remux WTV/H.264 into another container using legal, free muxers.  After a few months I've come up with nothing.  It's EXTREMELY frustrating.  I've even negotiated with almost every codec vendor on the planet.  They are not interested unless they can charge a per seat fee (and it's not small!),.  So MCEBuddy could not then be free.  There is no one off payment option.  I have one thing left to try short of writing my own Directshow mux but it it very time consuming so it will take a while.  If that does not work I will give up on H.264/WTV until something comes up that I can use.

So the answer is:

Nothing in the next 4 weeks or so.  In that time I will be trying my 'last resort' option.

If that does not work or even if it does I will be restarting the remainder of the 2.x beta development.  Expect something released June with some ramp up before then.

This is because:

• 2.x has a lot of nice automatic functions
• 2.x transfers the meta data to the new container and does nice things like imdb lookups
• Most of issues remaining in 1.1 looks like they are resolved in the 2.x way of doing things.

Derek

The search continues...

The entry of WTV/H.264 into the TV recording equation has really thrown a spanner in the works.  To support this correctly and provide what we have become accustomed to doing in MCEBuddy I need at the very least some robust directshow muxing filters and at most a whole pile of codecs.  I have searched far and wide for *robust* freeware filters that will do the job and have not come up with anything yet.

Unfortunately all the commercial licenses available so far are on a *per seat* basis which would mean that should I use them I would not be able to release MCEBuddy as freeware.  My first vendor discussion resulted in license costs such that to produce what MCEBuddy does now would have a per-copy price of ludicrous proportions - and that is without merchant fees, etc.

So I continue to search for these filters, not having time to both develop MCEBuddy and the filters themselves.  I'm talking to some nice people at the moment and I am hopeful though there is still no pricing yet.  In the meantime, does anyone have any leads?

No-gos are: Moon's mux, ATI mux, cyberlink mux, mongram mux, haali

A generic, free TS mux  directshow filter that accepts both MPEG2 and H.264 would be good.

MCEBuddy 1.1 is now released!  Thanks to all the beta testers that have helped, especially those who clipped and uploaded recordings and who provided detailed feedback.

Derek

MCEBuddy 1.1 BETA 3 is released.  Please download and test it if you have time.  Post your results (including if it works) to the 1.x Beta forum

I hope this will be the last beta and I'll be able to wrap 1.1 soon and get back to 2.0

MCEBuddy 1.1 BETA 2 is released.  Please download and test it if you have time.  Post your results (including if it works) to the 1.x Beta forum

MCEBuddy 1.1 BETA 1 is released.  Please download and test it if you have time.  Post your results (including if it works) to the 1.x Beta forum

MCEBuddy 1.1 beta is coming soon.  The goal of release 1.1 is to bed down most of the issues and critical features of 1.x so it can be put into maintenance while I work on 2.0.  A fair bit of code has been backported from MCEBuddy 2.0 into 1.0.9 and 1.1.

Timeframe for completion (released version - not beta) Mid-Late January 2010.

Key changes and features:

• Disk space check to ensure there is sufficient space for the conversion
• File history logging - remembering which files have been converted and allows re-conversion
• H264 conversions are now apple friendly
• iPhone/iTouch and new iPod profiles
• MPEG conversion now works correctly
• MMV conversion now works correctly
• Sub directory search option
• Multiple file masks
• Updated to support and include the latest comskip
• Updated to support the latest ShowAnalyzer
• Built in event log viewer for only MCEBuddy events
• Some UI tweaks
• Monitor application is not in the startup by default

This will be a fairly fast beta, so when it comes out, please test it out on your rig as quickly as you can.

Derek

Hello eveyone out there.  Apparently Windows 7 Media Center can record H.264 into WTV files if the HDTV broadcast is in H.264.  MCEBuddy currently does not support this.  If you have a copy of such a recording, please upload it to rapidshare or bittorrent and provide a link in the support forums.