what does everyone use to remove commercials from recordings ???

?????????

Comskip donator's version. I use DirMon 2 to check if there are any unprocessed .wtv files. It may be a little easier than dealing with DVRMSToolbox to start comskip, depending on your setup of course.

+1 for Dirmon + Donator comskip. Works like a dream and you don't even know it's there.
Yeah, you need to install DTb for auto skipping, nut disable all of the other features and you'll love it.

I was wondering about this too.

Does ad-skipping work one copy-once recordings too?

No, it doesn't work on copy-once recordings. In my setup, I do use DVRMSToolbox, but only to generate an empty commercials XML file for the copy-once recordings. Then, DirMon 2 sees that an XML file for that particular recording has already been created and won't start Comskip on the file.

The replies so far discuss how to skip/bypass commercials during playback.

The OP inquired about how "to remove commercials from recordings".

For that, you'd need a video editor. I use VideoRedo for my OTA stuff (720p and 1080i MPEG2).

Video Redo is very good at detecting them for removal.

I've tried Show Analyzer in the past and just found it to be too difficult to work with. I'd rather press the skip button four or five times than have that eating up CPU power and occasionally getting one wrong.

My bad...I don't actually remove the commercials. I use DTB Addin to read the commercials file in WMC and it automatically skips them when playing. Since I delete shows after watching, I'm not concerned with disk space. Also, Comskip isn't always accurate so I'm afraid of cutting out part of the actual show if I remove the commercials.

DirMon 2 + Show Analyzer + DTB Addin. Easy to use and works very well for the most part. I know that you said you want to remote commercials permanently, but you always risk removing something that you wanted to keep (although I don't think Show Analyzer has messed up for me yet).

I believe MCEBuddy lets you permanently delete commercials.

Also, FYI, if you're using Flexraid make sure you don't analyze commercials during a parity update process. I've had issues with that, but it's easy to schedule around that using DirMon2.

Here's a very good DirMon2 guide: http://www.geektonic.com/2009/11/commercial-skipping-with-sagetv-comskip.html

I think Mfusick is using FlexRaid, he's made a bunch of posts about his FlexRaid endeavors . Mfusick, I forget if you said you use Comskip or ShowAnalyzer. Whatever the case, are your video files on the FlexRaid pool when you analyze them, or do you have a scratch disk?

It appears that you and I are similar in how we consume TV content.

Most folks watch and delete, so commercial skipping is all they require.

I -- and you, apparently -- collect and archive the content we record, so commercial editing/removal is preferred.

I have been recording HD OTA for about 7 years, but have only been routinely editing commercials out since the 2010-2011 TV season. I am slowly going through a pile of 2009 and earlier OTA stuff that I have yet to edit out commercials from.

It is tedius, but ultimately rewarding to have that nice commercial-free HD library. Many programs that air do not get released to Blu-ray (only to standard-def DVD), and in many instances those that do have had alterations made for publication to video (i.e. songs that appeared in the original broadcast are removed or replaced on the DVD or Blu-ray because of licensing issues).

Anyhow, besides VideoRedo (which is payware, around $50 USD), there is another editing tool that can remove commercials called HDTVtoMPEG2 available *here*
Edited by Vlad Theimpaler - 2/25/13 at 4:54pm

I used to edit and archive my TV shows and store them on DVD. I got to where I had a vast library of TV shows on DVD that occupied lots of shelf space and no time to watch them. I eventually trashed all of the DVDs and don't miss them a bit. Now that I have a rather large server (currently around 24TB), I generally don't archive TV shows anymore with but few exceptions. The shows I do keep I'll download in mkv format from torrent sites. They're already edited and commercial-free so I don't have to do a thing. I started off by editing the original files that I recorded myself but soon realized it was simply taking up too much of my time. Chances are the few shows I do archive will end up getting deleted at some point in favor of using the storage space for new recordings or movies.

Having a huge library of archived TV shows probably seems like a good idea right now, but realistically it's pretty much a waste of time and resources. Chances are any TV show you want to watch a 2nd time will be available from NetFlix or some other source. Aside from an occasional late night rerun on the TV in the bedroom, I rarely watch a TV show more than once, let alone an entire series. I must admit, however, I have archived the entire Seinfeld series and I've probably watched each episode at least a half dozen times each. I used to record them on VHS and take them into the office where we'd watch them in the break room during lunch.

Although I have the entire series on my server, I have yet to view a single episode at home. I have actually archived the entire series on at least four different occasions. I used to have DirecTivos and DirecTV and got into archiving TV shows when the hacks were first developed for transferring shows to a PC. The early editing programs were a bit clunky and could not edit to specific frames so there would still be some parts of the commercials left in the archived recording. As the editing features improved, I'd re-record the entire series again and re-edit and archive the series. When VideoReDo became available we were all in hog heaven. The irony is, for all the work I put into it, I have never watched a single episode I archived on DVD. It was a fun project at the time, but looking back it was a monumental waste of time.

The question is, how many of those shows that you spent hours editing and archiving have you actually watched a 2nd time? If you haven't watched them yet, when would it even be realisticaly feasible for you to do so?

Captain video -

For mainstream episodic TV, you have a point. The cost of time investment is probably not worth it if you can easily acquire a disc or watch on a streaming service later. However, there is quite a lot of content that doesn't get made available or even rebroadcast regularly.

For instance, I collect a lot of music performances and documentaries that air on TV and some sports games and related content. This content is often impossible to obtain later in high quality form if not captured when broadcasted.

I use VideoRedo to edit (great product), and yes I do watch the content that I archive!

I detest commercials and use VRD to strip my captures for viewing and archiving and I have gone back to view a series, although I'll use Netflix(when possible) rather than dig out the disks now. I used to Author to DVD but now I make data disks since most players display them just fine and will even upscale them over analog (component to a PJ), even PAL rips. I only Author if I'm recording for other people.

I now often use archiving in a different manner than most people to view a show after the season ends. While serialized dramas seem to be the rage, I don't have the patience to wait, and wait, and wait, to find that the season ends without resolution, either stretching into the next season or cut off without that "next season" arriving at all. "Dollhouse" and "Hunted" were keepers and viewed but "Primeval: New World", "The Event", "The Cape", "Arrow", "Once Upon A Time", "666 Park Avenue" are headed for the bin. I waited two years for "The Dead Zone" to resolve the Stillson story line - caught up - only to have it reintroduced in the finale.

For the most part I detest them as well, although every once in a while one comes along that is actually entertaining. Some of the older Capital One commercials are a prime example (they really need to dump Alec Baldwin and go back to the Vikings). I don't use NetFlix or other streaming services because the quality is crap compared to an original recording. If I waited until a season ended to watch a series I'd never get through any of them. I tend to record just what I can watch in a week's time (and I watch a lot of TV) so I'm never backlogged more than a few days. With the current crop of Summer shows I've got stuff to watch nonstop all year round.

I like to check websites like The Futon Critic for news on the satus of shows. If I find out one that I watch is being cancelled I tend to delete it from my series recordings and not bother watching the rest of the episodes unless it's revealed that they'll wrap up the storyline with the final episode. Last Resort was one such recent show. I haven't heard anything about Once Upon a Time or Arrow being canceled. The CW will run a show to death so I'd be surprised if Arrow gets canned anytime soon. Neither show is listed on any of the TV show cancellation lists I've seen so I'm not sure why you think they're being dropped.

I'm with you with regards to music videos and special programming. I do archive some rock concerts from HDNet and Palladia. I've also kept all of the NFL playoff games and the SuperBowl since I'm a Ravens fan. For this type of content archiving makes perfect sense. For TV episodes, it just takes up too much time and space.

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Edited by PobjoySpecial - 5/16/13 at 2:32pm

Well you know what they say, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." FWIW, I do my best to avoid watching "junk TV", particularly anything related to "reality" TV. Everyone has their own tastes in TV programming so we'll leave it at that since that discussion goes far beyond the boundaries of this forum.

I see TV as more of a time to relax and forget about the problems of the day. If I can watch a quality show with good writing, good acting, and a decent script then so much the better (Homicide was probably one of the best shows that ever got canceled). I've deleted shows from my series recording list after only one or two viewings if it starts looking like "Hollywood junk." As for hoarding said junk, my archiving habits tended to be limited to certain Sci-Fi shows like Babylon 5, Farscape, and one or two others of that genre.

Use VideoReDo TVSuite H.264 to edit HD MPEG-2 files (ATSC broadcast TV) and DVB-S (PBS HD programs from AMC-21 satellite) MPEG-4 files. It works OK on older hardware for MPEG-2 but you need more recent hardware for MPEG-4 files. There are a couple of functions that are not available when editing MPEG-4 files but the basic operation is fine.

I use MCEBuddy.

I just decided that those didn't interest me, not that they were being cancelled. I recorded them "just in case", like I did "Dollhouse". At 20 cents a disk, I don't mind the wasted DVDs.

I'll record almost anything in the Sci-Fi category (hoping for a gem) but some of it is too painful to watch (ever).

Using comskip run thru MCE Buddy. There's no one config that'll work for every show, every channel, all the time. I have been creating custom .ini files but sometimes wonder if it's worth the effort. The biggest issue I seem to have with standard TV shows is tuning to avoid clipping the beginning of shows. Shows that include other outside clips (news clips, sports highlights, internet clips, etc.) are tough in that the clips often get flagged as commercials. These take a little extra care in tuning.

So true. It is really hard to get the end of a show that only last 30 seconds or so. Most of the time it will not skip the commercial before it, or it will skip the commercial and the last bit of the show. Comskip has a setting to save the last X amount of seconds, but the problem is that not every episode has that short section of show at the end even within the same series so it becomes difficult to tune the INI file perfectly even for a specific series.

As you mention, little 5-10 second news blips or promos that have the network logo are also annoying. At least those are usually short.

That's hard to get just fast forwarding with a remote sometimes.

Another vote for MCE Buddy

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