[moyekj]

This idea came out of discussions in another thread. I would like suggestions on how to automatically setup single recordings on the Replay via a PC over your LAN? Why would I want this? Well think of the possibilities. I think we could do a better job of setting up a more comprehensive priority scheme over what gets recorded than Replay currently has. I think we can come up with a much better regex based search capability for theme-based recordings, etc. etc. All of that is very doable once you have downloaded tv schedule listings (like XMLTV) to your pc.


The idea is to come up with your own set of recordings using software on your PC and then simply feed the resulting lineup to your Replay as single, guaranteed non-conflicting recordings so you know for sure what it will record.


So far I have explored 2 possibilities:


1. Using the "httputils-sendciomessage?cioc=xxx" messages as implemented in ReplayPC and other software to emulate remote button presses to setup a 1-time manual record. This method is fairly easy to implement in code (I have a prototype that works) but the problem is the resulting channel is labeled "Manual Recording" and I don't see any reliable way of renaming that channel or for that matter finding other channels in case they need to be deleted.


2. Updating your my.replaytv.com account to add the recordings. While automatically connecting to the server and downloading information from it has already been implemented (tv_check) I haven't seen software that can add new recordings there yet so don't know how hard this would be.


Any ideas anyone? Does the general idea sound feasible? Any better suggestions? Thanks in advance.


-Kevin

Anyone?

 

[moyekj]

I explored my.replaytv.com method a little more but I don't think that's gonna work very well. A net connect immediately following a change there doesn't always get you the update. It seems there is a little delay. I waited for about an hour and updated again and then got the changes. Anyone else can confirm this behavior?

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

I think the real-time LAN based method is preferred. I think the LAN has a better chance of being up and running versus MyRTV.com. In fact, with the LAN based approach it would be cool to implement a real-time MyRTV.com clone served up on your local network which with some NAT magic could be made visible on the WAN. Some other features:


1) Recordings setup on the RTV directly are automatically incorporated

2) conflicts generate an email

3) multiple units could be used to manage conflicts

4) quality level can be adjusted for upcoming recorded events based upon available space, the priority list, and acceptable quality setting for each show

5) priority list

6) to do list

7) auto archive to a LAN connected PC if space is really tight

8) daily summary of events


I'm sure there are more. I'll add as I think of them.


Cheers

 

[moyekj]

I tend to prefer a LAN solution too. But the biggest question remains... how to setup a recording (and delete channels) on the Replay from a PC? If this basic problem can be overcome this opens up all the possibilities mentioned thus far.


The fact that when you network 2 Replays together and you cannot setup/change recordings over the LAN doesn't bode well for a solution. But I'm sure with the brilliant minds in this forum someone has to have a solution.

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

Actually, I was thinking that instead of setting up recordings the PC would simple "press" the record button at the appropriate time. In order to synchronize the PC and the RTV the program would have to poll the RTV for its time quite regularly. When the record button is pressed then the channel title is that of the show being recorded. As for deleting... well I'm not sure. I know that DVArchive can delete shows (copy then delete = move); I suppose if the Replay Channel is a single event recording (like what happens if the record button is pressed) when the show is deleted then the channel is deleted as well.


Any other problems?


Cheers

 

[moyekj]

Interesting idea. Of course this means the PC must always be on and a program running in the background to change the channel at the appropriate time and start the record. In this mode though you would have to make sure there is nothing else scheduled to record on your Replay since you can't start another record before canceling the current one if there is one.


The other problem with this approach is it doesn't allow for any time padding of the record time which is certainly a problem for sporting events.


Also, you can't poll the Replay GUI to discover what is to be recorded -- not a big deal but it's nice to have some confirmation that the Replay is setup to record what you want.


Keep the ideas flowing though Smooth, this was a very "out of box" idea I hadn't thought of.

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

Well, what I have in mind is to replace the built-in recording scheduler and move all of that to the PC. Basically the PC software is the brain the the RTV is the encoder/decoder and intermediate storage location. The PC software could then know the state of all the machines networked together and dole out recordings on whatever machine is available to record the next recording. The software would manage the priorities, start and stop times, and which machine records what. Then the user only has to setup recordings from one location (the PC) for all the machines, and all the machines work together to record everything.


As for sports padding, I'm not sure yet. Could be that you record the next time slot for all sporting events. Padding in general is tricky unless you can start a manual recording since it doesn't see show boundaries. Might need some help from SB on this one.


Cheers

 

[joef_rgb]

Sounds to me like you're a capture card, sans tuner assuming a cable box is connected, from rolling your own Total control over all aspects of the box.

 

[Amazingly Smooth]

PC's are typically too loud for a HT environment. Plus the advantage here is that these boxes already do most of the work. The amount of software we are talking about is considerably less than is required to build a complete, seemless A/V recorder PC that is essentially IR remote driven only. I think this is an excellent use of the RTV.


Cheers

 

[moyekj]

Yes, it's essential the recordings still happen on RTV for me so I can still take advantage of CA and streaming. Also, for my wife and kids they would still want to use the RTV GUI for setting things up -- it's just my preferred shows would take precedence