CBS, ABC, NBC tuned comskip.ini

[erik]

Below you will find a comskip.ini tuned for the main USA channels.
Thanks to reboot for the tuning

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detect_method=47 ;1=black frame, 2=logo, 4=scene change, 8=fuzzy logic, 16=closed captions, 32=aspect ration, 255=all
verbose=0 ;show a lot of extra info, level 5 is also OK, set to 0 to disable
max_brightness=60 ;frame not black if any pixels checked are greater than this (scale 0 to 255)
test_brightness=40 ;frame not pure black if any pixels checked are greater than this, will check average brightness (scale 0 to 255)
max_avg_brightness=20 ;maximum average brightness for a dim frame to be considered black (scale 0 to 255) 0 means autosetting
max_commercialbreak=290 ;maximum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
min_commercialbreak=10 ;minimum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
max_commercial_size=61 ;maximum time in seconds for a single commercial or multiple commercials if no breaks in between
min_commercial_size=14 ;mimimum time in seconds for a single commercial
min_show_segment_length=291 ; any segment longer than this will be scored towards show.
non_uniformity=250
max_volume=0 ; any frame with sound volume larger than this will not be regarded as black frame
ticker_tape=0 ; Amount of pixels from bottom to ignore in all processing
intelligent_brightness=1 ; Set to 1 to use a USA specific algorithm to tune some of the settings, not adviced outside the USA
logo_percentile=0.92 ; if more then this amount of logo is found then logo detection will be disabled
logo_threshold=0.70
aggressive_logo_rejection=1
connect_blocks_with_logo=1 ; set to 1 if you want successive blocks with logo on the transition to be regarded as connected, set to 0 to disable
cut_on_ar_change=1 ; set to 1 if you want to cut also on aspect ratio changes, set to 0 to disable
delete_show_after_last_commercial=1 ; delete the last block if its a show and after a commercial
delete_show_before_or_after_current=0 ; This can lead to the deletion of trailers of next show
shrink_logo=0 ; Reduce the duration of the logo with this amount of seconds
padding=0
delete_logo_file=1 ; set to 1 if you want comskip to tidy up after finishing
output_framearray=0 ; create a big excel file for detailed analysis, set to 0 to disable
output_videoredo=0 ;Select the output file you need
output_womble=0
output_cuttermaran=0
output_mpgtx=0
output_zoomplayer_chapter=0
output_zoomplayer_cutlist=0
output_edl=0
live_tv=0
output_debugwindow=0
excessive_length_modifier=0.01

[steve_ma]

Do the rules (in the .ini, I guess) allow settings on a per channel basis? Or do you need to tweak 1 profile to handle all your channels.

Just starting so sorry if its a dumb question.....

[erik]

if all else fail read the instructions

Inside the comskip.zip distribution is a example command file that shows how to use a per channel ini file.

[Tomahawk51]

Thanks for keeping up the Comskip effort. I found the program when using GBPVR some time ago. Now I have switched to SAGETV, and still use it everyday.

Question: I am a US (standard def) user. Should I use the defaults, or the settings included in this thread? I haven't been brave enough to really fiddle with the tuning, so I was hoping that I might find a better .ini file here.

Also, is it a good idea to use these settings with the newer versions - or have they been phased out?

[erik]

The settings in this thread are still applicable to the latest release and they are better for USA broadcast then de default ini file.
The default ini file is a compromise for global use.

[leecole]

This ini setting worked fine (100%) for NBC and CBS, however it still misses some commercials for my ABC and Fox networks. Still learning about tuning the ini.

[erik]

In case you get stuck send me the files described in "how to ask for help" and I will have a look.

[Tomahawk51]

Erik,

Is it still the case that I should stick with these settings for US for all new versions?

One thing that I would love to see is a mechanism for sharing succesful customizations sorted by country. Of course, there would need to be some mechanism to capture which are regarded to be "the best," perhaps as a poll.

Of course all this gets chucked out the window if you are moving to have one definition that covers all users.

Sorry for the rambling. Thanks for your efforts!

[erik]

It seems that the default ini file is delivering better results then the USA specific ini.

That is also my goal.

[Gr8M1ke]

Here's my tweeked .ini. I currently live in Newport, RI and have analog cable and poor signal to boot. The default profile worked well for Fox, but wouldn't detect anything on CBS and ABC. So, I spent a day fiddling around and I think I have the 85-90% solution. Tested on The Unit, Grey's Anatomy (1:30 of show marked wrong), NCIS (approx. 25 sec of show marked wrong), Brother's and Sisters and Desperate Housewives. If anyone has any better tweeks, I'd certianly be interested.

detect_method=47 ;1=black frame, 2=logo, 4=scene change, 8=fuzzy logic, 16=closed captions, 32=aspect ration, 64=silence, 255=all
validate_silence=1 ; Default, set to 0 to force using this clues if selected above.
validate_uniform=1 ; Default, set to 0 to force using this clues (like pure white frames) if blackframe is selected above.
validate_scenechange=1 ; Default, set to 0 to force using this clues if selected above.
verbose=10 ;show a lot of extra info, level 5 is also OK, set to 0 to disable
give_up_logo_search=500
max_brightness=70 ;frame not black if any pixels checked are greater than this (scale 0 to 255)
test_brightness=50 ;frame not pure black if any pixels checked are greater than this, will check average brightness (scale 0 to 255)
max_avg_brightness=30 ;maximum average brightness for a dim frame to be considered black (scale 0 to 255) 0 means autosetting
max_commercialbreak=600 ;maximum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
min_commercialbreak=10 ;minimum length in seconds to consider a segment a commercial break
max_commercial_size=61 ;maximum time in seconds for a single commercial or multiple commercials if no breaks in between
min_commercial_size=14 ;mimimum time in seconds for a single commercial
min_show_segment_length=119 ; any segment longer than this will be scored towards show.
non_uniformity=3617
max_volume=680 ; any frame with sound volume larger than this will not be regarded as black frame
min_silence=136 ; Any deep silence longer than this amount of frames is a possible cutpoint
ticker_tape=0 ; Amount of pixels from bottom to ignore in all processing
logo_at_bottom=1 ; Set to 1 to search only for logo at the lower half of the video, do not combine with subtitle setting
punish=0 ; Compare to average for sum of 1=brightness, 2=uniform 4=volume, 8=silence, 16=schange, set to 0 to disable
punish_threshold=1.3 ; Multiply when amount is above average * punish_threshold
punish_modifier=2 ; When above average * threshold multiply score by this value
intelligent_brightness=0 ; Set to 1 to use a USA specific algorithm to tune some of the settings, not adviced outside the USA
logo_percentile=0.95 ; if more then this amount of logo is found then logo detection will be disabled
logo_threshold=0.90
punish_no_logo=1 ; Default, set to 0 to avoid show segments without logo to be scored towards commercial
aggressive_logo_rejection=0
connect_blocks_with_logo=1 ; set to 1 if you want successive blocks with logo on the transition to be regarded as connected, set to 0 to disable
cut_on_ar_change=0 ; set to 1 if you want to cut also on aspect ratio changes, set to 0 to disable
delete_show_after_last_commercial=0 ; set to 1 if you want to delete the last block if its a show and after a commercial
delete_show_before_or_after_current=0 ; set to 1 if you want to delete the previous and the next show in the recording, this can lead to the deletion of trailers of next show
remove_before=0 ; amount of seconds of show to be removed before ALL commercials
remove_after=0 ; amount of seconds of show to be removed after ALL commercials
shrink_logo=5 ; Reduce the duration of the logo with this amount of seconds
after_logo=0 ; set to number of seconds after logo disappears comskip should start to search for silence to insert an additional cutpoint
padding=0
ms_audio_delay=5
max_repair_size=40 ; Will repair maximum 40 missing MPEG frames in the timeline, set to 1 to disable repairing for players that don't use PTS.
delete_logo_file=0 ; set to 1 if you want comskip to tidy up after finishing
output_framearray=1 ; create a big excel file for detailed analysis, set to 0 to disable
output_debugwindow=0
output_videoredo=0
output_womble=0
output_mls=0 ; set to 1 if you want MPeg Video Wizard bookmark file output
output_cuttermaran=0
output_mpeg2schnitt=0
output_mpgtx=0
output_dvrcut=0
output_zoomplayer_chapter=0
output_zoomplayer_cutlist=0
output_edl=0
output_edlx=0
output_vcf=0
output_btv=1 ; set to 1 if you want Beyond TV chapter cutlist output
output_projectx=0 ; set to 1 if you want ProjectX cutlist output (Xcl)
output_demux=0 ; set to 1 if you want comskip to demux the mpeg file while scanning
sage_framenumber_bug=0
sage_minute_bug=0
live_tv=0 ; set to 1 if you use parallelprocessing and need the output while recording
live_tv_retries=1 ; change to 8 when using live_tv in BTV
cuttermaran_options="cut=\"true\" unattended=\"true\" muxResult=\"false\" snapToCutPoints=\"true\" closeApp=\"true\""
mpeg2schnitt_options="mpeg2schnitt.exe /S /E /R25 /Z %2 %1"
dvrcut_options="dvrcut \"%s.dvr-ms\" \"%s_clean.dvr-ms\" "

[tunnanugget]

hey erik, do you have an updated/best .ini for usa cable tv commercials for the major stations like abc,cbs, nbc, fox, espn, wb, etc? thanks.

[erik]

No, but there are many USA users both in the GBPVR forum and the Sage forum.
Why not try over there?
The out of the box settings should be OK (95%)