A feature I would like to have is a simple checkbox on the conversion task page that, when enabled, would cause said conversion task to enter at the top of queue rather than the bottom of the queue (as is standard now). and
Adding a task to the top of the Queue would not interrupt any currently active task (but it would be the next one to become active).
For example, say I have the following Queue with two tasks with video A currently being archived:
rename/remove commercials is set up with the checkbox checked so its new tasks enter at the start of the queue
Archive does not have the checkbox so its tasks enter at the end of the queue (the current behavior).
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
and a new video (video 6) is detected, which fits the criteria for the rename/remove commercial task (which would have the "enter at start of queue checkbox checked). The new Queue ideally would look something like:
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 6 | rename/remove commercials
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
If a new video 7 was detected that matched "archive" it would continue to be added at the end
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 6 | rename/remove commercials
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
Video 7 | archive
The reason for this would be to allow for multiple conversion tasks and given them different "priority". I am using MCE buddy in a kind of frankenstein WMC/Plex setup. Right now I simply have it stripping out the commercials (I have the paid version of comskip to do wtv/H.264 files without conversion) and renaming the files. This works great and gets the files into a commercial free format and Plex has no problems matching the file up to a TV show database. Plus it runs very fast (slowest part is disk I/O, but with comskip, but it still has no problems keeping up with my recordings/the queue is often completely empty).
What I would like to do is be able to re-encode these files (particularly MPEG-2 encoded ones) into a smaller h.264 mp4 file. While this is easy enough to do with an "archive" task, it is not a fast process on my quad-core i7-930. On days that I was recording multiple shows (generally weekdays, as I record a lot of the morning PBS shows for my son), the queue would get quite long and I would have to wait till the weekend for it to clear. Thus I am only conducting the "rename/remove commercials" task at this point as otherwise it was taking too long to access whatever new shows I wanted to watch without having to go in and manually re-adjust the queue.
Having this feature would allow me to give priority to a fast task like my "rename/remove commercials" and then also allow me to have MCE buddy "archive" my files as time allows. Thus Plex would have quick access to any newly recorded shows, sans commercials, while I would still have an automated system for archiving and re-encoding my files and I wouldn't really care if the queue was days or even weeks long.
Hope that makes sense. I don't know how you have the queuing system set up and whether this would be a simple addition or not, but if it is, I'd greatly appreciate it.
-Dave Huss
Adding a task to the top of the Queue would not interrupt any currently active task (but it would be the next one to become active).
For example, say I have the following Queue with two tasks with video A currently being archived:
rename/remove commercials is set up with the checkbox checked so its new tasks enter at the start of the queue
Archive does not have the checkbox so its tasks enter at the end of the queue (the current behavior).
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
and a new video (video 6) is detected, which fits the criteria for the rename/remove commercial task (which would have the "enter at start of queue checkbox checked). The new Queue ideally would look something like:
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 6 | rename/remove commercials
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
If a new video 7 was detected that matched "archive" it would continue to be added at the end
__Video A | archive (active process)__
Queue:
Video 6 | rename/remove commercials
Video 1 | rename/remove commercials
Video 2 | rename/remove commercials
Video 3 | rename/remove commercials
Video 4 | archive
Video 5 | archive
Video 7 | archive
The reason for this would be to allow for multiple conversion tasks and given them different "priority". I am using MCE buddy in a kind of frankenstein WMC/Plex setup. Right now I simply have it stripping out the commercials (I have the paid version of comskip to do wtv/H.264 files without conversion) and renaming the files. This works great and gets the files into a commercial free format and Plex has no problems matching the file up to a TV show database. Plus it runs very fast (slowest part is disk I/O, but with comskip, but it still has no problems keeping up with my recordings/the queue is often completely empty).
What I would like to do is be able to re-encode these files (particularly MPEG-2 encoded ones) into a smaller h.264 mp4 file. While this is easy enough to do with an "archive" task, it is not a fast process on my quad-core i7-930. On days that I was recording multiple shows (generally weekdays, as I record a lot of the morning PBS shows for my son), the queue would get quite long and I would have to wait till the weekend for it to clear. Thus I am only conducting the "rename/remove commercials" task at this point as otherwise it was taking too long to access whatever new shows I wanted to watch without having to go in and manually re-adjust the queue.
Having this feature would allow me to give priority to a fast task like my "rename/remove commercials" and then also allow me to have MCE buddy "archive" my files as time allows. Thus Plex would have quick access to any newly recorded shows, sans commercials, while I would still have an automated system for archiving and re-encoding my files and I wouldn't really care if the queue was days or even weeks long.
Hope that makes sense. I don't know how you have the queuing system set up and whether this would be a simple addition or not, but if it is, I'd greatly appreciate it.
-Dave Huss