Advanced concepts to use MCEBuddy

MCEBuddy GUI Startup Options

MCEBuddy support the following options while starting the GUI (MCEBuddy.GUI.exe). Include these parameters by right clicking on the application short cut in the Start Menu and add them to the target path.

/startmin - Start the GUI minimized 
/startengine - Force the engine to start (after connection with engine is established)

e.g. "C:\Program Files\MCEBuddy2x\MCEBuddy.GUI.exe" /startmin /startengine

Note: The parameters will come after the double quotes close and a space between each parameter

Tuning Comskip Commercial Detection

Comskip can be fine tuned to better detect and cut commercials for each country/region. There is a file names comskip.ini in the comskip directory in the MCEBuddy installation directory (by default C:\Program Files\MCEBuddy2x). The details of the tuning parameters can be found at: http://www.kaashoek.com/files/tuning.htm

If the video appears to get cut for about 3 seconds after the commerical ends (i.e. the commercial skipping cuts 3 seconds into the actual video post the end of the commerical), this could be because of the-ss settings in the <encoder>-video section of the profile. the-ss 3 command is required to get rid of corrupted video at the beginning to avoid audio sync issues. Remove the-ss 3 from the video parameters to fix this issue. Refer to the Audio Sync Issues section at the end of this document for details on the -ss command.

Multiple Audio Tracks in Converted File (v2.3.12+)

This only works with FFMPEG based profiles and if the source file has multiple audio tracks. Handbrake and MEncoder do not support converting/copying multiple audio tracks.

Select <Default> as the Audio Language in the conversion options AND add-map 0:a -map 0:v to the ffmpeg-video section for the FFMPEG profile and it will copy/convert all audio tracks.

Show Analyzer (v2.1.2+)

MCEBuddy supports ShowAnalyzer version 1.0 and greater. Once you download and install ShowAnalyzer it will show up as an option on the conversion profile settings page under commerical detection.

Filename and Showname Pattern Matching (v2.2.3+)

MCEBuddy supports multiple wildcard name matching to match shownames and filenames using the; operator. E.g. once can specify *.wtv;*.avi*.mpg as the name selection criteria orncis*;house*.mpg to match all names that start with ncis and house (ending with a .mpg).

If you want to specify a name avoid list, i.e. select all/abc files EXCEPT xyz, then prefix the name selection criteria with a~ operator. E.g. ncis*;~ncis miami* will select all files that start with ncis but NOT those starting with ncis miami. E.g. *.*;~*.mp4;~*.avi will select all files except those starting with .mp4 and .avi

Name matching is case insensitive.

To select all default video types use the expression [video] which will match the following expression*.dvr-ms;*.wtv;*.asf;*.avi;*.divx;*.dv;*.flv;*.gxf;*.m1v;*.m2v;*.m2ts;*.m4v;*.mkv;*.mov;*.mp2;*.mp4;*.mpeg;*.mpeg1;*.mpeg2;*.mpeg4;*.mpg;*.mts;*.mxf;*.ogm;*.ts;*.vob;*.wmv;*.tp

For advanced users MCEBuddy also supports REGEX expressions. To provide a regex expression prefix the regex matching pattern withregex: and then the regex pattern (this is a very advanced concept).

Multiple Conversion Tasks Customized by ShowName or FileName (v2.2.3+)

Refer to Filename and Showname Pattern Matching above to understand how to create patterns for filename and shownames.

You can create multiple conversions tasks in MCEBuddy. Each conversion task will process each file in the queue. Order of conversions tasks do not matter when creating filename and showname filters. If you want to create custom conversion tasks for different files/shows you can do so with the help of the Filename or Showname pattern matching filters in the Conversion Tasks Settings page, under Advanced Settings.

For e.g. if you want to create 3 tasks, one that processes all NCIS files, one that processes all Star Trek files and one that processes all other files (i.e. default). To do so you will first create 3 conversion tasks.

In the first conversion task, where you want to process NCIS, under Filename or Showname filters (depending on what you want to filter based on, the name of the file or the name of the show taken from the metadata), you will enter NCIS* . This tell the conversion task to process only those files starting with NCIS.

In the second conversion task, where you want to process Star Trek files, under the Filename orShowname filter you will enter Star Trek* .

In the third conversion task, you want to process ALL other files (ie default), then you will enter the following *;~NCIS*;~Star Trek* . The first * tells the conversion task to process ALL files, the~NCIS* tells the task NOT to process files starting with NCIS and ~Star Trek* tells the task NOT to process files starting with Star Trek, i.e. process all files except those which are being processed by the first two tasks.

Custom File Renaming Pattern (v2.1.6+)

MCEBuddy allows you to create your own custom file name and directory structure using the metadata stored in the file and downloaded from the internet.

The following commands are currently supported by MCEBuddy

• %originalfilename% - Name of the source file (without the path or extension)
• %showname% - Showname / Title
• %episodename% - Episode Name / Subtitle
• %season%## - Season No
• %episode%## - Episode No
• %network% - Network channel on the show was recorded (v2.1.10+)
• %rating% - Parental rating (v2.3.14+)
• %premiereyear% - Premiere Air Year (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonth% - Premiere Air Month (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonthshort% - Premiere Air Month Name Abbreviation (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonthlong% - Premiere Air Month Full Name (v2.3.14+)
• %premiereday% - Premiere Air Day (v2.3.14+)
• %premieredayshort% - Premiere Air Day of Week Abbreviation (v2.3.14+)
• %premieredaylong% - Premiere Air Day of Week Full Name (v2.3.14+)
• %airyear% - Original Air Year
• %airmonth% - Original Air Month
• %airmonthshort% - Original Air Month Name Abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %airmonthlong% - Original Air Month Full Name (v2.3.11+)
• %airday% - Original Air Day
• %airdayshort% - Original Air Day of Week Abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %airdaylong% - Original Air Day of Week Full Name (v2.3.11+)
• %airhour% - Hour of air date (v2.3.6+)
• %airhourampm% - Air date hour in AM/PM (v2.3.12+)
• %airminute% - Minute of air date (v2.3.6+)
• %recordyear% - Record Year
• %recordmonth% - Record Month
• %recordmonthshort% - Record Month Name Abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %recordmonthlong% - Record Month Full Name (v2.3.11+)
• %recordday% - Record Day
• %recorddayshort% - Record Day of Week Abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %recorddaylong% - Record Day of Week Full Name (v2.3.11+)
• %recordhour% - Record Hour (v2.1.10+)
• %recordhourampm% - Record Hour in AM/PM (v2.1.12+)
• %recordminute% - Record Minute (v2.1.10+)
• %ismovie%<RenamePatternIfTrue,RenamePatternIfFalse> - If recording is a movie rename using True pattern, else rename using False pattern (v2.3.12+)
• %issport%<RenamePatternIfTrue,RenamePatternIfFalse> - If recording is a sport show rename using True pattern, else rename using False pattern (v2.3.15+)
• \ - Directory Separator

E.g.: TVShows\%showname%\Season %season%\%showname% - S%season%##E%episode%## - %episodename% - %airyear%_%airmonth%_%airday%

Will produce: TVShows\CSI\Season 1\CSI - S01E02 - Best of times - 2012_01_06.<ext>

E.g.: Recording\%ismovie%<Movie\%showname%,TVShows\%showname%\Season %season%\%showname% - S%season%##E%episode%##>-Converted

Will produce:

Recording\Movies\Star Wars-Converted.<ext> (for a movie)

OR

Recording\TVShows\CSI\Season 1\CSI - S01E02-Converted.<ext> (for non movies)

The extension is added automatically depending upon the profile specifications.

The number of #'s at the end for Episode and Season indicates the number of digits in the written number. E.g.%season%## will give the output at 01 while %season%### will give the output at001. #'s are optional, leaving them out will write the number without any formatting. i.e.%season% will give 1 as the output.

Audio Sync/Missing Issues

Sometimes the audio and video go out of sync due to corruption at the start of the video. To solve this problem add the parameter-ss 10 at the BEGINNING of the <encoder>-video parameter in the profile. DO NOT put this parameter in the general parameters section. (do not forget the - before the ss and make sure there is a space between ss and 10)

E.g. ffmpeg-video=-ss 10

This indicates that ffmpeg will skip the first 10 seconds of the video/audio after decoding it (if you put this in the general parameters section then the encoder will skip over first 10 which DOES NOT solve the problem, the video/audio need to be first decoded and then discarded to be put back in sync).

You can play with the number to find the right mix, it can be as low as 3 or as high as 30 depending upon the corruption. You'll be surprised how many videos are corrupted at the start and FFMPEG is very sensitive to corruption as far as audio sync goes. You often cannot see the corruption while play the video (it will look okay), these are at the frame level and often ignored by players.

Also try to play with the AudioDelay parameter (given above). Set to skip to see if that resolves the issue. If the Audio sync is still off, try setting the AudioDelay number to +ve or -ve to advance or retard the audio sync and see how it behaves. It is a trial and error process.

If you're using FFMPEG or Handbrake as the encoder with your profileAND your output extension is .MP4 or .M4V AND your audio is going out of sync ONLY when you remove commercials (i.e. the Audio is in sync without commercials removal), try to use an alternative commerical stripping by using the commandCutMP4Alternative=true in your profile.

If that doesn't work try using UniversalCommercialRemover=true in your profile. See above for more details.

Sometimes the Audio gets cut out completely in between a video. Try using PreConversionCommercialRemover=true in your profile. See above for more details.

Using Custom XML Files (v2.3.12+)

MCEBuddy looks for a XML file along with the original source video (with the same source video filename). It uses this file to extract Metadata information for non WTV/DVRMS files.

Also, it MCEBuddy find a XML file created during the conversion process (e.g. from Comskip), it will copy the XML file to to the destination directory along with the converted file.

Using Custom EDL Files (v2.3.12+)

MCEBuddy looks for a EDL file along with the original source video (with the same source video filename). If it finds the EDL file with the source video it copies the EDL file to the output directory along with the converted file.

MCEBuddy gives preference to the Custom EDL file over Comskip/ShowAnalyzer generated EDL files.

Using Custom SRT Files (v2.1.8+)

MCEBuddy looks for a SRT file along with the original source video OR in the temp working directory (with thesame source video filename). If it finds the SRT file in either place it copies the SRT file to the output directory along with the converted video (with preference given to a SRT file in the temp working directory).

If ExtractCC is enabled in the Conversion Task -> Advanced Settings it will trim the Custom SRT file to be in sync with the EDL file (commercial removal). MCEBuddy gives preference to the Custom SRT files over the CC generated SRT file.

Comskip can be set to generate SRT files (output_srt=1) or CCExtractor can be used using fromCustom Commands (if the ExtractCC from the GUI fails to work) to generate SRT files during the conversion process. Once generated, MCEBuddy will copy them to the output directory along with the converted file.

MultiThreading Support (v2.1.2+)

MCEBuddy by default calculates how many threads are required for the programs to run optimally. However this can be overridden manually by specifying the threads in the general parameters in the profiles file for each profile and encoder type.

Advanced parameters to configure MCEBuddy

(apply to mcebuddy.conf)

NOTE: As of v2.3.13 all configurable parameters (except FFmpegBackupRemux) in MCEBuddy.conf can be accessed through the GUI,Settings -> Expert Settings page. You do NOT need to edit the MCEBuddy.conf file.

HOW TO MAKE CHANGES TO MCEBUDDY.CONF

Start the MCEBuddy application from the Start Menu. Click on Stop to stop the MCEBuddy engine. This is VERY important, if you don't press Stop, the changes you make to mcebuddy.conf will be overwritten. Open mcebuddy.conf in Notepad, make the required changes and save the file. Now clickStart on the MCEBuddy application.

DO NOT REPLACE the file mcebuddy.conf directly with an old version, it will break MCEBuddy. Open, edit and save it. The old version is preserved for your reference only.

Custom eMail Notification Subject Lines (v2.3.13+)

The following parameters can be edited to create custom subject lines for eMail notifications for events. If there is nothing specified then MCEBuddy will use the default subject lines.

eMailSuccessSubject=<Custom subject line for a successful conversion>

eMailFailedSubject=<Custom Subject Line for a failed conversion>

eMailCancelledSubject=<Custom Subject Line for a cancelled conversion>

eMailStartSubject=<Custom Subject Line on the start of a conversion>

eMailDownloadFailedSubject=<Custom Subject Line when downloading series information fails>

Each custom subject line can contain User Custom Commands that will be replaced by MCEBuddy at runtime. Refer to theRunning Custom Commands for a liist of custom commands that can be used in the subject line.

e.g. eMailSuccessSubject=Show %showname% for file %originalfilename% conversion successful using task %taskname%

NOTE: Not always will all the data be available in the custom commands, for e.g. when download information has failed or on a start event the video metadata like episode name and converted file name may not be available.

 

CustomComskipPath=xyz (v2.1.12+)

This parameter can be set if you want a use a custom version of Comskip, e.g. a Donator version or special/old version, that is lying in a different directory than the one that ships with MCEBuddy.

e.g. CustomComskipPath=D:\Donator MCEBuddy\comskip.exe

NOTE: The path must be to the executable comskip AND the directory should contain ALL the files necessary for Comskip to run (comskip.ini, comskip.dictionary etc). When using this parameter the default comskip.ini that ships with MCEBuddy is NOT used rather it expects the comskip.ini to be present in the same directory as the custom comskip.exe.

If a special comskip.ini has been specified in the Conversion Task advanced settings page then that special comskip.ini that WILL be used rather than the one lying in the custom comskip.exe directory.

IgnoreCopyProtection=false (v2.1.12+)

By default, this value is false. If this is set to true, then MCEBuddy will ignore the Copy Protection flag on the recording if it encounters it during conversion. It will only record an error in the conversion log and continue the conversion. If the recording is really copy protected then the final video will be look garbled. This flag can help because sometimes videos are incorrectly flagged by recording software/tuners. When this is set tofalse, if MCEBuddy encounters an Copy Protection flag it will stop the conversion after logging an error.

UseRecycleBin=false (v2.1.12+)

By default, this value is false. If this is set to true, then MCEBuddy will use the Recycle Bin when deleting the original video recording and related files (like EDL, XML etc).

DownloadBanner=true (v2.1.12+)

By default, this value is true. If this is set to false, then MCEBuddy will not download the Banner file (artwork) for the movie or tv series. This can be used when you want to download the series information (checkDownload Series Details from the Conversion Task page) but not download the artwork / banner file.

CPUAffinity=<binary mask integer> (v2.1.12+)

This parameter can be set to set the CPU affinity mask. This limits MCEBuddy to 1 or more processors only as specified in the bitmask. While this number is written as an integer, the integer represent a binary mask with each bit representing a processor. HINT: Convert the integer to a binary representation, each bit in the binary number presents a CPU processor.

E.g.:

CPUAffinity=1 will select the 1st CPU processor

CPUAffinity=2 will select the 2nd CPU processor

CPUAffinity=3 will select the 1st and 2nd CPU processor

CPUAffinity=4 will select the 3rd CPU processor

CPUAffinity=5 will select the 1st and 3rd CPU processor

CPUAffinity=6 will select the 2nd and 3rd CPU processor

CPUAffinity=7 will select the 1st, 2nd and 3rd CPU processor

TempWorkingPath=xyz (v2.1.2+)

This parameter is used to manually specific the temp working directory for MCEBuddy, i.e. xyz. By default MCEBuddy uses a directory calledworking within the MCEBuddy installation directory (e.g. C:\Program Files\MCEBuddy2x\working) (it will make multiple directories if using multiple simultaneous conversions with a number at the end for each parallel conversion, e.g. working0, working1 etc). This has to be a complete working path with rights to be able to create, modify and delete files/directories else the conversion might fail. This parameter should come under the section[Engine] in the conf file.

E.g. TempWorkingPath=D:\Temp\MCEBuddy

PollPeriod=xxx (v2.1.2+)

This parameter specifies how often MCEBuddy should check the Monitor Locations for new files. xxx is defined innumber of seconds. This parameter should come under the section [Engine] in the conf file.

E.g. PollPeriod=150

NOTE: By default MCEBuddy uses 300 seconds as the interval to check for new files.

LocalServerPort=xxx (v2.2.16+)

This parameter specifies the TCP/IP port of the installed MCEBuddy server engine on the local machine. MCEBuddy registers this port with the any UPnP enabled routers on the network by default to enable remote connections from outside the network (NAT). This is the MCEBuddy GUI application should connect to for the local machine. The default port used by MCEBuddy is23332. This parameter should come under the section [Engine] in the conf file.

E.g. ServerPort=23332

SubtitleSegmentOffset=x.x (v2.3.12+)

This parameter is used when the subtitles go progressively out of sync after commercials are removed from the video. This happens because when a video is cut, the video is aligned with the next GOP and I Frame sequence which can be a few seconds away from the actual cutting point. Hence each time the video is cut the subtitles get progressively out of sync with the video. This setting is used to bring the subtitles back into sync with the video. Each time the video commercial is cut out, the subtitles are time shifted by this amount (+ve or -ve in seconds), hence bringing the subtitles back into sync with the video segments.

E.g. SubtitleSegmentOffset=5.4

HangPeriod=xxx (v2.2.4+)

This parameter specifies how long MCEBuddy will wait for a console output from the application (e.g. handbrake or ffmpeg etc) before it determines that the application has hung and terminates it. xxx is defined innumber of seconds. This parameter should come under the section [Engine] in the conf file. Use0 to disable hang detection (i.e. MCEBuddy will wait forever for the process to exist normally).

E.g. HangPeriod=500

NOTE: By default MCEBuddy uses 300 seconds as the interval to determine a hung application

FFMpegBackupRemux (v2.1.12+)

This is a special section in the configuration file that stores the command parameters for the ReMux operations which are carried out using FFMPEG if the main ReMuxSupp application fails/not used to remux the video. First theCopyRemux is used, if that fails then the SlowRemux is used. CopyRemux is used first for MPEG2 video files to stream copy the video without recoding the video. If the original video is not MPEG2 orCopyRemux fails then SlowRemux parameters are used to remux the video. THESE SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED UNLESS THE BACKUP REMUX IS COMPLETELY FAILING. Each of these entries will have a number after them likeCopyRemux0, CopyRemux1, SlowRemux0, SlowRemux1 etc. These numbers indicate successive remux parameters to be tried if the previous one fails, i.e. ifSlowRemux0 fails then MCEBuddy will look for SlowRemux1 and if that fails then it looks forSlowRemux2 etc.

You can also specify -i <source> in the remux parameters as a placeholder for the input filename which MCEBuddy will replace at runtime. This can be useful if you want to specify parameters before the input file in the FFMPEG parameter command.

E.g. CopyRemux0 = -fflags +genpts -i <source> -map 0:a -map 0:v -vcodec copy -acodec copy

MCEBuddy automatically detects the frame rate of the video through the use of -r auto in the FFMPEG Remux parameters in CopyRemux and SlowRemux. This can be disabled by removing-r auto. It can also be overridden by manually specifying the frame rate to use (which can be useful if the average rate of dropped and/or duplicate frames is very high leading to stuttering videos).

E.g. -r auto
E.g. -r 25
E.g. -r 30*1000/1001

MCEBuddy monitors the Average Rate of Dropped frames and Average Rate of Duplicate frames, the key is average rate and not absolute value. If this exceeds a threshold then the auto detected frame rate is incorrect and needs to be corrected. These thresholds can be specified in the parameters RemuxDropThreshold andRemuxDuplicateThreshold. If that threshold is exceeded you may need to manually specify the frame rate (see above).

E.g. RemuxDropThreshold=3.0
E.g. RemuxDuplicateThreshold=3.0

[FFMpegBackupRemux]
CopyRemux0=<FFMPEG Remux parameters>
SlowRemux0=<FFMPEG Remux parameters>
SlowRemux1=<FFMPEG Remux parameters>
RemuxDropThreshold=<Average Rate of Dropped Frames threshold>
RemuxDuplicateThreshold=<Average Rate of Duplicate Frames threshold>

Advanced parameters to tweak the conversion

(apply to each profile in profiles.conf

(v2.3.14+ Profile  parameters, when specified, override any conversion task options - e.g. SkipCropping and AutoDeInterlace)

Inserting Special Commands (v2.3.12+)

You can get MCEBuddy to insert special commands in the 4 sections of the profile

• <encoder>-general
• <encoder>-video
• <encoder>-audio
• <encoder>-audioac3

The following special commands will be replaced by MCEBuddy at runtime:

• <source_without_ext> - Source filename without extension
• <source> - source filename
• <converted_without_ext> - Output filename without extension
• <converted> - Output filename

E.g. mencoder-general = -sub "<converted_without_ext>.srt" -ss 3

will be replaced at runtime with (assuming the output file is c:\temp\test file.avi):

mencoder-general = -sub "c:\temp\Test File.srt" -ss 3

NOTE: MCEBuddy does not put quotes around the replacement parameters, some command expect quotes to be sure to put quotes where required.

ForceWTVStreamsRemuxing=true (v2.3.12+)

This parameter tells MCEBuddy to use DirectShow to extract the audio and video streams from the WTV file and remux them into a TS file. This has the advantage that uses Windows codecs, is fast and also support encrypted/Copy Protected content. The disadvantage is that it only support one audio and video stream in the WTV file.

NOTE: By default Streams remuxing is used for DVR-MS files and also as the last option for WTV files if all else fails. 

AllowH264CopyRemuxing=true (v2.3.12+)

This parameter tells MCEBuddy to internally allow remuxing H264 video into a TS format without converting it to MPEG2 video first. This can be used when one wants to change the format of the video while retaining the original H264 video without recoding it. E.g. from WTV to MP4 or WTV to MKV or WTV to TS, or even WTV to WTV and remove commercials etc.

For more details on this refer to this thread http://mcebuddy2x.codeplex.com/discussions/431449 

NOTE: (v2.3.14+) By default this is enabled, also keep in mind that the default version ofComskip that comes with MCEBuddy is SLOW to detect H264 commercials. Use theDonator version of Comskip (http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/) to speed up the H264 commercial detection.

(v2.3.12 - v2.3.13) By default this is disabled. The limitation on this is that default version of Comskipthat comes with MCEBuddy does not support H264 commercial detection, howeverShowAnalyzer can be used in it's place or use the Donatorversion of Comskip (http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/) for H264 commercial detection.

UseWTVRemuxsupp=true (v2.3.11+)

This parameter tells MCEBuddy to use Remuxsupp FIRST to remux WTV files before trying other remuxers. This can help with some videos (rare) that not remuxed properly with FFMPEG or other remuxers but work with Remuxsupp. Usually Remuxsupp does not work well with many videos. 
NOTE: This only helps in certain situations where files remuxed by FFMPEG are not able to be converted by MEncoder.

ForceEDL=true (v2.1.4+)

This is only effective when Comskip is enabled and Custom EDL files are not provided. When the commercial removal option is set to Comskip it tells MCEBuddy to force use the EDL file instead of the EDLP file from Comskip. EDL/EDLP files indicate the sections (timestamps) of the video to cut (commercials), however the timestamps differ slight for each video format, some use EDL and others EDLP. If your video/show is getting cut before/after commercials by a few seconds then try using this parameter.
NOTE: By default MCEBuddy uses EDL for .TS files and EDLP for all others

ForceEDLP=true (v2.1.4+)

This is only effective when Comskip is enabled and Custom EDL files are not provided. When the commercial removal option is set to Comskip it tells MCEBuddy to use the EDLP file instead of the EDL file from Comskip. EDL/EDLP files indicate the sections (timestamps) of the video to cut (commercials), however the timestamps differ slight for each video format, some use EDL and others EDLP. If your video/show is getting cut before/after commercials by a few seconds then try using this parameter.
NOTE: By default MCEBuddy uses EDL for .TS files and EDLP for all others

FixedResolution=true (v2.1.4+)

This tells MCEBUddy not to change source video resolution while converting (keep source resolution). When this parameter is set, MCEBuddy ignores theMax Width slider on the Conversion Task -> Advanced Settings page.

(v2.3.13+) When this is set, it also fixes the bitrate to what is specified in the profile. Normally MCEBuddy will adjust the bitrate as specified in the profile (which is optimized for 720 pixel width) to compensate for the change in converted video resolution (up or down) as limited by the Max Width slider. If the user does not want to limit the resolution then they should increase theMax Width slider in the Conversion Task Settings -> Advanced Settings page all the way to the right.

SkipCropping=true (v2.1.4+)

This tells MCEBuddy not to autodetect crop information and skip cropping the video. This helps when the video edges are being cut off or if you have a video with no black bars on the sides to be removed, it will speed up the conversion process. Auto cropping can also sometimes skew the aspect ratio, so setting this will make MCEBuddy skip cropping.

ffmpeg-SubtitleBurn=true (v2.3.15+)

This parameter only works with ffmpeg profiles. If this is enabled, MCEBuddy looks for a valid SRT (subtitle) file and if it finds one during the conversion process, it will use that SRT file to burn the subtitles into the video during conversion. This only works if the video is being encoded (i.e. copy codec is NOT being used). This only works if there is a valid SRT file. So ensure that you have a SRT file along with the original video (MCEBuddy will copy it) or you have enabledExtract Closed Caption in Conversion Task settings. Once the subtitles have been successfully burnt the SRT file is deleted and not copied to the output.

<encoder>-AudioDelay=xxx/auto/skip (v2.1.2-2.2.18, 2.2.19+)

This parameter is set for each encoder type, e.g. ffmpeg, mencoder or handbrake
When xxx is set to skip then it tells MCEBuddy to skip auto correction of audio delay (sync). This is useful for some file formats such as AVI where audio gets skewed on auto correction.
If this parameter is set to a numerical value, then this parameter is used to manually specify the audio delay correction to correct audio sync,xxx is a +ve or a -ve number in seconds. If the value is equal to auto, it adds or subtracts the delay specified to the auto calculated audio delay for the video. A value of 0 means that MCEBuddy will skip any delay correction.
By default this this parameter is set to skip.

E.g. mencoder-AudioDelay=0.85

2ChannelAudio=true (v2.1.5 - v2.1.9, v2.2.13+)

When this parameter is set MCEBuddy limits the output audio to 2 channels irrespective of number of inputs channels
This can be useful to when specialized devices/software can read only 2 channels
By default MCEBuddy sets the output channels to the number of input channels
(As of 2.1.10, this can also be set in the Conversion Task GUI - profile overrides GUI)

MEncoderEDLSkip=true (v2.1.4+)

This parameter tells MCEBuddy not to use the EDL command with MEncoder to remove commercials from the video during conversion (which can save time but sometime cause the audio to go out of sync in rare cases).
If this parameter is set then MCEBuddy will remove the commercials AFTER the conversion is completed by using MP4Box to cut the commercials. Please do not setCutMP4Alternative=true when using this parameter.
This can be used to if converting with Mencoder is causing your Audio to go out of sync while removing commercials (it has no impact if commercial stripping is disabled) and none of the other parameters (-ss 30 ormencoder-audiodelay=skip ) do not work.

UniversalCommercialRemover=true (v2.3.11+)

When is parameter is set it tells MCEBuddy to use the Universal Commercial Remover after the conversion is complete (where as the default are very specific commercials remover functions for each file type, but they can sometimes fail as they are very sensitive to errors and sync issues). This helps when the standard profile is failing or causing audio issues during the commercial removal stage. While this cutter can leave some artifacts where the video is cut, however it works on ALL file types and will work successfully without any audio sync issues.

The other advantage of UniversalCommercialRemover=true is that it support files with multiple audio tracks and preserves them where as other mechanisms may or may not support depending up the file type.

(v2.3.12+) Setting UniversalCommercialRemover=true will force all commercials to be cut post conversion, unless PreConversionCommercialRemover=true is set. This can be used an option if commercial removal are failing or if a new file format is being used which is not natively supported by MCEBuddy.

PreConversionCommercialRemover=true (v2.3.12+)

When is parameter is set it tells MCEBuddy to use the Universal Commercial Remover to remove the commercials before the conversion (rather than the usual case of removing commercials after conversion). This helps when the conversion is failing during the commercial removal stage. While this cutter can leave some artifacts where the video is cut, however it works on ALL file types and will work successfully without any audio sync issues. This option is independent ofUniversalCommercialRemover. If the preconversion commercial removal fails, it will automatically fall back to the post conversion commercial remover.

CommercialMergeTool=ffmpeg/avidemux (v2.3.14+)

There are two tools used to merge video segments after removing the commercials. This parameter can be set to force use of the tool. By default MCEBuddy will determine the best tool to use, however if  the conversion is hanging or if you want this can be changed. The tools are ffmpeg and avidemux. avidemux is great for single audio tracks and for most general purposes but it can sometimes cause MCEBuddy to hang due to bugs in it.ffmpeg is a very stable tool, supports multiple audio tracks but sometimes it leaves artifacts when merging segments at the frame the segments are merged. Occasionallyffmpeg can fail the merging but will not hang MCEBuddy.

e.g. CommercialMergeTool=ffmpeg

CutMP4Alternate=true (v2.1.4+)

When is parameter is set it tells MCEBuddy to use an alternative mechanism for remove commercials fromMP4 and M4V files after the conversion is complete. By default MCEBuddy uses MP4Box to remove commercials during the last step, if this parameter is set it will use MEncoder to remove commercials. This helps sometime when the Audio Goes out of sync with the video after using Comskip/ShowAnalyzer but is in sync without Comskip. NOTE: This parameter is only effective when using usingFFMPEG or Handbrake encoders. When using mEncdoder as the encoder, this parameter has NO effect as the commercial will always be stripped during the conversion itself (unlike FFMPEG and Handbrake, who's commercials are stripped out AFTER the conversion is complete).

CommercialSkipCut=true (v2.1.4+)

If this parameter is set, it tells MCEBuddy to do the Commercial Scan but NOT to cut the commercials. Instead it will copy the generated EDL file to the output directory along with the converted file.
Comskip generates 2 types of files, EDL and EDLP. Use the ForceEDL and ForceEDLP command to specify which file to use. See above for more details.
NOTE: When this parameter is set, the Closed Caption/SRT files generated will NOT be trimmed to match the EDL file.

CopyLogFile=true (v2.3.14+)

If this parameter is set, it tells MCEBuddy to copy the log file generated by comskip during commercial detection. The log file is copied along with the converted file to the output directory.

AutoDeinterlace=true (v2.3.14+)

If this parameter is set it tells MCEBuddy to automatically detect the scan type (interlaced, progressive or telecine) of the video and override the profile parameters to optimize the quality of the video.

Running Custom Commands (v2.1.8+)

MCEBuddy can provide the user with an option to run a single command at the following points in this order during the conversion process:

Refer to the Conversion Process Overview to understand the exact location of each Custom Command.

 

1. (v2.3.14+) At the very beginning of the conversion process just BEFORE extracting the metadata from the source file (before the remuxing or commercial detection or conversion). This custom command can executed with the following parameters. To do so ALL the following 4 parameters need to be defined for the profile for which a pre conversion custom command needs to be run.

NOTE: Since this is run before the MetaData extraction, the only information available is about the original/source filenames/paths and conversion parameters like profiles/task name etc. There is no information about the recording metadata.

PreMetaCustomCommandPath=<Full Path of the executable>

PreMetaCustomCommandParameters=<Optional parameters to be passed - see below for list>

PreMetaCustomCommandHangPeriod=<0 or +ve number>

PreMetaCustomCommandCritical=<true or false>

PreMetaCustomCommandUISession=<true or false>

 

2. (v2.3.13+) At the beginning of the conversion process just after extracting the metadata from the source file (before the remuxing or commercial detection or conversion). This custom command can executed with the following parameters. To do so ALL the following 4 parameters need to be defined for the profile for which a pre conversion custom command needs to be run.

PreCustomCommandPath=<Full Path of the executable>

PreCustomCommandParameters=<Optional parameters to be passed - see below for list>

PreCustomCommandHangPeriod=<0 or +ve number>

PreCustomCommandCritical=<true or false>

PreCustomCommandUISession=<true or false>

 

3. (v2.3.15+) After remuxing, closed caption extraction and commercial detection is complete, just before cutting the commercials. This custom command can executed with the following parameters. To do so ALL the following 4 parameters need to be defined for the profile for which a pre conversion custom command needs to be run.

PreCommercialRemovalCustomCommandPath=<Full Path of the executable>

PreCommercialRemovalCustomCommandParameters=<Optional parameters to be passed - see below for list>

PreCommercialRemovalCustomCommandHangPeriod=<0 or +ve number>

PreCommercialRemovalCustomCommandCritical=<true or false>

PreCommercialRemovalCustomCommandUISession=<true or false>

 

4. (v.2.1.8+) At the end of the conversion process just after the file is renamed and before it is moved to the destination directory. To do soALL the following 4 parameters need to be defined for the profile for which a post conversion custom command needs to be run.

CustomCommandPath=<Full Path of the executable>

CustomCommandParameters=<Optional parameters to be passed - see below for list>

CustomCommandHangPeriod=<0 or +ve number>

CustomCommandCritical=<true or false>

CustomCommandUISession=<true or false>

 

5. (v.2.3.14+) At the very end of the conversion process after all the files are moved to the destination directory. To do so ALL the following 4 parameters need to be defined for the profile for which a post conversion custom command needs to be run.

PostCustomCommandPath=<Full Path of the executable>

PostCustomCommandParameters=<Optional parameters to be passed - see below for list>

PostCustomCommandHangPeriod=<0 or +ve number>

PostCustomCommandCritical=<true or false>

PostCustomCommandUISession=<true or false>

 

In the PreMetaCustomCommandParameters, PreCustomCommandParameters, CustomCommandParameters andPostCustomCommandParameters you can use the following parameters:

• %convertedfile% - will be replaced with the full name and path of the (converted file forPreCustom) (converted and renamed file for Custom) (moved/destination converted file forPostCustom) as part of the parameters passed to the custom program.
• %sourcefile% - will be replaced with the name and path of the original source video.
• %remuxfile% - will be replaced with the name and path of the intermediary .TS file generated in the temp working directory if the source video is a WTV or DVR-MS file. Please note this will be blank if the source video is not a WTV or DVR-MS file. The following data is extracted from the Source Video metadata when available
• %srtfile% - Full path to SRT file, if it exists, otherwise blank (v2.3.12+)
• %edlfile% - Full path to EDL file, if it exists, otherwise blank (v2.3.12+)
• %taskname% - Name of the task being used (v2.3.13+)
• %profile% - Name of profile being used (v2.3.13+)
• %workingpath% - Full path to the temp folder where the converted file is kept (v2.3.12+)
• %originalfilepath% - Full path of the source file
• %originalfilename% - Name of the source file (without the path or extension)
• %showname% - Title of the show
• %episodename% - Subtitle of the show
• %episodedescription% - Description of the show
• %season%## - Season no
• %episode%## - Episode no
• %bannerfile% - Full path to downloaded banner file
• %bannerurl% - URL to banner file
• %imdbmovieid% - IMDB.com Movie Id
• %movieid% - MovieDB.com Movie Id
• %seriesid% - TVDB.com Series Id
• %genre% - Genre
• %ismovie% - True or False if the video is a movie
• %issport% - True or False if the video is a sport show (v2.3.15+)
• %premiereyear% - Premiere Air Year (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonth% - Premiere Air Month (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonthshort% - Premiere Air Month Name Abbreviation (v2.3.14+)
• %premieremonthlong% - Premiere Air Month Full Name (v2.3.14+)
• %premiereday% - Premiere Air Day (v2.3.14+)
• %premieredayshort% - Premiere Air Day of Week Abbreviation (v2.3.14+)
• %premieredaylong% - Premiere Air Day of Week Full Name (v2.3.14+)
• %airyear% - Year of air date
• %airmonth% - Month of air date
• %airmonthshort% - Month of air date abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %airmonthlong% - Month of air date full name (v2.3.11+)
• %airday% - Day of air date (v2.3.6+)
• %airdayshort% - Day of air date abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %airdaylong% - Day of air date full name (v2.3.11+)
• %airhour% - Hour of air date (v2.3.6+)
• %airhourampm% - Hour of air date in AM/PM (v2.3.12+)
• %airminute% - Minute of air date (v2.3.6+)
• %recordyear% - Year of record date
• %recordmonth% - Month of record date
• %recordmonthshort% - Month of record date abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %recordmonthlong% - Month of record date full name (v2.3.11+)
• %recordday% - Day of record date (v2.3.11+)
• %recorddayshort% - Day of week from record date abbreviation (v2.3.11+)
• %recorddaylong% - Day of week from record date full name (v2.3.11+)
• %recordhour% - Hour of record date (v2.3.12+)
• %recordhourampm% - Hour of record date in AM/PM (v2.3.12+)
• %recordminute% - Minute of record date
• %network% - Network channel on the show was recorded
• %rating% - Parental rating (v2.3.14+)

PreCustomCommandParameters CustomCommandParameters are CASE SENSITIVE.

e.g. CustomCommandPath = C:\Test 1\test.exe

e.g. CustomCommandParameters = /i "%convertedfile%" /o "%sourcefile%" -t

In the above example, %convertedfile% will be replaced by the full path and filename of the converted file. The %sourcefile% will be replaced with the full path and name of the original source video.

If your CustomCommandXXX line starts with a double quote and ends with a double quote, then you MUST enclose the ENTIRE line in an additional double quote otherwise MCEBuddy will not be able to read it.

e.g. if you want CustomCommandParameters = "%convertedfile%" "D:\Media\TV Shows"

then you must write it as:

CustomCommandParameters = ""%convertedfile%" "D:\Media\TV Shows""

(v2.1.4 - v2.3.12) MCEBuddy encloses the parameters in DOUBLE QUOTES.

(v2.3.12+) MCEBuddy does NOT enclose the parameters in DOUBLE QUOTES. Some applications required the parameters to be in DOUBLE QUOTES, so YOU need to ADD the DOUBLE QUOTES around the parameters in the  as shown in the example above.

The number of #'s at the end for Episode and Season indicates the number of digits in the written number. E.g.%season%## will give the output at 01 while %season%### will give the output at 001. #'s are optional, leaving them out will write the number without any formatting. i.e.%season% will give 1 as the output.

NOTE: While running a custom command, the output is redirected to the log file with a debug log status. Also note that not all parameters will have valid values for PreMetaCustomCommandParameters and PreCustomCommandParameterssince this command is run at the beginning of the conversion process (e.g.%convertedfile%, %remuxfile% will return blank since they don't exist yet or%airday% will return blank for PreMetaCustomCommandParameters since the data has not been extracted yet).

CustomCommandHangPeriod represents the number of SECONDS MCEBuddy will wait during which if no output is detected and logged to the log file and it determines the process to be hung and kills it. Set it to0 to DISABLE hang detection. Please note that if hang detection is disabled, MCEBuddy will wait endlessly for the process to finish before proceeding (or the task is deleted/stopped).

CustomCommandCritical, when this is set to true, MCEBuddy will fail the entire conversion if the custom command is invalid or if the process is terminated (due to hang detection). If it is set tofalse then MCEBuddy will continue with the conversion processing irrespective of the custom command failure/success UNLESS the converted file has been renamed or deleted. By default the value isfalse.

PreMetaCustomCommandUISession is set to true if you want your program to run in UI space (Session 0) instead of Kernel space (Session 0). This is helpful sometimes if you're running a program that accesses hardware enabling API's (such as QuickSync, CUDA, DirectX etc) and since MCEBuddy runs as a service in kernel space and some operating systems do not allow direct access to hardware API's from a kernel space, this parameter is required.

NOTE: MCEBuddy will fail the conversion process if the custom command deletes or renames the converted file (%convertedfile%). Also note, Custom Command will fail if it cannot find the file specified (avoid using executables files on network drives since MCEBuddy uses the Windows Service account to access network drives and sometimes these are not mapped correctly due to credential issues)