Commercial Editing

[AlfB]

I have seen several comments on editing out commercials on DVD recorders. How is it done? Do you go through some editing process like with PC programs or is there hardware/software on the recorder that removes them for you similar to some of the VCRs out there?

[DVWannaB]

Frankly, I would be shocked if DVD Recorder had this capability. It goes against everything thats currently happening legally. I dont think these companies want to be suited by the Hollywood types.

Also I dont think the technology exists to, lets say, press a remote button that says "edit out commercials out of my captured file". Again, because of legal issues.

I believe you will have to extract the video/audio file from your recorder's hard drive to your computer to do any editing. I heard Womble MPEG2VCR is the cutter of choice. I have not used it myself, but I am planning on using the trial version to see ehat happens.

Good luck.

[donpedro]

I do not agree with DVWannaB. I believe that it is possible with recorders that have Hard Drive .... at least. Not sure about RAM but I think you can do that too. Maybe somebody who have DVD Recorder can explain you how, but I can recomend you to dowload manual for recorder that you are interested in and read. And it is definetely not illegal.

[AlfB]

I don't think it is a legal issue since there are VCRs that do similar things. Mine marks the start and end of commercials and FFs through them on playback. In retrospect, the VCR only does the marking after the fact but that would not be a problem especially for the hard drive machines. What I was really curious about was how the existing units work as I do not have one but am considering a purchase. I have seen it stated that some units allow the editing of commercials. I was curious exactly how it worked. I had hopes the the editing was automatic by the machine but I really expected the answer to be it was manual. If manual, how easy? Similar to using Ulead or Pinnacle Studio? In the end, what is easier, taking files to the computer and using Womble or other or using the recorder itself?

[FOO]

Anybody have a clue how they detect commercials ?
Do they ever miss ?

[donpedro]

If I remember this correctly (don't trust me on this one), when I lived in Europe they had some way how they can program VCR with some code and here is what it does and how I think it works.

1. Instead of specifying time and date you will set some number.

2. VCR will use some part of teletext to identify when recording should start and end.

3. VCR will adjust correct time recording in event that TV program was moved or delayed for some reason.

4. VCR will stop (or pause) recording during commercials. Again, this is done by sending special code (or something) in teletext.

Am I right ? Does anybody know what I am talking about ?

[donpedro]

Here is part of it

VPS/PDC – If you want to record a programme, these two systems
interpret the signals of your required TV station to start recording at the
precise broadcast time. If the programme is delayed, the VCR will wait
until it begins and record it in its entirety.

[andkiich]

There is a signal sent at the beginning and end of every commercial and when a clip of the show starts and stops. Sometimes you'l see the test patern screen when the person at the station doesn't switch the clips correctly. It's this signal that the VCR reads. I think that Tivo might have something similar. While it doesn't speed through the commercials, if you watch something that it recorded to the drive, fast forward through the commercials and go a few seconds to far, it will auto backtrack to the beginning of the clip for the show you were watching.

This is just a theory of mine, can't prove it and I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will correct it.

[ktnwin]

I own a Tivo and have been using for more than 2 years, it does not have any capability to skip recording commercials. On playback, I have to FF to skip commercials manually. But it's worth it ( in term of saving TV watching time).

[Roll Tide]

Yes you can edit out commercials on the Panasonic recorders. I have the DMR-E80H. You can edit on the hard drive or on the DVD-RAM disc, which acts just like a 4.37GB hard drive. You use the Shorten Segment function, then mark the start and end points of the segment you want to erase. Select Next, confirm you want to erase that segment, then select the next segment or exit. You use the high speed search to move through the program as you search for the segments you want to remove.

If you want to keep an edited program permanently, just burn to DVD-R and finalize. This is what I do with my college football collection.

IMO, this functionality is what makes the Panny's superior over the other recorders on the market, and will probably save DVD-RAM as something of moderately popular niche format.

[FOO]

I think andkiich has it. I had heard that too.
I even went so far as to construct a video processor (originally to
remove macrovision) with a fast microprocessor on it so I could
do whatever I wanted in firmware. The idea was to detect the
start/end commercial signals and at least kill the audio. I did
the circuit board and got parts but never finished it.
Anybody know where this signal is. Is it on line 21 like closed caption ?

[houtx67]

Yes you can edit out commercials on the Panasonic recorders. I have the DMR-E80H. You can edit on the hard drive or on the DVD-RAM disc, which acts just like a 4.37GB hard drive. You use the Shorten Segment function, then mark the start and end points of the segment you want to erase. Select Next, confirm you want to erase that segment, then select the next segment or exit. You use the high speed search to move through the program as you search for the segments you want to remove.

You can also create a playlist w/o commercials if you're concerned you might botch an edit point with the shorten segment feature (no going back like a playlist). However, you do reclaim HD space when you shorten the segments. That helps if you plan to keep it on your harddrive for awhile.

Either function is great for creating DVD-Rs of your favorite TV shows (just record in XP mode if possible to compensate for the reencoding). You can also dub to RAM in the XP/SP/LP/EP modes (not FR) and use Ulead Moviefactory to convert to DVD-R w/o reencoding I've heard. I'd recommend staying away from the EP mode though. My Toshiba 6-head VHS recorder makes better recordings in SLP than this does in EP.

[TBoneit]

I own a Tivo and have been using for more than 2 years, it does not have any capability to skip recording commercials. On playback, I have to FF to skip commercials manually. But it's worth it ( in term of saving TV watching time).

I always have my Tivo (Standalone) set to 30 second skip instead of fast forwarding through the commercials. The more or less complete codes for Tivo can be found on www.dbsforums.com

I do have to reset them if the power goes out longer than the UPS can supply backup power.

I never did master the knack of coming out of FF at the right point to resume playing the show and since my other PVRs have 30 second skip that was/is easier for me. and that code still lets me skip to the tick marks if I'm in FF, so no big loss for me.

Cheers