Topic: TV recordings disapear after recording (Read 4118 times)

pcimon · « **on:** January 15, 2013, 05:59:21 pm »

Hi all,

Just installed MC 18. I got everything working except for 2 things:

1- Is there a way to go straight to live TV from Theater View like in Windows MC? So far the only I found is through the guide

2- All my recordings are successful they appear in the directory and the library but as soon as the recording is over they disappear from the library and are only available in the file directory. I tried forcing MC to import the files specifically, it goes through the motions says it's successful but nothing appears in the library...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yaobing · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2013, 09:40:41 am »

Quote from: pcimon on January 15, 2013, 05:59:21 pm

Hi all,

Just installed MC 18. I got everything working except for 2 things:

1- Is there a way to go straight to live TV from Theater View like in Windows MC? So far the only I found is through the guide

The Guide is the default way of accessing TV in Theater view. It is most logical. If you want to have a list of TV channels in Theater View, you can find some helpful info in this thread.

Quote

2- All my recordings are successful they appear in the directory and the library but as soon as the recording is over they disappear from the library and are only available in the file directory. I tried forcing MC to import the files specifically, it goes through the motions says it's successful but nothing appears in the library...

What format did you use for recordings (jtv or ts)?

Take a look in Documents, where the files may have been incorrectly tagged as non-video. If you find them there, simply change their Media Type to Video. Having said that, I must add that I have not seen this behavior for a long time.

Daniel Warner · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2013, 04:45:43 pm »

Slightly OT but what is the advantage of using the jtv format? It seems to create a directory for each recording and then multiple files, which can get very messy after a few dozen recordings. Also, the files won't open in any media editor I have tried (Such as Womble MPEG) for cutting up and splicing. That is why I used ts. Having said that, I still find the recording feature in WMC far superior, which is real shame.

pcimon · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:21:52 pm »

Quote from: Yaobing on January 16, 2013, 09:40:41 am

What format did you use for recordings (jtv or ts)?

Take a look in Documents, where the files may have been incorrectly tagged as non-video. If you find them there, simply change their Media Type to Video. Having said that, I must add that I have not seen this behavior for a long time.

Yes I'm using jtv. You're right they are in documents. They've been tagged as "cnk". I find that puzzling. When I set the recording settings I used the defaults as much as I could. I did not see cnk anywhere that I remember. I'd like to change the default behavior as well to avoid this.

I'll change the tags for the one that already recorded but Which file do I change?
One show produced 63 files so do I change the tag on the .jtv only or all of them? Also when it comes time to delete shows do I have to hunt down all the files or will deleting the .jtv take the rest with it?

pcimon · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:44:04 pm »

I may have spoken too soon. The files I found in documents had .jta .jtf .jti .jtr and xml but no jtv. Also some show I recorded yesterday are not in there. The show record ok and when I double click on the .jtv files in the directory they play ok they just don't show up in the library. I did notice I had selected the "start analog channels in time-shifting mode" could this cause the cnk files? I chose that because I use an HD PVR from Hauppauge.

Yaobing · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:01:09 pm »

Only JTV files represent recordings. Other files, jta, jts, jtf, etc. are internal files. Under Documents, you can delete them from the library (but make sure you do not delete them from the disk!). If you find jtv files under Documents, select them, and click Tag in Action Window.

When say you found no jtv, did you mean you did not find them in the library? They are still on the hard drive, right?

pcimon · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:37:49 pm »

Quote from: Yaobing on January 16, 2013, 07:01:09 pm

When say you found no jtv, did you mean you did not find them in the library? They are still on the hard drive, right?

Sorry should've been more clear, they are on the hard drive. I've been playing them directly from the hard drive until we figure this out.

I actually found the jtv files in the library. They show up as audio files. I changed the tags to video and they disappear and to not reappear under video. I changed the media format to Video and media Support to TV show but they don't show up.

Yaobing · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2013, 08:34:06 pm »

OK, we are having some progress here. At least you find them in the library. Changing Media Type from Audio to Video should really bring them back to video. I wonder why they are not. Have you tried restarting MC?

I believe I had coded to make sure jtv files are always imported as Video. I will have check what went wrong.

Can you find one such file, either under Audio or under Documents, do a right-click > Library Tools > Update Library (from Tags), and then email me a log file? yaobing at jriver dot com

pcimon · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2013, 08:38:42 pm »

Sure, thing. I'm rather new to MC so I'll need to know where to find the log file.

JimH · « **Reply #9 on:** January 17, 2013, 07:27:07 am »

It's under Help in the menu.

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2013, 06:00:26 pm »

There are postings explaing the differences between JTV and TS format. I recall (and my memory is not as sharp as it used to be) the main difference was that JTV handled recordings better when/if you used "Time Shifting". The JTV is a JRiver format. The TS format is a "standard" (transport stream) format.

I use TS format because I like the neatness of having just one file per recording (and I don't use Time Shift). I have had no issues with it at all.

Note when you record, save the files in a specific directory like "TV Recordings", then in MC Tools>Options>Library & Folders go to "configure auto import" and add the folder "TV Recordings" to be monitored (auto imported) but go one step further, select the folder and click on "edit" button, then under the "apply these tags (otional)" add/select "Media Sub Type is TV Show". Then anything that gets put into the folder "TV reordings" will always be tagged as a TV show.

pcimon · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2013, 02:59:16 am »

Quote from: CountryBumkin on January 17, 2013, 06:00:26 pm

Note when you record, save the files in a specific directory like "TV Recordings", then in MC Tools>Options>Library & Folders go to "configure auto import" and add the folder "TV Recordings" to be monitored (auto imported) but go one step further, select the folder and click on "edit" button, then under the "apply these tags (otional)" add/select "Media Sub Type is TV Show". Then anything that gets put into the folder "TV reordings" will always be tagged as a TV show.

So, now when I change the media type tag from Audio to video the shows appear in the right place ( not sure why that did not work the fist time). I sent a log to Yaobing and he's investigating why the recorder tags them to audio in the first place.

In the mean time CountryBumpkin's method seems like a good workaround. I already had the recorded show directory setup in the auto import and, from changing the tags manually, I know that the media subtype is already tv show.

The tag that needs changing is the main media type tag and it's not in the list of default tags to add. The only way I see to change that tag on auto-import is the custom tag option which does have all the tag labels listed. If I chose media type in custom tag it does not have the drop down you see when changing tag in the library but a text field. if I put Video in the text field would Mc see it properly?

Yaobing · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2013, 10:53:03 am »

I have taken a look at your log file sent yesterday.

I saw two main things that happened:

First thing was you did an Update Library on a TV recording file (D:\JRiver Recorded TV\Last Resort 2013-01-17\Last Resort 2013-01-17.jtv). It failed badly. The program could not load the recording. It looks as if the recording is missing important files. Because of the failure, MC did a "bare minimum video import", which means it treated this file as video anyway, ignoring all the failures. Therefore, the file should be in Video now, after the update operation. The recording seemed to be either missing some files - such as those xxxxx.jta.cnk, and xxxxx.jts.cnk files, or MC could not open them. Make sure you have those files, and do not in any way change or remove those files in the folder.

The second thing I saw in the log was that you started recording on the same channel (and the same TV program). The file was recorded as "D:\JRiver Recorded TV\Last Resort 2013-01-17 (1)\Last Resort 2013-01-17.jtv". It was in a separate folder as it should. MC imported the file successfully as soon as the recording started. Later you tried to play it.

So everything should be working, but I am still puzzled by why some of your recordings do not load.

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #13 on:** January 18, 2013, 04:49:50 pm »

Quote from: pcimon on January 18, 2013, 02:59:16 am

If I chose media type in custom tag it does not have the drop down you see when changing tag in the library but a text field. if I put Video in the text field would Mc see it properly?

Yes. You can type in the name/field you want. (it doen't have to be on the drop down list). I do this for "Trailers" which is not on the drop down list. Of course the name you enter has to be a "vaild" media type or sub-type for it to work.

pcimon · « **Reply #14 on:** January 18, 2013, 05:16:16 pm »

Quote from: CountryBumkin on January 18, 2013, 04:49:50 pm

Yes. You can type in the name/field you want. (it doen't have to be on the drop down list). I do this for "Trailers" which is not on the drop down list. Of course the name you enter has to be a "vaild" media type or sub-type for it to work.

Thanks, I will try it and report how it goes.

Quote from: Yaobing on January 18, 2013, 10:53:03 am

First thing was you did an Update Library on a TV recording file (D:\JRiver Recorded TV\Last Resort 2013-01-17\Last Resort 2013-01-17.jtv). It failed badly. The program could not load the recording. It looks as if the recording is missing important files. Because of the failure, MC did a "bare minimum video import", which means it treated this file as video anyway, ignoring all the failures. Therefore, the file should be in Video now, after the update operation. The recording seemed to be either missing some files - such as those xxxxx.jta.cnk, and xxxxx.jts.cnk files, or MC could not open them. Make sure you have those files, and do not in any way change or remove those files in the folder.

The second thing I saw in the log was that you started recording on the same channel (and the same TV program). The file was recorded as "D:\JRiver Recorded TV\Last Resort 2013-01-17 (1)\Last Resort 2013-01-17.jtv". It was in a separate folder as it should. MC imported the file successfully as soon as the recording started. Later you tried to play it.

Yaobing, I forgot to mention to ignore "Last resort" in the logs. I forgot it was going to record and went to watch live TV and clicked on the wrong popup warning and made it fail so that was my bad. I have a show taping at 18:30 today so I'll see what happens and send you the log which should be more representative. I think the main problem is the .jtv files being tagged as Audio by default. The work around from CountryBumpkin will likely fix this but it does not explain why they get tagged that way to begin with. Hopefully the next log I send will shed more light.

pcimon · « **Reply #15 on:** January 18, 2013, 09:32:35 pm »

I tried setting up a custom tag of "Media Type: Video" on my auto-import settings for the recorded tv directory but my recording still end up in audio because of the tag remaining as audio. I made sure not to select the box that said to leave the tag alone if it already has a value but that did not help either...

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2013, 06:41:51 am »

Is your process like this:

pcimon · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2013, 07:28:24 am »

Yes, exactly like that with one exception. The "Media Sub type" is already set to "TV Show" so I do not need to change it. The one causing me problems is the "Media type" itself which MC sets to audio after it finishes recording so I had to add a custom tag that looks like this:

pcimon · « **Reply #18 on:** January 19, 2013, 07:37:33 am »

oops, seems the dropbox link does not work so here's the picture again, got to remember to use the preview

Yaobing · « **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2013, 10:46:21 am »

I looked through your log file this morning carefully. The last show you recorded seems to be imported correctly (from the point of view of MC building a DirectShow graph successfully).

It really show have worked, without any additional tweaking on the auto-import front. Could it be that your auto-import settings are wrong and that caused the media type to be changed?

pcimon · « **Reply #20 on:** January 21, 2013, 12:22:48 pm »

I wouldn't think so. I left the settings to their default other then de-selecting everything but Video. You can see my setting on my post previous to yours. As you can see nothing to weird there. The custom tag applied was put there only to try to fix this issue. I can send you more screenshot if you wish to see something specific...

I think the reason it looks successful in the logs is that the show does get imported and does appear in the library but it appears in the Audio section because of the bad tag. So strictly from the import point of view it was successful. Don't know why the recording gets tagged as audio in the first place, however. I do not have any audio in my library because I'm using MC only for video so I would not have set any tags to audio anywhere as far as I know.

Come to think of it, does the recorded TV directory need to be added to auto-import in the first place?

Yaobing · « **Reply #21 on:** January 21, 2013, 03:11:19 pm »

Quote from: pcimon on January 21, 2013, 12:22:48 pm

Come to think of it, does the recorded TV directory need to be added to auto-import in the first place?

No. ~~But it should not hurt if you do it. Besides, in case you want to set up additional rules, it may even be helpful.~~
(EDIT on October 9, 2018: The advice now is not to let MC watch TV recording folder for auto-import. The TV recordings are automatically imported into the library. You can also specify some tagging actions post-recording.)

I see some clues to the problem. Tomorrow I will do more digging.

pcimon · « **Reply #22 on:** January 21, 2013, 08:00:01 pm »

Quote from: Yaobing on January 21, 2013, 03:11:19 pm

No. But it should not hurt if you do it. Besides, in case you want to set up additional rules, it may even be helpful.

Knowing this, I removed the recorded TV from the auto import to see what would happen. I figured when troubleshooting bring everything to it's simplest. The recording still got tagged as audio, however.

Quote from: Yaobing on January 21, 2013, 03:11:19 pm

I see some clues to the problem. Tomorrow I will do more digging.

Let me know if you need anything from my end.

pcimon · « **Reply #23 on:** January 23, 2013, 09:48:56 pm »

Well my problem is fixed, thanks to Yaobing's help. The problem was the following:

Quote from: Yaobing

We use Null Renderer (one that does nothing to the audio/video data) to render outputs of a video file for importing purposes since we do not need to output anything for real. When we try to obtain video characteristics from the DirectShow graph, we expect one of the NULL Renderer to be at the video output. In your case we failed to find it. Initially, I thought maybe for some reason NULL Renderer is missing from your computer. Your latest log shows that it does exist on your system, but it just did not connect properly for video output (it did connect for audio output). This NULL Renderer filter is supplied by Microsoft, and it should connect. So I suspect there maybe something wrong with what you have. Maybe some third-party software had replaced it with their own version? This is my theory. It does not really matter much as I have added code to force MC TV recordings to be imported as video, regardless.

A patch will be added in a build in the near future.

I must admit, I'm very impressed with the level of support from the folks at JRiver in this forum. Especially Yaobing.

Thank You!

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Author Topic: TV recordings disapear after recording (Read 4118 times)