Feature #3530
Consecutive Episodes
0%
Description
I'm regularly recording kids shows on German TV, where multiple episodes are often broadcasted consecutively. My current recording settings add 5min in front and at the end of every recording, as most shows don't start exactly on time and are "padded" with advertizing. Today I end up with multiple overlapping recordings for the consecutive episodes, making watching a pain as the recordings overlap. Plus it blocks at least 2 tuners at times.
Pad 1 | Start 1 | Stop 1 | Start 2 | Stop 2 | Start 3 | Stop 3 | Pad 3
Episode 1 X-----<------------------>----X
Episode 2 X----<------------------>---X
Episode 3 X----<------------------>-----X
I'm looking for a way to make tvheadend understand that it's supposed to record multiple shows in one go, ideally automatically based on the show title. Maybe through a "continue recording same title" setting for an autorec entry.
Or is this already possible today?
PS: Love the software, I'd even support it going commercial.
History
Updated by M W almost 9 years ago
Updated by Hi,
I had the same problem with german television. It was solved with the EPG running state feature. The episodes are cut perfectly at the beginning and at the end. It is not exactly what you want, but you can whatch all episodes in a row without overlap.
Somehow it does not work with all Channels. With Pro7 or RTL it works, but e.g. with ARD i am having problems. There it stops with the first ad on the Sportschau.
The feature is available in the newest builds 4.1....
Regards,
MW
Updated by Harald Nehring almost 9 years ago
Updated by Hi MW,
good idea - I haven't followed this feature, will try with some Chuggingtons tomorrow morning 
PS: Took a while to find the feature - you need to put it into a recording profile. Plus it's called "EPG Laufend Status" in the German frontend...
Updated by Robin Mitra almost 9 years ago
Updated by I'm not quite sure I understand. Does TVH require multiple tuners to record overlapping events on the same stream? How about multiple clients watching the same stream?
Also, I think the running flag feature is more dangerous than useful. I would prefer that an ongoing recording listens into the current eit and adjust accordingly in case the event lasts longer (or starts later) than originally planned and then apply the padding. It depends too much on the provider to set it accurately taking into account the delays your recorder has to actually start and stop. Relying on the eit schedule is risky too, but IMHO not as much.
E.g. scheduled 1305-1400, padding 5 mins begin, 5 mins after start)
1. wake up at 1300 (I know linux doesn't have wake timers and reservations, but had to mention it here)
2. tune to mux/service asap
3. get eit and update autorec. See if the event is still scheduled to start within the next 5 mins.
4. If so, start recording, else set wake timer for next start - 5 mins and go idle.
5. if the recording has started, continue scanning eit to see if event stop changes, if so, update autorec, including current stop recording time
Updated by Harald Nehring almost 9 years ago
Now that you mention it - I made an assumption on tuner use for parallel recordings on the same channel, most possible only one tuner is used for that. I have 6 tuners in my setup, so I get confused at times
I tried "running state" and it worked cool for a couple of recordings so far. I have nothing to "wake up" as my server runs 24/7.
Updated by Robin Mitra almost 9 years ago
Like MW mentioned above:
I assume that ARD etc. sets the running flag 'correctly' i.e. if an event is interrupted by commercials, it goes away and comes back when the event continues.
Pro7/RTL etc. OTOH do not do that, since they consider the commercials to be an integral part of the event.
It depends on how the provider interprets his freedom of setting this flag.
PS: full power 24/7 is evil in general 
Updated by