faq

Is Lifextender compatible with the new .wtv format?

No, not at this time. There is no estimated date for a fix.

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What commercial-detection software does Lifextender employ?

Lifextender relies upon the most excellent Comskip - a free mpeg commercial detector. It's a console-based application that reads mpeg files and analyzes their content based on a wide array of configurable parameters. Comskip is packaged with Lifextender so there's no need for a separate download or install.

Lifextender also provides support for ShowAnalyzer by Dragon Global. However, ShowAnalyzer is a separate download/install and costs about $20.

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Does Lifextender support Show Analyzer?

Hells yeah it does. By default, Lifextender uses Comskip as the commercial-detection application of choice and Comskip is included in the Lifextender install. If you would prefer to use ShowAnalyzer, you will need download and install ShowAnalyzer manually. Once ShowAnalyzer is installed, it can be selected as the default commercial-detection application.

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What commercial-detection methods does Lifextender use?

Lifextender uses Comskip by default - here is a quick summary of how Comskip works its magic:

The recording is analyzed on various characteristics such as black frames, silences and changes in aspect ratio. Based on this information Comskip segments the recording in blocks and using heuristics, together with additional information such as the presence of logo, the scene change rate, Close Captioning information and other information sources Comskip tries to determine what blocks of the recording are to be characterized as commercials.

Alternatively, you can use ShowAnalyzer to detect commercials, which uses many of same methods that Comskip employs.

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Why remove the commercials permanently instead of just skipping over them?

The other popular method for bypassing advertisements is commercial skipping. This method creates a small file after analyzing a TV show that contains the commercials span timestamps. With the assistance of a Media Center add-in, the commercials will be skipped. This is the default method in DVRMSToolbox.

Commercial skipping keeps the original file in tact and takes a little less time to process. But it does require an add-in to move the current frame to the end of a commercial span.

I decided to completely remove the commercial from the show for a few reasons. First, the file size or the uncommercialized show is roughly a quarter smaller in size, freeing up bytes. Second, no add-in is required (it's optional) for this method to work in Media Center - it just always works. The only downside is if the show is analyzed and actual programming is marked as a commercial. Personally, this happens so rarely, it seemed the best route.

If you prefer the commercial-skip dealio, I recommend checking out this tutorial on setting up DVRMSToolbox on Chris Lanier's blog.

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How long does it take to uncommercialize a 30 minute show?

Based on my hardware (AMD dual-core 6000+ [3.01ghz], 4gb DDR2), it takes about 5 minutes to uncommercialize a typical 30 minute TV show with standard definition video using Comskip as the commercial-detection application. This includes analyzing the show, removing the commercials, merging original metadata and updating your Media Center library.

If you've chosen to use ShowAnalyzer instead of Comskip, the commercial-detection portion could be faster by 10% - 25%.

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How stable is Lifextender?

With the limited testing done so far, it's pretty damn stable. However, it's always possible something could go wrong, so make sure you test it out on a few files before unleashing it on your entire library.

Please keep in mind that Lifextender is currently in beta - if you aren't the adventurous type, you might want to hold off for now.

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Does Lifextender support high definition video?

Yes, Lifextender handles over-the-air (OTA) high-definition video just fine. Lifextender has also been tested with HD content provided by Silicon Dust's HDHomeRun Digital TV Tuner which supports ATSC OTA and QAM unencrypted content.

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Does Lifextender support HD video with DRM or CGMS-A / CableCARD?

No. Raise your hand if you think DRM is lame.

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How accurate is Lifextender?

Because Lifextender relies completely on Comskip/ShowAnalyzer for commercial detection, it's up to Comskip/ShowAnalyzer to accurately detect commercials. So it's a good thing that Comskip and ShowAnalyzer do their jobs well. It's hard to judge, but I'd say 6 out of 7 shows are superb. Occasionally, you'll see some commercials that should've been removed - and that's when you realize how spoiled you've become.

In my personal experience, when Comskip is wrong, it's wrong in that it marks advertisement as programming so it gets left in. To me, that's forgiveable because I can just fast forward thru the commercial. I can't remember the last time Comskip detected actual programming as advertisements. That would be bad. That's why Lifextender places the original file in your recycle bin by default. Lifextender can also move the original file to a location of your choice - more info on that is found here.

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Does Lifextender run on Windows XP?

Yes and no. Some users have reported that it works with XP, however Lifextender has been built to work with Vista primarily so it doesn't get tested on XP. If it happens to work, that's great. For a fully supported Windows XP solution, please check out DVRMSToolbox.

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Why isn't Lifextender a Windows service?

I decided to build Lifextender as a minimal-UI Windows Forms application rather than a Windows service mainly because in Vista a service can no longer interact with the desktop - meaning no user interface.

It is possible that a later build may implement Lifextender as a service with an additional UI application on top - but not any time soon.

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Can I configure Lifextender to perform a scheduled scan?

Yes, here's how.

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Does Lifextender work on 64bit Vista?

Yes, apparently it does based on the response from users.

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How much free space does Lifextender require?

The answer to this question is dependent on the size of the video being processed. If you are trying to uncommercialize a 2gb file, you need approximately 2gb of space free. Please see the Working Directory setting on the help page for details.

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Does Lifextender integrate with Media Center?

Yes. Lifextender comes with an optional Media Center Add-in. If installed, it allows Lifextender to communicate with Media Center, delivering a more integrated experience. For more info, check out the Lifextender Media Center Add-in section on the help page.

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Does the add-in allow you configure the Lifextender options via Media Center UI?

Unfortunately, not at this time. The Media Center SDK doesn't ship with a reusable UI/control library for developers to use, nor can you integrate a custom options page into Media Center's Settings section. So for now, you'll have to configure Lifextender using the windows application UI.

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What about DVRMSToolbox?

DVRMSToolbox is a set of tools that help you manipulate DVR-MS files that works with Media Center on both Windows XP and Windows Vista. You can create your own workflows (or profiles) for removing commercials, video converting, etc. The developer has done a great job of amassing a significant library of actions to do just about anything. While this gives you an enormous amount of control, it can be a little overwhelming to the average user.

I initially used DVRMSToolbox for a few weeks but abandoned it because I wanted something a little more simple. In the end, Lifextender was created because there just weren't any elementary commercial-removing applications around. Lifextender gives you just enough rope to lasso those commercials, not enough to hang yourself.

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Why does Lifextender need UAC elevation?

Certain features of Lifextender require elevation in Windows Vista. These include WCF host service, GAC assembly install/uninstall, and custom event logs. This shouldn't be an issue for most - and those that have UAC disabled won't even notice it.

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Why doesn't Lifextender copy the thumbnail icon to the uncommercialized show?

To get the thumbnail to show in Windows Explorer causes a memory spike that cripples some systems. Currently, this task is disabled by default. Check out this section in the help for info on forcing the thumbnail to copy over.

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