I Didn’t Touch the Commercial Skip button all night
Here's the scenario: NCAA Finals start at 6pm, but I have to workout first. So I go to the gym, come home around 6pm, shower, cook dinner, relax on the sofa & turn on the game. At the end of the game, I'm done watching at the exact same time as the Live feed, but I didn't have to watch a single commercial, nor did I have to press a single skip button.
You DVRMS Toolbox fans probably already know the fantastic plugin of it called ShowAnalyzer, which makes DVRMS Toolbox even THAT much more powerful. For those not familiar with it, with the default Commercial Skip application (which is free), you record a show and then DVRMS analyzes the file and 15 minutes later you're able to watch your recorded show and it will automatically automatically skip through the commercials.
But what if you're a sports fan like me? Or what if those wonderful TV Executives decide to change Lost from 9pm, to 10pm. With the default/free DVRMS Toolbox I'd have to wait until 11:15pm to begin enjoying an automatically commercial-skipped show. Since I have to wake up early the next day, that is just unacceptable. That is where the commercial application ShowAnalyzer comes to play.
Although it's not free, you'll find the $10 purchase fee infinitely pays itself off in no time. I'm sure there's other features involved with it, but the main reason I bought it was this: Using the ShowAnalyzer program instead of the default commercial detection app within DVRMS Toolbox, after 15minutes of recording, you can begin to watch your show and it automatically detects and marks the commercials as you watch the program live. No need to wait until the recording is complete!
Not a huge factor for those 30 minute shows, but definitely is useful for sporting events and other hour or longer programs which you don't want to wait until it completes recording either because of time or just pure excitement.
I had been using DVRMS Toolbox quite happily now for around 6 months, and after testing ShowAnalyzer, I just had to report to you all to give it a try. It works on most Media Center applications, and is a godsend!
If you're interested, check out the DVRMS Toolbox program for you Windows Media Center fans, and here's the ShowAnalyzer site. Note that ShowAnalyzer is included in the installer with DVRMS, but you'll need to request a key.
If you liked this blog, please digg or reddit it! Thanks! All comments appreciated!Â