To get started we need to have ShowAnalyzer installed as well as DVRMSToolbox and the Windows 7 Media Center Addin. Be sure to download and install the latest version of DVRMSToolbox as well as the 7MC adding as it’s not included in the package by default. Once you’ve got all three installed let’s get started configuring each program.

Start by opening DVRMSToolbox’s DVRMSToMPEGSettings and on the first tab set your preferred Analyzer to SAV1 for ShowAnalyzer (version 1). Then switch to the MC Addin tab and make sure that the Commercial Skip option is enabled.

Finally, under the Commercial Skip tab make a note of the Commercial Path so we can setup ShowAnalyzer to use the same path when saving it’s commercial XML files. You also have the option to setup the keys used by the Media Center Addin to skip commercials during playback as well as enabling auto skipping of commercials.

Finally, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll be using ShowAnalyzer’s new directory watcher option or DVRMSToolbox’s File Watcher. We’ll cover using ShowAnalyzer’s directory watcher here as it’s much easier to setup and fairly fool-proof guaranteed to work correctly. Open up ShowAnalyzer and go to Tools –> Settings.

Under the Scheduler tab make sure that the Directory Watcher feature is enabled and the autostart service is installed. Then press the Add Directory button to add your Recorded TV directories to the service.

Next, under the Output tab make sure that the location of the DVRMSToolbox files being created matches the Commercial Path in your DVRMSToolbox settings from above. Then open up Windows 7 Media Center ad ensure that the DTBAddin is listed and enabled under Settings –> Start Menu and Extras –> Extras Library. Finally, you may want to restart your system to ensure that the newly installed services have been started properly.

That should be all there is to it! By default pressing the right arrow on your Media Center remote should skip commercials for any program with a commercials XML file. Depending on your settings in DVRMSToolbox and ShowAnalyzer it may take some time before the XML file is available for a particular recording.

To get the latest version you’ll need to be a registered member of the Dragon Global Forums and download the latest version from this thread. Once installed run the ShowAnalyzer User Interface from the programs menu and you’ll immediately notice the improvements over previous versions.

This revision of ShowAnalyzer comes with a very well done and easy to use interface. Usability has greatly improved over previous versions allowing even novices a reasonable chance of mastering the basics in a mater of seconds. Even better for beginners is the addition of a Directory Watcher service built in.

Inside Tools –> Settings.. you’ll find the option to enable a Directory Watcher service that will monitor your recorded TV folders for new recordings and add them to the process queue automatically. No more fussing with DVRMSToolbox’s FileWatcher service priorities and settings.

Under the Output tab you’ll find the options for processing your recorded TV files including support for DVRMSToolbox’s MCE plugin to support skipping commercials during live TV.

Getting started with a single file or even whole directories is extremely simple. Just open up the File menu and select single file or directory. ShowAnalyzer will add the shows to the queue to be processed and get down to business. Depending on the number of analyzers you set in the Scheduler options you’ll see a number of tasks appear in the Active tab.

Processing a single hour long WTV file took just over seven minutes to complete. A cursory check of the output indicates that the program was fairly accurate in determining the location of commercial breaks as well although some fine tuning may be necessary.

That’s all there is to getting started with ShowAnalyzer with brand spankin’ new WTV support. Be sure to stick around as we’ll most definitely go further in depth with this amazing product in the near future!