There is a sevice that has been around for a while is called For the Record, its a rule based scheduling system that runs as a web service and supports multiple clients. Its designed to work with apps like MediaPortal and using the rules gives you a very flexible way of recording TV shows eg “Record any CSI episode shown somewhere between 7PM and 11PM, but not the ones fromMiami, and don’t record episodes that have been recorded before”

I must admit I hadn’t heard of this service before and I came across a Windows Media Client so I may just check it out. The developer of the Media Center addin says:

ForTheRecord Windows 7 Media Center Clients allows you to connect to ForTheRecord Service, that you can mange add or remove Schedule Tasks , view Tv / Recordings or hear Radio within Windows 7 Media Center

The addin is still in development and you can download from sourceforge.net

If you wondering what For the Record is here is what it says on the site:

For The Record is an advanced rule-based scheduling system to record your favorite TV programs in a very intelligent way.

It has full support for running as a service with multiple clients (see example setup diagrams below). Access to the system is available ranging from a typical Windows application over plugins for living-room Media playback software to internet Web Access to give you the maximum possible reach.

Because the scheduling system is rule-based it offers unparalleled power to record exactly what you want. The examples below can be easily set up in a single schedule definition each.

  • Record any CSI episode shown somewhere between 7PM and 11PM, but not the ones fromMiami, and don’t record episodes that have been recorded before.

  • Record The Simpsons every Monday and Wednesday on Channel Foo around 7PM (so also when it’s shown at 7:15PM or 6:55PM).

  • Record all movies with Samuel Jackson on BBC1 or BBC2 and don’t record movies that have been recorded before.

  • Record all documentaries on NGC or Discovery Channel that have Global warming in their description.

For The Record has conflict management built-in to help the scheduler record as many programs as it can, based on your available recording devices. It will let you intervene manually as well.

For The Record is very modular thanks to its Service Oriented Architecture. Recording is handled by modules (services) that are called recorder/tuners. You have the choice between its native ‘Argus’ recording engine (for digital TV – DVB and ATSC) or the recorder/tuner for MediaPortal TV Server.

Recorded shows are stored on your system’s hard disk and can be played back manually, from the Management Console or from the For The Record MediaPortal GUI plugin.

Single-seat Setup

Screenshots of the Media Center addin:

4 thoughts on “For The Record TV addin for Windows Media Center”
  1. Ooh, now this is interesting, I used to use ForTheRecord when I used MediaPortal, it’s an extremely good application and well worth trying out. I used it with MediaPortal’s TV Server but they’ve developed their own recording engine called Argus that you can use as well.

    One of the best things about ForTheRecord is its service based architecture, which means you can basically install any part of it on any machine, for instance you could use both MediaPortal and Argus on seperate machines, the core engine doesn’t care, you just point it at them and it will work.

  2. I’m Kay Diefenthal (Diefenthal) the developer of the Media Center client fortherecord

    I should say a few things only once

    to my person
    I am a hobby developer, and this results in the development of the very slow going on, because I teach myself. I say to google and try to implement it because what does not always work the first time

    so now but the project itself

    currently only works with all x86 systems (The DirectShow filter is the problem here)
    and the client can build up in the moment only one connection to the service fortherecord play groups, polling and then the desired transmitter

    more features are planned aufjedenfall Guide Add Schedules (Over Guide and Manual) show Recordings

    why I write all this, is quite simply I would be glad about every helping hand, eg C #, MCML or translation

    1. Great project – more differentiated recording requests is what windows media center needs.
      For example I have a list of movies I would like to record and keep checking for them because the EPG only reaches 1-2 weeks into the future.
      I have downloaded and installed the WMC plugin but what keeps me from setting up further is that, after some effort, my Media center is working quite well with my Digital Devices tuners, channels are assigned, I am receiving EPG information from two different sources, remote potato is working well with my android phone…
      and it seems I would need to disable this and start using Argus in order to use the Fortherecord scheduling capabilities. Too much overhead.
      What I would want is to continue using WMC to collect EPG info, run the Tuners, and perform the recordings, and have a tool like 4therecord manage my recordings “wishlist”, monitor the WMC EPG, and set WMC recordings accordingly. I think this would have much broader application (and probably be simpler ?)
      I haven’t looked at the former MediaPortal configuration but if it is similar to what I describe it would be great to have this on Media Center.

      1. Hi Johannes,

        I too am after exactly what you describe above – an extra tool to more flexibly manage recordings (e.g. series record but only record showings on a Sunday etc). For that reason I’m intending shortly to start a small project to provide this functionality. However due to limited time it may take a while to come to fruitition, I’ll update if and when I get something usable working.

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