Tired of converting for streaming to my xbox or ps3...hav an idea!

[tsantsa]

Ok, I have been toying with these MKV to whatever file will play in either console, but I am getting tired of doing it. Most of the x264 mkv's seem to not like the ps3 even when changing their profile to 4.1 and whatnot causing me to havee to do even more work to it. If i want it to go to my 360, well thats just plain hell.

SO, I had an idea. instead of streaming it to the console, could I build an HTPC that is essentially just a reciever for streaming from my main pc? It would be an HTPC I guess, but I wouldnt need it for any dvr functionality as I already have a dvr.

Would this work? what kind of hardware or software would I need?

Any ideas here would be greatly appreciated...

Of course, I am implying being able to stream and play the content directly without conversion of what have you. I realize that I could just take my pc to my tv, but I dont want to! I guess I wouldnt necessarily have to stream it right? I could just copy the file over to the barebones htpc and then play it right?

[rallynavvie]

Have you tried different streaming servers? I use Orb (since it allows me to stream to my smartphone) and the PS3 takes its DVR-MS files just fine.

What is your steaming source? What format does it start out as?

[jagabo]

Just use ethernet or wireless networking and Windows' file sharing. Put all your videos in a share on one PC, play them on the other. Simple. Wireless may choke on some high bitrate HD files if you don't have a good signal.

[FulciLives]

I've had success with some MKV files by using MKV2VOB and then streaming the VOB to the PS3 (actually I copy it to the HDD of the PS3 then play it back from there so as to avoid any lag or network issues but it gets to the PS3 through my network). This seems to work when the video is H.264

Another trick I've found is to demux the MKV and re-encode the audio to AAC then mux it and the original H.264 video file into a MP4 file. Again though you need the video to be H.264 format.

Only problem with these methods is that not all H.264 files are PS3 friendly.

Another thing that I was happy with was that I download a 1080p WMV with VC-1 video and it worked "as is" but I got no sound because they used this new 5.1 WMV audio format. I was able to get it to work by loading the WMV into XviD4PSP 5.0 and putting it into just audio mode ... re-encoding to a 2 channel Stereo Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound PCM WAV file ... then using Goldwave to convert to a WMA audio file ... then re-muxing with the Microsoft WMV software. Lost the discreet 5.1 but it was still damn fine sounding Stereo with Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound and I didn't have to re-encode the video.

I admit it took me a lot of "poking" around and trying many different things. Perhaps I can help if you are willing to share the details of a file or two so I can get more specific. I like digging into the details and having a file to work with ... even only a sample file ... makes it all the better.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tsantsa]

Have you tried different streaming servers? I use Orb (since it allows me to stream to my smartphone) and the PS3 takes its DVR-MS files just fine.

What is your steaming source? What format does it start out as?

I've just been using windows media player to serve.I don't have a problem with the content getting to my consoles, it's playing the content once it's there.

I usually get MKV files and use tsmuxer to change the profile and change them to m2ts. well that only works once in awhile. most of the time the audio is there but no video. from everything I have read it has nothing to do with the server software but the ability of the ps3 to play such files.

[rallynavvie]

WMP doesn't play well with the PS3. It's that whole Sony vs. M$ thing.

Try Orb or TVersity to stream the files and be sure to set the transcode settings to something that will play on both. You're going to need a system powerful enough to encode stuff like that on the fly though. Otherwise just do what Fulci said and encode those files to something else first.

[tsantsa]

I'll try TVersity I guess. I have gotten one flick to work, There Will Be Blood, but the audio slowly went out of sync...Is there a way to find out if the audio is out of sync short of watching it?

[dun4cheap]

I have had problems with tversity transcoding the audio. The video plays but no audio. I have almost given up. Supposedly the new buffalo media player will play h224 but I have not tried it.

[FulciLives]

You can re-encode the audio to a more friendly format without having to re-encode the video.

You are giving up way too easily here.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[t0nee1]

Yeah I've also used different tools/methods to convert and play/stream to my PS3.... MKV2VOB, tsMuxerGUI, and TVersity to stream..I just ran a sample using XviD4PSP since FulciLives recommended it,and wow! just streamed an mp4 with AAC audio..it played absolutely great IMO!... I'm gonna try it out further,as I'm a liking it...

[jagabo]

It won't help for MKV but I saw this for Hauppauge HD PVR AVCHD TS files:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14048339&postcount=1051

Using the ArcSoft TotalMedia software, you can burn the File to an AVCHD DVD (output on the hard drive) and the resulting structure will stream on the PS3!!!

Might come in useful for someone some day.

[FulciLives]

Yeah I've also used different tools/methods to convert and play/stream to my PS3.... MKV2VOB, tsMuxerGUI, and TVersity to stream..I just ran a sample using XviD4PSP since FulciLives recommended it,and wow! just streamed an mp4 with AAC audio..it played absolutely great IMO!... I'm gonna try it out further,as I'm a liking it...

I am so loving XviD4PSP 5.0 since I found it

Although MeGUI is good as well but XviD4PSP makes certain things very easy like demuxing and remuxing and re-encoding just audio etc.

It won't help for MKV but I saw this for Hauppauge HD PVR AVCHD TS files:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14048339&postcount=1051

Using the ArcSoft TotalMedia software, you can burn the File to an AVCHD DVD (output on the hard drive) and the resulting structure will stream on the PS3!!!

Might come in useful for someone some day.

Thanks for this jagabo ... I wouldn't mind picking up the Hauppauge HD PVR but I'm still saving for my new computer *sigh* so one of these days LOL

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tsantsa]

K, tried TVersity. Can't get it to work with them either. I think I have to reencode all of these mkv's. If I had a bluray burner and set tsmuxer (or other progs) to output to bluray, how long does that take? plus, if one were to do that would you be able to keep things like dts audio and whatnot? (i don't have any dts audio mkv's since I know id have to reencode the audio, just mentioning it)

I think I've changed the scope of this thread.

Ok, back to original topic: Would this do the trick?


http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=7674071

(I didnt post this one, newegg has to review each one before it gets posted and I got tired of waiting!)
I had an Athlon 64 x2 5200+ Brisbane 2.7g, a cheaper case ($49 but no IR), a 750 gig hd and a very similar motherboard that also has hdmi out for about $100 cheaper. If i understand correctly, if the mobo has onboard video and hdmi, then I wouldnt need another vid card correct? Any how, would one of these push a full 1080p DTS audio mkv via, say, VLC to my 50" Samsung without hiccups?

It won't help for MKV but I saw this for Hauppauge HD PVR AVCHD TS files:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14048339&postcount=1051

Using the ArcSoft TotalMedia software, you can burn the File to an AVCHD DVD (output on the hard drive) and the resulting structure will stream on the PS3!!!

Might come in useful for someone some day.

What you are implying, I think, I that one could just create the bluray disc onto the hardrive (like I mentioneed above), but instead of burning, stream it with this software?

[tsantsa]

Im am looking at this XviD4PSP...wow! Clean interface! whodathunkit?!?

Anyhow, Im going to try one of my previously unplayable mkvs tonite. Maybe I'll do one for ps3 and one for xbox 360, MP4 for each. (if I can batch that is)

[rallynavvie]

An Xbox 360 and a PS3 is a lot of hardware to begin with. Are you streaming to two different displays, one each with one of those gaming systems? If you're just trying to get it to one display and retain all the original formatting then the safest is just to use the Xbox as a Media Center extender and learn to love Windows MCE. You will absolutely need GbE between the host and the Xbox though. Does the 360 even have GbE? I know the PS3 does.

[tsantsa]

Actually, I have had more success with overall file compatibility on the 360. The PS3 just sucks in this respect. From what I have been reading, the ps3 is a tad more friendly to the HD containers out there than the 360, that's why I had been gearing up to work with the ps3. But then I got to thinking that I could easily build an HTPC to handle every bit of that for just a tad more than a ps3....

Brains, they get to thinking now and then even when sometimes they shouldn't!

[jagabo]

What you are implying, I think, I that one could just create the bluray disc onto the hardrive (like I mentioneed above), but instead of burning, stream it with this software?

The ArcSoft TotalMedia software burns AVCHD to regular DVD media and Blu-ray players can play those discs. Apparently it can save to the hard drive instead and that can somehow be streamed to the PS3. You'll have to ask the poster over at AvsForum for more details.

[FulciLives]

Let us talk about these MKV files you say you have.

What format are they in?

I am guessing the video is H.264 format and that the audio is AC-3 format.

Am I right?

If so then you can load the MKV into XviD4PSP and demux the video. Then put XviD4PSP into audio only mode and set it up for for encoding the audio. Set it up for AAC LC CBR (I'm not sure if CBR is the best setting ... the choices are CBR, VBR and ABR ... still learning this stuff myself you know). Anyway when you are done and if you did it correctly then you will have a new AAC audio file that ends with *.m4a

You can now use the MP4 multiplexer in XviD4PSP to mux the H.264 video and m4a audio file into a MP4 file.

Now ... knock on wood ... this should work on the PS3.

Also for smooth playback you might want to first copy the entire file to the HDD of the PS3 then play it back from there. When you stream it to the PS3 you do have the open to stream it "live" or just copy it to the HDD. I always copy it over (doesn't take long even for large files but then again I have a wired router so it's fast) and then I play it back from the HDD of the PS3.

Oh I forgot one thing ... I lied ... well just a little LOL ... I thought XviD4PSP had a MP4 muxer built-in but it does not. I used the MP4 muxer that comes with MeGui. I think YAMB also has a MP4 muxer.

Now granted this method involves demuxing and re-encoding (although only the audio so it is "fast" re-encoding) and then muxing it all back together again. It takes some time but not much and in the end you have a file that works as it should with your PS3 and/or XboX 360.

There is one hitch here though ... not all H.264 files are compatible with the PS3 or XboX 360 but my understanding is that the specs video wise have been more or less figured out so more and more uploads that we download should be encoded properly but as this is still somewhat new you are bound to find some H.264 files that would need re-encoding.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tsantsa]

I have a sample of star wars ep 1 thats about 1 minute long that I have been testing this stuff on. I can get the ps3 to recognize it, but it says "The data is corrupt" ...

I ended up using tsmuxer to demux the audio from the video as I wasnt sure xvid4psp would change the profile from 5.1 to 4.1 or not. (does it?). then I reencoded the audio with xvid4psp, but with one issue, when I went to select the AAC LC CBR it said something like "cannot access custom.txt" or something like that. So I picked the ABR one.

I remuxed with MeGui and tried it out.

First of all, I am having all sorts of issues with TVersity staying connected to my consoles, and when it is, the library hasnt properly refreshed, even though it says it has...so it didn't work, at all.

I reenabled WMP 11 and tried it. The 360 didn't read anything that I had shared (eh?) but the ps3 did! Even showed me a little thumbnail of my trial video! but it didn't play - data corrupt.

So my question is, how do I know which of these files, when remuxed to mp4, will actually play? what information am I looking for so that I can determine if I'll need to reencode video or not?

See, this is why I am thinking of just putting together a little "mkv player" for my big screen. I won't have to mess with any of this as long as the player of choice can output all of the parts of the mkv right? (VLC does I think....)

BTW is it possible to hijack ones own thread? lol, I think i have done just that! that would be a suicide hijacking, no?

[FulciLives]

I haven't had much time to test but I tried tsMuxeR which is supposed to allow you to change from profile 5.1 to 4.1 etc. but I couldn't get it to work on a file I had.

First I tried to mux into a M2TS file and it didn't work. Then I tried to demux the video (going from profile 5.1 to 4.1) then re-do the audio in AAC then mux into a MP4. The PS3 saw it until I tried to play it and said it was "corrupted" even though it plays on the computer.

I'm guessing that if you have Profile 5.1 you are screwed ... other than re-encoding the video.

I did have some luck a while back with MKV2VOB but I checked the original MKV and the video was profile 4.1

The only good news is that more and more of the people encoding and posting stuff are learning now that the video needs to be 4.1 to be PS3 and XboX 360 "safe" and there really is no reason to do profile 5.1 as far as I know (other than that was how people started to do this stuff) so I think newer posted stuff and future posted stuff should be "safe" as people learn to use 4.1 instead of 5.1 plus tools like MeGui and XviD4PSP now have PS3 and XboX 360 profiles taking the guess work out of the more arcane video encoding settings.

However if you have the money you may want to just get a 2nd computer to use as a media computer. I've read good things about the AMD 780G chipset motherboards. They have a built-in ATI 3200 HD video card that has HDCP HDMI output and can do hardware assist for H.264 and VC-1 so you can "get away" without an add-on video card (although it does feature PCIe 2.0 for future upgradability) and since the video card hardware does most of the decoding you can use a cheap AMD CPU like the AMD ATHLON X2 4000+ which can be bought for around $50.00 US Dollars although if it were me I'd probably go with the AMD ATHLON X2 5600 2.9Ghz 65W Dual Core processor which I think is the fastest X2 before you hit the 125W models (which are overkill and not friendly to 780G boards due to the power requirements). Most AMD 780G motherboards are $100.00 or less and the AMD ATHLON X2 5600 2.9Mhz 65W Dual Core processor is only $103.00 right now at NewEgg.Com so I think that is pretty cheap considering you don't need an additional video card nor a monster power supply.

Only problem though is that the 780G really only works best with Windows Vista due to driver issues (especially the accelerated video decoding assist) and since it pulls system RAM for the video you would be best to run it with 3GB minimum and that's an odd number which probably means using 4GB and that can be pricey depending on what you buy but then again I have seen 4GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) memory selling for as little as $75.00 to $80.00 and that speed is a good match for a 780G chipset motherboard running a AMD X2 processor.

So motherboard + CPU + RAM will be at least $280 but then all you need is a case and power supply and maybe an old HDD for the O/S along with an external USB to transfer from the main computer to the media server computer and ... well it all adds up doesn't it?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tsantsa]

"well it all adds up doesn't it?"

Well, I was looking at a bluray burner and those start at 250-300. But, the way I have been reading, there's alot of recoding and whatnot invloveed with gettting mkvs to bluray too!

[[_chef_]]

Have you tried different streaming servers? I use Orb (since it allows me to stream to my smartphone) and the PS3 takes its DVR-MS files just fine.

What is your steaming source? What format does it start out as?

I've just been using windows media player to serve.I don't have a problem with the content getting to my consoles, it's playing the content once it's there.

I usually get MKV files and use tsmuxer to change the profile and change them to m2ts. well that only works once in awhile. most of the time the audio is there but no video. from everything I have read it has nothing to do with the server software but the ability of the ps3 to play such files.

...from where seems to be the point here, because that is where the problems start!