x264 MKV to HD-WMV or other HD format

[codyb]

Hello,

I've got a couple video files stored on my PC that I'd like to watch on my 37" LCD HDTV.

Currently, I'm able to watch them on my PC hooked up via component cable in 720p. The problem is that decoding these x264 files is really intense on my CPU, so I'd like to watch them with my xbox360 console and free up my CPU resources. However, the xbox360 doesn't play x264 / MKV file types. However, it does play HD-WMV.

Now I've already encoded one of the files using TMPGEnc Xpress 4.0 but the output was choppy. I played with different settings and didn't get a good result.

What's the best way to convert x264 mkv files into HD-WMV?

Is there a better format, like a 720p MPEG2 ?

I'm thinking of just removing Vista from my PC. I used to run MCE 2005 and had my big screen in 1080i without issue. DVD's upscaled great. Right now, I can't run the TV in 1080i. Videos are just choppy and unwatchable... but 720p seems to fix this. I think it's an NVidia driver issue. So yeah, I'm ditching Vista and going back to MCE 2005.

I still want to convert these to an xbox360 compatible format though. What's my best option?

I tried using Convert360 but it won't run under Vista. I'll try running it under XP tonight.

Anyway... x264 to HD-WMV or MPEG2... any solutions? Anyone know of the proper TMPGEnc Xpress settings? Or something I'm not thinking of??

At first, Windows Media Encoder wouldn't even run without crashing. I found an MS hotfix for the crashing. Now it runs. It even outputs files. But those files DON'T show up in my Xbox360 'Videos / Computer' section... the ones that TMPGEnc made showed up there... just didn't play right. These ones don't show up... it's strange that TMPGEnc is outputting semi-compatible files but Windows Media Encoder is not.

Sorry if this is a long post. At this point, ya'll are probably as confused as I am!!

Thanks!

[VidJunkie]

Well, I don't have many answers, but at least I found someone else who is having the same problems as I am. I have been trying to do the same thing as codyb, except that I want to convert .x264 / .mkv files that contain HDTV caputures to something that a Galaxy media box will play on my HDTV. Like codyb, I am trying to bypass the burned media stage and go directly from a hard drive to my HDTV. For me, the Galaxy media box serves the same function as the Xbox360. It will access a network, locate and play video files directly from a hard drive, and it does support 720p and 1080i over component cables to my HDTV.

Format conversion (i.e., .mkv to .avi) is only half the battle, you have to consider the data compression codec as well. There's not much point to converting a 1280x720 .mkv file to a 1280x720 .avi file if the codec you use compresses the heck out of the data. The result will be a 720p video that looks like it was streamed over the internet. I have come to suspect that the majority of the free codecs and tools available for download are intended to either compress video data to the point that it may be streamed (or u/d loaded) via the internet, or compressed to fit onto a DVD.

I downloaded the 'MKV TO AVI' converter and ponyed up $29.95 to unlock it. All it has ever produced for me has been horrible .avi files, or .avi files that cannot be opened or played by any player. (The original .mkv files do play, and look excellent.) I tried a demo copy of 'MovKit Batch Video Converter', and it seemed to do a better job, but it will cost $30 to register if I want more than a minute of output video. I am still hoping to get the converter I already purchased to work.

I downloaded gSpot, VideoInstector, and aviCodec. Each of which will examine a file and tell you about the encoding, resolution, frame rate, bit rate, etc. They will also tell you which codecs are loaded onto your machine. I am still trying to figure out what that's all about.

The format conversion process must decode the video in the source file, and then encode it into the destination format and file. One thing that you learn early in the process is that .mkv files and .avi files (and others as well) are merely containers that hold synchronized video and audio streams. The video streams and audio streams were encoded according to some standard (DivX, Xvid, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, etc. for video and PCM, ADPCM, AC3, Dolby 5.1, etc. for audio) using various quantizations (x263, x264, etc.), at various bit rates, frame rates, resolutions and so on. If you want to do more than "burn it to a DVD" you are basically on your own to figure out how. Finding the right set of codecs, and figuring out the settings to use during the conversion process is the key to success. This is where codyb and I need guidance.

Perhaps we are trailblazing new territory, but I believe that ultimately video will be handled much like audio is today. We will be able to download digital video content to local storage, then play it through some gateway device directly to our HDTVs as easily as we download and play music on our iPods.

If anyone is ahead of us on this trail, could you please help show us the way? Are there any learning resource (websites, books, etc.) that can help us to understand?

Regards,
-john

[Baldrick]

I would stay away from h264 hd if you don't have a HTPC that can play it. It's just too much work to convert it.

But if you still like to convert you can first try AutoMKV, it can convert some mkvs directly to WMV but I don't know if you can use HD resolutions.

If that wont work you can try avisynth together with the new DGAVCDec, http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=122598 . You must first extract the raw h264 stream from the mkv with mkvextractgui. Then make the avisynth script and last convert it to wmvhd/vc-1hd or mpeg2hd using wmnicenc(wmv) or quenc,hc encoder(mpeg2).

[reco]

Microsoft is promissing that the next XBOX360 dashboard update (coming in a few weeks) will enable h264 playback.

Regards,
Reco

[45tripp]

Microsoft is promissing that the next XBOX360 dashboard update (coming in a few weeks) will enable h264 playback.

Within the mp4 container no doubt, with aac audio probably.
Simple enough to demux to elementary h264 and mux into mp4.
Audio transcoding probably needed more than not.

[up4air]

I've been looking for this info for a few weeks now: getting the 360 to play with h.264 or high bandwidth 1080i movies.

Thanks for the info, 45trip.

[bmo]

One program that I use to convert my 720p mkv anime to wmv-hd is called Nic's WMEnc. It uses the windows media encoder but it actually works. All you need to do is make sure you have the Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile codec installed (for wmv-hd) and write a simple avisynth script for your mkv movie file. The quality is very nice if you play around with the settings and they all work on my xbox 360. One problem that I've run in to is that if my source has 5.1 AAC audio, I have to make sure that the output is only 2 channel windows media audio. If I choose 5.1 audio the program crashes. Maybe it's just something with my setup or perhaps it can be fixed with further avisynth scripting but I'm no expert on that. If you find the program too intimidating, like reco mentioned, MS is releasing a dashboard update tomorrow for the 360 that will allow h264 playback in an mp4 container. One limitation is that the only audio supported is 2 channel LC AAC, so you'd only have to reencode the audio.

[Baldrick]

Wmnicenc...(clickable link )

[plugstar]

Videora Xbox 360 Converter im just testing this now, accepts mkv files for input and outputs at either 720p, 480p, 1080p or 1080i.

[hucksin]

This is a delayed post (about a year), but I have the most luck transcoding to MPEG4. If you must go to WMV, the only reliable solution I've found is Win Media Encoder 9. It takes forever though. MPEG4 is good, but the XBOX won't accept anything larger than 4GB. I've used GotSent with reasonable success although if it doesn't agree with the audio format (like DTS), it won't transcode it. You can do it manually using a combination of MKVtoolnix, BeSweet or Foobar, and YAMB to remux the raw .h264 and an agreeable audio format. Since this post is so old, I'll keep it short. Just PM if you have any questions.

[a321]

Anyone know if the new XBOX360 dashboard update coming next month (Nov 19th) will solve this dilemma regarding HD and h264?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/09/new-xbox-360-dashboard-coming-november-19th/

[tj1182]

I haven't been able to try this yet. I no longer have any x264, h.264, mkv files anymore.

If someone could share if they have tried it yet would be great.

[tbrnet]

Use MKVExtractGUI to pull the video out
Use YAMB to mux it to a mp4
Rename the mp4 to mov
Open it in TMPENC Express as the video
Open the mkv as audio
Convert to WMV