best way to play as many movie/codecs possible?

[ViviTheMage]

I already have a HTPC (ceton 4 tuner), and 360 as my extender setup.

but the 360 cannot play my mp4's (sutters audio/no video), and I am frustrated to the point where I am going to buy a WD TV LIVE PLUS, or build a small ion box just to play them.

What is the easiest method, that people have found most versatile to play their ripped movie selection? I considered an ATV2 + XBMC, but I read it can only do 720p, and not as many codecs as WD LIVE?

The box will be hooked up to 10/100/1000 hardwire, and hdmi to the TV.

 

[blackangst1]

Theres a few solutions. Mine is, WMC + shark007 codecs. In the last couple of years there's been maybe two movies it didnt send the correct signel to my receiver, so I played in VLC. Simple and easy interface.

 

[ViviTheMage]

yeah, I know all about shark007 as well...didn't play nice with my extender, but i've heard it's the best for on PC codecs.

 

[Modelworks]

The live is really the best option for the widest codec support. You can even rip your dvd to iso and it will play them complete with the menus. There is really nothing the live cannot play. The interface isn't flashy but I really don't care because I bought it to watch the movies, not the menus

 

[ViviTheMage]

That's what I am thinking, it's also cheaper then building a small HTPC box that would be used for JUST movies. I don't care to RDP or anything into it, i've got my win 7 MCE box for that.

 

[Modelworks]

That's what I am thinking, it's also cheaper then building a small HTPC box that would be used for JUST movies. I don't care to RDP or anything into it, i've got my win 7 MCE box for that.

It also has the benefit of never having to update codecs, mess with software or worry about noise because it is 100% silent and only uses 7 watts of power.. The way I have mine setup is with an external hard drive connected to the usb port. It shows up on all my windows pc and I just keep all my media on that drive so I can turn off the pc when I want to.

 

[ViviTheMage]

it'll attach to my NAS via a windows share ... i've read that has had issues, but I can't imagine it's too difficult to get around.

Is there a difference between the models, except adding the 1TB HDD?

 

[Modelworks]

it'll attach to my NAS via a windows share ... i've read that has had issues, but I can't imagine it's too difficult to get around.

Is there a difference between the models, except adding the 1TB HDD?

The plus and hub models can do netflix the original live cannot. That is really the only difference.
For the NAS issues the easiest way around that is to not setup the live as anonymous. Give it a username and password and tell it the workgroup and you should be all set. It is trying to use it with anon logins that people have problems. The box runs linux internally and uses that kernel so if your nas is linux based they will get along even better.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I'll pick one up from amazon, see how I like it, thanks

 

[smitbret]

I already have a HTPC (ceton 4 tuner), and 360 as my extender setup.

but the 360 cannot play my mp4's (sutters audio/no video), and I am frustrated to the point where I am going to buy a WD TV LIVE PLUS, or build a small ion box just to play them.

What is the easiest method, that people have found most versatile to play their ripped movie selection? I considered an ATV2 + XBMC, but I read it can only do 720p, and not as many codecs as WD LIVE?

The box will be hooked up to 10/100/1000 hardwire, and hdmi to the TV.

Try setting up Tversity to stream your ripped DVDs to the Xbox 360. It'll take care of the transcoding and codec problems for you.

Price? = Free

www.tversity.com

Should take about 15 minutes to setup.

 

[Anubis]

I was gonna suggest Tversity or PS3 Media server (it works fine with the xbox)

both will do on the fly transcoding and whatnot

 

[Cogman]

yeah, I know all about shark007 as well...didn't play nice with my extender, but i've heard it's the best for on PC codecs.

I wouldn't touch those free codecs with a ten foot poll. 99% of them are just rebundling ffdshow.

Go straight to the source, get ffdshow/ffdshow tryouts, don't mess with whatever crap those bundles might install. (though, ffdshow is now dead, its successor is LAVFilters).

 

[soulcougher73]

I also use W7M and shark codecs but ive heard good things about jriver media player. May want to check that out. Seems to be an all in one service with all the codecs needed and it configures itself basically.

I may check it out actually this week sometime.

 

[ViviTheMage]

tversity/ps3 media server usually can't keep up....lots of buffering on my blue ray rips.

is there any way to get the extender to use these codecs ffdshow/lavfilters?

 

[smitbret]

Well, OP specifically said DVD rip and most modern CPUs can keep up with Tversity doing on the fly transcoding of SD content. There's also different settings that can be set to match your PC and network capabilities.

At worst, it wouldn't work and OP would have to uninstall it after investing maybe an hour. The cost is still free.

That failing, I'd go for the WD Live.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I actually didn't specifically say DVD rips in my OP...and last I tried streaming a 4GB~ blue ray rip it was not good, on 10/100, or even 10/100/1000. q9550 couldn't get up....so I was hoping to stay away from transcoding.

Guess I should have mentioned i've done the tversity/ps3 media server thing.

I am going to futs around with shark007...again and see if I can't get it working.

 

[Cogman]

tversity/ps3 media server usually can't keep up....lots of buffering on my blue ray rips.

is there any way to get the extender to use these codecs ffdshow/lavfilters?

What do you mean by "get the extender to use these codecs"? Installing ffdshow or lavfilters will automatically install the necessary WM codecs needed.

That being said, I prefer to use VLC over WMP just because VLC comes prepacked with the latest and greatest codecs and splitters.

 

[ViviTheMage]

What do you mean by "get the extender to use these codecs"? Installing ffdshow or lavfilters will automatically install the necessary WM codecs needed.

That being said, I prefer to use VLC over WMP just because VLC comes prepacked with the latest and greatest codecs and splitters.

I do not watch anything on that box at all, it sits in a corner.

I watch everything on my 360 as an extender to media center. I know shark's codecs have helped people overcome MKV issues, which I am not having...so I assume they could help my mp4 stuttering/no visual issues.

I know VLC rocks/plays everything, but does it help extenders (my 360)? Same goes for ffdshow/lavfilters?

 

[Cogman]

I do not watch anything on that box at all, it sits in a corner.

I watch everything on my 360 as an extender to media center. I know shark's codecs have helped people overcome MKV issues, which I am not having...so I assume they could help my mp4 stuttering/no visual issues.

I know VLC rocks/plays everything, but does it help extenders (my 360)? Same goes for ffdshow/lavfilters?

Shark's codecs are simply ffdshow in a pretty package. if FFDshow doesn't do it for you than nothing will.

Either way, if you are bound and determined to use shark's codecs, after you install it, go out and get the latest version of FFDshow. Shark's is bundled with a pretty ancient version of FFDshow.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I honestly don't care, I just want my mp4's to work...haha. This is one area of computers i've never dived into....codecs.

 

[Cogman]

I honestly don't care, I just want my mp4's to work...haha. This is one area of computers i've never dived into....codecs.

Well, what I'm saying is that if sharks doesn't do the trick for you, there is a good chance it is because it is using a very old version of ffdshow. In the codec game, old versions = slow versions. Most of the updates that go into video codecs are directly related to increasing the speed of decoding.

FFDShow doesn't have the fastest H.264 decoder on the planet, however, later versions are better than the older versions.

 

[ViviTheMage]

So how would one configure ffdshow as a standalone to help my extender (xbox 360)?

 

[Cogman]

So how would one configure ffdshow as a standalone to help my extender (xbox 360)?

You just install it (clicking next, next, next), and done. The only other thing you might need is the haali media splitter http://haali.su/mkv/ .

FFDshow give the option of using several different codecs for decoding, for the most part you can just ignore it and trust that FFDshow is setting you up with the best.

 

[ViviTheMage]

If shark is a flop, i'll try ffdshow next then.

what would I need haali for?

 

[ViviTheMage]

well, neither ffdshow or haali helped....now it says files aren't supported by the 360 now.