convert - remux MKV to 360 format?

[ViviTheMage]

A friend sends me videos in mkv, but I want to play them on the 360, without having to transcode.

What can I use that keeps 5.1? and puts it in 360 playable format? Something as simple as Handbrake never works perfectly.

I'll even purchase software that can do Cuda/ATI Stream.

 

[rasczak]

i use mkb2vob to convert my .mkv files.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Use mediainfo to find out the stream details of the file. H.264 mkvs can play in the media center extender, using Windows 7. You need the appropriate splitters installed (I use haali and ac3filter). Audio needs to be 5.1 AC3, since the xbox can't decode DTS.

In any case, I like avidemux for selectively transcoding formats, because of the control it gives me. A safe option is to use the old avi container with xvid video and AC3 audio. You could also use tversity to act as a upnp server and transcode on the fly, leaving your original files intact. Dunno if tversity supports transcoding to 5.1 AC3 audio though.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I stream, so that wont work Goober.

I also do not want to transcode, i've done a really good job so far, I don't want to use it just for MKV's now.

How is mkv2vob? Does it retain 5.1?

 

[Phynaz]

Yes, it retains the 5.1

It will even transcode DTS to 5.1 if needed.

Note that current releases are very buggy, find version 2.47 and use that. If you have files that 2.47 can't remux then use popcorn mkv audio converter to transcode the DTS audio, and then run it through mkv2vob 2.47.

 

[ViviTheMage]

What's buggy about the new version that I should not use it?

 

[ViviTheMage]

What should I use for settings, specifically for the 360? Lots of options in there. Should I select never transcode?

 

[Zargon]

i se gotsent to mp43 mkvs for my 360. ised to use tversity to stream and encode on the fly

 

[ViviTheMage]

I am more curious about one time transcode/muxing, like using this mkv2vob.

 

[Zargon]

www.videohelp.com/tools/GOTSent

 

[Gooberlx2]

I stream, so that wont work Goober.

I should have specified that the 360 media center extender UI will play mkvs, as I mentioned above. So you can likely stream them that way, assuming you run Windows 7.

Can you download mediainfo and post the details of one of your mkv files? It would help.

The issue is you might be stuck transcoding one way or another, especially because of wanting 5.1 audio. The 360 dashboard is more strict in format support than the MCX.

This is a good reference for supported streams/formats.

 

[ViviTheMage]

If I have to transcode/remux that is fine, I just want to do it once, and keep the file.

I only use 360 for watching TV/Streaming, so it has to be streamable. My HTPC sits all alone, on the network.

It sounds like mkv2vob will work, I just need some config settings that works for others.


example :

Format : Matroska
File size : 12.0 GiB
Duration : 1h 40mn
Overall bit rate : 17.1 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2010-03-22 07:20:26
Writing application : mkvmerge v3.0.0 ('Hang up your Hang-Ups') 编译于 Dec 12 2009 15:20:35
Writing library : libebml v0.7.9 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate : 15.5 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 818 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.412
Stream size : 10.6 GiB (89&#37
Title : 15500 kbps
Writing library : x264 core 84 r1400M 20fa784
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.8:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=15500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.80 / pulldown=0 / nal_hrd=0
Language : English

Audio #1
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Stream size : 1.06 GiB (9%)
Title : Main Audio DTS 5.1 @ 1.5 mbps
Language : English

Audio #2
ID : 3
Format : Vorbis
Format settings, Floor : 1
Codec ID : A_VORBIS
Duration : 1h 40mn
Bit rate : 80.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Stream size : 57.4 MiB (0%)
Title : Commentary Vorbis 2.0
Writing library : libVorbis 1.2 (UTC 2007-06-22)
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title : English Sub
Language : English

Text #2
ID : 5
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title : Chinese Sub
Language : Chinese

 

[ch33zw1z]

marked, good info here. I just use Tversity to stream, works good for me, but I'm not to particular sometimes..

 

[ViviTheMage]

TVersity is a no, I want to just convert/remux once...like i've said before .

I like keeping EVERYTHING in Media Center on my 360's, so I don't have to hop around programs/apps to play different formatted shows.

 

[ch33zw1z]

TVersity is a no, I want to just convert/remux once...like i've said before .

I like keeping EVERYTHING in Media Center on my 360's, so I don't have to hop around programs/apps to play different formatted shows.

Cool. I just wanted to mark the thread, good info on how others overcome the obstacles.

 

[Fayd]

i use mkvtoolnix and mp4box 0.o

mkvtoolnix, use mkvextract to extract the raw streams. use mp4box to remux the raw streams into an mp4.

xbox360 will play an h.264 encoded mp4 just fine. (well, i'm not sure which level it will play... but everything i've tried worked out alright.)

 

[Phynaz]

What's buggy about the new version that I should not use it?

Tsmuxer.exe blows up in the last two releases.

As far as setting, check always transcode DTS. Leave everything else default.

http://www.mkv2vob.com/

You have to register to read the forums.

 

[Gooberlx2]

xbox360 will play an h.264 encoded mp4 just fine. (well, i'm not sure which level it will play... but everything i've tried worked out alright.)

But OP wants 5.1 audio. Unfortunately the 360 only supports stereo aac, so the mp4/m4v container won't fit his requirements.

OP these are basically your options for 5.1 audio (as they relate to your example posted):

UPnP Dashboard:
.avi --> xvid+ac3 (requires full transcode)
.wmv --> VC1 + 5.1 WMAPRO audio (requires full transcode)
.mpg --> mpeg-2 + AC3 (requires full transcode)

Media Center Extender:
the above plus,
.mkv --> h.264 + 5.1 ac3 (requires only audio transcode). Just use avidemux to copy the video and convert the audio to a new mkv file). Also requires haali and ac3filter installed.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Tsmuxer.exe blows up in the last two releases.

As far as setting, check always transcode DTS. Leave everything else default.

http://www.mkv2vob.com/

You have to register to read the forums.

Perfect, plays like a champ now, and retained 6 channels :

D/String : 1
Format : MPEG-TS
FileSize/String : 11.6 GiB
Duration/String : 1h 40mn
OverallBitRate/String : 16.6 Mbps
OverallBitRate_Maximum/String : 35.5 Mbps

Video
ID/String : 4113 (0x1011)
MenuID/String : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : High@L4.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 5 frames
CodecID : 27
Duration/String : 1h 40mn
BitRate_Mode/String : Variable
BitRate/String : 15.5 Mbps
BitRate_Maximum/String : 40.0 Mbps
Width/String : 1 920 pixels
Height/String : 818 pixels
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 2.35:1
FrameRate/String : 23.976 fps
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.412
StreamSize/String : 10.6 GiB (91&#37
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 84 r1400M 20fa784
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.8:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=15500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.80 / pulldown=0 / nal_hrd=

Audio
ID/String : 4352 (0x1100)
MenuID/String : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format_Settings_ModeExtension : CM (complete main)
CodecID : 129
Duration/String : 1h 40mn
BitRate_Mode/String : Constant
BitRate/String : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 6 channels
ChannelPositions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
SamplingRate/String : 48.0 KHz
BitDepth/String : 16 bits
StreamSize/String : 459 MiB (4%)

EDIT : One issue, it stutters pretty bad on my 360 (100mb network) in about 2 minutes in, but not when I stream them to my other PC(gb network)

EDIT2 : I converted another clip, different source, and it plays with no choppiness at all.

 

[Phynaz]

Probably the bitrate on the first file, 16.6Mbs is through the roof. I don't know that a 360 can decode that.

Glad to hear it's working out for you. Mkv2vob has been a great find for me.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Hrmmmm, not so sure about that. I have some 14.4 that play perfectly on my 360...is the extra 2Mbs too much? Is it possible to reduce this to work? I actually have some that are 25Mbs that work fine as well :

Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 4.00 GiB
Duration : 2h 24mn
Overall bit rate : 3 969 Kbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 35.5 Mbps

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 2h 24mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 3 334 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 25.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.067
Stream size : 3.44 GiB (86&#37
Writing library : x264 core 66 r1114M a933a3e
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=3334 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=25000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 2h 24mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 396 MiB (10%)

 

[Gooberlx2]

So....your 360 is playing back a .vob with x264/AC3 streams in the extender? I thought .vob was only compatible with mpeg-2 video streams. Or is it .m2ts?

 

[ViviTheMage]

they made the file into a mpg for some reason.

 

[Monster_Munch]

I've used this Yamb software to convert mkv to mp4 in the past. It's free and pretty easy to use.

 

[Gooberlx2]

they made the file into a mpg for some reason.

Interesting. Well, vob, m2ts and mpg are all variations of the same mpeg standard...I think. I'm just surprised mpg and vob would support h.264 though. According to your medinfo, looks like they're actually BDAV or Mpeg-ts, which is really .ts or .m2ts....just renamed as .mpg maybe because WMP/WMC/MCX doesn't recognize the other extensions? Eh...whatever works.

edit:
Interesting info here.