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is there any loss when converting a HD movie?

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Originally posted by: emblem
I just tried encode 360 and converted about a minutes worth to see if it worked and damn it looks nice on the 360 It will take 4 hours to convert so i'll do it overnight but I'm kinda worried that the file might end up to big. 360 can't stream over 4 gigs right? What program can split a file into 2?
Click to expand...

I've not heard this before. I know I've streamed large VOB files (renamed to .mpg) through the media center extender, so I'm not sure.

What advanced settings are you using for your file? You should definitely be using the WVC1 codec. For reference, Windows Media Encoder's default bitrate for HD video is 2-pass VBR Peak: Average at 5Mbps and Max at 10Mbps. I should think that would adequately retain the quality of your file. Probably use 320-or-so Kbps for Audio.

Edit: I'd setup a screenshot for reference, but for some reason Encode360 won't work on my computer. I wonder if the Vista SP1 update broke some things....maybe later when I get to work.

Edit2: encode360 720p settings
 
Hmm, it has already been degraded by more than half and it must be reencoded yet again for the console? It's really not going to be HD by that point except by technicality of display resolution alone. So, is it worth it?
 
Originally posted by: Auric
Hmm, it has already been degraded by more than half and it must be reencoded yet again for the console? It's really not going to be HD by that point except by technicality of display resolution alone. So, is it worth it?
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Well...it should still look better than DVD, and this way he gets to watch it on his TV.
 
Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.
- Bill Cosby
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But only the wise take advice into consideration whereas with the stupid 'tis oft "pearls before swine".
 
The only thing different about my settings were i chose

WVCI
CBR pass1

video bitrate: 3000
max bitrate 5000
audio bitrate 192
and force 2 channel downmix.

Also the converting is actually taking 12 hours so if I did vbr pass 2 it's be probably taking even longer.
 
just finished and it came out to be 4.29 gigs. I forgot that the 360 can stream over 4 gigs if it's wmv file. It works.
 
Originally posted by: emblem
just finished and it came out to be 4.29 gigs. I forgot that the 360 can stream over 4 gigs if it's wmv file. It works.
Click to expand...

4.29 gigs is awfully small for a 720p movie of the length of one of the Lord of the Rings movies. I'd imagine you lost quite a bit of quality in this process.
 
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: emblem
Yea I figured that but whatever. It looks good anyway.
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Well so would an upsampled DVD, so the question is was there any point to going through all this?
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Indeeed. The bitrate is prolly betwixt 2.8 and 3.3 Mbps depending upon the version of the movie. Even if it were so encoded from the source and thus on equal footing with the DVD from that perspective (instead of "down-encoded" two additional times), the efficiency of the advanced codecs (AVC & VC-1) over MPEG-2 are totally negated by having only one-third the bitrate and worse, a higher resolution. So, I would wager the result is decidely worse than DVD... and that's just the video, putting aside the loss of audio with only stereo. Oh well, I suppose it was a learning experience at least.
 
Originally posted by: Auric
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: emblem
Yea I figured that but whatever. It looks good anyway.
Click to expand...

Well so would an upsampled DVD, so the question is was there any point to going through all this?
Click to expand...

Indeeed. The bitrate is prolly betwixt 2.8 and 3.3 Mbps depending upon the version of the movie. Even if it were so encoded from the source and thus on equal footing with the DVD from that perspective (instead of "down-encoded" two additional times), the efficiency of the advanced codecs (AVC & VC-1) over MPEG-2 are totally negated by having only one-third the bitrate and worse, a higher resolution. So, I would wager the result is decidely worse than DVD... and that's just the video, putting aside the loss of audio with only stereo. Oh well, I suppose it was a learning experience at least.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's too bad MS's fall update last years didn't include AC3 within the mp4 container or more complex codec profiles.

But yeah, it's certainly a good learning experience. The OP will be pretty well equipped to deal with most other file type/format issues.
 
Originally posted by: emblem
I can't get megui to work and no programs i use seem tyo convert to LCAAC I tried fubar but it gvies me an error midway. My friend just told me to ues this program called River past and it will convert the original video to the right playable format for 360
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The method I gave you should work.

However, I do remember having problems setting up meGUI properly. And problems getting it to correctly convert the audio. It isn't that intuitive but it is a really good program once you get over the learning curve.

Also I have used encode360 in the past before the H.264 /mp4 support and I really liked the program. Aside from the super long encoding times.
 
Originally posted by: Slick5150
Originally posted by: emblem
just finished and it came out to be 4.29 gigs. I forgot that the 360 can stream over 4 gigs if it's wmv file. It works.
Click to expand...

4.29 gigs is awfully small for a 720p movie of the length of one of the Lord of the Rings movies. I'd imagine you lost quite a bit of quality in this process.
Click to expand...

ouch, lord of the rings at 1dvd rip size? thats nuts. even h264 turns to garbage at that low bitrate. at the very least it should be 8gb downsample rip for such a long movie at that resolution.
 
1) download pirated, downscaled, low bitrate version of high quality movie
2) reencode it to an even lower bitrate
3) ...
4) profit!

Seriously, a DVD would look much better. And I mean a real DVD, not some Xvid crap.
 
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