Xbox 360 May 7th update success stories

[kornesque]

I'll be gone for a few days and won't have a chance to test my media at 0-hour, but if everyone could drop a line with results we'll be able to get a good baseline to compare with current capabilities. Good luck.

[kornesque]

"now that it's out in the wild..."

happy to report 18mbps avg vc-1+wma in a .wmv is playing just dandy. vga fix is also effective. MS hooked it up this time around.

Share your successes and failures here please. let's push vc1 to its max and find out what it is...h264 as well. oh, and the VGA fix works great, thx MS!!

[ACrowley]

"now that it's out in the wild..."

happy to report 18mbps avg vc-1+wma in a .wmv is playing just dandy. vga fix is also effective. MS hooked it up this time around.

Share your successes and failures here please. let's push vc1 to its max and find out what it is...h264 as well. oh, and the VGA fix works great, thx MS!!




My Test encodes with WVC1 1080p 2pass VBR and high Peaks are not playing right!

1. WVC1 1080p 10Mbps VBR /15Mbps Peak : choppy!
2. WVC1 1080p 13Mbps VBr /19Mbps Peak : choppy!
3. WVC1 1080p 17Mbps CBR : smooth !

I cant see an updated Decoder for WMV MP AP ?
Perhaps in CBR Mode ist possible to use higher Bitrates, but the Target is 2pass VBR with high Peaks.
Thats the real Problem of the Decoder


But very nice :

-You can set more AR Options
-You can change Audio Tracks

-H264 in mp4 with Stereo AAC LC is working so far. I made a test with a remuxedd Nero AVC Trailer
-My own Test encodes with Mainconcept Encoder : 720p 6Mbps VBr 8Mbps Peak / 23.976 fps / High Profile 4.1 Level are not working !
However only max 10Mbps ,only Level 4.1, with only 2CH AAC ...buuuhh
-Mp4 remuxed Divx/Xvid on under 6Mbps are not working

[Ronin-7]

Just to add for SD resolutions my own little H.264 tests played using the High-profile in AutoMKV and in MeGUI the CE-HighProfile and HQ Slow test encodes both played back.

Apple 720p trailer failed to play though.

Edit: Must have been something wrong with the Apple trailer tried a few more 720p Apple H.264 trailers in MP4 & MOV containers & they all played no problem.

[Matariel]

What container format and audio/video settings do you use for h264 playback?

I cant get my xbox360 to recognise the .mp4 files I create (High profile h264 level 4.1, LC AAC audio).

[kornesque]

FWIW, my 18mpbs vc1 that plays is a straight remux off of one of my HDDVDs. the original encoding was not touched.

[ACrowley]

FWIW, my 18mpbs vc1 that plays is a straight remux off of one of my HDDVDs. the original encoding was not touched.


How do you mux it properly into wmv ? .... theres no proper Method at the Moment

Are you talking about MediaCenter or Dashoard Player/Streaming? Strange....

I can only tell you that a 2paas VBR 1080p WVC1 encode with 15 and 19Mbps Peak isnt working smooth

[carpetwax]

I havent had any luck with Nero Recode playing...

Encoded with Nero Digital AVC Standard Profile
LC-AAC audio

PAL content (25fps) have tried several different resolutions and bitrates

mp4 files

[easy2Bcheesy]

720p/60 h.264 content High Profile with stereo AAC at 21mbps doesn't work at all. Created with AutoMKV in the MP4 container. However, 21mbps h.264 content created by a client works just fine with choppiness (although it's choppy on my quad core PC so most likely an issue with their encoder).

I'm trying Quicktime Pro (spit) now.

On the plus side, I'm playing 720p/60 VC1 files made with Media Encoder with no problems whatsoever whereas previously they were extremely jerky.

[Ronin-7]

I havent had any luck with Nero Recode playing...

Encoded with Nero Digital AVC Standard Profile
LC-AAC audio

PAL content (25fps) have tried several different resolutions and bitrates

mp4 files

I just tried Nero using the Standard & HDTV profiles on a PAL DVD clip, both encodes played on the Xbox 360.

All settings where left on automatic so not sure what's going wrong you for you, quality was much poorer vs x264 encodes so try XviD4PSP (http://www.winnydows.com/xvid4psp.html) and it's generic MP4 profile instead as that also works for me if you want something with an easy user interface.

Nero Recode version was 2.4.5.0

[kornesque]

lemme see if i can remember the graph correctly, since i'm not at home...this .wmv should play off the dash.

haali splitter (.evo)>video>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>solveig (.wmv)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>audio>wmaudio encoder DMO>>>>^

forget the arrows before "audio"...i can't put blanks in.

[DeadRinga]

What container format and audio/video settings do you use for h264 playback?

I cant get my xbox360 to recognise the .mp4 files I create (High profile h264 level 4.1, LC AAC audio).

Same. Anyone get the 360 to see the mp4 files?

[ACrowley]

720p/60 h.264 content High Profile with stereo AAC at 21mbps doesn't work at all. Created with AutoMKV in the MP4 container. However, 21mbps h.264 content created by a client works just fine with choppiness (although it's choppy on my quad core PC so most likely an issue with their encoder).

I'm trying Quicktime Pro (spit) now.

On the plus side, I'm playing 720p/60 VC1 files made with Media Encoder with no problems whatsoever whereas previously they were extremely jerky.

ofcourse it will not work cause the H264 Decoder is restricted to 10Mbps

[easy2Bcheesy]

ofcourse it will not work cause the H264 Decoder is restricted to 10Mbps

Well Amir on the AVSForum (big cheese at Microsoft) said otherwise. The point is that my x264 encodes don't play at all on the 360, whereas h.264 encodes from Quicktime Pro play fine.

Has any one else had success with x264 encodes? I tried High Profile with my material.

[ACrowley]

Well Amir on the AVSForum (big cheese at Microsoft) said otherwise. The point is that my x264 encodes don't play at all on the 360, whereas h.264 encodes from Quicktime Pro play fine.

Has any one else had success with x264 encodes? I tried High Profile with my material.


No..you can read it everywhere in all FeatureList thats its only 10Mbps!

And ofcourse x264 encodes wont play ,cause theyre usually encoded @unrestricted Level.
The Xbox360 Decoder can only play High Profile with 4.1 Level and 2.0 AAC LC

For example you can play this Trailer in H264 (NeroAVC 2.0AAC LC)
http://trailer.nerodigital.com/eng/The_Greatest_Game_Ever_Played.html

The H264 Decoder seems to be very intractable

[jpasan]

Same. Anyone get the 360 to see the mp4 files?

Can't see them either. I'm using the dash media player and the media sharing software is Windows Media Player 11 on Windows Vista Business 32-bit

[DeadRinga]

Can't see them either. I'm using the dash media player and the media sharing software is Windows Media Player 11 on Windows Vista Business 32-bit

i read that WMP11 cant share .mp4 files and that the zune software does... but even the zune software cant see them on my end. weird. and BTW, i think i read that the profile the 360 supports is 4.0 not 4.1? -edit: nevermind. just doublechecked. it is 4.1.

[Zero1]

They say 4.1; but it's not full 4.1 support. For starters they fall short on the bitrate, so be warned that there may be others.

[jubilex]

No..you can read it everywhere in all FeatureList thats its only 10Mbps!

No, they said that 10mbps is all that is officially supported, i.e., tested and playing back smoothly.

"Xbox 360 does not specifically block video from playing based on a maximum bit rate, resolution, or frames per second. The maximums listed above for each codec are what we have tested for various video playback sources. Higher rated content will not be blocked, but playback may be less then optimal. Use higher bitrates at your own risk."

[carpetwax]

I just tried Nero using the Standard & HDTV profiles on a PAL DVD clip, both encodes played on the Xbox 360.

All settings where left on automatic so not sure what's going wrong you for you, quality was much poorer vs x264 encodes so try XviD4PSP (http://www.winnydows.com/xvid4psp.html) and it's generic MP4 profile instead as that also works for me if you want something with an easy user interface.

Nero Recode version was 2.4.5.0

It looks like my 360 isn't even trying to play my MP4's.
When I try to play them from the dashboard video option, the files are not even visable.
When playing from the Media Center Extender, there is no pause from the machine 'trying' to play them or anything. Just directly to a message about file not supported.

I have the feeling I have something really stupid simple not set up right or enabled,

*note* when I try to play the files through the Media Center on the vista box, I get teh same non play message. Do I need to get my base machine 'accepting' the files before my extender will?

[bass4040]

Does Mpeg 2 HD transport streams still work using MCE and Hdtvpump on the 360 after this update?

[veffremov]

Does Mpeg 2 HD transport streams still work using MCE and Hdtvpump on the 360 after this update?

The update does not affect the MCX functionality. Nothing is added or removed.

The "VGA fix" would applay to MCX and Games as well.

[veffremov]

For the H.264 the encode must be:

Baseline, Main or High Profile.

L41 max resolution 1920x1088 (1080 cropped).
L > 50 max resolution Width x Height < 414720.

[carpetwax]

I've taken a closer look at the error messages this morning.

The dashboard video option simply doesnt see any files other than WMV. The folders are all there, they just appear empty.
Under the 360 Extender, I can see the mp4 files, but when I try to play them I get the message "The file is not recognised and cannot be played, either the codec is missing of the file is corrupt"
Under Vista Media Center on the PC serving my xbox, I can also see the mp4 file, but when I try to play it I get a different message "WMC cannot find the specified file..."

edit:
Windows Media Player 11 will play my mp4's fine via ffdshow, but it will not add them too its library and I can't seem to find any way of making it accept the mp4 extension. I'm guessing this is what makes the files not even appear in the dashboard video folder.

[ACrowley]

I've taken a closer look at the error messages this morning.

The dashboard video option simply doesnt see any files other than WMV. The folders are all there, they just appear empty.
Under the 360 Extender, I can see the mp4 files, but when I try to play them I get the message "The file is not recognised and cannot be played, either the codec is missing of the file is corrupt"
Under Vista Media Center on the PC serving my xbox, I can also see the mp4 file, but when I try to play it I get a different message "WMC cannot find the specified file..."

edit:
Windows Media Player 11 will play my mp4's fine via ffdshow, but it will not add them too its library and I can't seem to find any way of making it accept the mp4 extension. I'm guessing this is what makes the files not even appear in the dashboard video folder.


The Extender is not updatetd! No H264/Mp4....
The new Video Functions are only for the Dashboard Player!

[crypto]

L41 max resolution 1920x1088 (1080 cropped).
L > 50 max resolution Width x Height < 414720.

Thanks for making that clear. That did the trick. HD encodes using x264 w/ --level 41 option work great. Regarding the AAC 2.0 audio track, only those accounts that download the ipod codec again seem to be able to play audio. That is true, even when the codec displays as already downloaded.

WMV playback is also working great. None of my files had problems with the aspekt ratio anymore, even those cropped, anamorphic and cropped/anamorphic HD encodes. Automatic always did the job.

WMV streaming works better and with higher bit rates than MP4 streaming, although the MP4s are hinted.

This is a great update for the Xbox 360 transforming it into a multi media machine.

[jpasan]

But can you get MP4s to work? Is yes, what did you do?
A great shame was not to include AVI support with MPEG-4 ASP. That would be the real killer feature

[Ronin-7]

But can you get MP4s to work? Is yes, what did you do?

In what context ?

For anything with standard definition resolutions just use the stock high profile setting in AutoMKV or any other program even Nero AVC works.

For high definition resolutions you must modify the profile so it's set at level 4.1

To read the MP4 files burn to disc or put on USB flash, USB external HD.

To read over network from WMP shared media you must have I think at least directshow decoders installed, if it doesn't read them still use the MP4 Tag plugin for WMP (http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm). Alternatively you can use the Zune software to share media and that should allow the Xbox 360 to see them over the network.

[Deihmos]

I am trying to find a way for WMP 11 to add MP4 files to the library but with no luck. The zune software can share MP4 files but it does not add all of them to the library. If I copy the video to a USB drive it plays on the 360 but not Zune.

I basically need to find a way to add MP4 files to my WMP 11 library so the 360 will see them. Does anyone know how I can do this?

[shaolin95]

I am very happy with the update! My previous 1080P encode of Happy Feet using this script:
cscript.exe "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Components\Encoder\wmcmd.vbs" -input Vtest2.avi -a_input myaudio.avi -output "j:\output.wmv" -v_bframedist 1 -v_bdeltaqp 1 -v_mslevel 1 -v_codec wvc1 -v_keydist 3 -v_mode 2 -v_quality 96 -v_mmatch 0 -v_msrange 0 -v_performance 20 -v_loopfilter 1 -a_codec wmapro -a_setting 384_48_6_16

It used to be very choppy but with the update its perfectly smooth! I am not sure how to accurately measure the bitrate but if someone tells me I will report back.

Also the RESUME and LANGUAGE options are a very welcome. The "black level" setting is cool too.


Regards

[jpasan]

Originally Posted by jpasan View Post
But can you get MP4s to work? Is yes, what did you do?In what context ?

Streaming from PC with WMP. I have Nero Showtime installed and also ffdshow in order to watch x264 files but still can't see the files in the Xbox

[Pitbull_Raven]

What software should one use to recode a mkv to compliant mp4 streams?

[benwaggoner]

I made this http://216.99.212.230:6969/torrents/Elephants_Dream_WMV.torrent?9C267F763BFE9570D5C439ADD8B6D0D73C7708E6 sample file using the Elephant's Dream source, with 10 Mbps average and 25 Mbps peak, and 5.1 24-bit WMA Pro audio. Works great for my on my stock Premium with the spring update.

The .torrent also includes the .pproj I used to make the PNG sequence into an AVI, a screen shot of the WMV PowerToy settings I used, and the Windows Media Encoder session file.

[Ronin-7]

Deihmos & jpasan try the WMP MP4 tag plugin (http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm) that makes MP4 files show in the WMP library.

It's working for me and I can play the encodes over the network.

(Just in case you have to use the WMP media sharing feature for this to work as far as I know other software media/servers don't work at the moment with the new update)

Edit: Question for anyone more knowledgeable on the matter, I have a load of my movies in H.264/AAC LC/MKV containers using MKV-Merge and YAMB I can put them into MP4 containers that play on the Xbox 360 but they lose their anamorphic setting is it possible to set this in the MP4 file ?

I know that's not a problem for the console as it can stretch to fill the screen in the display options but it would be nice to keep the anamorphic setting for PC/Media Centre playback.

[Pitbull_Raven]

I have a load of my movies in H.264/AAC LC/MKV containers using MKV-Merge and YAMB I can put them into MP4 containers that play on the Xbox 360

Is there any way we could get you to please elaborate on how to? I can't seem to get create any (at least compliant with the x360. I have tested out samples and it's streaming to the box w/o problems, so that's not the problem, for sure.

:thanks:

[Deihmos]

Deihmos & jpasan try the WMP MP4 tag plugin (http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm) that makes MP4 files show in the WMP library.

It's working for me and I can play the encodes over the network.

(Just in case you have to use the WMP media sharing feature for this to work as far as I know other software media/servers don't work at the moment with the new update)

Edit: Question for anyone more knowledgeable on the matter, I have a load of my movies in H.264/AAC LC/MKV containers using MKV-Merge and YAMB I can put them into MP4 containers that play on the Xbox 360 but they lose their anamorphic setting is it possible to set this in the MP4 file ?

I know that's not a problem for the console as it can stretch to fill the screen in the display options but it would be nice to keep the anamorphic setting for PC/Media Centre playback.

i tried that application before and it did not work. i am using WMP 11 with Windows vista.

[Ronin-7]

i tried that application before and it did not work. i am using WMP 11 with Windows vista.

Hmm working on XP fine for me, I have a Vista box but have not tried it out with that.

On my XP machine I have;
ffdshow tryout beta2
Haali Media Splitter
WMP Tag plugin installed

And that's all there is to it. I will test with Vista and let you know if it works could be the plugin needs to be updated for Vista WMP11.


Is there any way we could get you to please elaborate on how to? I can't seem to get create any (at least compliant with the x360. I have tested out samples and it's streaming to the box w/o problems, so that's not the problem, for sure.

First I used MKVExtractGUI (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVExtractGUI) (put in folder of MKVMerge (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mkvtoolnix)) and extracted the raw H.264 video and audio.

Then I used YAMB (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/YAMB) and inputed both files into it and muxed them into an MP4.

As it happens I was lucky because my movies were encoded with the MeGUI HQ-Slow profile which plays back on the X360 under SD resolutions as all my movies where 720x576 or lower. I also used 2 channel AAC LC for most of them so avoided another pitfall in the audio but in some cases you may need to redo the audio but that's a lot easier and quicker than redoing the entire thing from scratch.

If your not sure about why a certain video isn't playing & forgotten what it was encoded at an easy way I find is to just mux with video only and see if it plays, if the video is compatible it will play & that tells you if the audio is the culprit.

[carpetwax]

i tried that application before and it did not work. i am using WMP 11 with Windows vista.

I have the same problem.

Vista x64
I installed the plugin, and it shows under installed plugins within WMP11.
When I use the file->open within WMP11 to open an mp4, my mp4's now show under the 'all media' description. Before the plugin I would have to select 'all files'
However, they still wont add to the library when I run them or when I try to have them added to the library automatically.

[Deihmos]

I have the same problem.

Vista x64
I installed the plugin, and it shows under installed plugins within WMP11.
When I use the file->open within WMP11 to open an mp4, my mp4's now show under the 'all media' description. Before the plugin I would have to select 'all files'
However, they still wont add to the library when I run them or when I try to have them added to the library automatically.

Is there a solution to this? I have been searching around forever with no luck. I have Vista 32bit.

[carpetwax]

I'm currently downloading the zune software for Vista.
(I dont actually have a Zune)

I figure that the Zune plays mp4's, therefore the zune software might enable adding of the mp4's to the library.

I will let you know how it goes

[Deihmos]

I'm currently downloading the zune software for Vista.
(I dont actually have a Zune)

I figure that the Zune plays mp4's, therefore the zune software might enable adding of the mp4's to the library.

I will let you know how it goes

The Zune software works but I was looking for a way without it. The Zune software does not add all MP4 to the library either and it cannot play all. If I put the video on a usb drive it will play on the 360 but not with Zune.

[carpetwax]

OK, It worked. Sort of.

The zune software looks like it's jsut a derivative of WMP11. It adds my mp4 files to its library.
In the 360 dashboard I had to go into the settings and disconnect it from the Computer I had set it to, then reconnect and I now had two options, one with the Zune symbol beside it.
I connected to this one and I can now see and play my mp4 files.

Regular WMP11 still wont add my mp4's to its library. It would be nice to have a proper solution to this so that I dont have to have a second Version of WMP installed parallel, but it will do for now.

[carpetwax]

The Zune software works but I was looking for a way without it. The Zune software does not add all MP4 to the library either and it cannot play all. If I put the video on a usb drive it will play on the 360 but not with Zune.

Ahh, the mp4 encodes I have worked. (which is enough for me thankfully, I encode them all the same way)
All made with nero recode. Various bitrates and resolutions in the Standard AVC profile.


But would definatly be nice to find a solution without Zune.

[slow4mula]

i tried a standard avc encode with stereo (2channel) using nero burned to a cd and it worked fine...

i tried a standard avc with 5.1 channel aac audio and it says it's unsupported. i know the xbox 360 doesn't support 5.1, but it would be nice if it could still play 2 channels.

[Deihmos]

Nero Digital seems to be a lot faster than Nero Digital AVC. I did both and I see no quality difference but nero digital takes one quarter of the time of AVC.

WHat is the difference ?

[carpetwax]

AVC is H.264

Sounds like your encoding at a bit rate higer than you might need to with AVC.
Try maintaining the same resolution but dropping the AVC bitrate by 30% or so and see if that compares well to the non AVC encode.

If it does you then have the option to save storage space at the cost of encode time.

I push my bitrates down fairly low so that I can use the same encode on both my PSP and TV Via the 360.
96kbps audio LC-AAC
500kbps video 720x480 (no cropping, no added letterboxing)

The saved space probably doesn't mean very much with the cost of Hard Drive storage, but its handy for my 4 gig of PSP storage.

[Ronin-7]

Just tested the Tag plugin on Vista and it doesn't work tried messing about in the registry but with no luck.

If you really don't want to use the Zune software you could try contacting the author (http://www.softpointer.com/contact.htm) and see if they will update it to work on Vista.

[Deihmos]

AVC is H.264

Sounds like your encoding at a bit rate higer than you might need to with AVC.
Try maintaining the same resolution but dropping the AVC bitrate by 30% or so and see if that compares well to the non AVC encode.

If it does you then have the option to save storage space at the cost of encode time.

I push my bitrates down fairly low so that I can use the same encode on both my PSP and TV Via the 360.
96kbps audio LC-AAC
500kbps video 720x480 (no cropping, no added letterboxing)

The saved space probably doesn't mean very much with the cost of Hard Drive storage, but its handy for my 4 gig of PSP storage.

I see what you are saying. Still AVC is so much slower but yes the file size is much smaller. i dropped the bitrate to around 500kbps and it will take a little over an hour to encode a 2 hour dvd. Without AVC it's 20 minutes but the file size is much larger.

[tomos]

Ahh, the mp4 encodes I have worked. (which is enough for me thankfully, I encode them all the same way)
All made with nero recode. Various bitrates and resolutions in the Standard AVC profile.


But would definatly be nice to find a solution without Zune.

well, without zune, the encodes i've made with megui (4.1 profile) work fine on the xbox after renaming them to wmv. wont show up without doing this.

tried to mux AAC audio along with it but it wont work at all

---

EDIT

works with 2ch AAC audio in mp4, renamed to wmv.

[Pitbull_Raven]

I'm freakin' out here. I can't figure out how do recode a high def mkv file. All I can find is how to make 720*576 recodes to MP4. If I wanted 720*576 I'd stick to my DVD's.

Anyone have the time to setup a step-by-step guide for idiots like me?

[Ronin-7]

I'm freakin' out here. I can't figure out how do recode a high def mkv file. All I can find is how to make 720*576 recodes to MP4. If I wanted 720*576 I'd stick to my DVD's.

Anyone have the time to setup a step-by-step guide for idiots like me?

You probably need to re-encode the HD material as the Xbox 360 will only play H.264 at HD resolution with the level set to 4.0 or 4.1 if your existing HD video wasn't already at that then re-encoding is the only choice I think.

In AutoMKV set the resolution to original* and try this profile I made (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/temp/X360%20HD.xml)** drop it into the AutoMKV\profiles\x264-profiles folder & it will show in the program as X360 HD profile it is based off the AutoMKV high profile.

* Assuming with your HD video you want to keep it's original resolution.

** I'm no guru about the inner workings of x264 so I followed what MeGUI said when I tried to set the level to 4.1 and it said P4x4mv wont work with that or something to that effect so I turned that feature off & then the 4.1 level was set correctly. I tested the profile in AutoMKV on an Apple 720p MP4 trailer and re-encoded the video using the new profile and it played back so I think it works.

[Pitbull_Raven]

Finally... An answer I can work with... Thanks Ronin-7! I'll give it a try immediatly.

[tomos]

is there a way to make the xbox 'see' video types it should support without renaming them to wmv?

[Deihmos]

I don't know if renaming them to wmv will make them play on the Xbox. What most people did was install the Zune software to share mp4 and other files. WMP will not share these files.

[Ronin-7]

You have 3 methods of sharing for XP over network.

* WMP MP4 Tag plugin make WMP library see MP4 files.

* Zune software is tweaked version of WMP supports MP4 files in it's library but you must connect to the Zune server in the console blade disconnect from any existing computer.

* Tversity has been updated and is now compatible with the spring update.


Under Vista there are only two methods for reading MP4 files over network.

* Zune software

* Tversity

{You have to disable transcoding or manually add H.264 support in Tversity check the forums for more info, haven't had a chance to check it out yet}

[Eug]

In case you're trying Apple QuickTime trailers and they're not working, be sure the files do not have 5.1-channel AAC audio. The Xbox 360 does not support that, and will only work with 2-channel stereo AAC.

If you still want to play these trailers, then you'll have to re-encode the audio to 2.0.

To do this, if you have QuickTime 7 Pro, you can export it to MP4 (not MP4 (ISMA)):

1) Video - Set to Pass through

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Apple/Passthrough.jpg

2) Audio - Set to Stereo AAC (I generally use 160 Kbps.)

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Apple/AACStereo.jpg

Because the video is set to passthrough there is no re-encoding of the video, so the only thing that gets re-encoded is the audio. For this reason, the file export is superfast. You end up with an MP4 file instead of a MOV file, but it still works fine in QuickTime and now it works on the Xbox 360.

If you don't have QT Pro and you're on a Mac, then you can simply use QTAmateur (http://www.mikeash.com/?page=software/qtamateur/index.html), which is a freeware program that exposes all the "Pro" features of QuickTime.

If you don't have QT Pro and you're on Windows, then you'll have to use some other software that will do the same thing.

[shutupfool]

All that re-encoding, and it will only play dolby stereo...geez :confused:
Don't know why i should even bother...

I'll stick with my pc for now, it'll play anything i throw at it..

how well does the ps3 fare in playing x264/h264 files ?

[Ronin-7]

Does anyone know why the Zune software only displays Apple compatible H.264 video or is it just me ?

The reason why is because the Xbox spring video FAQ (http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/05/09/spring-07-video-playback-faq.aspx) says this;

12. Does Xbox 360 display embedded artwork for MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264 files?

Yes. You can embed your artwork that is less than 400KB in the video files and they will be shown in the Xbox 360 video area when streaming from the Zune software.

This works but only for Apple H.264 video which in the appears in the Zune library none of my other encodes which show in the WMP library & play will show in the Zune library.

The second problem is that iTunes only supports it's own H.264 video so other encodes wont work right which means using other software to embed the image does anyone know of any other software which can embed a JPG in MP4 video ?

:thanks:

[Zero1]

MP4Box can, you just need a recent build and to specify this in the command line: -itags cover="cover.jpg"

So an example will be:
mp4box.exe -add "video.264" -add "audio.aac" -itags cover="cover.jpg" "out.mp4"

[Ronin-7]

Cool thanks Zero1 much appreciated :thanks:

That's one half of the problem sorted. Edit: Also found another method MP3tag (http://www.mp3tag.de/) (freeware) can also embed cover art into existing video MP4 files.

For other side of the problem I tried out Zune software on another machine/laptop both only showed Apple H.264 videos in their library and hence on the Xbox 360, veffremov or zambelli I don't suppose either of you guys would know a registry tweak to open up support for other H.264 or is the Zune software tied to it's own H.264 dll decoder which I saw it's it's folder.

Or does anyone else know of any other media server software that displays embedded art and works with the Xbox 360 ?


Edit: Just on a side note from my own mucking about I now sort of understand some of the weird playback issues.

The Zune software which is a version of WMP with H.264 support works with the Xbox 360 as long as you encode material to the specific profile settings as was mentioned in the threads, the video will show in the Zune library and generate a thumbnail in the Xbox 360 UI, it also correctly picks up & displays anamorphic encodes & embedded art.

On the other hand if you use the WMP MP4 Tag plugin the Xbox 360 will play generic H.264 with quite a few of the stock profiles all the way up to HQ-Slow so far I have tested, however you wont get thumbnails nor will it properly detect anamorphic video though the stretch feature in the player dash can offset that downside somewhat.

So it's a bit of a trade off between the two, here are the MeGUI profiles for anyone who wants them, thx to the Digital Digest guide (http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Xbox_360_H.264_Conversion_Guide_page1.html) for the settings. These will allow you to encode video that is compatible with the Zune library & media sharing feature for the Xbox 360.
Xbox 360 baseline profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Baseline-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 Main profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Mainprofile-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 High profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Highprofile-Zune.xml)

[miklg21]

So what your saying is there is no 5.1 support for mpeg4 and h.264?

[Ronin-7]

miklg21 there is no AAC 5.1 audio support only 2ch AAC LC is supported in the MP4 container on the Xbox 360.

This is not to be confused with the 4.1/5.1 level support within the H.264 specification which is an entirely different thing.

[lineman]

I was able to remux Planet Earth with the original VC-1 video and I converted the DD 5.1 to WMA 5.1 . I burnt this to a dual layer dvd and it plays flawless in the 360. I am going to try another release this weekend to see how it works. I also used nero to convert a CBS hdtv mpeg to Nero AVC, again I burnt the video to a dvd and the quality and playback was perfect, except the audio was only 2 channel.

[Bacon_67]

I tried to remux a x264 TV show (MKV) into a MP4 and couldn't get it to play (I encoded the ac3 track to aac as well).

All my other MP4s and QT movies stream fine though with Tversity. Don't know what the problem is. :mad:

[Ronin-7]

I tried to remux a x264 TV show (MKV) into a MP4 and couldn't get it to play (I encoded the ac3 track to aac as well).

All my other MP4s and QT movies stream fine though with Tversity. Don't know what the problem is. :mad:

The Xbox 360 will only play non-compliant H.264 content if you use local storage such as USB flash or DVD, for network streaming you must use the MP4 Tag plugin for WMP (http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm) which only works on WinXP & use WMP as the media share server.

If it still doesn't play after that then it just might just not be able to play the original encode.

For maximum compatibility re-encode video using MeGUI and one of these profiles;
Xbox 360 Baseline profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Baseline-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 Main profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Mainprofile-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 High profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Highprofile-Zune.xml)

[Bacon_67]

I think it must be the original video encode, because I can stream 1080p apple.com trailers from my PC fine with Tversity. I was hoping a total re-encode wouldn't be necessary.

[Thorax12]

try http://transcode360.co.uk/ ... with that one you can watch your mkv file son the fly. you don't have to transcode them by yourself, they will be transcoded on the fly. so for me all works great... the only thing to figure out is how to add the ".mkv" into the registry that these files will go into the vide library of windows media player. any hints?

[tomos]

The Xbox 360 will only play non-compliant H.264 content if you use local storage such as USB flash or DVD, for network streaming you must use the MP4 Tag plugin for WMP (http://www.softpointer.com/WMPTagSupport.htm) which only works on WinXP & use WMP as the media share server.

If it still doesn't play after that then it just might just not be able to play the original encode.

For maximum compatibility re-encode video using MeGUI and one of these profiles;
Xbox 360 Baseline profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Baseline-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 Main profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Mainprofile-Zune.xml)
Xbox 360 High profile (http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/Xbox360/Xbox360-Highprofile-Zune.xml)


mine wont show them to play (mp4 files). if i rename them to wmv then they play fine :confused:

[Ronin-7]

I think it must be the original video encode, because I can stream 1080p apple.com trailers from my PC fine with Tversity. I was hoping a total re-encode wouldn't be necessary.

The Xbox 360 can only play certain H.264 videos over a network connection which ad hear to a specific H.264 profiles of which the Apple H.264 type is supported.

From my own testing {though I could be wrong} Tversity will not play files which aren't compliant with the H.264 profile support in the Xbox 360.

If your videos are not compatible then the only way to stream them over a network is to use the WMP MP4 tag plugin I linked to & hope it plays it otherwise you have to re-encode the video.

[Ronin-7]

mine wont show them to play (mp4 files). if i rename them to wmv then they play fine :confused:

Use the Zune software (http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/software.htm) as the media server, you must disconnect from any existing connection in the system blade before connecting to the Zune share, the MeGUI profiles definitely work with the Zune media sharing feature.

[tomos]

tried zune but no joy last time

will try again though tomorrow

[ChromeMud]

Hi all.

VC-1 Profile encode.

9.5 minute cut of 'Final Flight Of The Osiris' PAL 25fps
Resized/Filtered to HD rez through Avisynth.

VBR Q98 video

WMAPRO10 5.1 Q98 audio

25 Mbit average bitrate total.

1280 X 544 1:1

Played smoothly after 2 seconds of judder.

Looked exceptionaly detailed and sounded as transparent
as the original AC-3.

[Ronin-7]

A slight bump to this thread as all I can do is ask if veffremov or zambelli see this would it be possible to add Adaptive DCT support into the Xbox 360's official H.264 playback requirements.

As it does not support this though it will play videos back through local storage (minus a few extras) but it will not play if streaming through the Zune software. I assume the lack of support has some sort of linkage to the Zune software being the media server software in the first place & it's own built in H.264 support as well so a new version of that would probably be required. At least it would be nice of third party media servers worked regardless of the Zune software.

Thanks.

[veffremov]

Hi Ronin-7,

I'm not sure I understand correctly. You have trouble with Zune being Windows Media Connect Server for Xbox 360, but local playback (from DVD/USB storage) works fine, correct?

Sorry about that, but it is not really my department. As far as I know any "Windows Media Connect 2.0" server would do the trick. I don't think there is anything special about Zune.

The only difference between Zune SW and WMP11 is that Zune does not block some mp4 files.

I'll ask around if the WMC spec is publically available so someone could build a decent server and people don't have to use Zune or WMP11.

[Ronin-7]

Hi Ronin-7,

I'm not sure I understand correctly. You have trouble with Zune being Windows Media Connect Server for Xbox 360, but local playback (from DVD/USB storage) works fine, correct?

Sorry about that, but it is not really my department. As far as I know any "Windows Media Connect 2.0" server would do the trick. I don't think there is anything special about Zune.

The only difference between Zune SW and WMP11 is that Zune does not block some mp4 files.

I'll ask around if the WMC spec is publically available so someone could build a decent server and people don't have to use Zune or WMP11.

Thank for the reply and sorry for the belated reply as I was away.

What I was asking about was adding Adaptive DCT support to the H.264 decoder/profile of the Xbox 360 as currently it does not (officially) support videos encoded with this feature enabled.

The stock H.264 high profile setting in MeGUI {CE-HighProfile} has this turned on but the Xbox 360's H.264 decoder is missing this feature (even though it is meant to have H.264 High Profile support).

If streaming H.264/MP4 video over a network from the Zune software then it will not see any MP4 files in it's library that have been encoded with Adaptive DCT support enabled but videos encoded without it & I8x8 work. {It is technically possible using a hack/third party media server to stream non-compatible videos to the Xbox 360 but it has problems playing them which I comment on at the end of this post}

I hope I have explained it properly as I'm not a video guru but basically it is missing that feature from the high profile and if it was enabled then it would deliver better picture quality and cross compatibility between the Xbox 360 and PS3 with H.264 video.

Here are screen shots of the MeGUI settings which I'm referring too;
Standard CE-HighProfile
http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/temp/HP-CE.png

MeGUI's Xbox 360/PS3 profile (currently not 100% compatible on Xbox side)
http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/temp/HP-X360-PS3.png

Custom Xbox 360 100% compatible profile
http://homepage.eircom.net/~rock2002/temp/HP-X360.png

So as you can see there are differences between them, now the Xbox 360 can still play videos encoded with Adaptive DCT as long as they are on a DVD or USB stick but without the following;

* Anamorphic H.264 video is not properly detected.
* No thumbnail is displayed in the dashboard.
* Total time length of video is not displayed.

So it would be nice if support for this was added as it would remove the need for a separate Xbox 360 H.264 video profile & improve picture quality :thanks:


The reason I was commenting on the Zune software which I have no problem with, it works fine for what it does is that I was guessing that because the Zune software will only stream H.264 video that appears in it's library, that might mean the Xbox 360's H.264 decoder/profile was tweaked to be inline with the limitations of the Zune H.264 decoder/profile which according to one site is main profile only which would explain why it lacks Adaptive DCT & I8x8.

Now I could be totally wrong but I think in effect the Xbox 360 is sort of being held back by the Zune software as it is currently the only official H.264 media server for the Xbox 360. To get full H.264 compatibility with the console you must encode to the custom profile which is closer to H.264 main profile instead of actual H.264 high profile if you want thumbnails, proper anamorphic video support & that's regardless of what media server your using as it's the consoles own H.264 decoder which lacks official support for Adaptive DCT & I8x8.

So ideally it would be great if the Xbox 360's H.264 decoders high profile support is improved on even if the Zune software will not support such videos as a third party media server like Twonky could handle streaming such videos to the console.

I hope all that rambling makes sense :)