mkv to mp4 for xbox360 playback

[wallace4793]

Hi

I have an episode of lost in h264 mkv container format and i want to change the container to .mp4 to test playbeack on my xbox 360. Ive done a bit of googling and so forth and dabbled with super and nero recode but cant find out how to do it. Ive been using gordian for a while for xvid conversion without issue but cant find a decent way of doing x264. Ive tried megui but dont know what to put in the avs script to keep the settings the same but comvert to mp4. Any help would be appreciated.

John

[Pitbull_Raven]

I'm actually stuck with the same issue. :stupid: lol

No harm intended. I'm possibly quite stupid too.

Could anyone point us out in the right direction?

[foxyshadis]

Get the latest svn version of avidemux, see gui forum. Set both streams to copy (unless audio is vorbis, then you'll have to set it to AAC or Lame mp3), set the container to MP4, and save to a new file. It doesn't work on every file, but each version works a little better, and it's so much simpler than the old ways or remuxing and faster than re-encoding.

[Pitbull_Raven]

Thanks... I'll give it a go.

[wallace4793]

Hi

Thanks for the adivce. I downloaded the latest beta build of avidemux and did as you suggested. Unfortunately my pc just locks up using this method.

John

[Terranigma]

try mkvextract to demux matroska, and mp4box to mux raw avc to .mp4

[jcar]

I think the 360 will play avc files up to high level @ 4.1
in case your mkv file is actually using HL @ 5.1

[foxyshadis]

Hi

Thanks for the adivce. I downloaded the latest beta build of avidemux and did as you suggested. Unfortunately my pc just locks up using this method.

John

I noticed it'll sometimes do that when it initiates a crash dump. It has such a huge number of dlls that reading & writing them all takes 4-5 minutes of hard drive thrashing if you wait it out, that can look like a lockup. Too bad it's not stable enough for that file then.

(Vista's command queuing could probably help this a lot.)

[wallace4793]

Thanks again... no it was definately a crash windows closed it as non-responsive. I tried the mkvextract and i have two files now. But the video part doesnt play anymore... exactly what extension should i give it. mkvextract asked what to give it and i said mp4 but ive tried renaming it to avc, h264 and so firth but it wont play in vlc, wmp or nero. Have i gone wrong somewhere?

[Terranigma]

Thanks again... no it was definately a crash windows closed it as non-responsive. I tried the mkvextract and i have two files now. But the video part doesnt play anymore... exactly what extension should i give it. mkvextract asked what to give it and i said mp4 but ive tried renaming it to avc, h264 and so firth but it wont play in vlc, wmp or nero. Have i gone wrong somewhere?

mkvextract demuxes all streams from a matroska file. Leave it as raw .264, and use mp4box to mux. If you're not keen using commandline, then grab YAMB (which uses mp4box) and use that to mux your streams.

[Pitbull_Raven]

Get the latest svn version of avidemux, see gui forum. Set both streams to copy (unless audio is vorbis, then you'll have to set it to AAC or Lame mp3), set the container to MP4, and save to a new file. It doesn't work on every file, but each version works a little better, and it's so much simpler than the old ways or remuxing and faster than re-encoding.


Well... I gave it a try, but still no joy. I am pretty sure my streams are not compliant. How can I recode a file into a compliant MP4?

[Pitbull_Raven]

Anyone?

[zeroprobe]

Problem with ps3 is that anything encoded in level 5.1 will not play. So im trying just edit the level to see if this works, without reencoding.

[Pitbull_Raven]

So basically everyone seems to know how to do the hard stuff but no one knows how to recode a file... Ok then...

[zeroprobe]

So basically everyone seems to know how to do the hard stuff but no one knows how to recode a file... Ok then...

h264 has only just hit the 360 a few days ago. PS3 converters have been out for a while and have had time to sort the profiles out.

Give it time.

[bond]

Well... I gave it a try, but still no joy. I am pretty sure my streams are not compliant. How can I recode a file into a compliant MP4?does the result mp4 play in software players? mpc, vlc, mplayer...

[Pitbull_Raven]

does the result mp4 play in software players? mpc, vlc, mplayer...

Yeah... but I am guessing I am using the wrong profile or even the wrong software. I realized today the resulting audio was DTS. I don't think this is a valid audio stream. But I can't figure out how to recode and change to another stream because when I do change the audio I get choppy playback and the sound plays at 2x normal speed. I treid this method: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1002126#post1002126
Same choppy playback and sound issue. What other software should I consider? Nero Recode? What settings?

[vipera]

The limitations on audio formats makes H264 support on the xbox 360 quite useless in my opinion. It supports stereo LC AAC only.

[dattrax]

I'm guessing the xbox360 is 'configured' for the HDDVD spec. I looked at putting x264 on HDDVD and at the moment they are not compliant due to frame sizes, GOP length, VBV ..... the list goes on.

Demux can be done with mplayer (-dumpaudio) (-dumpvideo) and use mp4box to put it into a mp4 container. Id be interested to see whether it actually plays on the 360!

Jim

[ACrowley]

The limitations on audio formats makes H264 support on the xbox 360 quite useless in my opinion. It supports stereo LC AAC only.

my opinion too!

To mux x264 encoded mkv into mp4 fro 360 playback :

Please note that the most x264 encodes are encoded at unrestricted Level
Xbox360 can only play High Profile at @ 4.1 Level and with 10Mbs Bitrate

The 10Mbps Restriction (to play it smooth) makes it more useless

[bond]

try a h264 baseline profile encode with a small resolution and report whether this works

if it works, try using more complex options and higher resolutions to see what is supported and what isnt

[vipera]

try a h264 baseline profile encode with a small resolution and report whether this works

if it works, try using more complex options and higher resolutions to see what is supported and what isnt

I have successfully played a clip encoded a 480p Main Profile, Level 4.1, haven't tried anything higher yet.

Here (http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Xbox_360_H.264_Conversion_Guide_page1.html) is a guide I found for encoding your own Xbox 360 compatible videos.

[vipera]

I was able to play a 16mbit 1080p Main @ Level 4 clip captured from satellite TV on my 360. It surprised me that it worked. I demuxed from TS with mencoder and muxed with mp4box with no audio. I tried encoding my own clips at 1080p Main @ 4.1 with x264 and they did not play properly.

[cyrilic]

Here (http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Xbox_360_H.264_Conversion_Guide_page1.html) is a guide I found for encoding your own Xbox 360 compatible videos.

Will this guide work with a x264 as well?

[wallstreetcrash]

Is there any way to make HP 5.1 Level to 4.1 Level? Because most files do not actually use the limits of 4.1, without re-encoding.

Thanks

[bond]

I was able to play a 16mbit 1080p Main @ Level 4 clip captured from satellite TV on my 360. It surprised me that it worked. I demuxed from TS with mencoder and muxed with mp4box with no audio. I tried encoding my own clips at 1080p Main @ 4.1 with x264 and they did not play properly.try to add the hrd info to the x264 file:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=125568

[kulivontot]

What is HRD info? How can you alter this info without re-encoding the whole file?

[Pitbull_Raven]

What is HRD info? How can you alter this info without re-encoding the whole file?

Check it here! (http://ftp3.itu.ch/av-arch/jvt-site/2002_05_Fairfax/JVT-C166d1.doc)