Encode HD-DVD to WMV for 360 playback?

[dokworm]

Has anyone come up with a working solution for taking their HD-DVD or BluRay rip and encoding it to WMV that plays back smoothly on the XBOX 360?

[tchaikovsky]

I did a small test about this, posted on http://galaxies3000.blogspot.com. It Might Help...

[ACrowley]

I made a few WMV9 AP (WVC1) HDDVD reencodes.

1 Demux HDDVD with EVodemux and note the calculated Framecount

2. Create a Graph with Filesource-ElecardMepgDemultiplexer-SonicVideoDeocder 4.2

3. Create a AVS with
DirectShowSource("G:\yourvideo.grf",fps=23.976,framecount=xxxxxx,seekzero=false,seek=true,audio=false)

4. encode it to WMV MP or AP with the Settings you want.
For Advanced WVC1 Settings like Bframes etc use Zambellis WMV) AP Settings Editor.
I use ProCoder 2 for encoding

works perfect on 360 GameDrive / Streaming

[NHRaider]

Originally Posted by ACrowley

I made a few WMV9 AP (WVC1) HDDVD reencodes.

1 Demux HDDVD with EVodemux and note the calculated Framecount

2. Create a Graph with Filesource-ElecardMepgDemultiplexer-SonicVideoDeocder 4.2

3. Create a AVS with
DirectShowSource("G:\yourvideo.grf",fps=23.976,framecount=xxxxxx,seekzero=false,seek=true,audio=false)

4. encode it to WMV MP or AP with the Settings you want.
For Advanced WVC1 Settings like Bframes etc use Zambellis WMV) AP Settings Editor.
I use ProCoder 2 for encoding

works perfect on 360 GameDrive / Streaming

I've been doing some testing and it seems these WMV HD files are huge... Can you tell me the size of the .EVO you converted and the size of the resultant .wmv file?

[ACrowley]

Originally Posted by NHRaider

I've been doing some testing and it seems these WMV HD files are huge... Can you tell me the size of the .EVO you converted and the size of the resultant .wmv file?

Simply use Bitrate controlled encoding. Use a Bitrate Calculator and you can calcualte the Output Filesize.
Nothing Special ,its the same as with as other Codecs
Zambellis online Bitrate Calculator :
http://www.citizeninsomniac.com/WMV/WMVBitCalc.html

I use 1pass CBR WVC1 (WMV9 AP) with a 60000Buffer and Preset "better"
720p needs min 7-8Mbps ,1080p around 14Mbps
I encode to DVD9 Size (8138MB). With high Bitrate, 60000Buffer it looks better as 1pass VBR CQ ,imho

My Commandline for the latest wmcmd.vbs

cmd /k cscript.exe c:\windows\wmcmd.vbs -input inputvideo.avs -output g:\encodedvideo.wmv -v_codec WVC1 -videoonly -v_mode 0 -v_preset better -v_bitrate 8000000 -v_keydist 30 -v_buffer 600000 -v_quality 75

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=123812

AVS Script Input something like that (it was Batman.Begins.HDDVD):

DirectShowSource("G:\batman.grf",fps=23.976,framecount=201467,seekzero=false,seek=true,audio=false)
Crop(0, 128, -0, -152)
spline36resize(1280,536)
converttoyv12()
Removegrain(mode=2)
Asharp(1,3)

Here is a sample from one of my WVC1 720p encodes, looks very nice and plays perfect on Xbox360 via stream or Gamedrive
Its from Superman.Returns HDDVD VC1 :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WL2GNL38

[NHRaider]

Originally Posted by ACrowley

Use Bitrate Controlled encoding. Use a Bitrate Calculator and you can calcualte the Output Filesize.
Nothing Special ,its the same as with as other Codecs
Zambellis online Bitrate Calculator :
http://www.citizeninsomniac.com/WMV/WMVBitCalc.html

I use 1pass CBR WVC1 (WMV9 AP) with a 60000Buffer and Preset "better"
720p needs min 7-8Mbps ,1080p around 14Mbps
I encode to DVD9 Size (8138MB)
It looks ,imho ,better as VBR CQ 1pass when you use the 60000Buffer for CBR and a high Bitrate.

My Commandline for the latest wmcmd.vbs

cmd /k cscript.exe c:\windows\wmcmd.vbs -input inputvideo.avs -output g:\encodedvideo.wmv -v_codec WVC1 -videoonly -v_mode 0 -v_preset better -v_bitrate 8000000 -v_keydist 30 -v_buffer 600000 -v_quality 100

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=123812

I need to use the WM9 for my codec since I'm streaming to a helios player... quality = 100? I've been using 96 since I was told that is a huge difference in file size.

[ACrowley]

It makes a differerene in Filesize for VBR CQ ,cause the CQ definies the Filesize in this mode

For CBR ,the Bitrate controlls the Output Size ,the Quality Settings plays no Role for the Filesize

The CBR encode is good for your streaming, perhaps you test it with my sample.
When you want VBR CQ ,use around 90 and your Filesize will be smaller. For a 720p encode it could match DVD9

[zambelli]

Originally Posted by ACrowley

It makes a differerene in Filesize for VBR CQ ,cause the CQ definies the Filesize in this mode

For CBR ,the Bitrate controlls the Output Size ,the Quality Settings plays no Role for the Filesize

Right. It's important to note that -v_quality in CBR mode controls the threshold for dropping frames. The WME9 documentation refers to this as "smoothness/crispness" factor, implying that your video is "smooth" if no frames are dropped or "crisp" is some frames are dropped to leave more bits for the encoded frames.

Basically, when in CBR mode the codec needs to balance its bit budget very carefully. In an I-P-B GOP structure not all frames end up being the same size so its the job of the ratecontrol algorithm to plan ahead so that the video buffer would not overflow unexpectedly. When dealing with low bitrates or short buffers, the encoder might find itself in a situation where the buffer is nearly full and the new frame being encoded is too big in size to fit into the buffer without overflowing it. In that situation, the encoder has only two choices: use higher compression ratio to further shrink the frame size, or drop the frame entirely and just move on to the next frame. The -v_quality parameter controls the balance between those too. If you set it too high and you try to encode something challenging - you may end up with dropped frames. If you set it too low - you might end up with some frames being encoded with a conservatively high QP (perhaps unnecessarily so). The trick is to find the sweet spot - the highest value at which there are no dropped frames. 75 works well in most cases, but I typically recommend 50 as a safe general value.

[ACrowley]

THX..thats what i wanted to know for sure...very good explained !

Now i understand how it works in CBR, i will use v_quality 75 for CBR Mode, but i had no dropped Frames in the past with 100 ,so far i can see

THX Zambelli

EDIT
When somebody will use Q 80 on CBR 1pass...you can read in the wmcmd.vbs Thread ,that i ve Problem with Quality 80 on 1pass CBR.
Filesize is s by far to low. Q100 gives exactly the calculated Filesize

[twan69666]

As I try to do these encodes, I learned I really need a new cpu. My oc'd p4 2.4c just aint cutting it anymore.

[jokin]

In other news the Spring Dashboard update will enable support for H.264 and MPEG-4 simple profile playback.

[alan_erickson@hotmail.com]

Originally Posted by jokin

In other news the Spring Dashboard update will enable support for H.264 and MPEG-4 simple profile playback.

Does this mean that the xbox360 will be able to play back divx/xvid? Also, I do some encoding with wmv9 and ac3. Would that be supported?

[jokin]

Probably not. Unless the Xvid does not use and of the Advanced Simple Profile features such as QPEL. But at least this will open the road for many different types of encoders instead of the limited few there are now.

[twan69666]

Hey guys, I gotta question.

After reencoding my HDDVD rip using crowley's settings. It looks great and plays wonderful. When I did the reencode, I used a video only version. But when I try to mux the audio back in, it plays fine on my cpu, but my 360 keeps on giving my an error saying it may not be supported.

I have the audio in ac3 as well as wma, and I have only been able to mux them together using the wma (using wm stream editor). Anyone have any ideas how I can make my audio + video work? Ive tried using a handful of muxer's in grapedit, but none of them seem to like to video, and only a handful take the audio. Thanks!

[zambelli]

Originally Posted by twan69666

Hey guys, I gotta question.

After reencoding my HDDVD rip using crowley's settings. It looks great and plays wonderful. When I did the reencode, I used a video only version. But when I try to mux the audio back in, it plays fine on my cpu, but my 360 keeps on giving my an error saying it may not be supported.

I have the audio in ac3 as well as wma, and I have only been able to mux them together using the wma (using wm stream editor). Anyone have any ideas how I can make my audio + video work? Ive tried using a handful of muxer's in grapedit, but none of them seem to like to video, and only a handful take the audio. Thanks!

For muxing WMA and WMV together, just use WM Stream Editor that comes installed with WME9. For any other form of audio, I'd recommend Solveig Multimedia's ASF Multiplexer.

[twan69666]

Thanks Zambelli,

The problem is Ive tried both of those. The video plays fine without audio. Then I use stream editor to mux. The final file plays fine on my cpu, and my 360 see's it, but my 360 gives me an error saying "this may not be supported" once I try to play it. The solveig filter wont accept my video, since its been reencoded to a lower bitrate. Any other ideas?

[ACrowley]

Originally Posted by twan69666

Thanks Zambelli,

The problem is Ive tried both of those. The video plays fine without audio. Then I use stream editor to mux. The final file plays fine on my cpu, and my 360 see's it, but my 360 gives me an error saying "this may not be supported" once I try to play it. The solveig filter wont accept my video, since its been reencoded to a lower bitrate. Any other ideas?

360 has no Problem with any WMA10Pro Audo i reencoded from HDDVD Audio.

I made a lot of WMA10Pro 768kbps 24bit 48khz Audio Tracks and all they are playing wonderfull on 360 from Dashboard or XP/Vista MediaCenter streaming
.

There must be a mistake in your WMA encoding.

Use WindowsMedia10 Profesionell 16 or 14Bit 48khz

Dont use Solveig Muxer, use WMStreameditor
Note :
Xbox360 CANT play WMV Video with any other than WMA Audio! No AC3/ in WMV (from SolveigMuxer)
Also the Dashboardplayer only recognized .wmv extension, not .asf

[twan69666]

Thanks, I'll start from square one with the audio. I think that I used 9.2 lossless to the encode. Think that may be why.

[twan69666]

Yep, sure enough. I was using windows audio 9.2 lossless to encode, but as soon as I switched to windows audio 10, everything works great.

[bill55]

I can finally post after my 5-day waiting period. :-)

I am not having much luck. First, I would like to encode to 1080p and not 720p. I have a couple encodes in 1080 that look awesome so I should be able to keep these in full 1080 instread of scaling them down to 720, right?

Also, I am having no luck with the audio. I have read numerous posts about people only being able to get 2 channel audio to work. I am having those same issues. I tried using graphedit and used the DD+/DTS source plugin > Intervideo Audio decoder, but it only works with 2 channel audio. I have seen 5.1 wmv's made from hd-dvd's so I know there is a way. Do we have a solution for this yet?

Thanks to all who have posted such good info. I can't wait to be able to stream or play these wmv's on my 360.

Thanks again!!
Bill