Comments on the next build
Published by runtime 360 March 13th, 2006 in TranscodingSorry for the lack of updates people. I am busy with a new release and plan on holding onto it for a bit longer until I can add a couple more features. At the moment the new build mostly consists of improvements in the install process and stuff to help folks with network access and codec problems.
Are there any features you’d like to see added?
In related news, I have in the meantime established a good rappor with the author of My Movies, and once folks are happy with the ease of install for T360, I’m pretty sure I will have the go ahead to implement integration with My Movies.
There was some question over whether we might use VLC to perform the transcoding instead of Windows Media Encoder. Updated: The next build almost certainly won’t support VLC, but it does seem to address a number of issues; although there are still a couple of things I need to clear up concerning picture quality.
Albert,
The features I would like to see in the next version:
1. The ability to FF or RW (not sure it’s feasible though since the video is streaming)
2. The ability to skip to a specific part of a movie. The reason being, if there is a glitch during playback say 60 minutes into the movie, currently there is no way to start playing the movie from where it previously locked up.
3. Start and stop the T360 service when it being used/not used.
4. Make the whole process less CPU intensive. I have a 3.6g P4 with 2gig of RAM and most of the time while running this app, CPU usage is very high, usually 85-100% most of the time.
5. Make the whole process more reliable. Latlely, I have been experiencing lockups while watching movies. I have made some changes recently and am experimenting with some different codecs etc. to see if any improvements are made.
Keep up the great work as this program is really awesome. It has saved me hours and hours of converting files which really used to annoy me.
Thanks Albert.
Ron G.
I think I may be able to address items 2 and 3 on your list. Switch over to VLC I would probably be able to take care of item 1, 4, and 5 but thats a big ticket change that’ll over a longer period. I guess VLC is still on the cards
)
Albert,
Thanks for the feedback. I’m concerned with the use of VLC as you mentioned there may be a quality tradeoff from using WME. I have never used VLC before so I’m not sure how much of a quality tradeoff there is. I guess it’s something to think about. Maybe if I have some time, I’ll play around with VLC and let you know my thoughts.
Anyway, keep up the great work, very much appreciated.
Thanks.
Ron
I’m also new to VLC myself, so I need to keep rechecking things to be sure I’m not making dumb config. mistakes. Most of my PQ concerns were related to transcoding to WMV, but then I realise that theres no need to transcode to WMV, when MPEG will do. Thanks for all your feedback!
Hi Runtime,
I couldn’t find any other way to contact you. So…
I installed DivX 6.1 codec and Transcode 360 together with XBOX 360 extender software and Windows Media Encoder on my MCE 2005 PC.
I can watch divx videos locally on the MCE 2005 PC with both Windows media player and from within Media Center.
I acn also watch recorded movies from my Linksys MCE Extender.
But I can’t watch divx videos on the Linksys Extender. Because I can’t see any “more” or “transcode” items when I press “info” button on any divx file.
Please help me to find the problem.
My host PC (MCE 2005) does not listen on port 8080 or 1401 (which is asked for on Traqnscode 360 setup). Should it listen ? how ?
And I never was able to install Linksys Extender software on my MCE 2005 PC because before that Xbox 360 extender software was installed. Now my extender works with xbox 360 software. Should I remove it and install original linksys software ? How can I remove the Xbox 360 extender software , there is no uninstall of it ?
Thanks for any help
Hello Runtime. Nice to see that you are still looking after us poor 360 owner!
You state that MPEG will work instead of WMV… I, for myself, have not been able to stream using MPEG2 codec. Have you been able to do so? This would be awsome since MPEG2 codec is much less CPU intensive when compared with WMV3 codec… Problem is that it does not seem to stream or allow for reading the file while written to…
Any good news on that front?
Hi BernMalt, with VLC we wouldn’t be streaming in the strictest sense of the word, as we discussed some time ago - T360 would be transcoding to MPEG2 on the local file system and playing back while the file is being written (custom build of VLC), this gives us the ability to rewind/resume, start from a given point, is less cpu intensive, an easier to install. Getting the integration with VLC to work smoothly will take some effort but it should be possible, so it warranted me putting in some time to release an interim build using WME. Up till now I’ve only looked at VLC in the network streaming context, once I get the next build out I’ll be free to look at creating a build of VLC to do the job. Hopefully G.R.A.W. won’t prove too much of a distraction
)
The features I would like to see in the future version:
- A special version to run Transcode 360 from a Windows XP Family/Pro whithout Media Center! because Media Connect is bad in use whith XBOX 360!
Congratulations for T360!
Keep up the great work as this program is very good!
This post has been removed by the author.
runtime,
It looks like the long term solution to this will be using VLC and transcoding to mpeg rather than WMV for all of the reaasons that you mention. I know this will be much work for you and I wish I knew how to write code so that I could assist you in your efforts. Unfortunately, I am not a programmer but will offer any assistance that I can such as testing beta builds, providing feedback, etc. Anyway I can assist your efforts just let me know, I’ll be more than happy to help.
Ron G.
This sound cool but I don’t know how easy it will be to get MCE/360 to accept to play MPEG2 files that are being written too. So far all my attempts have resulted in an error on 360 that complain that the file is in use by another user and can’t be played.
Maybe if we could output to a DVRMS encapsulated MPEG2 stream MCE would be able to play it as it is being written too.
This must work since I can watch/pause live TV in MCE… but I have no clue how this could be done. There are certain tools out there that can encapsulate MPEG2 TS/PS in DVRMS… Could this be done in real time while the xvid file is being converted? Probably but it will require some serious programming.
I will keep looking for options and keep you posted. Keep up the good work!
I’ve some good news for you, I’ve managed to play MPEG2 while its being written; I’m feeling v. positive that I can incorporate that into T360. The bad news is that there are fixed resolutions for MPEG2, we can’t just use any multiple of 16 for width and height and as such we would end up having to transcode full SD or HD resolution, I’m not v. convinced that it will work out less CPU intensive than WMV encoding the native file resolution and letting the 360 scale accordingly.
runtime,
First off I would like to say thank-you for a great program. It has really been an excellent addition to the 360 ’scene’ (such as it is), as I’ve spent more time transcoding than I have playing games (though GRAW will be out soon, he he).
The only real features I would request are probably the same as most:
A pause, stop/resume option (or some other work-around - perhaps choose to encode from a specific point in the movie) would be number one, because it’s hard to watch Braveheart without getting up to take a leak
Number two would be some sort of active hud, letting you know where you’re at in the movie etc. at the push of a button.
And lastly, it would be great if the service started and stopped on its own.
Other than that I love the program and thanks for all the hard work, you’ve made many a 360 owner happy by offering a solution to what MS should have included, but did not!
Runtime,
This is awsome! I guess the CPU usage will stiff peak at 100% but should do so for much less time than a WMV3 transcode. Depending on the bitrate selected for the conversion the quality of the transcode should be almost identical to the original.
Can you share with us how you could playback mpeg2 files being recorded to on the 360? Where you using VLC or ffmpeg? I would really like to use this right now as I really don’t like the WMV2/3 encode result.
Thanks for all the feedback folks its much appreciated.
I did a bit of research and found out that playing from a file as its being written is limited by a DirectShow filter called AsyncFileSource. It insists the the file is not open/written to before playback commences. The solution is either to patch the DLL or find an alternative. I chose the latter:
To test I used ffmpeg to output a MPEG2 transport stream. You’ll need to install the HDTVPump filter and AC3 Filter if you haven’t already got those.
HDTVPump essentially replaces the AsyncFileSource filter when dealing with .TS files, one of its features is that it will happily open a file that is currently being written.
BernMalt: perhaps you want to run a few tests and see how the quality compares? I haven’t done much more investigation as I’d like to get the next WME build out
Hi Runtime,
I still couldn’t solve the problem. I can’t see any “transcode” item on my context menus.
Please contact me. I need help…
email:
ilkera (at) kobiline (dot) com
runtime, you are right! I had tried this before without luck. I reinstalled everything and was actually able to reproduce the playback of a live mpeg2 transcoding done using VLC on my xbox 360! Houra! ffmpeg still does not work but I will poke around some more later and det it to work. The nice thing about ffmpeg is that you can pretty much resize/crop the video while transcoding.
OK, it still does not allow for fast forward/rewind but at least you can pause the playback and unpause it. This is definetly a big +.
ilker: Alas I don’t have a Linksys Extender, according to Ron (who also posted in this thread):
“In order for this to work on a Linksys extender, the Xbox360 extender software must be installed on the MCE PC. Once I completed this step, the app works perfectly. I sounds kind of weird that in order for this to work with a Linksys extender, the 360 extender software must be installed. ”
“During the 360 extender software installation, I was able to get all the way to the step where it asks for the 360 setup code. Since I do not have a 360 extender, I tried the Linksys extender code and that did not work. At that point, I just cancelled out of the installation process and all of the necessary files for the 360 extender were already installed. I rebooted my MCE PC, and low and behold, streaming of Divx videos works like a charm.”
I hope thats of some help to you
)
BernMalt: I think the lack of seeking (ffwd/rewnd) within the stream is more a limitation of HDTVPump, in time it should be possible to create a custom AsyncFileSource filter, that simply allows files to be opened for playback irrespective of whether they are being written to. To get ffmpeg to work you need to use the -target pal-dvd (or ntsc-dvd) and the other switch which I can’t remember that causes it to output MPEG2-TS.
Runtime,
I have not got much luck so far with ffmpeg. Which version/release are you using? I have tried every thing I could think of (-target ntsc-dvd -f mpegts) and others but the 360 just will sit at the spinning wheel until I power it off.
Have you tried it since the last mandatory upgrade from MS?
Also, VLC does not produce a stream with sound that will play on the 360, just video, strange.
By the way I am using ffmpeg 0.4.9-pre1, build 4747. Should I be using another version?
The ts file produced when using the -t mpegts is not even playable in VLC… it does not look like a good ts file is produced by this version of ffmpeg.
Hi Runtime,
Thanks for the information.
But that doesn’t help me.
Actually I don’t have a problem other than not seeing any “transcode” item in my context menus.
How does that appear ?
Is there any place (on MCE pc) that I can check if it is already added to the menus ? (registry or files ?)
In what cases that “transcode” menu item would appear ? any limitation to the file extension or type ?
Actually what should I do to see “transcode” item in the menu ?
I already have installed the Xbox360 extender software, but can you provide me a link to the latest version of it ? (maybe I have an older version)
And to anyone who is reading:
How can I remove Xbox 360 extender software from my PC ? I can’t find any uninstall option for this software.
@ ilker Aktuna:
You can better ask the question in this forum: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=488108&st=0
Albert,
Thanks for you response…I’am still playing G.R.A.W. so no need for a quick release
I’am going to test VCL and ffmpeg aswell and will post my (positive) results.
I’am a programmer my self maybe a good test to enter the world of MCE programming
Multichannel sound support is just about the only thing missing for me currently.
Anything thats comes via Transcode360 is only ever in stereo sound .
You can chance that so you have surround sound…see this forum:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=488108&st=0
I compiled a fresh copy of ffmpef from the cvs and things are a bit better but not perfect…
I can get some video/audio on the 360 but it is very blocky/choppy, like a broken stream.
runtime, can you tel us what version of ffmpeg you have used? What compile flag you might have set for optimization?
I am starting to think that if ffmpeg is working this could be the optimim transcode solution.
1st step would be to run the source avi in ffmpeg to analyse and figure the best way to optimize based on reported info. For example, if that audio is already ac3 5.1 than there is no need to transcode it and ffmpeg could be told so.
2nd step is the actual optimized transcode done via ffmpeg.
Cheers
BernMalt: I haven’t really done any testing with the 360 and ffmpeg, just proved the concept with Windows Media Player and ffmpeg. If you’ve got the latest build then thats probably the best we have to work with. Bear in mind its still early days, -target defaults ffmpegs settings a certain way (I used -target pal-dvd simply to get Windows Media Player and my MPEG2 codec to play back the stream), it may be possible to improve things by flicking the correct switches.
Ilka:
To install the Media Center UI portion, this is what happens in the installer:
Copy “Transcode360.Add-In.dll” to “$WINDIReHome”
Register the application modules in the Global Assembly Cache: ‘”$WINDIRMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322gacutil.exe” -i “$INSTDIRTranscode360.Interface.dll”‘
Register the next assembly in the GAC: ‘”$WINDIRMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322gacutil.exe” -i “$WINDIReHomeTranscode360.Add-In.dll”‘
Register the Transcode UI extension:
‘”$WINDIReHomeRegisterMCEApp.exe” /allusers “$INSTDIRTranscode360.Add-In.mcl”‘
If any one of these steps fails you won’t get the Transcode option when you choose More after pressing the Info button in My Videos. However this would be the first reported instance of this failing.
Runtime,
Thank you for the info. I guess that ffmpeg mpegts encoding is not quite what the 360 expect to get. I suspect it is not quite compliant with mpeg2 transport stream standard. The latest CSV is at least giving some picture and sound but nothing usable for now.
I wish we could find a directshow filter that would allow playback of .mpg files being written to. ffmpeg will produce .mpg files that will play fine on the 360 (this is what videora uses).
VLC on the other hand is producing a ts file that will display fine on the 360 but with no sound ;-(
If someone else can get farther please post how you did it here!
C:Program FilesTranscode360>c:windowsehomeregistermceapp.exe /allusers “C:
Program FilesTranscode360Transcode360.Add-In.mcl”
Failed
it fails !!!
so we found the problem ?
but what’s the solution ? why does it fail ?
I did a quick test. I produced one ts with ffmpeg and another 1 with VLC. I analysed both using a demo copy of Manzanita’s mpeg2 ts analyzer.
I confirmed my fears. ffmpeg produce an ts file full of errors. The VLC one came out clean… Unfortunatly my 360 did not play any sound from the VLC TS during my test yesterday.
runtime,
I did sone testing tonight using the method described by bernmalt using VLC and streaming to a file. Keep in mind that I am using a Linksys extender that T360 works very well on. The VLC streaming methos does not work on the Linksys, I get the infamous “the correct codec is not installed or the file is corrupt blah, blah, blah…” I am able to play the streaming file locally though on the MCE PC vwhile VLC is doing it’s thing.
I only tried the WMV method. I wanted to point this out as you and bernmaly brainstorm as to how to improve the process further.
runtime,
Further comment on my issue that I just realized. It appears from the options in VLC that it supports WMV 1&2 which is WMV 7&8. The linksys extenders only support WMV9 encoded files and mpeg2. I did not see the option in VLC for mpeg2. Am I missing something??
Ron G.
ron g,
VLC can do mpeg2. Select mp2v as your video codec. For audio pick mpga. Make sure that you are transcoding to “mpeg ts” if you want to test the streaming using HDTVPump.
Hi RUNTiME,
Any chance you consider making a T360 plugin for MediaPortal (THE open source HTPC media center software for Windows)?, …would love to be able to stream all audio/video from MediaProtal to the Xbox360 (and other UPnP clients if possible)!
http://www.team-mediaportal.com
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mediaportal
Bernmalt,
I tried what you suggested and I cannot get any video, just audio and this is just playing it locally on the PC. I tried all of the encapsulation methods with no luck. HDTV is not a requirement for me as I do not have a HDTV and the Linksys extender does not support it anyway.
Bernmalt: Fear not, I’ve managed to write a custom Async Source Filter that will alow us to use ‘regular’ .mpg (program-stream) MPEG2 files as they are written. So whether ffmpeg, or VLC, etc. is used should be immaterial. I’ve run out of time to do any sort of meaningful 360 tests (GRAW arrived yesterday, still haven’t played it for any length!). One thing that would be very helpful to do some investigation on which settings work best on the 360.
Gamester: Hey gamster ltns! That’s something I would love to do - but first theres a couple of things I need to finish (it looks like the engine is about to get an overhaul).
Hi Runtime,
I guess you missed my last situation within the posts:
here I post it again…
C:Program FilesTranscode360>c:windowsehomeregistermceapp.exe /allusers “C:
Program FilesTranscode360Transcode360.Add-In.mcl”
Failed
it fails !!!
so we found the problem ?
but what’s the solution ? why does it fail ?
Runtime,
This is great! This mean that ffmpeg will probably our best option. It does marvels at converting various source material to other formats. I will poke around a bit with it and post the best settings I have came up with for conversion.
Another set of test that would be worth doing is testing what combination of audio will play fine on the 360. This way if the first phase of the transcoding would be to study resolution and audio format. This way we could decide if the audio stream need to be transcoded or could be used as is by the 360 for playback.
For those of you who would like to try ffmpeg I have posted the latest cvs compile I did at http://bmaltais.googlepages.com/ffmpeg.rar
Cheers!
P.S.: could you post a copy of the DirectShow filter? I am ready to do some testing if you want!
For those who would like a quick sample of a typical ffmpeg cmd line here it goes:
ffmpeg -i “sourcefilename” -vcodec mpeg2video -aspect 16:9 -b 5000 -ac 2 -ab 192 “outfile.mpg”
-ac is interesting since if the source file is known to contain 6 channel audio you could specify here to use “-ac 6″ to produce a 6 channed audio transcode. Most probably if you have 6 channel AC3 source a straight copy of it could be done to the destination file without any transcoding.
runtime,
I think I have a nice looking config for ffmpeg. It goes like this:
Let pretend you have an mpeg4 avi sized at 640×360 in 16:9 format. The correct mpeg2 frame size the 360 expect is one that has a 1.5 ratio for ntsc. Since the width of the source is 640 the height has to be of 640 / 1.5 = 426.77777. Round this to a value divisible by 2 and you get 426. Therefore the correct ffmpeg command is:
ffmpeg -i “infilename” -vcodec mpeg2video -aspect 16:9 -qscale 2 -ac 2 -ab 192 -s 640×426 -f vob “outfilename”
The resulting file will play smoothly with not visible (to my eyes) difference from the source file.
You have no control over the resulting file size but this should be of no issue since we are primarilly looking at a short lived transcode.
Have fun experimenting
I just noticed that there is better parm for top video quality: -sameq
Use this instead of -qscale 2
I am currently transcoding the 10mingraw demo from xboxyde to see the result on the 360
runtime,
Not sure if you saw this filter but it look like what you may have done. It is an MPEG2 Push mode source filter. It can be found here: http://www.becapture.com/English/pushsourcefilter.htm
I have tried it yet since I am not home but will give it a run tonight.
I seriously think we have something quite interesting here. What is missing is a little logic program for reading infile information and produce the best transcode ffmpeg command for it.
All of this nicelly wrapped in MCE will finally provide speedy and quality transcode of material the 360 does not support (thank you Microsoft ;-()
BernMalt: I’ve just put up some test files for you to have a play with. You’ll need to extract the folder so that the files contained in the ZIP appear in c:temp
I think the rest is pretty much self-explanatory; take a look at each of the 3 batch files to see what is happening at each stage.
Ilka: I’m sorry I’m unable to help you further - registermceapp.exe is a Microsoft tool that isn’t well documented, at this point your guess is as good as mine.
Runtime,
I don’t understand. I can register many other apps to my MCE with the same registermceapp.exe tool.
Maybe you can tell me about the parameters in your Transcode360.Add-In.mcl script.
There is some parameter in it that fails the mce registration.
Please help me; there is no one else that can help…
Runtime,
Thank you for the test file. I ran a quick test and it does allow to stream a file being written too.
The bad news is that it appears it will stop streaming at the point where the transcode was at when you start playing the file. For example, if the transcode is at 10 sec after the beginning of the file when I start playing the file it will stop playing the file after 10 sec…
runtime,
Here is something else I noticed. If ffmpeg produce an mpeg file as a “-f mpeg” it tends to stutter while playing. On the other end if I produce the file with “-f vob” the file plays fine but your directshow filter is not used to play the file encoded as a vob…
I guess more research is required…
By the way, you filter has nothing to do with the stutter. The issue is that it is not used when playing the mpg file as a vod target… and suffer for the fact that it will stop playing early the file
Runtime,
I think I found why the video stutter… the flag “-f mpeg” in ffmpeg is essentially producing an mpeg1 program stream… therefore not suitable for mpeg2 encapsulation. The push directshow filter you made will only handle mpeg1 stream, so by producing one that comply with mpeg2 (-f vob or -f dvd) the filter does not open it.
Unfortunatly the push filter I found is protected by a zip password so I can’t test it to see if it would handle mpeg2 stream better.
Hope you can come up with a push filter for mpeg2.
Cheers!
Here is a quick update on VLC vs ffmpeg for encoding:
ffmpeg look like a better choice over VLC for mpeg2 encoding since it allows for output file resizing, frame rate change, vbr encoding. Overall it offers much more control over the file produced.
My vote goes to ffmpeg with a push mpeg2 directshow filter.
First of all I would like to thank runtime for T360 as it truly is an amazing program.
The things I would like to see in the next T360 build:
1. True HD support(720p/1080i)
2. 5.1 sound support
3. Subtitle support
I know that people have manage to get some of these features from the current build but I have never gotten any of this to work. I have read the thread on Xbox-Scene and tried myself without any luck. I guess what I’m saying is that I would like to be able to choose these features more easily in the next build.
So keep up the good work and I wish you all the luck with your programming!
Xeeker,
One of the challenges with 720p/1080i and WMV9 is that it can’t be done in real time with today’s hardware (OK, someone will probably prove me wrong). On my P4 3.0 Ghz HT and can only do about 5fps while encoding with WMV9 in HD resolution.
Unless MS can come out with a super fast encoder for WMV9 I think it will be a long reach.
On the other hand ffmpeg on the same machine can barelly push out 720p resolution encode in real time.
BernMalt,
That’s too bad. I guess the quality we get from editing Transcode360.config-file isn’t that bad but I would really love to see it in 720p or 1080i. Though the other two features shouldn’t be that hard to add for you guys since there are people who’ve manage to get them in the current build.
Feature request: Subtitle support.
That the main thing that I am missing currently. I still use my kids “old” Xbox with XBMC to watch movies because I can not watch them on the 360. That is sad…
Hi,
Is there any way to edit/check menu items of MCE ?
Are they held in a file(or files) ? or are they in registry ?
Please I still can’t see any “transcode” menu item and need help…
Thanks
I would like to see ogm, mkv playback support in the next version. Currently it gives an error 0xC00D002F even though those filters have been installed.
I think this program will be greatly enhanced by this.
Here is how to add ogm support so that you can see the files in Media Center. Create a .reg file with the following (similarly with mkv) and click on it to merge into registry:
—————————
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.ogm]
“PerceivedType”=”video”
“Content Type”=”video/x-ogg”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMultimediaWMPlayerExtensions.ogm]
“Runtime”=dword:00000007
“Permissions”=dword:0000000f
“UserApprovedOwning”=”yes”
—————————–
Keep up the great work.
One of the lines got cut off..
It should be on one line:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoft
MultimediaWMPlayerExtensions.ogm]
Tenchi,
If we can find a suitable push directshow filter for MPEG2 we should be able to transcode almost any format. Here is a list of the format ffmpeg can currently read:
File formats:
E 3g2 3gp2 format
E 3gp 3gp format
D 4xm 4X Technologies format
D RoQ Id RoQ format
D aac ADTS AAC
DE ac3 raw ac3
E adts ADTS AAC
DE aiff Audio IFF
DE alaw pcm A law format
DE amr 3gpp amr file format
DE asf asf format
E asf_stream asf format
DE au SUN AU Format
DE avi avi format
D avs avs format
E crc crc testing format
D daud D-Cinema audio format
D dts raw dts
DE dv DV video format
E dvd MPEG2 PS format (DVD VOB)
D ea Electronic Arts Multimedia Format
DE ffm ffm format
D film_cpk Sega FILM/CPK format
D flic FLI/FLC/FLX animation format
DE flv flv format
E framecrc framecrc testing format
DE gif GIF Animation
DE h261 raw h261
DE h263 raw h263
DE h264 raw H264 video format
D idcin Id CIN format
DE image image sequence
DE image2 image2 sequence
DE image2pipe piped image2 sequence
DE imagepipe piped image sequence
D ingenient Ingenient MJPEG
D ipmovie Interplay MVE format
DE m4v raw MPEG4 video format
D matroska Matroska file format
DE mjpeg MJPEG video
D mm American Laser Games MM format
DE mmf mmf format
E mov mov format
D mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2 QuickTime/MPEG4 format
E mp2 MPEG audio layer 2
DE mp3 MPEG audio layer 3
E mp4 mp4 format
DE mpeg MPEG1 System format
E mpeg1video MPEG video
E mpeg2video MPEG2 video
DE mpegts MPEG2 transport stream format
D mpegvideo MPEG video
E mpjpeg Mime multipart JPEG format
DE mulaw pcm mu law format
D nsv NullSoft Video format
E null null video format
DE nut nut format
DE ogg Ogg Vorbis
E psp psp mp4 format
D psxstr Sony Playstation STR format
DE rawvideo raw video format
DE rm rm format
DE s16be pcm signed 16 bit big endian format
DE s16le pcm signed 16 bit little endian format
DE s8 pcm signed 8 bit format
D shn raw shorten
D sol Sierra SOL Format
E svcd MPEG2 PS format (VOB)
DE swf Flash format
D tta true-audio
DE u16be pcm unsigned 16 bit big endian format
DE u16le pcm unsigned 16 bit little endian format
DE u8 pcm unsigned 8 bit format
E vcd MPEG1 System format (VCD)
D vmd Sierra VMD format
E vob MPEG2 PS format (VOB)
DE voc Creative Voice File format
DE wav wav format
D wc3movie Wing Commander III movie format
D wsaud Westwood Studios audio format
D wsvqa Westwood Studios VQA format
DE yuv4mpegpipe YUV4MPEG pipe format
Cheers
Here is my installation log (below). Please help me to find what is failed…
Output folder: C:Program FilesTranscode360
Create folder: C:Program FilesTranscode360Archived Logs
Extract: Transcode360.exe
Extract: Transcode360.Interface.dll
Extract: Interop.WMEncoderLib.dll
Extract: Interop.WMPLib.dll
Extract: Transcode360.config
Extract: Transcode360.chm
Extract: Transcode360 16by9.prx
Extract: Transcode360 4by3.prx
Extract: Transcode360.prx
Extract: Transcode360.Add-In.mcl
Extract: Transcode360.Add-In.png
Extract: Transcode360.Wait.png
Output folder: C:WINDOWSeHome
Extract: Transcode360.Add-In.dll
Output folder: C:Program FilesTranscode360
Microsoft (R) .NET Global Assembly Cache Utility. Version 1.1.4318.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.
Assembly successfully added to the cache
Microsoft (R) .NET Global Assembly Cache Utility. Version 1.1.4318.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.
Assembly successfully added to the cache
Failed
Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Installation utility Version 1.1.4322.573
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1998-2002. All rights reserved.
Running a transacted installation.
Beginning the Install phase of the installation.
See the contents of the log file for the c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe assembly’s progress.
The file is located at c:program filestranscode360transcode360.InstallLog.
Installing assembly ‘c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe’.
Affected parameters are:
assemblypath = c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe
logfile = c:program filestranscode360transcode360.InstallLog
Installing service Transcode360…
Service Transcode360 has been successfully installed.
Creating EventLog source Transcode360 in log Application…
Creating EventLog source transcode360-log in log Transcode360 Service…
The Install phase completed successfully, and the Commit phase is beginning.
See the contents of the log file for the c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe assembly’s progress.
The file is located at c:program filestranscode360transcode360.InstallLog.
Committing assembly ‘c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe’.
Affected parameters are:
assemblypath = c:program filestranscode360transcode360.exe
logfile = c:program filestranscode360transcode360.InstallLog
The Commit phase completed successfully.
The transacted install has completed.
Created uninstaller: C:Program FilesTranscode360Uninstall.exe
Create folder: C:Documents and SettingssorcererStart MenuProgramsTranscode 360
Create shortcut: C:Documents and SettingssorcererStart MenuProgramsTranscode 360Transcode 360 Help.lnk
Create shortcut: C:Documents and SettingssorcererStart MenuProgramsTranscode 360Run console diagnostics.lnk
runtime,
This thread is getting long. Could you start another one so we get back to fewer messages?
Any news on a possible MPEG2 push filter?
Are there any prerequisites for installing Transcode 360 ?
for example a version of .NET Framework etc ?
Please understand, the mcl file does not get registered to my MCE.
Why ?
Ilker,
Have you patched you MCE 2005 to the latest .NET? If not this might be it.
Good luck
BernMalt: As you can see I’ve updated the site, I’m also looking at setting up some forums. In the meantime I hope the new comments system is a bit easier to deal with.
I’m quite positive I’ll get the MPEG2 push filter sorted. I found that my current filter (a pull filter), will allow simultaneous read/write, however if the reader is reading faster than the writer the reader will come to a halt, consequently you need to allow a buffering time. I’ll be looking at this in greater detail over the week.
Ilker: I understand what you’re saying I still cannot offer any explanation, but if you’re very keen to get this sorted perhaps we can arrange a suitable time to allow me VNC access to your media center and I can try and gather some more info.
Runtime,
Thank you for the new site. As far as the push filter goes I am pretty sure that it is not a question of the reader reading faster than the writed. I did some benchmark (look at the xbox screen when it start playing the file and look at ffmpeg time output) and all the time the 360 will stop playing right around the time the transcode was at when the playback started.
For some test the transcode progressed for well over 30 seconds and those extra seconds never played back on the 360.
The other thing is the MPEG1 filter vs MPEG2 that is playing against us.
I tried producing an mpeg1 video as an mpeg stream to see if this one would keep streaming but same thing as with the mpeg2 video… except no stuttering since it was plain mpeg1.
Here is something else I noticed while experimenting. Let say the source material is 640×360 in 16:9 aspect ratio… A straight transcode at that resolution will end up displaying as something close to 4:3 aspect on the 360… not nice.
My first solution was to change output size to 640×426 (similar ratio as 720×480 for NTSC). At 640×426 the aspect ratio is fine on the 360… but the downside is that it take more CPU/disk space for the transcode since the frame size is larger…
I then tested a resolution of 640×380. Guess what, this display as 16:9 aspect ratio on the 360. There seem to be a threshold where the 360 will accept to display mpeg2 content with the specified aspect ratio…
I wouldn’t worry about the MPEG1 thing - the reason is simple - I screwed up!
In the .reg file, I’m registering the filter as an MPEG1 file source; I need to investigate which is the correct ‘guid’ for MPEG2.
So far I only tested with Windows media player and it ‘looked’ like it was working in the sense that it was able to play a 3 minute clip while it was transcoding after buffering for 5 secs. I will need to reproduce the same test with the 360 to verify. I’m also thinking of writing to the guys at dvbportal, to see if we can borrow their push filter for testing with T360.
Runtime,
It might be that WMP handle the buffering differently. An update on the aspect ratio… 640×362 display well. I don’t know if the is a 360 limit or an ffmpeg bug right now.
As far at the current push filter, it does not play ffmpeg files with “-t vob”. Hopefully the next version with the right seting will accept it…
Is dvbportal an TS push filter? I did not know they also had a PS filter. If they do it would be nice to try it.
I sent an email to becapture.com to get the password for the file… so far no luck.
Some interesting info coming from Microsoft regarding video playback improvement on the 360 can be found here:
http://games.kikizo.com/news/200603/101.asp
Here is the interesting part:
Furthermore, the fact that video media can only be streamed if you have the Media Center Edition of XP, was another bone of contention. “Are we looking at streaming [the user’s video content] from [non-MCE] Windows XP systems in the future? That’s one of those list of features that we’re looking at right now, and figuring out where it fits in the overall priority scheme. I am not going to commit to anything specific, but I think what you’re going to see in the coming months and year is us add more and more capability for both Windows XP systems, as well as Media Center Editions.”
Is microsoft redying their transcode solution… This would be strange since they could as easilly build a CIFS client on the 360 to read “ANY” video file format from a network share or DVD.
Hey Runtime,
Not much happening today. I have not eard back from becapture… don’t know if they will ever reply to my password request.
Hope you make progress with the next release!
Runtime, excellent work. The install took me a while, but it’s worked quite well for me and I use it daily. I haven’t had any success transcoding High definition material. Is this not supported, or am I not doing something right?
I’m looking forward to the next build, and keep up the great work. My movies integration would be very cool also.
Hi Runtime,
Of course I am keen to sort this problem. Because your solution is great for an Extender owner but I am the only one who can’t use it. Because of a utility called RegisterMCEapp.exe …
If it will help you I can arrange a VNC access to my MCE PC for you.
But also I can collect you information if you tell me what to get.
A few questions:
Are there any prerequisites for installing Transcode 360 ?
for example a version of .NET Framework etc ?
Which is the latest version of .NET?
my MCE PC downloads updates automatically, but I’m not sure of .NET version.
can you send me registermceapp.exe from c:\windows\ehome ?
maybe mine has a problem…
ilkera (@) kobiline.com
Pre-requisites:
Windows Media Center 2005
Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
.NET Framework 1.1 SP1
Xbox360 MCE Update
Windows Media Player 10
Windows Media Encoder 9
That should be all you need. Also you might like to check out the new application MCE Video Encoder which I refer to in my latest post.
Hi,
I’ve formatted my MCE PC. Then I installed following in order:
1- MS XP MCE 2005
2- .NET Framework 1.1
3- .NET Framework 1.1 SP1
4- Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
5- WMP 10 (already installed)
6- WME 9
7- Xbox 360MCE Update
I still get the same error (Failed) while installing Transcode 360.
This is really a fresh MCE installation. Where am I doing wrong ?
Can you advise me filename (and if possible place to download) for .Net Framework 1.1 SP1 and Xbox MCE update ?
maybe I have wrong version ???
it seems to be SOLVED after a security update to Framework 1.1 SP1 !!!
this is a great day for my MCE
I don’t believe it.
is there any possibility of adding divx subtitle support to Transcode 360 ?
it would be awesome.
Congrats dude - I’m sorry we couldn’t have been of more help; glad its all working now!
DivX subtitle support is possible but its not top priority for the next release; need to get the new engine finished.
Can someone help me please
i cant install transcode 360 it ask me the it cant verify credentials mind you i put the right password in and user name….
it worked before then i update windows and stuff uninstalled the software and when i wanted to reinstall it kept saying that and i cant install it…..
Help will be greatly appreciated
regards denis