Video Converting for XBox 360...?

[BigDaveDogg]

I've been doing a little searching on the subject, as well as chatting with Ice and geeman on the IRC, and haven't come to a firm conclusion yet. I play video from a flash drive on my 360, and I'd like to be able to watch some of my .mkv files, so I obviously have to convert. The files are HD quality, which I want to retain in the conversion. According to the knowledge of the IRC guys, they say this can be done no problem. Figured I'd post this up to see if anyone is/has been in the same situation, and if anyone knows of any good programs to accomplish what I want. Any suggestions? If you have any experience on the subject, any input would be helpful.

Edit: It's been suggested to me to convert to mp4 w/ H.264

Here's a quote from the XBox support page:

Q: What does the Xbox 360 console support for H.264?

A: The Xbox 360 console supports the following for H.264:

File extensions: .mp4, .m4v, mp4v, .mov, .avi
Containers: MPEG-4, QuickTime
Video profiles: Baseline, main, and high (up to level 4.1)
Video bit rate: 10 Mbps with resolutions of 1920 × 1080 at 30 fps. See the question about max bit rate, resolution, and frames per second.
Audio profiles: AAC, 2-channel, Low Complexity
Audio max bit rate: No restrictions. See the question about max bit rate, resolution, and frames per second.

I'd also like to note I'm running Vista. One possible program I found stated it had operating issues on Vista. I was also recommended Videora (XBox360 Converter) by a friend, but I'm not sure if this is what I need.

[Gibby]

I have been using WinAVI Video Converter but I am not sure what it is like when converting HD.

Gib

[Buba]

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/GOTSent.html

The tiniest of google searches turned that up...

[Zuhaib]

I actually did this a while ago, converting mkv files for xbox 360 playback. First let me say that H.264 is good on the xbox its is actually limited in terms of bandwidth vs WMV. h.264 is 10mpbs while WMV is 15mbps. So most people who want to stream media to the xbox 360 will use WMV and not h.264.
As for how to get around doing that, you can use a bunch of software. I have the guides booked marked on my PC (I am on my laptop right now). If your on the IRC just bug me when i am home and i will get you the link and post them up here.

[db2450]

Originally Posted by Buba

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/GOTSent.html

The tiniest of google searches turned that up...

GOTSent is excellent for doing this. It doesn't reconvert the video. It muxes the h264 streams from the MKV into an MP4, then just converts the audio to AAC and muxes it into the MP4. It saves hours of converting time. PS3 video 9 will do this to, as long as the setting is "MKV Passthough"

Both of these programs are designed for the PS3, but pretty much all the files they make work on the 360 to.

Edit: Look at my post below

[Zuhaib]

I found the guide made to convert MKV to WMV for Xbox 360.
This is the guide i used to convert an mkv file to wmv: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=611163
Its a bit tricky process and the time it takes to encode long. Also be sure to read the whole thread as some good tips are given (like xbox 360 does not like odd fps).

If you want an All in one solution, try this software: http://dcunningham.net/projects/encode360/
But you lose some control if that is ok with you.

[Buba]

Originally Posted by db2450

GOTSent is excellent for doing this. It doesn't reconvert the video. It muxes the h264 streams from the MKV into an MP4, then just converts the audio to AAC and muxes it into the MP4. It saves hours of converting time. PS3 video 9 will do this to, as long as the setting is "MKV Passthough"

Both of these programs are designed for the PS3, but pretty much all the files they make work on the 360 to.

Yeah, sorry forgot to mention, this only does a reconvert, so your HDD performance is more important than the CPU. Try this first. If it works for your mkvs, enjoy!

[cvrefugee]

It might be quicker to download the XviD-encoded version of the same video, just a thought.

[db2450]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

It might be quicker to download the XviD-encoded version of the same video, just a thought.

Not all files have XviD versions availible.

Also, the remuxing done by GOTSent and PS3 video 9 is done better with: MKV2vob
It is made for the PS3 and making h264 and AC3 vobs, but there should be a setting to use MP4. I would try the VOB file though, it keeps the original AC3 audio, so you get to keep the surround sound. If you do need to change to the MP4, the settings are under the "Configuration" tab. Just leave video transcoding to Automatic.

If the h264 video in the MKV wont work on the PS3 (360 in this case) it will automatically reconvert it. Just make sure the "Transcoding Codec" under configuration is set to h264, if you are using VOB or MP4.

[BigDaveDogg]

I'll have to look into these programs a bit. Roughly what is the length of time for converting a ~1.10 GB .mkv file like I'm trying to?

[BigDaveDogg]

Originally Posted by db2450

Not all files have XviD versions availible.

Also, the remuxing done by GOTSent and PS3 video 9 is done better with: MKV2vob
It is made for the PS3 and making h264 and AC3 vobs, but there should be a setting to use MP4. I would try the VOB file though, it keeps the original AC3 audio, so you get to keep the surround sound. If you do need to change to the MP4, the settings are under the "Configuration" tab. Just leave video transcoding to Automatic.

If the h264 video in the MKV wont work on the PS3 (360 in this case) it will automatically reconvert it. Just make sure the "Transcoding Codec" under configuration is set to h264, if you are using VOB or MP4.

When I try to run this program I get the error "...is not a valid Win32 program"

[db2450]

Originally Posted by BigDaveDogg

When I try to run this program I get the error "...is not a valid Win32 program"

Are you running the "loader.exe" or the "mkv2vob.exe" the MKV2vob one is the one I use.

Originally Posted by BigDaveDogg

I'll have to look into these programs a bit. Roughly what is the length of time for converting a ~1.10 GB .mkv file like I'm trying to?

With the remux (MKV2vob, GOTSent, and PS3 Video9) it takes about 10 minutes for me.
If you are reconverting, it can take anywhere from 2-3 hours. If you do two pass encoding (which I reccomend) it takes about 4-5 hours.

[BigDaveDogg]

Originally Posted by db2450

Are you running the "loader.exe" or the "mkv2vob.exe" the MKV2vob one is the one I use.

I believe that's what it was...?

[db2450]

It seems the new version of GOTSent can do the same things as mkv2vob, but I haven't tested it yet. This is the authoers's website: http://sentry23.googlepages.com/