Xbox 360- converter-1080p + 5.1?

mooshoepork

I have a few .mkv movie files in 1080p and 720p that I want to play through my 360, but because the 360 doesn't handle .mkv, I have to convert them. This is the first time I'd be doing this, and so I have a few questions for anyone that has done it.

What programs do you need? I don't want to lose any quality when converting, but I understand that I will probably lose a little as .mp4 is a rather lossy format.

I also know I won't be able to carry the 5.1 sound over into .mp4 Is there any way I can keep the 5.1 sound and convert? What is the best file type to convert to, that the 360 will play? I read I needed to "demux" the audio and video, as the 360 doesn't play AC3 audio, which is what .mkv files carry.

I was looking at WME assistant. Has anyone used this before?

In short, what is the easiest, quickest, most user-friendly way to do this? Any good programs or guides would be very much appreciated! Thanks guys/girls.

vonPoonBurGer

Do you know for a fact that the MKV files contain MPEG4 video and audio? MKV is a container format, and could theoretically contain one or more video and audio tracks in just about any format. I'd say step one is to see what's actually contained inside the MKV. MediaInfo is a good program for this purpose that support MKV files.

Once you know what's actually in the files, the next step is to see if it's supported by the 360. The Xbox team has an up to date video playback support FAQ available here. If you're looking to stream it to the console, you have to have a PC running a Media Center edition of Windows, and the video support is much more limited (MPEG1, MPEG2, and WMV, I think). Personally, I opted to build a HTPC rather than deal with those kinds of limitations.

mooshoepork

Thanks, I'll check that out. I was pretty sure it had AC3 audio, which the 360 doesn't support.

I was under the impression you could stream media from PC? Just set up sharing in WMP 11?

Also, can the 360 read burnt dvds/dual layer? for home movies, and other things? I heard of someone doing that, but I thought it wouldn't be possible due to the legality of it all.

vonPoonBurGer

mooshoepork wrote: »

I was under the impression you could stream media from PC? Just set up sharing in WMP 11?

Oh yeah, I think you're right. But I think the limited codec support still applies, at least out of the box. I've barely scratched the surface of this "Media Center Extender" stuff (the 360 is considered an MCE for the purposes of WMP11 Media Sharing). This page has an overview of how to get MCE streaming to work for DivX, by installing a Media Center Add-in that essentially converts the videos on the fly (I think). I haven't used it, so I have no idea how well it works. Also, it's not Matroska support, of course. It seems at least theoretically possible that someone somewhere has built an addin that does something similar for MKV files, breaking them out of their container so they can be processed further.

Daedalus

You don't need a converter for DivX/ Xvid anymore, Microsoft added proper MPEG4 support in their recent update. Matroska's still gonna need converting, though.

mooshoepork

.mp4 doesn't handle 5.1 sound though...I used this program called WME assistant, that worked really well. I have to buy it though, only a trial. I am having an absolute HEADACHE, connecting my 360 to the sharing thing. Might have to buy the official wireless adapter.