Best way to stream .mkv files with my xbox 360

Crashtard

I'm trying to find the best way to stream .mkv files with my 360. Looking around the internet there are a hundred different solutions, but has anyone here actually done it, and if so what method did you use that worked well? I'm willing to convert the files to other formats if I have to, but I'm hoping I can find a better method.

Rigor Mortis

The best media server I have used is "PS3 Media Server", which despite the name apparently works with the 360 as well. It's super simple to install and much less bloated than any of the other options (like Tversity, Orb, Mediahome) that I've tried.

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/

kpeezy

I didn't know it worked with the 360 but it's great. MKVs work fine and there are different transcode options for subtitles and language.

wunderbar

TVersity is also another popular one.

Slicer

wunderbar wrote: »

TVersity is also another popular one.

I've been using that and it encodes mkvs fine, though I have been having trouble getting subtitled mkvs to actually show subtitles.

Synthesis

Slicer wrote: »

wunderbar wrote: »

TVersity is also another popular one.

I've been using that and it encodes mkvs fine, though I have been having trouble getting subtitled mkvs to actually show subtitles.

Same here. From what I've heard, TVersity will display them if they are in a separate file, but don't quote me on that.

kpeezy

I had the same problem... much easier with PS3 Media Server with the different transcodes.

Dusda

MKV is just a media container, and all the ones I've downloaded have just turned out to be an HD WMV video. There is a tool called XenonMKV that unpacks the video and copies it out to the format of the video (again, usually HD WMV from what I've seen). It does convert the audio from 5.1 to 2 channel AAC, due to support issues with the 360 and 5.1 audio on streaming video, but otherwise you get the same video you had, just unpacked. No transcoding or loss of (video) quality.

It has a batch convert feature, and you can write a script to call it from the command line if you have some technical prowess and want to automate the whole thing.

Skye

I use Orb to stream .mkv and with a bit (more) tinkering, I also got subtitles to work. Playback is a bit wonky though (random lockups unless I play through the Media Center extender).

How to enable MKV playback in Orb:

1. Go to mycast.orb.com, login etc.
2. Click on Settings (upper right corner), change the drop-down to Video, select Media Extensions
3. Enter ".mkv" (without the quotes) in the Add Extension box.

That's pretty much it. Enabling subtitles is a bit trickier. This method might work with TVersity, but since I don't use that I wouldn't know the exact details.

How to enable subtitles:
I assume you have ffdshow in one way or another. I have ffdshow from installing CCCP, but if you don't have that installed you can install ffdshow manually here.

Orb specific

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1. Disable Orb's codec and enable ffdshow to do the rendering by going to C:\Program Files\Orb Networks\Orb\bin and renaming avcodec-51.dll to anything (I named mine avcodec-51.dll.bak)
   

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2. Open up ffdshow video decoder configuration (it's probably in the Start Menu). Scroll down the left sidebar until you see Subtitles. Enable "Subtitles", and enable "Accept embedded subtitles"
3. Under Subtitles in the left sidebar, there should be an entry called Vobsub. Enable that too. Set your preferred languages if your media contains multiple subs.

After doing that, subs should start working. Maybe one of the TVersity users can try this and report back?

Burtletoy

I cant get the PS3 media server to recognize my 360. I wonder if it has to do with me bridging my internet connection from my pc to my 360

Crashtard

After looking at most of your suggestions, I decided to try XenonMKV and that definitely does the conversion job quite well. I think I'm going to just convert them and play them as it seems like the best way do to it. It also takes very little time to convert, so that's a big plus too. Thanks for the all the suggestions.

Bionic Monkey

wunderbar wrote: »

TVersity is also another popular one.

I find the quality takes a noticable hit when doing this.

What I do is convert them using XenonMKV. It converts the file into an mp4 format, without a noticable hit in quality. You just need to rename the extension to .avi, or the 360 won't stream it over the network for some reason.

Conversion usually takes about 5-10 minutes per 1gb episode.

Edit: so late...