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+--- Thread: [XBOX] HOW-TO encode videos in H.264 to be able to achieve playback on the Xbox (/showthread.php?tid=33429)
- dbldown768 - 2009-01-13 23:20
i know this is specifically for xbox, but can someone recommend a good bitrate for hd source to run on xbmc linux in hd?
- Jhcheslik - 2009-01-14 20:23
FOR LINUX/WINDOW (NOT XBOX)
I would usually go for 2500 to 3000 bitrate, but really, its up to your eyes.
You can do some testing, like take a 10 minutes clip of your favorite part of any movie and encode them at bitrate of 1500, 2000, 2500, etc. and see if which one you like the best.
Have fun.
(Hard drive space is also to consider, especially for me, so that's why I don't go for insane bitrate of 8000 or whatever. Almost impossible for me to tell the difference between 8000 and 4000.)
- dbldown768 - 2009-01-14 23:26
Well since i am a bit rookie at blu ray this is what i have done so far. I took the main film in .mkv and audio in .ac3 using eac3to. I then loaded the .mkv file in meGUI to create an AVS script for cropping and setting the resolution. After that I am now trying to encode the video with an x264 profile with a bitrate of 10,000 - yeah way high it sounds like compared to what your a saying. I was trying to look online at what other used for bitrates. That process is taking like all day to complete on my Q9450 2.66 quad core pc. I them plan on muxing the mp4 video with the ac3 audio. I hope I am doing all this correctly.
I had a few questions though. You said to take a 10 min clip and try it out, how to i do that? I couldnt find anything to split this .mkv file up into clips to test it out? Also, to you have a profile or some settings you would wish to share on your encoding - linux of couse and probably not on topic.
- sion28 - 2009-01-15 06:06
Okay, I've read through the wiki guide in the online manual, and I have a couple questions...
1) I always rip my DVD's in ISO format. Do I need to re-rip to VOBs?
2) What's so great about the mkv container? Isn't it really the codec settings here that matter? Can't I use the .avi container if I like? I know the mkv container has more options available but since this HOW-TO is very specifically oriented toward making quality videos for use in XBMC *on* Xbox, what does it matter what the container is?
3) Has the OP/author (or anyone else) ever tried SUPER to achieve these same results?
Thanks!
- Jhcheslik - 2009-01-15 09:17
dbldown768 Wrote:I had a few questions though. You said to take a 10 min clip and try it out, how to i do that? I couldnt find anything to split this .mkv file up into clips to test it out? Also, to you have a profile or some settings you would wish to share on your encoding - linux of couse and probably not on topic.
Yeah, you are doing it all correctly. Excellent.
To split the .mkv into 10 minutes segment, you can just use the mkvtoolnix, then open the MKVmerge, load the .mkv file you have, then go to Global tab, you'll see the splitting part, click on the timecode and put in 00:10:00 for 10 minutes or whatever you desire.
Put in the correct output folder, and click Start Muxing!! Make sure you abort once it does the splitting.
For profile. I use what MeGUI came with, when you update it. OR you could use the one JPSiemer used.
sion28 Wrote:Okay, I've read through the wiki guide in the online manual, and I have a couple questions...
1) I always rip my DVD's in ISO format. Do I need to re-rip to VOBs?
2) What's so great about the mkv container? Isn't it really the codec settings here that matter? Can't I use the .avi container if I like? I know the mkv container has more options available but since this HOW-TO is very specifically oriented toward making quality videos for use in XBMC *on* Xbox, what does it matter what the container is?
3) Has the OP/author (or anyone else) ever tried SUPER to achieve these same results?
Thanks!
1) Yeah. AFAIK. You can use DAEMON Tools Lite, mount the .iso, and re-rips the VOBs.
2) MKV. It can accept TONS format, .avi, .mp4, and more. You name it. It's very flexible, it can have multiple audio stream, multiple subtitle stream, etc. We use .mkv because it work best with x264 codec, especially when its in .mp4. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go for .avi. I will do some research tho.
3) I haven't. Wouldn't care. It doesn't give that kind of flexible like I want like it would in MeGUI.
presets & command line opts - sion28 - 2009-01-16 06:02
I couldn't figure out how to get the command line to match what's in the wiki guide. So I downloaded the presets .ZIP file posted by the OP. Problem is, even THAT doesn't match EXACTLY what's listed in the wiki guide.
When I load the "Xbox HIRES" preset, here's the command line options I get:
Quote:program --pass 2 --bitrate 1250 --stats ".stats" --keyint 240 --min-keyint 24 --ref 8 --mixed-refs --no-fast-pskip --bframes 6 --b-adapt 2 --b-pyramid --weightb --no-cabac --subme 7 --partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct --vbv-maxrate 1500 --ratetol 4.0 --qcomp 0.5 --me umh --merange 32 --threads auto --thread-input --aud --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "output" "input"
But the wiki guide shows this as the proper HIRES options:
Quote:program --pass 2 --bitrate XXXX --stats ".stats" --keyint 240 --min-keyint 24 --ref 8 --mixed-refs --no-fast-pskip --bframes 6 --b-adapt 2 --b-pyramid --weightb --no-cabac --subme 7 --partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct --ratetol 4.0 --qcomp 0.5 --me umh --merange 32 --threads auto --thread-input --progress --no-psnr --no-ssim --output "output" "input"
The differences are in bold. Do I need to worry about this? How do I edit the command line options? When I paste something into the "custom command line" window under the Advanced tab, it just appends it to what's already shown in the command line. I don't see how to clear the command line, and/or type in my own. Nor can I get the right combination of checkbox options and drop down menu selections to give the EXACT command line that the OP suggests in the wiki guide.
Thanks for any help...
edit: Also what does *scratchpad* mean on some of the presets?
MeGUI crashing/erroring out at "autoencode" - sion28 - 2009-01-16 08:24
Well, I've tried to do everything by the book, and now MeGUI is giving me an error when I click on "Autoencode" in step 16.
The error is something about input and output audio files not being the same, even though they are (I quadruple checked).
Any ideas? I closed the error window and don't have time to run through again... I'll try to post the exact error text tomorrow.
- Rookie - 2009-01-16 09:42
JPSiemer .....Would it be easier and less time consuming to take a scene release as such and re-convert a already converted file?(Not sure if it's possible)
Example: Max.Payne.UNRATED.2008.BRRip.DTS.x264-SDxT
SiZE..........: 2.05
ViDEO CODEC...: x264,@ L3-2pass
FRAMERATE.....: 23.97 fps
BiTRATE.......: 1298 Kbps
RESOLUTiON....: 720x304
SUBTITLES.....: ass.Greek /By Doden-English[br]i
AUDiO.........: English DTS 5.1 1.5 mbit
SOURCE........: Max.Payne.UNRATED.2008.BLuray
- Geeba - 2009-01-16 15:13
Rookie Wrote:JPSiemer .....Would it be easier and less time consuming to take a scene release as such and re-convert a already converted file?(Not sure if it's possible)
Example: Max.Payne.UNRATED.2008.BRRip.DTS.x264-SDxT
SiZE..........: 2.05
ViDEO CODEC...: x264,@ L3-2pass
FRAMERATE.....: 23.97 fps
BiTRATE.......: 1298 Kbps
RESOLUTiON....: 720x304
SUBTITLES.....: ass.Greek /By Doden-English[br]i
AUDiO.........: English DTS 5.1 1.5 mbit
SOURCE........: Max.Payne.UNRATED.2008.BLuray
I think JPSiemer ponits to these in his very first post
- Rookie - 2009-01-16 15:53
Geeba Wrote:I think JPSiemer ponits to these in his very first post
No he is just saying the better the source the better the picture.Nothing to do with a file already converted.