[XBOX] HOW-TO encode videos in H.264 to be able to achieve playback on the Xbox

Oh, and one more thing... I would advise to try and keep your resolution under 720 x 400... I have not tested over this resolution yet, but others have reported that the Xbox cannot handle H.264 encoded video at resolutions higher than this...

Hey awsome job for taking the time to do this expecially for a newb like my self. I have always tried to find that some what perfect way of encoding my movies. One big question I notice you said *Must* for the container to be MKV is there a problem with using MP4. I am only asking because I use my homemedia Server to stream things to my xbox and it doesn't pick up the MKV container. Once again Thxs man for the setigns.

Have you thought about creating your own wiki article? I'm sure tons of people would love this info and then people could edit it as they find better ways!

Witchdoctor,

I experienced wierd problems skipping back in forth with some MP4's inside of a MP4 container, however the same MP4's inside of a MKV container gave me zero playback problems. This might be because MKV is an overall more versatile container.

QuickJolt,

Might just do that.

Any way a mod can help me out in getting access to making my own Wiki page on this subject? I am constantly doing testing and making revisions so I would like to be able to make edits here and there when neccessary. Apparently it has been locked down to only moderators...

Created a temporary Wiki for now...

http://www.wikihow.com/Properly-Encode-H...nning-Xbmc

Im sure this is my Layer 8 problem but when I used your settings I got a bigger file 1.8g vice 1.5g with most of the movie with no sound. The funny thing is that the 1.5g file has original audio where as the 1.8 audo has been compressed with NeroAac. I am sure there is something I did wrong but I added your settings like you stated. Another note is that it took me 10 hours to encode which is crazy. But I know you said megui does take longer. Anyhelp on this problem I would be so greatful.


WitchDoc

Your filesize is directly related to your bitrate setting. The bitrates I recommend for each resolution are the MAXIMUM allowed bitrates, which means you are safe to go lower, but not-so-safe to go higher. In any case, I am rethinking the bitrate scenarios described above, because I think I can find a common ground value for most resolutions. I will post more optimized settings tonight.

Your sound problem has nothing to do with my guide. Instead of reencoding the audio, just incude the original, untouched AC3 from the DVD and see what happens... To accomplish this without reecoding, just use the program called MKVMerge and remux the file with the AC3 audio track. It is going to make your filesize a lot larger, but if that's what you want, then go for it! Remuxing MKV files only takes a matter of a minute or two.

And not sure about your encoding time, but on my quad-core processor it only takes 2 hours to encode a 2 hour movie. It probably takes so long also, because I recommend enabling the most advanced options of the x264 codecc, which slows down encoding speed, but increases overall quality. One thing you can try is setting subme=5. That should cut down the time a little bit, but, again decreases quality.

Maybe my settings are a little too much... That is why I am posting on here to see if others can "optimize" my reccommended settings...

Well, after further testing, it looks like you can encode videos with my settings at *ANY* bitrate and still get an Xbox-compatible file.

It's funny because, upon research of playback of H.264 on XBMC, many people were saying the same things... Keep video resoultion under :: 720 x 400. No Deblocking, No CABAC, No HE-AAC Audio, etc. And I have managed to encode a H.264 video @ 720x480 @ 1500 KBps With CABAC and HE-AAC audio, therefore disproving all those myths except for the one about no deblocking. However, with my profile there is no need for deblocking, because aparantly the CQM I am using handles deblocking in it's own way...

This is very exciting for me, as I am now re-ripping every DVD I can get my hands on! Again, I will not give up on testing until I beleive that my custom x264 options are *perfect* for XBMC.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Well for all you UpNp Streamers out there. I have managed to create the avi container with Jp settings. I think my file size and encoding speed was longer last time because I had the older version of x264. This time it knocked 4 hours of the encoding time. Of course I used the original audio because for some reason when I use nero's aac I tend to get the chinese talking if I try to skip threw scenes . My only problem now is I get perfect sync with audio but I can't skip threw scenes anymore. Is there a way to add this into the output?