If you have applied my MP4 or MKV patch for WMP11 you might be wondering what's the deal with thumbnails which are an odd duck in Windows if it's a non-native format, they work to a degree but are not ideal. What tends to happen is that the thumbnail generator takes the first frame of the video but this is not the standard behavior as with native video formats Windows reads in a few seconds or more with a slight randomization effect so as to not grab the same frame in a video too often.

Unfortunately most third party registry tweaks/filters/codec package appear to not solve this problem but at least with Haali and MKV files you can manually fix it as Haali includes a thumbnail offset feature. This allows you to pick the thumbnail from x number of miliseconds into the video.

Now the Haali media splitter out of the box should work for MKV but it does not for MP4 even though it supports the container. The registry patch below will enable thumbnail generation for MP4 files via Haali. I've also added an MKV patch it shouldn't be necessary but it may help if the thumbnail feature is not working as it should.

MP4 Thumbnail -- MKV Thumbnail

Finally the Haali thumbnail offset does not work in Windows Media Center only Explorer this is a known bug but no one has stepped up to the plate to fix it.

One last issue is thumbnails appear to work under Windows XP fine but in Windows Vista some thumbnails will not be properly generated were you end up with no thumbnail as seen here. The thumbnail isn't white in that picture, there is no thumbnail and your seeing the white background of the window, I believe it's a bug with Haali media splitter so maybe one day it will be fixed but don't hold your breath.

Step 1: Click start and go into the Haali program group and run "Media Splitter Settings"

Step 2: Click on the "Options" tab then expand the section called "Explorer integration", now set the "Enable thumbnails extraction" value to yes.

Step 3: Now click on "Thumbnails offset, you can change the value here in miliseconds, try 8000=8 seconds you can use this calculator to look up seconds to miliseconds conversion.

Step 4: Now click apply and then ok to close the window. Now restart your computer you must do this. If all goes well when you restart it should generate the thumbnail for the video from the position you set.

Thumbnails for MP4/MKV in Explorer under Windows XP

Thumbnails for MKV in Explorer under Windows Vista.

Buggy Thumbnail in Explorer under Windows Vista

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If nothing has changed then most likely Windows has already generated a thumbnail and does not update it with the new one so to clear the thumbnail cache completely it must be done in one or two stages.

1) For Windows Vista use the in-built disk clean up found under accessories\system tools and select the thumbnail cache option.

For Windows XP enable hidden files and folders then delete the thumbs.db file in the folder of the videos, that will reset the thumbnails.

2) If 1 did not work then delete the Windows Media Player library database as well;

Step 1: If running disable media sharing in Windows Media Player (you cannot complete step 3 without doing this).

Step 2: Enable hidden files and folders, in Windows Vista open Explorer and click Organize->Folder and Search Options->View->Show Hidden Files and Folders, in Windows XP in Explorer click tools->folder options->view->show hidden files and folders.

Step 3: Now under Vista browse to C:\Users\Your user name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player & delete the contents of that folder. Under Windows XP browse to C:\Documents and Settings\Your user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Player\ & delete the contents of that folder.

Performing step 3 will not delete the files in your library it will merely delete the catalogue or database that WMP built up. Now start WMP again and it will rebuild it's media database.

Hopefully that will get it working though don't be surprised if it doesn't as thumbnails are a finicky process on Windows and minor changes can undo it with you ending up with no thumbnails at all just stock media icons.

This will add support for .flv flash video files into Windows Media Player 11.

Step 1: If running 32-bit Windows download this FLV registry patch.

If running 64-bit Windows download this FLV x64 registry patch. The 64-bit registry patch includes the keys for 32-bit compatibility.

Step 2: Download Gabests FLV Splitter, extract to a folder to install run the install.bat*, if at any later time you wish to remove it run the uninstall.bat and then delete the folder but you will not be able to play flv files anymore.  

Step 3: Download ffdshow tryouts then install.

Step 4: Double click on the registry patch to apply and it will make the changes to add FLV support to WMP11.

Step 5: Reboot your computer (don't skip this).

Step 6: Now start WMP11 and if all goes well you will be able to play flv files though file-open and should see any files that are in monitored folders appear in the video library.

My registry patch does not auto associate .flv with WMP as you may have another media player doing that duty, either way to associate flash videos with WMP just right click on any file and select open with, then select Windows Media Player and tick the box for always use this application with this file type and your set.

* If running Windows Vista with user account control enabled it will block the batch file from registering the flv splitter unless you turn off UAC or edit the bat file so that the location of the splitter matches whatever folder you have put it in e.g. "C:\FLV\Splitter.ax"

Adobe have released a very nice media player which you can get here it seems to use Adobes new Air framework but best of all it supports H.264/MP4 standard (high profile & all) and is completely free!!

The UI somewhat iTunes like but more centered on videos it of course also plays flash and a bunch of other stuff too.

Go check it out.

I have generally been relying on PC software servers to stream media to the X360/PS3 for a while now but on recommendations from others I decided to take the plunge and check out the Synology network attached storage DS207+ server.

I'm not going to go over the specs just that it houses two SATA hard drives and supports UPnP/DLNA streaming to the X360/PS3 games consoles. A single drive model the DS-107+ is also available. These NAS drives also have a ton of features too many to go over here and instead I'm just going to focus on streaming media from it to the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

Setup Impressions;

First up was to download the latest software and firmware from Synology's site after which I was up and running. Although none of the setup guides pointed it out when installing the latest software manager it will ask to install the latest firmware presumably for compatibility reasons so make sure you have the latest firmware .pat file on hand as well.

So with that out of the way it's straight onto media streaming, all you have to do is enable UPnP in the multimedia configuration panel. After that you copy your videos/folders into a video folder on the drive and music into the music folder you get the idea.

If you have copied across a large media collection you must wait till it auto indexes everything to produce a catalogue of the files but you do not need to force the index every time you copy across something to the server it will be automatically picked up which is nice.

You can instruct the DS-207+ to power off at a certain time, this is a great feature as it not only saves power but I know like me that some would be wary of having any device running 24/7 so I think it's a good idea to power it off at night when no-one will be using it.

Surprisingly there appears to be no support for JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) which combines HD's into one large pool but unlike RAID 0 where if a drives fails you lose everything with JBOD only whatever was on the disk is lost as files are not copied to both drives.  RAID 1, 0, 5 are supported and you can have single basic disks too. RAID options are still available even on the single drive model as you can use the USB/eSATA ports in conjunction with the internal HD.

Media Support;

What's covered for the PS3 - MP3, MP4, M4A, AVI, MPG, VOB, WMV & WMA containers are supported. What's notably missing are M2TS, WAV & DIVX (.divx containers for subtitles not the codec, though you can just rename .divx to .avi and it will work)

For the Xbox 360 - MP3, MP4, M4A, MOV, AVI, WMV, WMA containers are supported. What's notably missing is M4V support (though again you can rename M4V to MP4 and it will work just fine)

Browsing videos is great as Synology have implemented a simple hierarchical folder browsing method so whatever folder structure you have setup when you copied the files to the NAS is displayed on the UI of the PS3/X360 there is no bloat or unwanted filters to sort your media by. This alone is worth buying for as it allows quick access to your videos. Playback was reliable with resume/restart/ff-rewind all working as they should.

For music you get the browsing by category/filters as you would expect and also a folder browsing option too which is nice. I'm not really interested too much in music playback through this so that's all I have to say on the matter.

Now the negatives;

The DS-207+ is not quiet it does have a fan, however while not overly noisy the fan in the unit has a pitch & tone that is distinct from other devices and this is not good as in the same room with an Xbox 360 (a noisy unit in of itself) I was able to tell the noise apart from both devices as it did not blend into the background. I would not recommend having it in a room which requires silence like a bedroom or rooms were your PS3/Xbox 360 are however the auto power off feature does make it more tolerable in a bedroom.

The Synology media server has buffering problems with the Xbox 360 & files that are 3GB in size or higher so effectively you are limited to a file size of about 2800MB if you want reliable playback on the Xbox 360, oddly the PS3 appears unaffected by this issue. This could be fixed with a simple adjustment of the buffer size in the media server but Synology do not expose such an option so if you have videos over 3GB in size they will stop and start periodically as it tries & fails to buffer the data. Hopefully a firmware update will fix this problem with the Xbox in due course.

Update: The buffering problems have now been fixed in the 2.0-0637 firmware with the inclusion of an option to increase the buffer size.

Overall;

In summary I'm quite pleased with it, if you are not dealing with files that are too large on the Xbox 360 and have somewhere to stick it without the noise bothering you the Synology DS-207+ is a great NAS media server.

This registry patch will tie M2TS files [Blu-ray transport stream files also referred to as AVCHD files] into Windows Media Player [WMP11] and Windows Media Center [WMC] allowing them to see this file type. However there are caveats as it is not possible to tie a third party codec 100% into WMP without developing some sort of plug-in. Also available are patches for MKV/MKA, Flac and MP4/M4V/M4A.

This will also permit streaming M2TS files from Windows Media Player 11 to the PS3. This process is compatible with 32/64-bit Windows XP/Vista with WMP11 present, Windows Home Server should work as well.

Be aware that M2TS files will not be playable in WMP/WMC with ffdshow/haali, there is no free decoder that supports M2TS files so you require a commercial one like CoreAVC which does work. Streaming to the PS3 is unaffected by this as even though WMP cannot play the files the PS3 can see and play them. Also if intending to play M2TS in WMP you will still need something to handle audio decoding duties like ffdshow-tryouts so install it but untick/disable the H.264 decoding support so CoreAVC remains the H.264 decoder.

Step 1: If running 32-bit Windows download this M2TS registry patch. If running 64-bit Windows download this M2TS x64 registry patch. The 64-bit registry patch includes the keys for 32-bit compatibility & you cannot play M2TS in WMC x64. 

Step 2: Double click on the registry patch to apply and it will make the changes to add M2TS support to WMP11/WMC.

Step 3: Reboot your computer (don't skip this).

Step 4: Now start WMP11/WMC and if all goes well you should see any M2TS files that are in monitored folders appear in the video library, now enable file sharing in WMP11 and you should be able to stream the video to the Playstation 3.

Lastly the PS3 only supports H.264 video and AC3 audio in the M2TS container so other formats will not work. Also the M2TS files will show tagged as MPEG-2 video but you can ignore that as that it just the video/mpeg mime type I used. There is an actual mime type for M2TS which is video/MP2T but the PS3 does not acknowledge this only video/mpeg and video/mp4.

To make H.264/AC3 M2TS files playable in Media Player Classic Home Cinema download Haali Media Splitter and during the install tick the box for MPEG-PS support. Then in MPC-HC click view->options->internal filters and under source filters un-tick MPEG-PS/TS/PVA support so Haali will take over, incidentally the latest version of MPC-HC now has DXVA support offloading the decoding to your GPU.

To encode into H.264/AC3 M2TS read my M2TS AutoMKV guide if you want a file for just streaming to the PS3. If you wish to make an M2TS compatible Blu-ray disk you will need to use Ripbot.

This registry patch will tie Flac files into Windows Media Player [WMP11] and Windows Media Center [WMC] allowing them to play this file type. However there are caveats as it is not possible to tie a third party codec 100% into WMP without developing some sort of plug-in. Also available are patches for MKV/MKA, M2TS and MP4/M4V/M4A.

This process is compatible with 32/64-bit Windows XP/Vista with WMP11 present, Windows Home Server should work as well.

Step 1: If running 32-bit Windows download this Flac registry patch. If running 64-bit Windows download this Flac x64 registry patch.

Step 2: Download the madFlac directshow decoder & install.

Step 3: Double click on the registry patch to apply and it will make the changes to add flac support to WMP/WMC.

Step 4: Reboot your computer (don't skip this).

Step 5: Now start WMP or WMC and if all goes well you should see any flac files that are in monitored folders appear in the audio library.

P.S. this was done on request I do not use flac myself so I just tested against various sample flac audio files and everything seems to be okay.

FAQ/Known Issues;

«» There is no Windows Media Center x64 support for Flac unless someone knows of a 64-bit flac decoder. In Windows x64 WMP is set by default to the 32-bit version so Flac playback will work.

«» Seeking (jump to any point in the audio) is not supported if you play the flac track via the WMP music library.

«» Seeking will work if you play the file through File-Open or open it in WMP through explorer (you must associate WMP with flac files for that).

«» Streaming flac to other windows media players over a network does not work.

«» The time length of the track wont be displayed.

«» You cannot edit the tag/metadata info of the file in WMP and WMP will not read any pre-existing info.

«» You can though apply any tag info via WMP's own built in tag/metadata discovery mechanism.

 «» If you wish to read the tag info from an existing collection in WMP or WMC use the WMP Tag Support Extender but do not apply my flac registry patch as it will conflict between the two. You will still need the madFlac decoder as it is recommend.

«» If you need to undo my registry patch just open it in notepad then go into regedit and delete the keys it made.

Just a list maybe someone will see it and perhaps one day at least these might happen.

1. Fix the seamless MP4 playback dash frame rate problem.
2. Enable anamorphic support on high profile H.264 videos.
3. Add AAC-HE support many encoders no longer distinguish between AAC HE & LC but auto encode to one or the other at select bit-rates so it is hurting the compatibility not only with videos but music as well.
4. If there will be no AAC-HE or AAC 5.1 support then at least enabling downmixing of those formats to AAC LC so they will play on the Xbox.
   
5. Add chapter support for MP4 files as defined in the standards used by MP4Box, if no chapters are present then default back to your own built in chapter mark system.
6. Add support for multiple audio tracks in MP4.
7. Add better visualizers to the Xbox 360 the ones built in look poor/old and are no where near as visually impressive compared to the ones found on the PS3.

So there is one thing that really bugs me a lot with the Xbox 360 and it's H.264 support is the fact that it was tied to the Zune software so much as this introduced a bunch of minor but annoying issues chief of which is the loss of seamless H.264 playback to and from the dash with certain H.264 MP4 videos.

On select MP4 videos the Xbox 360 will not seamlessly transition to playing the video instead you will see the screen lose sync with the TV momentarily and then the video will play normally. On certain TV's this is very noticeable as they flash up info like the input, resolution, audio config just like if you were changing inputs on your TV.

The reason why the Xbox 360 does this is because the seamless playback only works on H.264 videos with a frame rate of 23fps or 29fps which as it happens is the frame rate commonly used by Apple H.264 movie trailers. You see the Zune team foolishly decided to only support Apples brand of H.264 so the Zune software ended up adopting many of the limitations of the Apple H.264 plus it is limited to main profile H.264 as a result.

The Xbox 360 ties into this because they in turn based their H.264 decoder off the H.264 profile support in the Zune software (groan) so you can see where this is going. If you encode a movie most encoders will set the proper frame rate e.g. 25fps for DVD's which isn't going to be 23/29fps (even Apples crappy H.264 encoder will do this) as a result the Xbox 360 will not enable seamless transition on anything that isn't 23/29fps.

It's quite sloppy really and something that could be trivially fixed by the Xbox team but don't count on it being fixed in fact I doubt it ever will be.

(There is also the matter of anamorphic support again Zune to blame, it only works on main profile videos though some one did recently discover a hack that would make it work on high profile it is super complicated)

(If you have never seen the seamless transition from dash to video then just download any of the MP4 trailers from this site or use YAMB to mux a new MP4 [just insert any MP4 you have into it] and set the frame rate as 29.96fps then compare against any video encoded from Ripbot/AutoMKV/MEGUI/Nero etc)

Here are a few short tips on making WMP11 see the .divx container (which is basically an .avi container with some extensions) so you can stream it to the Playstation 3.

1. Rename all your .divx files to .avi (subtitles will still work on the PS3) [use mass renamer]
2. Install the demo DivX pack, it makes the required changes to the registry so .divx files are detected after which you can then uninstall the DivX pack and just go back to using ffdshow tryouts or XviD as your decoder. However the DivX pack does not appear to make the correct changes under Windows Vista 64-bit.

To convert any avi/srt files into divx without re-encoding try AVIAddXSubs which will generate a .divx file.

This registry patch will tie MKV/MKA files into Windows Media Player [WMP11] and Windows Media Center [WMC] allowing them to play this file type. However there are caveats as it is not possible to tie a third party codec 100% into WMP without developing some sort of plug-in. Also available are patches for Flac, M2TS and MP4/M4V/M4A.

This process is compatible with 32/64-bit Windows XP/Vista with WMP11 present, Windows Home Server should work as well.

Step 1: If running 32-bit Windows download this MKV/MKA registry patch. If running 64-bit Windows download this MKV/MKA x64 registry patch (because WMC is 64-bit you will need to a install 64-bit codec/splitter)

Step 2: Uninstall any codec packs or prior installs of ffdshow and Haali media splitter.

Step 3: Download ffdshow tryouts & Haali Media Splitter then install both. 

Step 4: Double click on the registry patch to apply and it will make the changes to add MKV/MKA support to WMP/WMC.

Step 5: Reboot your computer (don't skip this).

Step 6: Now start WMP or WMC and if all goes well you should see any MKV files that are in monitored folders appear in the video library & MKA in the audio library.

That's all there is to it, I have a short FAQ below which will explain some of the known issues, quirks etc.

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FAQ:   

«» My registry patches aren't in any way tied to ffdshow/haali so any directshow decoder should work but generally I would stick to this combo.

«» The Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 do not support MKV's so for playing H.264 MKV files on those platforms read this link.

«» If your wondering why the MKV thumbnails in explorer & WMP/WMC are largely black this is down to the fact that the thumbnail generator cannot read into the MKV file and so it takes the first frame in the video which on movie conversions is almost always a black screen. If you were to cut away that portion & straight into the movie the thumbnail would be from wherever you made the cut. Haali media splitter does have a feature in it's properties section that instructs it to take a thumbnail from x number of milliseconds but it only works with MKV files & under Windows XP reliably (in my experience).  I have written another guide on how to enable MP4/MKV thumbnails in Explorer using Haali with the offset feature if you want it.

 «» The patch only adds MKV/MKA integration to a certain degree, I do not know if it is a limitation of WMP or something else (I've yet to find a third party codec tie into WMP 100%) so you will notice that the time length of the video is not displayed in the video library.

Also if you play a video by double clicking on it in the library you will not be able to seek (jump to any point in the video) however you can actually do this if you open the MKV through File->Open in WMP or through explorer by double clicking on it (assuming WMP is set to be the preferred player) I do not know why this behavior happens and it is something I would love to figure out. If that bothers you I would recommend using Media Player Classic Home Cinema or Zoom Player as your video player as they natively support these file types.

Windows media center will not display the time length of the file & of course thumbnails don't work well it reverts back to the grabbing the first frame problem.

«» If you ever want to undo any of the changes just look at the registry file in notepad and go into regedit and delete the entries that were made and your back to where you were, no mess left behind with codec packs and the like.

«» Finally my registry patch does not automatically associate the file types with windows media player through explorer (it is possible) because you may already have the above file types associated with another player like the ones linked to above. If you wish to associate the file types the easy way it to just right click on a video then select "open with" then select WMP and make sure the box is ticked for always use this application and that's it.

This entry deals with enabling proper thumbnails for MP4 file types in WMP or WMC where the thumbnail is not taken from the first frame of the video but instead it reads randomly into the video to pluck the image for the thumbnail, this will also enable MP4 thumbnails to display on the PS3 XMB when streaming MP4 from WMP11. Be aware though that enabling thumbnails for the PS3 slows down the media list generating process so it may not be ideal.

So basically first off purchase the Elecard Mobile Converter pack as it comes with all the right directshow H.264 MP4 codecs/splitters that you need. Also this wont work for 64-bit Windows Vista Media Center and you will have to disable UAC in Windows Vista 32-bit for the Elecard pack to install. (Update you might be ale to use Mainconcepts free H.264 decoder catch is logo in corner, but I have not tested it yet, the Elecard pack uses the same mainconcept decoder)

Step 1: I will assume you already have ffdshow-tryouts, Haali and my MP4/M4V registry patch installed. If you have uninstall ffdshow tryouts & Haali media splitter then reboot the computer.

Step 2: Now install the Elecard pack.

Step 3: Now re-install ffdshow tryouts but during the install un-tick the H.264 decoding option.

Step 4: Now re-install Haali only if you want MKV support in WMC but during the install un-tick the box for "Enable MPEG-TS support" & "Enable MP4 Support" otherwise Haali will try over-ride the Elecard splitters. If you do accidentally miss those steps just uninstall again.

Step 5: If you already haven't apply my registry patch for MP4 then fire up WMP or WMC if all goes well files should be playable with thumbnails.

Lastly about the thumbnails if you have pre-exiting ones delete the thumbnail cache in Windows via disk clean-up & also delete the library database in Windows media player too so it reads new thumbs from the files instead of using the old ones. The method for deleting the library database is in my other registry page linked to above look down at trouble shooting section.

This is my quick & easy guide for encoding your DVD movies into H.264/MP4 for the PSP using AutoMKV. AutoMKV is free software and offers excellent picture quality in the videos it encodes, it only takes a few steps to get it set up right for your PSP.

Before we begin make sure your PSP's firmware is up to date as Sony lifted the resolution limitations found in the old/early firmware's and this guide is assuming your running the latest or a recent firmware.

Step 1: Download AutoMKV from here.

Step 2: You will need Avisynth installed & download the Nero AAC encoder too.

Step 3: Extract AutoMKV to a folder and extract the .exe files in win32 of the Nero AAC encoder zip into AutoMKV\exe\BeSweet\ folder.

Step 4: Start AutoMKV and you will have a main screen like this [though the one below is using my presets].

Step 5: First order of business is to set the correct codec & container so as the container select MP4, the codec should be x264 and finally tick the box for "All Profiles" and select the PSP profile.

Step 6: Now look over at the "Audio Track 1" section and from the drop down box select Nero AAC as the type and stereo. The 0.35 value = 112k you can change it to display the bit-rate if you click the !!! symbol next to the stereo entry and from there under Nero Encoding Mode select -BR instead of auto. Generally I think it's a good idea to sacrifice audio quality so drag it down to 0.30 for 96kbps.

Step 7: Now on to the resolution, the PSP profile in AutoMKV is a little out of date as you will see it sets the old max resolution of 320 but this has been lifted in newer PSP firmware's so we can now use the native resolution of the display which is 480 so set the width resolution to the value of 480. (this is assuming your movie is a wide screen 16:9)

Also look at "Resize Filters" and I recommend changing it to Spline36Resize (neutral sharp) as this gives a nice and clear picture without destroying detail in the resize.

Step 8: Under Disk Settings select the "write custom amount here" option and use whatever file size you desire though 500 is a good number as memory sticks are so cheap you can stick 4 to 8 movies if you have a 2GB or 4GB one handy. Movie name should be obvious.

Step 9: The filters section is what a like about AutoMKV but unfortunately there are not at all explained as to what they do in the program so Google searching them are your only way of discovering their properties. That said the remove grain one is rather obvious as it removes the grain/noise from a movie, there are stronger modes available in there but 2 or 3 should be sufficient. Removing the grain is a good idea as preserving grain in a movie consumes bit-rate which would otherwise be spent on persevering details.

Step 10: Now that the basics are over click the save setting to store the above changes so AutoMKV always start with them.

Step 11: Here is an advanced tip from this site, it helps reduce ghosting in the movie because the PSP screens response time isn't that great and is very susceptible to this issue. Click on the "Advanced Settings" tab look down at the bottom of the window to where it displays "Editing AVS Lines" and tick the box then copy/paste in this Tweak(sat=1.4, bright=19, cont=1.15)

Step 12: Now on the same screen look to the left and click on save configuration then give it a name like PSP for instance. You can then load this configuration by click on the load config button, be aware that AutoMKV does not auto load this so you must manually load it each time.

Step 13: Now back to the main screen once you have loaded in the movies .ifo or .vob make what changes you need then click on the add to queue button to queue up multiple jobs or start encoding button to begin right away.

That's all there is to it now just connect your PSP via USB to your computer and copy the movie.mp4 into the video folder of your PSP.

Extras:

Encoding H.264/MP4 for Playstation 3 & Xbox 360 using AutoMKV

Encoding H.264/M2TS for Playstation 3 using AutoMKV.

It is possible to have AC3 audio and H.264 video together on the PS3 but this combo is only supported in the .M2TS and .VOB containers.

I would recommend going with the .M2TS option as AutoMKV now supports outputting this container & going the VOB route is a bit messy.

First make sure you read my H.264/AAC in MP4 AutoMKV guide as it goes through the program and shows you how to encode movies, this is a short extension to that guide as I do not want to over-complicate it with too many options.

Now make sure you have the latest AutoMKV, from v.095c onwards has M2TS support.

Basically start AutoMKV and select the options like in the screen below;

The codec should be set to x264, the container should be set to M2TS & the profile to the 2_Pass_PS3_XBOX360.

The audio should be set to original as this will copy the AC3 file from the movie directly and place it into the M2TS file.

If your source material is not a DVD and the audio is encoded in something other than AC3 then you must select AC3 instead of copy original so it will convert into AC3.

That's all there is to it just encode as normal and you now have AC3 5.1 surround sound support with H.264 video on the PS3.

Extras;

For Playback on your computer and to stream M2TS from Windows Media Player 11 to the Playstation 3 go to this link.

The MKV container is gaining traction and it is a very good container as it can hold any combination of video/audio unlike most other formats but unfortunately the big hardware makers do not support MKV containers and support may be a long time coming.

In the mean time there are some quick tools that will allow you to convert a MKV file consisting of H.264 video with AC3/AAC audio into an MP4 container which both game consoles can understand. This does not re-encode the video it just extracts it, sets the level @ 4.1 and re-encodes the audio if necessary then re-muxes into an MP4 file that will be playable on the console.

MKV Boxer

GOTSent (official site)

The Zune software can stream MP4 files to the Xbox 360 however the Zune software is limited to H.264 base/main profile only because of it's own internal H.264 decoder whereas the Xbox 360 can play up to H.264 high profile [the difference being high profile retains more detail].

As a consequence of the Zune software being main profile only it also affects the Xbox 360's H.264 decoder, because the Zune software is the only in-house H.264 player Microsoft had they annoyingly tied some of the restrictions in the Zune H.264 decoder into the Xbox 360's H.264 decoder.

So what that boils down to is;

• Anamorphic support is limited to main profile videos (there are complicated hacks to make it work on high profile ones).
• Thumbnail generation for MP4 files will only work with the Zune software acting as the media server (anything else is probably transcoding in the background).
• Seamless fade in/out when playing MP4 videos through the Xbox dash is limited to videos with a frame rate of 29.96fps.
• Embedded covert art will only show in the Xbox dash with the Zune software acting as the media server.

If you wish to have those features enabled and/or stream H.264/MP4 files from the Zune software to the Xbox 360 then follow my H.264 encoding guide for the Xbox 360 but instead select the "Default" profile in AutoMKV and that will generate a compatible main profile H.264 video.

Finally when using the Zune software you can also embed JPG's into the MP4 like a DVD cover which can be then displayed in the Xbox dash, in order to do that use software like MP3tag to inject the JPG into the MP4 file.  As far as I'm aware there is no other way to get the Xbox to display embedded art in MP4 still if someone does know of any other way let me know.

My H.264 encoding guide above does away with the need to use anamorphic encodes and by using the MP4 patch with WMP11 you can stream H.264 high profile to the Xbox 360 so the restrictions/need of using the Zune software are side stepped if you are interested.

In case your wondering the same patch for WMP11 cannot be done for the Zune software because it does not support direct show Microsoft's codec plugin mechanism (the lack of support is intentional) so basically you can't plug in your own codecs which would force the Zune software to stream them.

This is a summary of the various audio and video codec combinations possible with each game console. I will be doing this by container as that is the easiest way to list them clearly. I think this is accurate & I have personally tested everything below on each console but if there are any mistakes or missing formats please let me know via the comments.

Sony Playstation 3 Media Capabilities

Notes;

• DivX & WMV files are no longer limited to 2GB in size if you have firmware 2.20 or later.
• XviD will play on the PS3 as long as you do not use the more advanced features of it but it is not officially supported.
• MP4 files are limited to 4GB in size & that includes when streaming over a network.
• M4V/M4A are the same as MP4 (just an Apple variant, PS3 plays M4A but M4V must be renamed to MP4).
• There is a file size limit of 4GB for all file types when playing from local storage (e.g. hard drive, USB stick).
• There is no file size limit for all other file types when streaming over a network.
• For AAC 5.1 to work you need a receiver that supports AAC 5.1 or one that supports 5.1 PCM (HDMI 1.3) as the PS3 will decode the AAC and output it as 5.1 PCM. AAC 5.1 will be down mixed to stereo in all other scenarios.
• For H.264 to be placed in VOB and M2TS special software is required to mux the media (AutoMKV & RipBot now support encoding to M2TS).
• SRT subtitles are supported in .divx containers with firmware 2.20 or later, use AVIAddXSubs to convert srt/avi files into divx containers (no re-encode necessary, very quick process) & multiple subtitle tracks are supported for everything else only hard subs are supported by the console (burned into the container).

Microsoft Xbox 360 Media Capabilities

Notes;

• There is no file size limit when streaming over a network for all media types.
• There is a file size limit of 4GB for all file types when playing from local storage (e.g hard drive, USB stick).
• The Xbox 360 has a proper MPEG-4 ASP decoder & can handle the full XviD profile using all of it's features.
• The MPG and DVR-MS containers can only be played through the Windows Media Center Extender mode.
• With the MPG container any AC3 5.1 will be down mixed to 2 channel stereo.
• The Xbox 360 officially only supports up to H.264 main profile videos even though it plays high profile H.264 (some minor features are lost if playing H.264 high profile but nothing significant).
• M4V/M4A are the same as MP4 (just an Apple variant).
• Only hard subs are supported by the console (burned into the container) no external subtitles.

The v2 extenders are finally out with Linksys models being one of the first to hit the shelves. I have received word that the H.264 files generated in my guide linked below are compatible with it, indeed looking over the manual for the DMA 2xxx series it appears that it's H.264 compatibility is very similar to that of the Xbox 360 consisting of H.264 high profile and AAC LC audio in an MP4 container.

If you are looking to generate a H.264 compatible video then I would recommend checking out my AutoMKV Xbox 360/PS3 guide as it should work out for you.

Two other things of note if you wish to stream MP4 files from Windows Media Center check out my MP4 registry patch which is also confirmed to be working with the Linksys models. Lastly there are reports that XviD videos are not playing properly it seems to stem from the Linksys DMA 2xxx units doing a FourCC check for DIVX (a basic ID in the video) and not permitting the XVID FourCC, to solve the problem until there is hopefully a fimware update to address the issue use a FourCC changer to change it from XVID to DIVX

A nice video review of the Linksys DMA 2100 can be found here though it covers usage not tech specs.

Although my earlier guides focus on converting DVD's which consist of MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio into H.264/AAC in MP4, it is also possible to stream a DVD without any changes well a few but re-encoding is a step you can largely skip but there are disadvantages to this over re-encoding into H.264/AAC.

What you will need - Slysoft AnyDVD, DVD Decrypter the reason for AnyDVD is because DVD Decrypter is no longer developed and as such it no longer works on the latest DVD movies but it does have a perfect user interface and AnyDVD allows us to continue to use it. {Be sure to disable the auto-update feature in DVD Decrypter}

Step 1: Install AnyDVD and have it running in the background.

Step 2: Install DVD Decrypter and select Mode->IFO.

Step 3: Now click Tools->Settings and go to the IFO tab, look under options "File Splitting" and change the setting to "none".

Step 4: Now rip the DVD to the hard drive (the main movie will be auto selected).

Step 5: After it's done just go into the folder and rename movie.vob to movie.mpg

That's all there is to it your done.

Streaming playback to the PS3 will require a media server that supports MPEG-2 in .mpg so the easiest one to use will be Windows Media Player 11 (Windows Vista has a built in MPEG-2 codec, on Windows XP you may need a DVD codec installed or ffdshow tryouts should do).

There are of course a few negatives in going with this approach for one it is main movie only of course but also you may have issues with anamorphic video not being stretched properly and subtitles not displaying & of course a very annoying one in the form of having two sets of lettlerbox/black borders (see end of guide).

Pretty much everything above applies to the Xbox 360 too but things are a bit little more complicated, the Xbox 360 does not support MPEG-2 in the dashboard the only place you can play such a .mpg file is through the Media Centre Extender mode (MCX). In order to actually make use of the extender mode you need Windows Vista Home Premium/Ultimate or Windows XP Media Centre Edition (with DVD software installed).

With the MCX enabled simply place the movie.mpg into any monitored folder in Windows Media Centre and it should play back on the Xbox 360 through the MCX under video library. There is one more drawback to this and that is it will automatically downmix AC3 audio to stereo you wont get any 5.1 surround sound, in addition through conflicting reports some say that the Xbox is picky about the video/audio & wont play but I have never had it flake out on me in such a manner.

It is possible to get AC3 5.1 audio out of the Xbox 360 MCX but you must do a little work and place the movie.mpg inside a different container called DVR-MS which permits surround sound.

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Following on from the steps above for streaming a DVD quickly to either game console this portion covers placing the MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio inside a DVR-MS container, why you would want to do that well there are a few advantages.

What is DVR-MS ?

Well basically it is an MPEG-2 container Microsoft created for Windows media center with it's purpose being for holding the recorded TV show that your tuner captured. It supports MPEG-2 video, AC3 5.1 audio and metadata (info about what said recording or film is).

If you want surround sound out of your Xbox 360 this is the only way (other than encode with XviD/AC3) without re-encoding the video.

What you will need - Slysoft AnyDVD or any other ripper, also we'll need VideoReDo TV Suite v3 this is the software that allows us to convert the .vob into a .dvr-ms file. A trial version is available if you request a serial key it will be fully functional for a time limited period so you can judge whether you want to go the DVR-MS route or not. Be aware that VideoReDo does not work if you rip the DVD to a single file it must be ripped as it is on the original DVD.

Step 1: Transfer the DVD to the HD for the fastest conversion and open up VideoReDo. From the File menu select Open Title DVD

Step 2: It will display the various video/audio streams present on the DVD the longest one is usually the main movie.

Step 3: Once it has finished (give it a moment) the main screen will appear (you can ignore everything on here)

Step 4: From the file menu select File->Save Video As..

Step 5: It will now flash this window on screen all you must do is just click on yes to proceed.

Step 6: Now on the save location window select the type as DVR-MS, also I would not recommend the default save location as at least on Windows Vista is located in your hidden app data folder - just save it somewhere else.

Step 7: It will now present you with the metadata editing window, you can fill in anything you want about the movie in this section such as a description or synopsis etc or just leave it blank though I do recommend putting in the movie title at a minimum.

{Special note - metadata will not be displayed if the movie is viewed from the video library section, the only two places that display metadata are the Recorded TV section and the DVD Library but the DVD Library does not work through the MCX}

Step 8: Once done the processing window will show as the movie is not being re-encoded just re-muxed this process will not take long.

Step 9: When the job is finished it will look something like this.

All that's left to do is  to copy the movie into a monitored folder by Windows Media Centre and the MCX on the Xbox 360 will be able to play it back.

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If you have come to notice that the black borders are a different tone on screen this is because the letterbox/black borders at the top and bottom of the screen are part of the movie itself. When you play back the movie under normal circumstances the movie will be played and stretched full screen. But when played outside of that scenario the player will attempt to stretch the video to fill the screen but it will not do it fully creating two sets of black borders of different color tones, one of course if the built in border of the film and the other is the players own border.

The only real way around it is to make sure that you get full screen movies which have no borders (& personally I always prefer these) but failing that you have one or two things you can do.

• Your first option it you can try messing with the zoom mode (press info or I on the remote) and see if you can zoom in enough so that the players own black borders disappear this is because the video is being stretch to fill the entire screen but you may lose some of the picture to the sides.
• Your second option is to use software like to cut away the black borders in the film and thereby solving the problem so only the Media Centre players own black borders will remain on screen.

Cropping away the borders though can involve a re-encode into MPEG-2 of the movie so that can present a problem if it's something your trying to avoid, VideoReDo can crop but only if using the DVD as the output format, something like TMPG Express can also do the job output plus burn subtitles into the video stream which you can then feed back to VideoReDo for DVR-MS conversion. Virtual Dub is also worth checking out but the software is pretty complex.

Fascinating interview from someone allegedly involved with the hardware division at Microsoft, he basically confirms what everyone was suspecting as the reason for the hardware failures being a rushed design and reveals a few more gems.

Funny thing was that when the Xbox 360 launched Infinity Ward makes of the Call of Duty games said that the dev kits of the Xbox 360 were dying left, right and center and that they when through over 40 of those units. Though nothing of it at the time but of course when Xbox 360's started dying it became obvious that somewhere along the line quality control had taken a hit with the console.

On a bright note though the source stated that the staggering 30% failure rate was now down to 10% if you happen to have one of the latest Falcon models.

http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_inside_source_reveal_the_truth_about_xbox_360_red_ring_of_death_failures.php

Still it paints a very negative picture of Microsoft's hardware division making silly mistakes for short term goals.

If you are experiencing a problem whereby you must be connected to the Xbox Live service over the net in order to play videos (or games) this is a result of having changed consoles at some point. Whenever you download something from Live it is tagged to the console you currently had at that time.

If you change consoles then an anti-piracy DRM system will kick in that requires you to be connected to the net to verify that it's you (it's meant to stop folks downloading stuff and then giving it away to other consoles).

Unfortunately for something as simple as the various video codec downloads they too are affected by it but there is a solution of sorts if it's really annoying you;

1. Delete the optional media update from HD or memory card.
2. Make a new silver account.
3. Re-download the media update and you will be able to play videos without the need for a net connection.