Print

[J^^]

Here is a quick and easy way to convert an MKV to an MP4 for the 360...

1. Using MKVmerge demux the video and audio from your MKV file.

2. Using whichever software you choose, convert the audio to MP4 (remember it has to be 2 channel AAC LC). This can be done with a number of different programs.... choose whichever one you are most familiar with (ie. meGUI, foobar2000 (with the proper plugins), etc.)

3. Using h264info change the level of the video (the .h264 file) to 4.1 (This will not re-encode the video so it will only take a few minutes to re-write). Make sure that the output filename is different than the input or it will fail.

4. Using MP4Box or YAMB (to avoid command lines) remux the video and audio.

That's it! You are now ready to play the new file without suffering though a lengthy re-encoding process!

Remember that this only works if your video bitrate is already below the max of 10 Mbps (with resolutions of 1920x1080 and a framerate of 30fps).

Hope this saves some of you lots of time!

[mduga]

Sounds good.  You can't play 5.1 channel audio with the 360 though?  That kinda sucks.  I didn't know that.  Just bought a huge 750gb hard drive though.  Time to start experiment with some HD movies.

[impimpin206]

Only WMV-HD can do 5.1 audio; mp4 is limited to 2ch.

[Pitbull_Raven]

Thanks mate. This worked like a charm form my mkv files. No re-encode needed. Now, if only we could somehow integrate this into Videora's Converter that would be the greatest.

[J^^]

QUOTE(Pitbull_Raven @ Sep 28 2007, 08:15 AM)

Thanks mate. This worked like a charm form my mkv files. No re-encode needed. Now, if only we could somehow integrate this into Videora's Converter that would be the greatest.

Glad to see someone is getting some use out of my little tutorial! I haven't converted anything since coming up with this nice little method. Be ready to watch something in 20 minutes or 3-4 hours.... hmmmmm I think I know what I'm picking! haha

one.

[zerolimit21]

but no 5.1 surround sound whats the point of having some great quality with low quality sound!

[J^^]

QUOTE(zerolimit21 @ Sep 29 2007, 12:21 AM)

but no 5.1 surround sound (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) whats the point of having some great quality with low quality sound!

it isnt low quality..... just not 5.1.... and seeing as how I don't have a surround sound set up (disconnected last system as it wasn't that good) I can live with 2.0.

one.

[impimpin206]

QUOTE(J^^ @ Sep 29 2007, 04:30 AM)

it isnt low quality..... just not 5.1.... and seeing as how I don't have a surround sound set up (disconnected last system as it wasn't that good) I can live with 2.0.

one.

And then one day you will get surround sound, and your media archive will be (in my opinion) useless. On the other hand, you could build a future-ready media library that will let you enjoy the new hardware that you'll most likely purchase down the road.

[J^^]

QUOTE(impimpin206 @ Sep 29 2007, 04:33 PM)

And then one day you will get surround sound, and your media archive will be (in my opinion) useless. On the other hand, you could build a future-ready media library that will let you enjoy the new hardware that you'll most likely purchase down the road.

I wouldn't say useless.... yes 2.0 isn't as good as 5.1 (obviously) but I can live with 2.0 even with a surround sound system. If I was going to go with 5.1 then I would use WMNicEnc. It keeps 5.1 and completes the conversion in almost real-time as opposed to using such programs as TMPGEnc.

one.

[wozwebs]

QUOTE(J^^ @ Sep 3 2007, 10:08 PM)

Here is a quick and easy way to convert an MKV to an MP4 for the 360...

1. Using MKVmerge demux the video and audio from your MKV file.

2. Using whichever software you choose, convert the audio to MP4 (remember it has to be 2 channel AAC LC). This can be done with a number of different programs.... choose whichever one you are most familiar with (ie. meGUI, foobar2000 (with the proper plugins), etc.)

3. Using h264info change the level of the video (the .h264 file) to 4.1 (This will not re-encode the video so it will only take a few minutes to re-write). Make sure that the output filename is different than the input or it will fail.

4. Using MP4Box or YAMB (to avoid command lines) remux the video and audio.

That's it! You are now ready to play the new file without suffering though a lengthy re-encoding process!

Remember that this only works if your video bitrate is already below the max of 10 Mbps (with resolutions of 1920x1080 and a framerate of 30fps).

Hope this saves some of you lots of time!

Thanks for this tutorial, just what I need to get my MKV's streaming to the 360, I've done step 1, opened the mkv up in MKVmerge and emuxed the file with a different file name (episode1.mkv was original file, called this episode1b.mkv)

Installed megui but I am stuck now, I load up the MKV so i can convert to MP4 but now joy, says file 'Problem with video filename: The path is not of a legal form' so can;t get any further.

Bit of a newbie at conversions so excuse me if I am being a bit thick here.

Any help most welcome, cheers

[J^^]

QUOTE(wozwebs @ Oct 5 2007, 08:35 PM)

Thanks for this tutorial, just what I need to get my MKV's streaming to the 360, I've done step 1, opened the mkv up in MKVmerge and emuxed the file with a different file name (episode1.mkv was original file, called this episode1b.mkv)

Installed megui but I am stuck now, I load up the MKV so i can convert to MP4 but now joy, says file 'Problem with video filename: The path is not of a legal form' so can;t get any further.

Bit of a newbie at conversions so excuse me if I am being a bit thick here.

Any help most welcome, cheers

Do you have any character in the filename that is out of the ordinary? (Sorry didn't notice you said episode1b.mkv). If not just try another program (I like foobar2000 because with the right plugins - just search for mkv plugin for foobar - you don't even have to extract the audio).

Hope this helps!

one.

This post has been edited by J^^: Oct 6 2007, 11:30 AM

[KevinSartori]

I just wanted to leave a quick comment to thank you for coming up with this technique!  What a time saver.  For me, this is perfect for the TV shows I download in x264/mkv format I that just want to watch once and then delete.

To convert the AC3 to AAC, I like using BeLight 0.2.2.0 beta 9 with BeSweet 1.5 beta 31.  I couldn't get the RC1 of BeLight to work.  You can grab them here:

http://coreforge.org...-0.22_beta9.zip
http://download.vide...eSweetGUIv0.zip

Of the different options available, I could only get it to work with Nero Digital™ Audio+ 1.1.34.2:
http://www.nero.com/...own-ndaudio.php

Thanks again!

[Manhunt545]

I got everything merged fine (althought the mp4 file won't read in the zune player). but after I burn't it to a disc and played it on the 360, it worked fine. Then all the sudden, the video and audio starts going out of sync. I don't know what could make it do that halfway through the episode.

[J^^]

QUOTE(Manhunt545 @ Oct 15 2007, 11:27 PM)

I got everything merged fine (althought the mp4 file won't read in the zune player). but after I burn't it to a disc and played it on the 360, it worked fine. Then all the sudden, the video and audio starts going out of sync. I don't know what could make it do that halfway through the episode.

If Zune won't read it rename to .wmv and then you can add it to the library. Or do just like you did and burn the file to a disc and it will play fine. As for the out of sync it may be a problem with the original file itself. If not just try to renencode the audio again.

[Pitbull_Raven]

QUOTE(J^^ @ Oct 16 2007, 12:04 PM)

If Zune won't read it rename to .wmv and then you can add it to the library. Or do just like you did and burn the file to a disc and it will play fine. As for the out of sync it may be a problem with the original file itself. If not just try to renencode the audio again.

Even better. Install WMP11 and share via that and all your problems will magically dissapear. I did that and now I can even play files that Zune Software wouldn't touch even though they had been correctly converted.