[JPSiemer]

Hi, I have .net 2.0 I tried changing the file name and and location as well but still get the error, can anyone help with this?

Don't ask why, but MeGUI has compatibility problems if Microsoft Groove is installed on your computer. Chances are if you have Office 2007, then you have Groove. Uninstall it!

I'm not saying this is the solution to your problem, but it could be...

[Thwiipp]

No Groove on my system, still running Office 2003.

[Jhcheslik]

Hello,

I stumbled upon on this thread, and boy, I'm have never been more than happy to find this!! I just wanted to say thank you so much JPSiemer!!

Although, I have few questions...

1. I followed your wiki for the codec video profile, and the only thing I cannot find is the --b-rdo so I had to add it by Custom Command Line... will that work? (So far, it seems to be working.)

2. Since there's no --vbv-bufsize and --vbv-maxrate in the command line from the wiki, so I didn't put anything, is that correct? Or is it supposed to be about 1500 like you stated before in this thread?

3. The encoding seem to TAKE forever. Is that normal? Like for about 2 hours 20 mins, it'll take about 8 hours! After all I have dual core, 2.0 ghz. I'm guessing that I might did something wrong, unless its completely normal.

By the way, I have been using megui for long time. Using different kind of codecs. This is my first attempt at your!

Jhcheslik

[JPSiemer]

I believe the ability to turn on "b-rdo" has been removed from MeGUI because it is no longer necessary with x264.

Also, all other Wiki settings are correct so there is no need to set VBV values.

And encodes should take quite a bit of time... This is normal. You can increase encode times by using less advanced settings (which will sacrifice quality), or you can go out and pick up a 3.0GHz Quad-Core Extreme processor for about $300 and cut your encode times in half.

And finally, if you like my settings so much, please donate to the "Help JPSiemer Get A New Motherboard Fund."

[gabbott]

Wow, thanks for this info. I've encoded a few movies using these guidelines and can actually play them on the xbox. A couple of them require playing them with dvdplayer over mplayer for much fewer dropped frames. Now if there was only a way to make dvdplayer the default player but that is for another thread.

[JPSiemer]

After hundreds of successful encodes, I believe I have hit the final xBox264 settings. The Wiki has been updated with two different, Xbox-optimized profiles... one for those who prefer quality over filesize and the other for those who prefer filesize over quality. I also removed all mention of AAC, as it uses a LOT of CPU power to decode, and that was causing a lot of skipping. So use 2-6 channel AC3 or 2 channel OGG audio for best results.

The most recent settings are located @ the updated Wiki guide: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...C_For_Xbox. Alternatively, you can just download the two presets @ http://www.mediafire.com/file/jtzn02tehm...rofile.zip. To import presets, in MeGUI, go to "File", click "Import Presets", and select the .ZIP file you downloaded. Don't be lazy and use these presets without first familiarizing yourself with the Wiki guide... it contains useful tips and information that you will still need to know in order to achieve desired results.

Use the following MPlayer hack for optimal playback of H.264 on the Xbox: http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=190...stcount=51.

If MeGUI is crashing when you load your source into the AviSynth Script Creator, then its most likely a codec problem or a software conflict. To fix this, delete/uninstall all codecs and codec packs from your computer (including Vista Codec Pack, Combined Community Codec Pack, etc). Then install only Haali Media Splitter (http://haali.cs.msu.ru/mkv/), and FFDShow (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles..._id=173941). Also make sure you do not have Groove installed (comes with Microsoft Office 2007) -- uninstall it immediately because it can cause strange conflicts with MeGUI.

And remember: ripping from a 4-10GB, 720P/1080P, Blu-Ray/HDDVD scene rip (http://scenereleases.info/category/movie...bluray-rip) is always going to yield MUCH better quality than ripping from a 9GB retail DVD. The lowest quality HD video is usually on par with the highest quality DVD. For more information about BD/BR-Rips, check out this post: http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showpost.php?p...tcount=143 or this article http://filesharefreak.com/2008/11/19/blu...d-formats/.

P.S. - Use the Wiki settings only! Do not use any other settings stated in this thread, as everything else is most likely outdated. AND DO NOT ASK FOR HANDBRAKE EQUIVALENT SETTINGS!

-JPSIEMER

[Jhcheslik]

... ripping from a 4.5GB Blu-Ray/HDDVD scene rip is always going to yield MUCH better quality than ripping from a 9GB retail DVD. The lowest quality HD is usually on par with the highest quality DVD.

No way. That's crazy! I got to try that someday when I got the proper Blu-Ray/HDDVD ROM.

Okay, so in your wiki, I noticed that when you said if our source was HD rip, (Blu-Ray, etc.) and we should have higher horizontal value, but wouldn't that reduce the quality?

I think I'll keep my 2.0 Ghz Dual core for now... encoding time doesn't matter.

Although, thank you again for all your work!

I'll take a look at your revision!

[JPSiemer]

No way. That's crazy! I got to try that someday when I got the proper Blu-Ray/HDDVD ROM.

Okay, so in your wiki, I noticed that when you said if our source was HD rip, (Blu-Ray, etc.) and we should have higher horizontal value, but wouldn't that reduce the quality?

1. No... you don't get what I'm saying. You don't even need a BD/HDDVD drive to reencode a Blu-Ray to a standard definition video compatible with XBMC For Xbox. All you need is a 4.5-10GB scene BDRip (from http://scenereleases.info/category/movie...bluray-rip) and just use that as your source file in the AviSynth Script Creator instead of a D2V. This will give you much a cleaner looking video than you will get from a DVD because DVD's are already encoded with HORRIBLE looking MPEG2... and we all know that MPEG2 is already a very lossy codec -- especially at the bitrates that DVDs are constrained to. So, in clonclusion, if you download a lot of DVD's off torrent sites, STOP wasting your time and download the BDRips! Then make proper Xbox-compatible rips from them, and then upload them to ThePirateBay or ******** so that I can download them from you!

2. No... having a higher horizontal value will not neccessarily reduce quality -- as long as you counter with a lower vertical value you should come out with virtually the same exact quality. And if you are staying within the recommended bitrates that I have outlined in my chart then you are already doing this. The reason why this works is because the chart's bitrates are in direct relation to the number of pixels we are telling XBMC to render... The chart is actually based on a simple mathmatical formula that takes a magical number of and divides it by the number of pixels in a resolution in order to get a specific bitrate for that resolution. As an example, a resolution of 800x336 is the same as 672x400 because when multiplied together they both equal the same number of pixels, and therefore they share that same bitrate as well, which happens to be 1370.

But no.... I never said that you HAVE to use a higher resolution for Blu-Ray rips... it was simply a suggestion based on my personal preference. The only instance that I seeing it make sense not to use a horizontal value higher than 720 is when you are watching your movies on a TV that only supports 480P and not 720P or higher.

[Jhcheslik]

Lol... yeah, or that!

The horizontal value, I just figured it out with your chart. It totally make sense... Although I'm too lazy to change bit rate every time for each videos. I just leave it at 1250 bit rate (I never go bigger than 720x400, the vertical value depends on the video.), and so far, everything's beautiful.

Until when time come for me to build a new HTPC then I'll do something different, I guess.

Another thing, what is all of the HD encoded as? h.264 right? Cable TV does that now right? I'll look up on internet...

Edited:: Look like they encode all of the HD in either h.264 or VC-1, the one that M$ developed. Never heard of VC-1 before! Wonder if it's any better than h.264... (I did some more reading, I think I'll go for h.264! )

[JPSiemer]

Ya, VC-1 is used by Windows Media Player and is considered an alternative to H.264, but I still believe that H.264 is superior in many ways.

Also, MPEG2 is the third codec supported in the Blu-Ray standard, but I can't see many releases actually using it over VC-1 or AVC (H.264).

[miamiwice]

can you post the settings in the wiki for the best quality period for the windows version of xbmc?

[gabbott]

From your wiki I can match all the settings other than:

--partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct

I can only get:

--partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4

The other options are greyed out. Any ideas?

[gabbott]

Is there any reason to not use ogg over mp3? I remember it was mentioned earlier in the thread that ogg takes less cpu to decode over mp3.

[Jhcheslik]

From your wiki I can match all the settings other than:

--partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4,i8x8 --8x8dct

I can only get:

--partitions p8x8,b8x8,i4x4

The other options are greyed out. Any ideas?

Well, to save you guys some time, I have included 2 settings from the XBMCWiki in a .zip file.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jtzn02tehm...rofile.zip

Don't EVER unzip it. Instead, in MeGUI, go to File and click Import Presets, and selected the .zip file you downloaded.

Enjoy.

can you post the settings in the wiki for the best quality period for the windows version of xbmc?

Just use the Sharktooth's megui configure. That's what I used for Linux port... (Window, Linux, Apple OS, etc.)

For DVD rips, I use DXVA-SD-Extra Quality, with about 1250 bitrate. The bitrate is entirely up to you...

But for HD rips, I use DXVA-HD-Extra Quality... 1250 bitrate too.

Now If you don't give any crap about file size, but want good quality, I would suggest Unrestricted 1pass Const. Quality Extra Quality, but I never use it.

If you have time, I would suggest you to get a complex scene from Saving Private Ryan, maybe 5 mins in length and test each setting and see what suit you! Good luck!

[JPSiemer]

Is there any reason to not use ogg over mp3? I remember it was mentioned earlier in the thread that ogg takes less cpu to decode over mp3.

OGG, MP3, & AAC should be fine as long as you stick with 2 channels. I think OGG uses the same amount of CPU as MP3 to decode, but OGG has better compression... so use it! And AAC has the BEST compression, but uses more CPU to decode, so only use it if you are encoding your video stream at a much lower bitrate to compensate.

But I still say AC-3 is the best overall, because it uses very little CPU to decode -- even with all 6 channels intact!