[gyoung345]

I recently upgraded my desktop PC to Windows 7 and have been using Windows Media Center in conjunction with HDHomeRun. Windows 7 Media Center creates WTV files that can be played on the PC. It used to be DVR-MS files and Windows 7 gives you the option to convert WTV to DVR-MS with a right click option on the file.

When I try and play them on the XBOX XBMC it is jerky and cannot handle it. It is my understanding that the XBOX just doesn't have the horsepower to do it.

So I have been looking for other alternatives. I tried the WD TV Live Media Player but the UI just sticks after you've been using the XBMC for so long.

What I would like to do is convert the WTV or DVR-MS files to something that the XBOX XBMC could play. Does anyone know the best way to do that? I understand that I will probably be down-converting a 1080i HD format to something else, but I would be willing to trade that for the ease of use UI of the XBOX XBMC.

Thanks!

[whitney]

http://mcebuddy.com/

I played around with this solution for a bit but eventually abandoned MCE and went to GB-PVR which has good built-in post-processing options and a lot more flexibility. The UI isn't as nice but I rarely interact with the PC, it's just a recording box for me.

I have been using GB-PVR with XBMC as front-end for over a year now. I downconvert SD to 480x360 and HD to 640x360. I have found keeping the bitrate high is much more important than having a high resolution for having a nice picture. Below are the 2 XviD conversion lines I have settled on in GBPVR which work great streamed over a Samba share to XBOXes. (These settings get selected in the GBPVR GUI). Everything runs automatically with no regular interation needed.

<Conversion name="XviD" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -f avi -threads 2 -deinterlace -r 29.97 -vcodec libxvid -vtag XVID -s 480x360 -aspect 4:3 -maxrate 1800k -b 1500k -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -bufsize 4096 -mbd 2 -bf 2 -flags +4mv -trellis -aic -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 300 -acodec libmp3lame -ar 48000 -ab 128k -ac 2 -async 24 {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />

<Conversion name="XviD HD" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -f avi -threads 2 -deinterlace -r 29.97 -vcodec libxvid -vtag XVID -s 640x360 -maxrate 2700k -b 2250k -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -bufsize 6144 -mbd 2 -bf 2 -flags +4mv -trellis -aic -cmp 2 -subcmp 2 -g 300 -acodec libmp3lame -ar 48000 -ab 128k -ac 2 -async 24 {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />

[gyoung345]

Is the link below where you are adjusting the settings?

http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Confi...ssing#toc6

[whitney]

Is the link below where you are adjusting the settings?

http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Confi...ssing#toc6

Yes, that's it. It says "very experimental" but it's been working without a problem for me for a long time.

You can change any of the ffmpeg settings in the config.xml file.

[gyoung345]

If I've got a DVR-MS file, how do I get it to start to convert it to the XVID HD? I updated the config.xml file.

[Scott R]

whitney, I just bought four Hauppauge 950Q tuners and am interested in using them with GB-PVR and XBMC running on my Acer Revo's. I am uncertain whether I will set all four up on a central server, or have one or two on each Revo, so as to allow for watching live TV. I assume that with your setup you cannot watch live TV.

I'm reading up on GB-PVR now but am a bit confused about my options for getting guide data. It sounds like I need to pay $20/year to get data from Schedules Direct using XMLTV. Is that correct?