It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:15 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]

Recent News:



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 379 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 ... 26  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:43 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Richard - ok, being the dork that I am I just remoted in to my PC at home and tested out my theory on single vobs. The best tool to use is mkvtoolnix. I tried MakeMKV on a single vob but it didn't seem to like it. I took the single vob, dragged in onto the MKVToolnix GUI, and had a fresh mkv ready to play in MediaBrowser in 2 minutes.

Don't know why I didn't think of this before #-o . Basically I have a box set DVD of Chappelle's Show. Some of the episodes don't encode properly when encoding from the single vob to mkv using ripbot or mediashrink (I fixed the fps issue but was still getting A/V sync issues). I could have just wrapped the single vob into the mkv container without encoding, problem solved. The mkv would be bigger then if I had encoded down to h.264 mkv, but when all is said and done the end result is what matters. Phew....there is a jello pudding snack in the fridge with my name on it \:D/

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  

Attention Guest: Remove this ad by Registering with the MediaSmartServer.net Forums. It's Free!
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:44 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
All4Fun wrote:

EDIT: MakeMKV won't accept vobs either. Grrrrr...


haha, I just wrote a post while you were writing saying to avoid MakeMKV and go with MKVToolnix!!!

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:50 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Should have mentioned as well, you can use VOB2MPG to convert the vob to MPEG. I have had mixed results with this tool which is why I didn't think to mention it. Maybe try and make one MPEG and one mkv of the same vob and see what you prefer. Don't think i have anymore tricks up my sleeve :mrgreen:

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:53 pm 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:29 pm
Posts: 820
Location: Toronto, ON
Thanks: 12
Thanked: 11 times in 10 posts
dbone1026 wrote:
Richard - ok, being the dork that I am I just remoted in to my PC at home and tested out my theory on single vobs. The best tool to use is mkvtoolnix. I tried MakeMKV on a single vob but it didn't seem to like it. I took the single vob, dragged in onto the MKVToolnix GUI, and had a fresh mkv ready to play in MediaBrowser in 2 minutes.

Don't know why I didn't think of this before #-o . Basically I have a box set DVD of Chappelle's Show. Some of the episodes don't encode properly when encoding from the single vob to mkv using ripbot or mediashrink (I fixed the fps issue but was still getting A/V sync issues). I could have just wrapped the single vob into the mkv container without encoding, problem solved. The mkv would be bigger then if I had encoded down to h.264 mkv, but when all is said and done the end result is what matters. Phew....there is a jello pudding snack in the fridge with my name on it \:D/


Dude, I appreciate the time you put into this stuff. I'm grateful that you come up with solutions so quickly but I don't want you to feel pressured or beat yourself up if you can't find the solution. Sometimes I need to think too. :)

I'll check out MKVToolnix. I have that installed on my PC somewhere.

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:07 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
All4Fun wrote:
Dude, I appreciate the time you put into this stuff. I'm grateful that you come up with solutions so quickly but I don't want you to feel pressured or beat yourself up if you can't find the solution. Sometimes I need to think too. :)

I'll check out MKVToolnix. I have that installed on my PC somewhere.


It is not pressure to act so quickly, I had a big chocolate pudding and big bakery cookie with lunch (and just washed it down with the pudding snack I brought to work from home), I am running on a massive sugar high right now. Ask me a question in about an hour and I will probably be passed out under my desk!!!

My hands are literally typing 2x faster then I can think!!!

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:45 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Hey Guys,

I just came across this article on using Transcode360 with W7 to play back you media on the Xbox360 (via MyMovies and MediaBrowser). This doesn't serve a whole lot of purpose for me as this would force me to leave my desktop pc on just to use the Xbox360, but I know other folks are looking to accomplish this (scottc I think you have mentioned this before). I may have to give this a try just to see how well it works, but if anyone else gets this working definitely drop a post. It is stuff like this that makes you hope the next version of WHS (Vail for now) has Windows Media Center integrated.

The article can be found here.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:06 pm 
Offline
1TB storage
1TB storage

Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 11:10 pm
Posts: 43
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
dbone1026 wrote:
I just came across this article on using Transcode360 with W7 to play back you media on the Xbox360 (via MyMovies and MediaBrowser). This doesn't serve a whole lot of purpose for me as this would force me to leave my desktop pc on just to use the Xbox360, but I know other folks are looking to accomplish this (scottc I think you have mentioned this before). I may have to give this a try just to see how well it works, but if anyone else gets this working definitely drop a post. It is stuff like this that makes you hope the next version of WHS (Vail for now) has Windows Media Center integrated.

Thanks!
Like you, I don't like having having my PC running to watch a movie (WHS is enough), but as a temporary solution, it is fine. I just don't have W7 installed yet and will probably wait for general release. This is encouraging though - it will give me MB on a free extender (assuming it works).

I wish Sage would support HDMI 1.3 and make this all much easier! Or a dual CPU Atom mini machine - which will be first?

Still looking for some time to get MKV's to work on the Xbox - maybe this weekend I can find a few minutes :-k

_________________
---===[ Scott ]===---


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:58 am 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:29 pm
Posts: 820
Location: Toronto, ON
Thanks: 12
Thanked: 11 times in 10 posts
dbone1026 wrote:
Richard - ok, being the dork that I am I just remoted in to my PC at home and tested out my theory on single vobs. The best tool to use is mkvtoolnix. I tried MakeMKV on a single vob but it didn't seem to like it. I took the single vob, dragged in onto the MKVToolnix GUI, and had a fresh mkv ready to play in MediaBrowser in 2 minutes.

Don't know why I didn't think of this before #-o . Basically I have a box set DVD of Chappelle's Show. Some of the episodes don't encode properly when encoding from the single vob to mkv using ripbot or mediashrink (I fixed the fps issue but was still getting A/V sync issues). I could have just wrapped the single vob into the mkv container without encoding, problem solved. The mkv would be bigger then if I had encoded down to h.264 mkv, but when all is said and done the end result is what matters. Phew....there is a jello pudding snack in the fridge with my name on it \:D/


So I was able to remux all of my single file VOBs into MKV format using MKVMerge GUI which is part of the MKVToolnix suite. The great thing is that I was able to queue up all of my vob jobs and remux them into the MKV container (screenshot below) and let the jobs run overnight. No encoding involved or loss in quality from my original files. I also noticed that the MKV container is more efficient than the VOB container in file size by several kilobytes.

All in all, it wasn't as painful as I thought the process would be and now I have these files in a format that Media Browser can understand. :banana:


Attachment:
mkvmerge.jpg
mkvmerge.jpg [ 103.23 KiB | Viewed 16390 times ]

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:20 am 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Glad it worked Richard, can't believe I didn't think of it earlier when I was dealing with my single vobs!!!

So what do you think of MediaBrowser (I can't remember if you were using MyMovies or something else before)?

Here is a thread with some Media Browser screenshots, I am perfectly happy with the stock UI that comes with Media Browser, but there are a lot of good mock ups out there.

http://www.sevenforums.com/media-center ... -ever.html

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:25 am 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:29 pm
Posts: 820
Location: Toronto, ON
Thanks: 12
Thanked: 11 times in 10 posts
dbone1026 wrote:
Glad it worked Richard, can't believe I didn't think of it earlier when I was dealing with my single vobs!!!

So what do you think of MediaBrowser (I can't remember if you were using MyMovies or something else before)?

Here is a thread with some Media Browser screenshots, I am perfectly happy with the stock UI that comes with Media Browser, but there are a lot of good mock ups out there.

http://www.sevenforums.com/media-center ... -ever.html


Damian, Media Browser ROCKS!!!!!!! I'm also using Meta-Browser to update my movie information which also ROCKS!!!! I felt that MyMovies was higher maintenance than these 2 other tools and stopped using it.

I was always envious of the Apple TV and the cover flow that it had but the device wasn't flexible enough for me. With Media Browser and Meta-Browser, I can have all the functionality and eye candy. While functionality is important, it's the eye-candy that will make this setup more WAF friendly and have her and others say "Wow!"

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:24 am 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:29 pm
Posts: 820
Location: Toronto, ON
Thanks: 12
Thanked: 11 times in 10 posts
I just wanted to share my very positive experiences with Media Center (MC) in Windows 7 RC on my secondary HTPC. First of all, the OS appears to me to be rock-solid. Keeping things in perspective though, I'm only using the OS on a computer with a very limited role as an HTPC so very few applications are actually on it relatively speaking to a regular PC.

I'm currently only using MC with the following add-ins: Media Browser, SecondRun.tv, and Hulu Desktop (along with the desktop player). I showed off the whole setup to my better half and she really likes the interface and the ability to catch up on episodes of Prison Break. :)

Being from Canada, I can't subscribe to Netflix nor have I found a work-around for that. Our cable providers do not provide free OTA broadcasting so I'm stuck getting cable boxes from my provider. There are other issues but the point being that I haven't explored the PVR capabilities of MC. I do own the HD-PVR on my primary HTPC but it's currently using SageTV and I'm not prepared to upgrade that PC to Windows 7 yet until the production OS is released or consider alternatives (Linux?).

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 6:20 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
Wondering if anyone on the forum here is using Linux for their HTPC? If so please share your experience. I am sure using Linux with a Media Center Software (XMBC/Boxee/Linux MC) on one of the Ion systems could be quite interesting.

I haven't tried the PVR side of W7 yet, my monitor issues is keeping me from doing too much right now. At minimum I think I plan on getting the HD PVR so I can pull out a bunch of recordings I have saved on my Cable Box DVR.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:51 pm 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:33 pm
Posts: 902
Location: Florida
Thanks: 53
Thanked: 35 times in 35 posts
Damian,
I updated my June 2, 3:07PM post (in this thread) to show that I now have successfully upgraded my Win7 Beta to Win7 RC without having to do a clean install, thereby avoiding reinstalling all my apps and settings. The upgrade went without a hitch and apps work great after the upgrade. WHS/MSS connector and console software work just as before. You can use this method (as described in my earlier post) to avoid a clean install going from XP or Vista as well. I really like Win7 and others I respect on this forum have recommended it too. My post on June 2 is updated and provides a link to the article describing how to edit the .ini file to do an upgrade instead of a clean install. I also provided a link to the download page for Win7 RC.

Now to the main reason for my post. I downloaded Media Browser and meta browser today and was wondering if these apps automatically know where to look for folders with dvr-ms movies and TV recordings. When I went back to my VMC to see what the name was for meta browser, I noticed a Media Browser Configuration app was up I had not seen before. I may have just answered my own question as it seem to be the missing link I was looking for to tell Media Browser where to look on my VMC and my MSS for movie and tv series files.

Let me go configure that. I may be back to ask more questions here if I still missed something in the configuration app. I completely missed it before asn was expecting the configuration stull to be in Media Browser instead of a seperate app. Sorry for the early post, but wanted to get to some help early since I was completely lost befor noticing the extra config. app.

George

_________________
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle - Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:23 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:23 am
Posts: 3838
Location: Long Island, New York
Thanks: 94
Thanked: 243 times in 236 posts
SeaRay33 wrote:
Now to the main reason for my post. I downloaded Media Browser and meta browser today and was wondering if these apps automatically know where to look for folders with dvr-ms movies and TV recordings. When I went back to my VMC to see what the name was for meta browser, I noticed a Media Browser Configuration app was up I had not seen before. I may have just answered my own question as it seem to be the missing link I was looking for to tell Media Browser where to look on my VMC and my MSS for movie and tv series files.
George


Hey George,

Congrats on getting up and running on W7. I am in the process of updating an old PC to give to my inlaws, I just threw XP on there, but may be tempted to just put the W7RC as it has been very stable for me.

MediaBrowser will locate whatever media files that 7MC recongizes. As far as getting metadata with MetaBrowser you need to open up MetaBrowser. At the bottom left click on the options button, which you can then add your folder locations. Also, in this same option add any valid extensions that may be missing (like dvr-ms)

Attachment:
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG [ 71.47 KiB | Viewed 16293 times ]

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:12 pm 
Offline
Top Contributor
Top Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:33 pm
Posts: 902
Location: Florida
Thanks: 53
Thanked: 35 times in 35 posts
dbone1026 wrote:
SeaRay33 wrote:
Now to the main reason for my post. I downloaded Media Browser and meta browser today and was wondering if these apps automatically know where to look for folders with dvr-ms movies and TV recordings. When I went back to my VMC to see what the name was for meta browser, I noticed a Media Browser Configuration app was up I had not seen before. I may have just answered my own question as it seem to be the missing link I was looking for to tell Media Browser where to look on my VMC and my MSS for movie and tv series files.
George


Hey George,

Congrats on getting up and running on W7. I am in the process of updating an old PC to give to my inlaws, I just threw XP on there, but may be tempted to just put the W7RC as it has been very stable for me.

MediaBrowser will locate whatever media files that 7MC recongizes. As far as getting metadata with MetaBrowser you need to open up MetaBrowser. At the bottom left click on the options button, which you can then add your folder locations. Also, in this same option add any valid extensions that may be missing (like dvr-ms)

Attachment:
Capture.JPG

Damian,
Thanks for the prompt response. I see how to define where the video files are with MetaBrowser but I still need to do a lot more reading on organization of files and file names, etc. Looks like it witll be a while before I get it gathering data from me. Don't worry yourself with it. I'll bone up on it and get it running in a bit.

On MeidaBrowser, it will not expand the Network Icon for selection of shares on my MSS. Not sure why. It shows Network in the browse results, but will not let me expand it to HPServer. Again, I have a bit of a learning curve and now see I just need to delve in. Thanks for getting back and giving me a start.
George

_________________
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle - Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 379 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1 ... 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 ... 26  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group