x264 .mp4 video plays fine on one Xbox but stutters/skips on another...

[bripab007]

So, I encoded a movie using my old stand-by x264 preset for DVDs in Handbrake, iPod Legacy (formerly known as iPod - HiRes in old Handbrake versions), and it plays fine, albeit at a high CPU usage (skips frames when I pull up the title menu), on my Xbox, but skips like hell on my friend's Xbox, making it unwatchable.

I thought I was crazy, so my friend encoded a completely different video with the same preset in both the old Handbrake and the newest version that I used to encode the previous video, and the rip using the newest Handbrake skips on his Xbox but plays fine on mine, whereas the rip he made using the old Handbrake plays fine on both our Xboxes.

I know the latest HB uses the newest x264 code changes, and, judging by the fact my Xbox CPU usage was a few percent higher when decoding the newer rip as opposed to the older one, I'm guessing picture quality for a given bitrate was improved.

So, if I go with that theory, then why in the heck is my Xbox still able to decode the vid without dropping frames, whereas my friend's cannot?

These are both softmodded Xboxes, using the same Krayzie Ndure softmod, and I think the one difference is that I'm running XBMC as my dash, booting directly to the E:\dashboard\default.xbe file, whereas I believe my friend installed the Team XBMC shortcut.xbe pointer file.

Could this have any impact on performance? I wouldn't think so, but I can't for the life of me think of any other factor that would have a bearing on this situation.

[bripab007]

Okay, it turned out to be a difference in cache settings. The Video - Local Network Cache was set to 4096kb on my Xbox and 2048kb on his.

I can't for the life of me remember if I ever changed that setting in the past or if newer builds of XBMC have the cache set that high by default.

[rashid420]

Okay, it turned out to be a difference in cache settings. The Video - Local Network Cache was set to 4096kb on my Xbox and 2048kb on his.

I can't for the life of me remember if I ever changed that setting in the past or if newer builds of XBMC have the cache set that high by default.

1) Point me to this "handbrake" thingy. Any tutorial link will be super. I tried Media Encoder to convert a 720p MKV to XviD HD and the result was an unplayable avi file.

2) Can you play DVD ISOs over the network without stutter? If it stutters for you with DVD Local Network cache of 2048 but doesn't with 4096, please let me know. Because I'm getting wierd behavior, sometimes it skips sometimes it doesn't. I am reluctant to UP the cache because documentation warns against doing this because CPU has to work that much harder. Dunno what the connection is.

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

[bripab007]

Incredibly surprised you frequent the XBMC forum and haven't heard of Handbrake; it's pretty much the de facto video ripping/encoding utility for Mac folks and has quite a big Linux and Windows following, too.
http://handbrake.fr/

[rashid420]

Incredibly surprised you frequent the XBMC forum and haven't heard of Handbrake; it's pretty much the de facto video ripping/encoding utility for Mac folks and has quite a big Linux and Windows following, too.
http://handbrake.fr/
Okay, I haven't been with XBMC for long. No really. I might of course have asked a lot of stupid questions.

Any way, I googled, and as I type this am converting one 720p MKV file to XviD. My problem is that whenever I attempt conversion with a new tool, I invariably F up. Just today I tried MediaEncoder because someone on the boards suggested it. The instructions were so simple, and I'm still getting an unplayable file, even on the PC itself.

DVD to XviD fine. I get it. Have done it. What's there to know, AutoGK, how many CD-Rs, done. No way to mess up. Now, MKV 720p to XviD and retaining quality? No, I suck.

[rashid420]

Okay, so I converted MKV to XviD using Handbrake. Video quality looks good. But No Audio :sad:

I just looked at what "default" settings I used. It so happens, I used AC3. That should be a good thing I thought. And I'm sure AC3 plays on my computer. Is it possible the file will play sound on my XBoX while not on my computer. Sounds far fetched I know, but thought I would ask.

[Bauer007]

Just curious, bripab007: what are your settings? I'm struggling to get a solid one going...

[bripab007]

I just use the Apple > Legacy > Ipod Legacy preset in Handbrake, then just tailor the bitrate depending on the resolution of the source video, using this as a rough guide: http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=HOW-TO_Encode_H.264_Videos_Compatible_With_XBMC_For_Xb ox

I haven't spent as much time fine-tuning as that guy has, so I'm usually leaving a lot of bitrate/quality on the table when I do my rips (e.g. I probably end up using ~800-1100bitrate for 640x480 vids, typically).

[Bauer007]

I just use the Apple > Legacy > Ipod Legacy preset in Handbrake, then just tailor the bitrate depending on the resolution of the source video, using this as a rough guide: http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=HOW-TO_Encode_H.264_Videos_Compatible_With_XBMC_For_Xb ox

I haven't spent as much time fine-tuning as that guy has, so I'm usually leaving a lot of bitrate/quality on the table when I do my rips (e.g. I probably end up using ~800-1100bitrate for 640x480 vids, typically).
Yeah, I'm still tinkering with it myself...how long does it take you to encode a movie?

[bripab007]

Ummm, depends on your processor, the bitrate, number of passes, which codec you're using to encode, all the quality algorithm settings, which audio codec you're encoding to and more!

On my 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, encoding with x264 with two passes, first being a turbo-pass, 128kbit AAC audio and 640x480 resolution, I'm lucky to get ~20-25fps encoding.

[Bauer007]

Ummm, depends on your processor, the bitrate, number of passes, which codec you're using to encode, all the quality algorithm settings, which audio codec you're encoding to and more!

On my 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, encoding with x264 with two passes, first being a turbo-pass, 128kbit AAC audio and 640x480 resolution, I'm lucky to get ~20-25fps encoding.
basically got the same thing, only mine is 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo Macbook...

I don't do the two passes thing, either....

All in all, with a very minor tweaks to the pre-set you suggested, I'm guessing it took over an hour to an hour-and-a-half (walked away)...

It looks good on my mac, but I haven't upped it to my network yet...