Xvid Video converter for Windows 7 x64 - any ideas?

[Carol Haynes]

Looking for freeware to convert lots of files to XviD format.

My old DVD Home Theatre system played a variety of formats - I have replaced it with a BD Home Theatre system but it no longer supports DivX only Xvid and MKV so I need to convert a lot of DivX (and other AVI) files to XviD (preferred) format.

Anyone got any ideas for good freeware (I have already spent too much on video converters!).

I have TMPGEnc Xpress 4 but for some reason it crashes when reading some of the file formats although they play fine in WMP, WM Classic and DivX players ???

I have spent aged looking for suitable software via Google but as usual google gives Freeware = Free to download = Pay for it.

[eleman]

Sorry in advance for taking your time with something other than the solution, but...

I wish you rather considered replacing the new unit with one playing all formats you require, rather than converting the files you have. You know, every conversion takes something away quality-wise.

As to your question: WinFF

[Carol Haynes]

Sorry but I am not going to dump a less than 1 year old BD home cinema system so that I can play some rather dodgy DivX files! I know the conversion will be lossy but most of them aren't great to start with so it won't that much difference.

Thanks for the link to WinFF.

[eleman]

Sorry but I am not going to dump a less than 1 year old BD home cinema system

Uh, I thought the new system was really new (i.e. one week old or so) so that you could give it back and get another one.

[skwire]

What about an add-on device like a Boxee Box, WD Live, or Apple TV, etc., to play your files?

[Carol Haynes]

I am using my computer to stream video to my TV and also my BD Cinema device.

I don't want another device to connect to my TV (I already have a DVD/HD recorder, Sony BD Home Cinema, a satellite box and an ethernet switch connected to the TV). Any more boxes would drive me insane!

[skwire]

I am using my computer to stream video to my TV and also my BD Cinema device.

I don't want another device to connect to my TV (I already have a DVD/HD recorder, Sony BD Home Cinema, a satellite box and an ethernet switch connected to the TV). Any more boxes would drive me insane!

Gotcha.  =]  FWIW, I can vouch for the Boxee Boxes.  We have four of them in this house and they play damn near any file I throw at them.

[Deozaan]

I am using my computer to stream video to my TV and also my BD Cinema device.

I don't want another device to connect to my TV (I already have a DVD/HD recorder, Sony BD Home Cinema, a satellite box and an ethernet switch connected to the TV). Any more boxes would drive me insane!

What about using something like Subsonic or PlayOn to stream from your PC to the TV?

But yeah, if you're going to convert them, I'd recommend some form of FFMPEG. So WinFF works. (c:

[Carol Haynes]

Hmm - looked at Boxee - bit too pricey for my needs. Add to that the number of complaints about crap support in the UK and it is definitely a no thanks.

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0043EV3MS/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Basically in the UK the web services supplied only work with the BBC and YouTube - the lack of app or up to date Flash support killing any access to other UK TV services.

OK it might well play any file format but there are limited number I am having issues with so it seems a bit of a big price to pay for playing poor quality DivX files!

[4wd]

... only Xvid and MKV so I need to convert a lot of DivX (and other AVI) files to XviD (preferred) format.

When you say MKV, do you mean h.264 in an MKV container format?

Also, why do you prefer XviD over the assumed h.264?

Given the choice, I'd use h.264/MKV and convert them using VidCoder.
Choose the Normal Preset, change the container to MKV under Settings, choose an output folder, drop the files/folder to convert on the window, click Encode.

92 min DVD to h.264/MKV in less than 10 minutes, (98% across all cores - really affects Crysis 2 )

As for a media player, WD TV Live HD supports both BBC iPlayer/YouTube/etc and is normally reasonably cheap, (around AU$115), plus it plays a lot of container/codec formats.  The only thing people have found is that it has trouble with is MKV containers using compressed headers but it takes less than a minute to remux the file to use uncompressed headers.

[Carol Haynes]

My BD supports XviD and MKV formats (it doesn't specify what the MKV should contain - which is useful - not)

[4wd]

My BD supports XviD and MKV formats (it doesn't specify what the MKV should contain - which is useful - not)

If it says MKV container then it will normally be any codec that the player hardware can normally handle.

For playing DVDs this means MPEG1/2 and for BR this is MPEG4 ASP and AVC.

MPEG4 Part 2 of the specification is ASP, (Advanced Simple Profile), which is the coding specification XviD uses.
MPEG4 Part 10 of the specification is AVC, (Advanced Video Coding), which is h.264, which is a codec normally used for Blu-Ray.

Therefore, if the player can handle Blu-Ray, then by inference it can handle h.264 and because it states it can handle the MKV container format, then by extended inference it can handle h.264 within that container.  It will also handle MPEG4-ASP, (XviD), format video within a MKV container, (as well as an AVI container which is what they're implying by simply stating "XviD").

An easy way to test is just do an encode of a small video using VidCoder and see if it plays.  If it's a really small video, don't blink or else you'll be wondering if it did it

[Carol Haynes]

Thanks - I will give it a go

[Daleus]

This is an aside to the main thread.

Admittedly, I know less than just a little bit about video, codecs etc. In fact I post here, because I just lost the thread on this convo when 4wd hit containers. This is not your fault

Is theere a site or doc you can point to, that could give a basic crash course on "domestic video taming" as it were.

I have been wanting to setup some sort of streaming from computer to TV and have been using xbmc on an old xBox, but feel there is more I could be doing.

[Carol Haynes]

Depends on your TV - if it is internet connected check to see if it supports DNLA connections. If it does you whoule be able to connect to your PC library via the network (you may have to manually set up the required sharing options).

The only problem with my Sony Bravia setup is it occasionally drops the connection with the the DNLA service (not when in use though) and restarting the Windows media sharing service in Win 7 seems to instantly fix the problem.

[4wd]

Could try this one, seems relatively simple, (FLW): How to Stream Digital Media From Your Windows 7 PC

Personally, I just share the folder of videos on the computer and let the media player take care of everything - which XBMC should be happy with.

In my case, I use a WDTV Live Plus as a network media player.  I just navigate to the shared folder and select what I want to play.

No need to transcode, (which is what DLNA does), therefore no need for a over-powered computer just to distribute media.

This would be a different story if you wanted to stream media to different devices, (eg. smartphone, tablet, NMP, DLNA capable TV, etc) - in that case you would be better off with DLNA media streaming as it will transcode the media to something suitable for the device it's playing on.

In fact I post here, because I just lost the thread on this convo when 4wd hit containers.

Digital container format^w  

[Daleus]

The Xbox setup works well enough, but it's the second one I've had. It has stopped playing DVDs and while it still streams on the home network, the day is coming when it will just not turn on one day.

Carol, I'm digging into a very weirdly written manual for the TV to see what it can do. It's a 32 inch Bravia but I'm pretty certain it nothing fancy based on what I paid for it.

I realize I missed the mark in my previous comment. I need a consumer's guide to file formats. People keep giving me things to watch and they all play well on my gear but roughly half of the folks I pass the stuff on to, aren't able to play them on their gear.  I`d like to understand why and how I can correct this.

It`s not a pressing matter though. I should probably just watch the convo and follow any references provided.

4wd, I like the idea of the network media player, but I find myself with an embarrassment of riches at the moment, in that, I have spare computer gear I`d like to use if it would improve on the Xbox setup. In the meantime, thanks for the reference on container formats.  A lot to digest and I`m finding a lot of it inexplicably difficult to grok.

[Ehtyar]

Since the conversion will be in bulk, I'd recommend making direct use of ffmpeg (powers most video converters including the aforementioned winff) or mencoder (sister to mplayer - choose/find a build that suits) (alt1) (alt2).

If using ffmpeg, you're probably after a command line similar to this (audiophiles/videophiles please stop reading here):

Code: (generic)

ffmpeg -i "<input>" -vcodec libxvid -acodec libmp3lame -ac 2 -sameq -f avi "<output>"

See docs here for any other bells and whistles you might find useful. Be warned that using -sameq is likely to make some of your videos rather large - consider modifying bit/frame rates or frame size to compensate (lossy).

Ehtyar.

[4wd]

4wd, I like the idea of the network media player, but I find myself with an embarrassment of riches at the moment, in that, I have spare computer gear I`d like to use if it would improve on the Xbox setup. In the meantime, thanks for the reference on container formats.  A lot to digest and I`m finding a lot of it inexplicably difficult to grok.

Having just acquired a HP Microserver I decided to see what WHS 2011 could do in the way of DLNA serving - not much.  Seemed to only cater for a limited set of media, eg. MKVs weren't showing up on the WDTV Live.

However, I've installed SERViiO along with the SERViiO Add-in and the WDTV Live now sees everything, as well as a couple of Android phones being able to access it all.

Now to put the thread back on track: Any luck Carol?

[Carol Haynes]

VidCoder seems to do what I need, and is quite quick.

I have also been playing with Sony's "PS3 Media Server" which is available for windows and supposed to transocde stuff on the fly (including ISO files). Unfortunately it only seems to transcode to MPEG format which my TV/BD don't like as a streaming format! Other than that files that play work fine via that and it seems less prone to losing connection than Windows 7 DNLA service.