ok so im trying to watch this avi that has to be transcoded for the sound to work on my ps3...

for some reason all of the files when reached through the transcode folder appear as folders themselves and will not execute

i have reinstalled pms at least 5 times and tried making copies of files and all sorts of fun stuff but nothing

wtf

2/19/2010 4:11:39 PM

Make sure you're going to the 'video' tab on your PS3 and not images/music etc.

2/19/2010 4:31:45 PM

yep, its the right folder

2/19/2010 8:02:00 PM

So far my opinion is that the PS3 as a media server is terrible.

The Xbox is light years ahead in terms of being a media center.

For the record, I own a PS3, not an Xbox.

2/20/2010 9:53:23 AM

media centers and media servers are different.

The PS3 is more likely to be able to play the random avi file than the Xbox.

but for DevilWolf…

Go to the “Transcode Settings” of the server, click “Common transcode settings” and look at the bottom… what does it say for “Skip transcode” and “force transcode…"

2/20/2010 10:52:05 AM

there is nothing in either field

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 12:42 PM. Reason : im guessing i need to add .avi in force transcode?]

2/20/2010 12:35:30 PM

you can try that

i’d guess it’s something else though…

i know PS3 MS can be slow sometimes to populate for videos, you might just have to wait a minute

2/20/2010 12:48:25 PM

ok i added .avi (and then again without the dot) and it worked thanks moron



it still shows just as a folder in the transcode subfoler but mencoder is picking it up from its normal location now

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 12:53 PM. Reason : etc.]

2/20/2010 12:51:28 PM

Quote :

"media centers and media servers are different."

in terms of what the Xbox vs. PS3 tries to do, how so?

2/20/2010 4:50:14 PM

i realized the problem with how i have the settings currently...

the program will be transcoding every avi file instead of me being able to select transcoding solely for the few that actually need it

2/20/2010 7:25:12 PM

^^ the xbox integrates with your media center PC to share your photos videos TV shows etc. from Windows Media CEnter in an organized way.

The PS3 very dumbly just streams these things from directories you set up on your PC. I've used both, and they both are decent, but i've had much better luck getting playback of various file types on the PS3 than Xbox. Not to mention that you can play media from USB drives, or optical media on the PS3 (and copy them locally), which can't be done on the Xbox (only streamed).

2/20/2010 7:38:38 PM

gotcha.

My PS3 can't see my NAS, nor can it decode MKV, so it's useless to me as anything but a gaming and blu-ray rig.

2/20/2010 7:58:00 PM

i have to agree xbox is horrid at being able to play many formats. it works great when it works, though.

2/20/2010 7:58:28 PM

^^ can xbox do mkv?

PS3 Media Sever can transcode MKVs on the fly for the PS3 (and maybe Xbox too).

And they do make NASes with DLNA servers built in.



[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 8:04 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2010 8:02:27 PM

Quote :

"i have to agree xbox is horrid at being able to play many formats. it works great when it works, though."

I've heard that before but for some reason some of my videos can't play on the PS3 and only work on the xbox. Not sure exactly what codec they are though.

2/20/2010 8:16:04 PM

^^
Presumably-- My co-worker has 4 Xbox360s that he uses as a set top media box that streams from his NAS, and we exchanged a shitload of movies, with all of the ones I ripped being MKVs that he's loaded onto his NAS. I'm assuming that he was able to view them, but it's entirely possible that he had to convert them to some other format, but I doubt it.

my NAS is DLNA compliant -- my popcorn hour has no problems seeing it or decoding any of the plethora of codecs found on my NAS.

ultimately, it's just a case of the PS3 being unable to do what a crappy little box built in someone's garage can do with ease.

2/21/2010 1:31:17 AM

So, on this topic ...

I have a bunch of my kids movies/educational stuff downstairs on DVDs.... I want to RIP it on our PC(or save it on the ps3), and use the PS3 to show them movies on my hdtv upstairs when I am working/ignoring them...

Is there a best way to go about this? Can I save/rip directly to the PS3? If not, what format/software should I use for RIPing the DVDs on the PC?

2/22/2010 9:29:54 AM

xbox can't do mkv last i tried. this was a few months ago, but i had to convert all of my mkv files to mp4 to watch them.

2/22/2010 10:14:48 AM

both ps3 and 360 suck as media players (i own both). Hook up a PC, download VLC player, [/thread]

2/25/2010 5:04:03 PM

The 360 makes a great media player if you've got the right file formats or have a DLNA server that will transcode to something the 360 understands.

2/25/2010 6:35:35 PM

^^^still can't. which is why i got a wdtv live

2/25/2010 6:52:24 PM

Quote :

"xbox can't do mkv last i tried. this was a few months ago, but i had to convert all of my mkv files to mp4 to watch them."

MKV is a container, not a format. The 360 doesn't recognize the MKV container, but what's in the MKV is generally x264 video content which the 360 can read. As far as I know, it's just a matter of breaking it out of that container and the 360 should play it (again AFAIK, this is pretty much how the PS3 handles it as well).

2/25/2010 7:28:32 PM

yea, but still..it won't play it without having to do something to it first. which is really annoying

2/25/2010 7:33:22 PM

I'm sure you can just play with your streaming software of choice (assuming it transcodes) and get it to do whatever is minimally necessary.

Like, I have TVersity set up to stream WMV-HD to my WDTV Live and (essentially) just transcode the audio, since the video doesn't need to be touched but the audio isn't playable.

2/25/2010 7:51:15 PM

I guess that pretty much confirms that nothing beats the popcorn hour yet.

You need nothing separate to play any format (whether you're taking about an actual codec or a container)

2/26/2010 7:41:36 AM

Well, it kind of depends on how you define "beats". As far as playback compatibility, nothing beats the Popcorn Hour.

The WDTV Live, however, is like $100+ cheaper and really only lacking a handful of formats, the biggest of which (in my opinion) is the WMA Pro Audio since that's the default audio codec for WMV-HD files. It's never run into an issue playing any MKVs I've thrown at it though. It also has built-in YouTube playback which I think they nuked on the PCH.

I will say an XBox 360 and a WDTV Live combined make for a nice combination. It's also a pretty nice (and again, cheap) box to throw in your bedroom and still have playback for most of your media (assuming you're not like me with a bunch of WMV-HD content).

2/26/2010 8:38:43 AM

the only thing the wdtv live won't play for me is anything over 1 channel DTS I believe it was.. a lot of 1080p mkv blu ray rips are put into that format.. it's pretty easy/quick to convert the audio track over to a 1 channel though but has annoyed me a few times when i dont realize something is in that format and then have to wait on it to convert.

basically for anything over 1 channel in DTS it can only do pass through via an optical out. other formats are fine though to be in more than 1 channel

2/26/2010 8:47:13 AM

yep, playback compatibility is what I was meaning by "beats"

The only things the PCH is missing to help it cross the chasm in terms of the technology adoption curve are

1) A better, cleaner, more intuitive UI
2) Hulu, Netflix, Amazon and the other most popular web based media services
3) lower pricepoint.


Right now, it's main selling point for early adopters is that it has the widest compatibility for playback.

2/26/2010 8:49:45 AM

just download the mkv2vob program and you can turn any mkv file into a ps3 compatible format in seconds. I've used it dozens of times without issues.

2/26/2010 8:55:58 AM