On-the-fly video transcoding for Xbox 360

19 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley Nov 24th 2006 5:55PM
Filed under: Hacks, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

TVersity has released a patch enabling on-the-fly WMV transcoding for efficient-minded users seeking to stream video content from their PCs to Xbox 360. While incomplete, the patch previews the sort of functionality the final version will offer, including the ability to upscale videos to higher resolutions.

Our recent how-to guide highlighted the tediousness of the current transcoding method. We look to TVersity to render this old process obsolete. Try it out (extract to TVersity's Media Server folder) and lend your feedback.

Tags: stream, transcode, TVersity, video, WMV

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

sracer: Nov 24th 2006; 6:12PM

The TVersity on-the-fly transcoding of video to the 360 works great! I really appreciate the efficiency in which TVersity operates (compared to Windows Media Connect and WMP11). In addition to transcoding video, TVersity will also serve up internet radio streams to the 360.... finally, LuxuriaMusic.com streaming into my livingroom. :)

John: Nov 24th 2006; 6:29PM

WiiPS360 for the win!

lol!

Rob BMF: Nov 24th 2006; 7:14PM

sorry this one is a little off topic, but does anyone know if the MS HD movie downloads will be available in Canada or is it only a US thing

killr0y: Nov 24th 2006; 8:00PM

Its US for now, my Canadian friend. But fret not, Microsoft is working diligently on getting distribution rights for the digital content in Canada and Europe as soon as they can.

Max: Nov 24th 2006; 8:37PM

Pardon my n00biness...but how do I use this?

I got an error message that said, "This application has failed to start because taglib.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem" after I clicked the MediaServer exe.

Jonathan: Nov 24th 2006; 9:00PM

I got the same error message.

Angelo: Nov 24th 2006; 9:03PM

The ZIP linked in this post is only a PATCH for TVersity--you actually need the TVersity program installed in the first place before you can make use of it:

http://www.tversity.com/

K1NG J: Nov 24th 2006; 9:17PM

Hey, Let me ask you guys a Question. With this Software, can I watch all type of Video Format? MPG, AVI, DIVX, ETC?

Brian: Nov 24th 2006; 11:05PM

I installed and ran this and the result was crap. I played a divx file through the 360 and it was HORRIBLY pixelated and was borderline unwatchable. However, the same file looks fantastic using XBMC on the original xbox. Is this prob due to it being a beta or what?

ronen: Nov 25th 2006; 3:02AM

Quality can be controlled via the GUI. By increasing the target resolution you can even get an HD video. Of-course your computer needs to be fast enough to handle it. On the fly transcoding from standard defintion divx to standard definition WMV is achievable on a 2.8Ghz - 3.Ghz machines.

Surya: Nov 25th 2006; 9:48PM

I can't get it to work. The Xbox 360 displays the video titles I've added to the TVersity library (as well as loads of random internet videos in TVersity), but when I hit play, the Xbox displays an error saying it won't play because the video is not a supported format. I'm trying to play/transcode Divx videos, and I downloaded FFdshow codecs as recommended on the TVersity site. This is way too complicated! Any help would be appreciated.

Tobbe: Nov 26th 2006; 10:00AM

I have a question here. Does this works with streaming to? What I want to do is to record games on my PC that plays on Xbox Live so that other gamers can watch them later on. I still have not found a sollution to fix this problem. Any tips on software and hardware that could fix this would be appreciated.

Thx in advance.

KineticOnline: Nov 26th 2006; 11:59AM

the taglib.dll error is because you need to install the latest beta version before patching. taglib.dll wasnt a part of the program until then

Ryan: Nov 27th 2006; 5:28PM

So, can it stream live video? If so, emulation ahoy!

KineticOnline: Nov 28th 2006; 7:08AM

The newest release now includes the patch and a few improvements. Works a treat

Streets: Nov 28th 2006; 10:31AM

I'm also getting the error message, and I was updating an alreaedy installed version of Tversity...

Lawtowns Finest: Nov 28th 2006; 11:45PM

so this allows me to watch any video i want on my 360, without the need of windows media connect or anything else?

Ajguy: Nov 29th 2006; 10:55AM

@12: It is still possible that you are playing a video format that cannot be transcoded with what you have on your machine. The easy way to tell if TVersity can transcode a file is to first try playing it in Windows Media Player. This will ensure that the codec is indeed part of DirectShow (which is what TVersity uses when it transcodes the files).

Granted, you said just a Divx file, so it should work if you have FFDshow. Just make sure you extracted the beta patch to the correct folder (it will overwrite two files and creat a new one) or try reinstalling. Hope it works out for you.

I just got this working yesterday and I love it. At last I can watch the 1up Show on my HD downstairs instead of my iPod.

Keef: Dec 5th 2006; 8:11AM

I get it streaming ok but even on my wired 100 base T network, HD files stutter with the network congestion box in the top right.. shame because i was sure Tversity had cracked it for me...

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