Playing MP4 video files with Media Center

D

Dshow

New Member
Hi,
I have a Sony DSC-W290 digital camera that take HD video in 720P with the extension of "MP4". I can play the files on my computer with QuickTime player, but when I try to play them with Windows Media Center on the same PC, it says "Cannot play video. One or more codecs required to play this content cannot be found." The first time I tried to play these in Media Center, it downloaded a codec first before attempting to play, but it still cannot play them. How can I make Media Center play these video files?

Thanks-
 

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i dont know you'll have to try
 

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Dshow, do you happen to know what codecs your cam uses?

MP4 is nothing more than a container. Same as AVI,MKV etc.
Although the specs of what they support may be different, they all just hold Video/Audio streams.

So MP4 can have a variaty of things in it.



A Codec Package such as:

Shark007s ( Shark007's FREE Codec solutions - Windows 7 codecs )
--For codecs i would recommend this over any other as it does not make any associations nor does it change or interfer with anything.

It will have all you need, FFDshow, splitters etc and will allow WMP to play just about anything.
 

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My goal is to play these 720P MP4 files on my HD TV. I was looking for something to burn these to an AVCHD disc and play in my blu-ray player, but I have not found a program yet. (I thought Nero could do it, but it can't.) I also have a Xbox 360 that I can use as a media extender so I can just leave the files on my PC, which is what generated my question. (It is a Sony digital camera, a Sony Blu-Ray player, and a Sony TV.... You think they would play nice together!)

I sent Sony and Email, but they said I need to call them, so I'm trying to figure it out first... I do not know what codec(S) I have now on my PC. Is there a way to get a listing on what is installed? (The files play with QuickTime...)
 

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Making your Home videos into AVCHD for playback in Bluray players can easily be done with free tools.

Heres How:

::: multiAVCHD home :::
MultiAVCHD is a great app for creating a AVCHD format. Supporting multiple vdeos, menus etc.
All it does is Convert the MP4 or MKV File into a proper folder structure for AVCHD however.
You will still need something like IMGBURN (The Official ImgBurn Website) which is free, to actually burn the disc.

Once you create your AVCHD with MultiAVCHD, open Imgburn and choose burn files/folder to disc option.

You need 2 folders MultiAVCHD made --> BDMV & HDAVCTN
Put both those folders on the disc and burn.
IMGBURN may give a msg about being Bluray content & wants to change the burn settings ... just say YES.


it should playback in your Bluray player just fine, assuming its capable of AVCHD playback of course.

If for some reason it will not playback, or theres a issues w/menues etc, its likely due to the way the video itself is encoded.

The reason is, for the most part, video encoded that you want to be on AVCHD must follow certain criteria:
4 Ref Frames / 3 bframes / KeyINT 24 Min KeyInt 2/ Buffer 1400-14500


Some Bluray players are quite strict in these settings, others more leniant.
So if the original MP4 has 8 ref frames and 5 bframes, even if the rest is set correct, it may not playback.

Worst case scenario, you can use something like MEGUI to recode the MP4 to follow these guidelines.

Hope this helps.
 

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What short of problem are you haveing hopefulyl I can help.

Its FFDshow based, So you will need FFDshow codecs/Filters for it to work properly.

Nero9 can create AVCHD. Not sure about 8
 

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Thanks for your help, I know just enough to be dangeous...

Anyway, I got a new Sony DSC-W290 digital camera that takes video in 720P. Since that resolution is better than my camcorder, I want to play those files on my HD TV without buying a special cable from my camera and connecting my camera to the HD TV. The two options I've tried, burning an AVCHD disk or using the Media Center and my Xbox360 have not worked. I purchased Nero 9 and I thought I could burn an AVCHD disc with the files, but they don't work with Nero.

What is FFDshow? Can I check my PC to see what codecs I have?
 

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I agree :)

You will need it especially if you are going to be converting your home Videos to AVHD Discs.
 

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I'm not familiar with xbox but if you can play .mkv then MakeMKV may be simpler.
You can download the beta here:

MakeMKV - Video software and downloads - VideoHelp.com

I'm not sure if it likes just plain input files. It may want a disc structure from something like tsMuxer.

The thing that makes it fast is there's no compression. It converts regular DVD and BluRay titles into .mkv files.
 

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I think I will try the codec method first. What's the difference between the codecs at shark007.net and FFDshow? The FFDshow says it will handle MP4 files while shark007.net does not list them. Which one should I try?
 

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FFD show is actually included in Sharks Package and they are one and the same.

The difference is, Sharks package also has splitters (such as Haali and Gabest) among a few other things, AC3 filter etc.

If you DL just the FFDShow package, you may also need appropriate splitters.Also, it will require configuring.

Sharks package will need little configuration, and does not assciate file type nor interfer with the built in codecs.
by the same token, it has the ability to disable Ms video decoders and force FFDshow decoding always if you choose to.
 

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    Intel Q9650 Quad @ 3.6
    Motherboard
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    Graphics card(s)
    Sapphire HD4890 1GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W2453V
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Also Shark codecs has its own forum. You can get advice straight from the programmer. I've been over there and I didn't notice him keel hauling anyone. Just offers help. :)
 

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I downloaded and installed the Shark codecs. Windows Media center can now play the MP4 video files on my PC. So my next step was to now see if they could be played on my TV with my Xbox 360 Media Extender. When I fire up the Media Center in Xbox, I can see all the pictures on my PC. When I went to videos, on a couple of the videos, I could see a screen shot indicating what the video was but when I tried to play it, I got a codec or corrupt file message and it could not play it. Might this be a bandwidth issue since I'm using a wireless G network?

So now I back to thinking I need to burn these to an AVCHD disk....?
 

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If you want to try AVCHD try tsMuxer. If it doesn't work, at least it's pretty fast. No 5 hour reencoding.
 

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  • Manufacturer/Model
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    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
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    Graphics card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G 2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
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