Convert High-Def MKV to play on xbox 360 using Linux
There are a million different tutorials out there on how to convert a MKV file into a format that an xbox360 will play. You may have found, like i did, that most of them use 50 different questionable pieces of software to manipulate individual tracks and separate the mkv, etc, etc… I think those are ridiculous.
Please read the FAQ regarding xbox360 file format compatibility. It may help you pick better options for your particular files than the general ones i offer below.
The solution is simple: Use Avidemux.
- Install avidemux. To install it is simple. It’s in the Ubuntu repositories and I imagine you can also find it in other distros quite easily.
- Open avidemux and open the mkv you want to convert. If prompted some garbage about 264 and safemode, just use safe mode and dont worry about it.
- Select File -> Properties. This will tell you some info on the formats in use in your video file. Take this opportunity to identify what the xbox doesn’t like. When you are finished, click OK. If you want a second opinion, open up the folder with your mkv in it. Right click -> properties -> Audio/Video tab. This will also tell you the video and audio formats.
- We obviously know that it wont play a video in a MKV container, so first thing to do is change the “Format” dropdown to say “MP4″ (you can, of course use AVI, but the majority of files I run into are h.264 and aac audio. For this combo, you want mp4…)
- From the Properties menu, recall the video codec. H264 files show as “AVC1″ inside of avidemux. I’m sure theres a technical reason for this, but do you want to talk about it or watch your video?
Most of the time, you can leave the video droptown in avidemux on “Copy” this is nice because it means that your processor wont be re-encoding the video. This saves you quality and time. - From the properties menu, recall the audio codec. If you have a video with AAC stereo audio, leave the dropdown on “copy”.
This is where most of my files need some love. Many MKV’s have 5.1 surround audio tracks. This is great, but not for an xbox360. To mix the audio down to stereo, select AAC on the audio dropdown, then click “filters”. In the mixer dropdown, select “stereo”. - Click “save”. Avidemux will prompt you for a filename for the converted file. It does not default a file extension, so do yourself and your xbox a favor and add one yourself like “<videoname>.mp4″.
Once avidemux is finished with your file, it’s ready to go.
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
Hey, thanks! This is a really helpful tutorial (easy, short and effective). I used GotSent before but this had durations of over an hour. Now it’s done in 10 minutes.
BUT, what do i do when the filesize is much over 4 gigs? How can i split the file? because i dont want to rip it down, i dont want loose quality.
Avidemux can simply cut the video. You can use the “A” and “B” selectors to cut the time manually. You could also use their auto-cutter( File->AVI Muxer Options). To pick a file size to and have it automatically rollover to a new file.
Read up on the cutting features here: http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=using:cutting
That would be really cool but the auto-cutter function does not work for me. I make an mp4 out of an mkv and the option under file–>AVI Muxer Options was set on “4090 MB” already. But the outcome was one file with 14 gigs. Is there a way to activate this funktion?
i choosed the manual way, it’s also ok
Now i have another problem. when i transform an mkv to mp4 the uncutted file is totally funktioning. But when I cutted this mp4 in 2 or more pieces i have the following problem. The sound is synchron when i start one part and do nothig till the end. But when i use fast forward or skip to another location the audio and video is asynchron. this is on the pc with VLC and on the XBOX 360. that sucks.
can somebody helb me?
Ok, I finally got it^^. For all those people out there who have the same problem:
If the video-file is to big for FAT32 don’t transform the whole mkv to an mp4 and after that split the mp4.
Do it like this:
For example if you have to split it in 2 pieces use the A- and B-Markers to select the rest of the mkv (before you trasfer it) and cut it out. The rest of the file you save as an mp4 like it is told in the tutorial. For the other part you have to reload the mkv and cut the other part out. Maybe it works without cutting out but simply selecting. The importent point is that you should not cut the working mp4 otherwise you get this problems i told above.
Dont cut, just select the pieces out of the mkv and save it as mp4.
good luck…