Media center configuration.

BoomAM

BoomAM

BoomAM

Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2003
Posts
16,206
Location
Atlanta, USA
Hi,
Can anyone offer any tips on configuring Win7/Media Center, like codecs, etc; to work with the most amount of formats possible?

Im converting my media server, running this board and adding a GeForce 210 with HDMI for HDMI output.

What i'd ideally like to do is just install codecs, and away i go! :p

At the moment i just have, media wise, on it:
- VLC
- CCCP Codec Pack - default configuration apart from speakers set to 'dont change from source'.

Any tips would be more than welcome. :)

Thanks in advance all.
 
If you've found that CCCP just works, and plays everything, then great, don't bother with shark007 codecs.

I use shark007 because it's the first thing I found that actually just worked on a clean Windows 7 installation. On an x64 installation, some bits use 32-bit codecs, some use 64-bit codecs, installing both prevents any issues.

MediaBrowser gives you a very slick 10ft interface for browsing and playing video content (sometimes too slick - you spend time looking through it rather than just watching!). I use it in conjunction with the old Beta version of MetaBrowser on my WHS machine, which automatically downloads all of the details for my video files - descriptions, actors (including their images), backgrounds, covers etc - it makes it very user friendly - my mum uses it daily to watch stuff, along with the native TV support built into Media Center.
 
I HIGHLY recommend the SAF Codecs

If HD Audio is required, setup FFDShow audio to pass HD audio (if required) and use the MC Decoder Utility to set the audio (and video if desired) to use FFDShow.

Works perfectly every time, unlike other methods i've seen, and the codec pack is minimal, just what you want.

Shark and CCCP install WAY too many codecs and most are duplicated.
 
Hmm.

Quite a few choices.

What i want to do is nice and simple, its basically just play in WMC with no faffing around. For sound to pass strait through to my HDMI output without having to worry about re-encoding the audio (just pass through in whatever format its in) and the same for video playback.

Shame i cant get VLC to be the 'player' for WMC. :-p
 
BoomAM said:
Hmm.

Quite a few choices.

What i want to do is nice and simple, its basically just play in WMC with no faffing around. For sound to pass strait through to my HDMI output without having to worry about re-encoding the audio (just pass through in whatever format its in) and the same for video playback.

Shame i cant get VLC to be the 'player' for WMC. :-p
Click to expand...

See post #5. Takes 2 minutes and will pass through as is. :)
 
I can't believe people are still using shark codecs and ffdshow. Its 2011!!!

mpchc with June's dx 10, will passthrough all audio
media browser set to use mpchc
meta browser for all your cover art, etc
 
Lucero said:
I can't believe people are still using shark codecs and ffdshow. Its 2011!!!

mpchc with June's dx 10, will passthrough all audio
Click to expand...

Really? I have the latest DX and couldn't get MPC-HC to bit stream HD Audio until I installed ffdshow. Please link me to instructions showing how this is done with MPC-HC.
 
Lucero said:
meta browser for all your cover art, etc
Click to expand...
I've just checked this out, and apparently it's $29.99, and then $19.99 a year if you want to keep it up to date (and that's restricted to the 2.0 version, I imagine a "3.x" will require a complete new purchase).

For something so trivial, when there are perfectly good free alternatives available... no thanks.
 
Lucero said:
I can't believe people are still using shark codecs and ffdshow. Its 2011!!!

mpchc with June's dx 10, will passthrough all audio
media browser set to use mpchc
meta browser for all your cover art, etc
Click to expand...

Robbie G said:
Really? I have the latest DX and couldn't get MPC-HC to bit stream HD Audio until I installed ffdshow. Please link me to instructions showing how this is done with MPC-HC.
Click to expand...

Lolcero? ARE YOU THERE?

I would like to know the answer please (though I suspect there is none and that you are getting confused by your multiple personality disorder again).
 
CaptainCrash said:
I've just checked this out, and apparently it's $29.99, and then $19.99 a year if you want to keep it up to date (and that's restricted to the 2.0 version, I imagine a "3.x" will require a complete new purchase).

For something so trivial, when there are perfectly good free alternatives available... no thanks.
Click to expand...

I've used metabrowser for many years and when the paid version came along I ordered it. It sits on my home server (not media centre) and effortlessly manages all my collections. The fact that I can just drop a file onto my storage and within seconds coverart, details, trailers are all in place is well worth the cost.

I have tried many others but none of the others seem to be as stable or require such little intervention. Time saves versus the small cost was well worth it for me.

Not sure how out of date this is but for a good while this was always considered a good guide for getting your Win7 HTPC up and running:-
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home...pc-after-fresh-win7-install-mediabrowser.html
 
Quick question:
My telly supports 24p input, should i be setting the refresh rate (over HDMI) from my PC to be 24hz or the standard 50/60hz for the smoothest video?

Gonna look at some of the programs you guys/gals have suggested this coming week as ive just rebuilt my media server from scratch...
 
If you are connecting to a TV than its got to be XBMC. Every single person that comes to my house to watch a movie falls in love with it. Im uploading a sample video now
 
Quick video of my XBMC setup

as long as your files are named right XBMC will scrape all the cover and fan art for you. No codecs needed

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom