Encode360 2.0 RC2
This release is primarily to bring some components up to date, and some minor code changes to hopefully prevent against a few problems. I spent some time yesterday investigating the possibility of removing K-Lite and configuring the codecs on the fly through Encode360, but it just looks too difficult to do right now 
Given that Microsoft are probably going to be supporting DivX content with the dashboard update due tomorrow, I think you can pretty much scrap the need for this apps existence so at this point, development will probably stop. Thanks for everyone’s support on the project so far, particularly the forum moderators who gave up their spare time to help people out with problems. Oh, and Happy 1st Birthday Encode360, although a bit belated. It was about 2 weeks ago …)
Changelog and download link are in the Encode360 section
Dan,
I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your time and hard work with Encode360.
We still need it for those 720p MKV files
Thank you for this, although xbox is now supporting xvid I still use this all the time with my zune and it’s a great piece of software, thank you
Lets hope that the divx update is up to scratch. And thanks for all your hard work on Encode360 whilst we needed it!
This crashes on startup for me on Vista. I have reinstalled a few times. I think this app will still be needed since the 360 still cannot handle MKV x.264 files properly and only 2 channel audio on h.264 even after the patch.
Tank you for the hard work! But i dont think encode 360 is totaly obsolete yet. HD in mkv files is getting more and more normal and I use encode 360 for this all the time. But since its working pretty well I have no complaints
Anyone expecting to use DivX on 360`s Media Centre may be disapointed to know that the codecs only apply to the dash board and not the MC software…therefore keep up the good work Mr Cunningham !! I for one will still need to use this excellent software.
Yep – can confirm, no divx in the update.
First thank you for a great software.
Second we need this appication cause xbox has only 2channel audio support on divx or h264 files not 5.1
same problem in vista. it crashes and will not load… any ideas??
tried with and without codec pack, have installed windows media encoded…………………
Thanks for the update! In my opinion, until the 360 supports mkv, this app will be extremly important. And since we all know that mkv will never be supported, don’t give up on it. Thanks again
Crashes prior to the main application screen opening ALWAYS relate to the COM Interops not being able to interact with Windows Media Encoder correctly. Although you might have installed it, it’s likely that the installation didn’t complete correctly (ie, some DLL’s not registered or something).
Try uninstall and reinstall Windows Media Encoder. Also, make sure you have the additional hotfix for Vista installed.
Cheers, Dan
Yeah, for the Media Center crowd, this is still pretty useful. Don’t abandon us!
This software is great, I use it to convert to the Zune.
How about one last version to ad 720×480 mode for the Zune? The Zune 80gb supports that resolution. Thanks for the great job!
Actually that resolution is already supported. Just set it in the autoscale (it’s labelled 480i/p) and set the bitrate for the Zune under advanced settings. You can even save that as the default if you want
Dan
Small obversation. There’s tons of comments here, but how come no-one’s Dugg it yet?
DOT NOT STOP DEVELOPMENT!
I don’t think the Xbox360 will ever be able to play .mkv files because of memory limitations so this app is 100% needed!
we still need encode360.
i don’t see why you would stop working on this great tool just because microsoft decided to add support for a dead video format like divx.
today people want to watch HD content. like so many people already pointed out, we really need quality software like encode360, we don’t want to go back to watching those crappy divx versions of our favourite series when there are 720p available in mkv format.
thanks and keep up the good work!
Well I was mainly stopping development for two reasons: #1 – I’ve been getting no assistance in developing it and #2 – I don’t have a PC at home anymore! . Both of these reasons make it virtually impossible for me to solve some of the long standing problems (consistent 64-bit support, multi-threaded encoding and codec configuration come to mind).
Then publish the code on sourceforge.net/codeproject.com or simular pages. Then our “base” will be moved forward!
Thank you so much for your hard and great work Dan!
Hello, Great App i have been using right from the first Beta stages and have found it very useful ever since
i am having problems with installing RC2 on vista, RC1 worked fine but the app is crashing before it loads,
i have tried uninstalling WMC and reinstalling then trying to install encode360 but with no luck, have also tried it by uninstalling k-lite before the encode360 install but still having the same problem,
do you have any ideas what may be causing this?
Can you have a look in your eventlog (Windows Key + R, then type EventLog.MSC) under Applications and see does it provide more info there?
Cheers, Dan
Dan,
This is a great app! I have been using it to convert AVIs and VOB files directly to WMV. It just does what it’s supposed to do. However, recently it has left off the first 25-30 minutes of each film. The encoding it does is great, but I must be missing something. I installed the K-Lite codecs with the settings suggested. I am on XP Pro, SP2. It has worked in the past. I just don’t have any idea what I may have done to have it not encode from the beginning. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Paul
Paul Demmitt
Columbia, MD
_____________
Dan,
i reinstalled WMC again a few times and applied the hotfix after i posted that message and it seems to work, i dont know if vista did not apply the hotfix the first few times as it would appear but all seems to be working ok now.
great work on the app its very useful i mainly use it to convert x264 HD files to WMV to stream to the xbox which works very well, it has got to be the easiest solution to convert files to WMV there is, it would be a great shame if dev stopped on this app.
ok got it working, just install the hotfix for windows media encoder Here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929182
and i just hit repair for encode360 install package and the program starts fine!!!!!!!!!
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929182
I had to run that hot fix as administrator (as in right click run as), even though I the account I had signed on with is the administrator account….
After that encode360 started working for me.
I also want to say encode360 is wonderful software and please keep up the good work! and we need it!
one final note I registered for the support forum yesterday and still have not received a confirmation email……
I’m a new Zune user and just found Encode360. Thanks for the program and your hard work.
just getting ready to try Encode360 out!
Seems to me this software would still be totally relavant still, as WMV (and mpeg2 but we won’t count that) is still the only format compatible when you have your 360 in the media center extender mode. As described in the mdsn blogs in section #10
http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/11/30/december-2007-video-playback-faq.aspx
Please, PLEASE, keep developing this program. It is amazing!!! It’s the only simple one step solution I’ve found for transcoding video files for playback on the 360. Divx and Xvid support are really only useful for those interested in SD video files. I am only interested in HD playback on my 360 and I LOVE this application. It just works, nothing out there even comes close. Hell, I would even pay for it if you started charging for it especially if you upkept it and kept expanding on it as the 360’s abilities change.
At least, if you’re going to stop development on it, release the source code to sourceforge and let the community have a stab at it.
Wow, I’m impressed. This is about as 1-click successful solution as you can get. After applying the Vista patch to WMEncoder9. It worked great. I’ve got a side problem though, when I combine multiple .VOB files (which make up a main movie) into one, no application could read the correct movie length. It has caused ill varying side affects, but most importantly in Vista Media Center the movie stops part way in. This is not a problem with Encoder360 though, but still if any have any suggestions… thanks !
Mark – use DVD shrink to backup vobs into a single file….
if you have all the vobs from existing backups you can even reauthor those into a single vob also.
you don`t need to encode vobs ! rename to mpg will work fine for most titles…some you`ll need to streamfix via Videoredo.
Dan,
Thanks for all your work on Encode360. I hope you do not stop development. If you do stop please consider releasing it to Sourceforge. I got myself a Zune for Christmas and was about to return it because I couldn’t sync my TV shows (MPEG2 files). I ran across your program and figured I’d give the Zune one more shot. I was looking for a program that the Wife and kids could easily use and Encode360 worked perfectly! Thanks again.
Dan,
Thanks for such a great tool. It is one of the most useful tools on my desktop. Like the others say, we all use it to convert and resize mkvs, cus Xbox 360 means High def in 1080p. Stuff Divx!
Just upgraded to Vista Ultimate 64Bit and damn it, it says Windows Media Encoder isn’t in stalled when i try to install Encode 360.
WME 64 Bit is installed, guess Encode 360 can’t see the 64 bit encoder?
I’m broken hearted to say the least.
Forget my last rant. I installed the 32 bit WME and it’s fine Yay! Phew!
LOL forget my 2nd bout of excitement WME error showing….
Error class_encoder/EncoderStart/EncoderPrepare. It was not possible to find a valid source plug-in for the specified source.
Thanks for the program DC. I don’t have a 360 but I do own a 30gb zune. and I love this program. This is the only program i can find that is free, and encodes movies for my 1st gen zune. Honestly, without encode360, my zune would probably be a music only player. ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou. i hope you find the time to improve on this already great app.
LOL forget my 2nd bout of excitement WME error showing….
Error class_encoder/EncoderStart/EncoderPrepare. It was not possible to find a valid source plug-in for the specified source.
i get the same message, it goes away when i force quality based audio encoding, but i lose my 6 channels. again, THIS IS A GREAT PROGRAM! always appreciate freeware.
Hi there.
Seems like a great app, but it crashes the moment I try to launch it in Vista. Any clues to what causes this?
Sincerely,
- Oystein Saebo -
Please see the Encode360 page under Projects to see a list of prerequisites. In particular, you *NEED* Windows Media Encoder 9 (and Vista patch if necessary) applied. Otherwise Encode360 *will* crash on startup.
Dan
-Dan
even if encoder 9 is installed properly you still have problems converting some x264s in vista. thats the problem oystein is referring to. as i mentioned before the problem goes away when you convert only 2 channels but thats have the point of the hdwmvs. this IS a great program when it works. thanks again.
o yea. the hotfix doesn’t fix the problem either.
update: although most dolby 5.1 will encode, ALL x264s with DTS will encode
nevermind. not even all the dts x264s will convert.
okay, i completely reinstalled vista and everything works fine now. thanks dan.
Hey Dan,
Nice work, this program rocks! I appreciate how much time you have invested in creating this app and distributing it for free. I am hoping you don’t give up on development. I for one would be willing to donate via paypal to keep this project going. Alternatively, if you just don’t have the time why not make it open source and post on google code or sourceforge.
Thanks again.
Two questions: Why do Harold.And.Kumar.Go.To.White.Castle.2004.720p.HDTV.x264-hV, Donnie.Darko.2001.720p.HDTV.x264-THOR, Big.Daddy.1999.OAR.HDTV.720p.x264-MdM, and Jaws.1975.DVD5.720p.HDTV.x264-NBS all show up in encode360 as 2channel when they are 5.1? Where can I donate? I love this program.
Hi!
I’d love to try this. I think this does everything I need but it keeps crashing while I try to start it. I installed WME and ran the patch as administrator. After that I installed without k-lite and when that failed I changed the install to install K-lite as well. Still the program crashes on me when I try to start.
I’m using Windows Vista business 64bit. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Rajackar