360 file sharing

[Drayu]

So....I have been trying to figure out this file sharing thing for a day or two. I tried installing media extender, but had no luck. After looking at www.xbox.com/pcsetup I found out that I had to install the Zune software, not my ideal way, but it works. Install and then you can close it and your xbox connects fine. This says to me a process is still running, and damn do I hate that!!!!

What I don't like about the connection is that you can browse folders in your shared directory for music and photos, but you can browse for video for some reason. Just an irk. This means all of my neatly foldered videos now have to be put into one :(

[Bonez]

i use WMP11 to set up the sharing.

[Drayu]

Hmm....I thought wmp was for vista....hmm....if I can, I would rather use that than having too many windows apps on my pc.

[Bonez]

it still leaves something in the startup, but it's basically the same size as a plugin for WMP so it's small.

[Father Goose]

Err, you can tell Zune (or WMP 11) to look in other folders for videos and stuff, can't you? I'm pretty sure I can. I use my 360 to watch all KINDS of videos and I'm pretty sure that you can tell it where to look.

[Drayu]

yes you can tell it where to look :) I just can't get it to update when I put new videos in....still showing the original 5 I put in there :(

[wihadmin]

I've got the same problem. The 360 can't see the newly added files into the library.

edit: It's weird. Of the files that initially showed up, I can make copies of those and the copies will show up. But any new files added won't show up. I wonder if there are attributes in those files that the 360 is looking for.

edit: ok. I figured it out. The key is that dropping files into the library won't make it available on sharing. WMP have to search for it itself in the folders you specified and then the videos will show up on sharing. Stoopid WMP!

[Father Goose]

I do not have this problem and I don't know why. If I,for instance, download the 1UP Show, and unzip it into my folder, the 360 will automatically see it when I want to watch it, even if I haven't opened WMP 11 between now and then.

[wihadmin]

Here's a program that I know some of you will appreciate. It eliminates the WMP11 file sharing crap all together and will allow you to stream all sorts of media types to your 360.

http://tversity.com/home/

And might be helpful if you also get ffdshow

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/FFDShow.htm

[Multiplex]

Wow, that just made my day. That works with the 360 and my DLink DSM-320!

Gonna install that instead of the D-Link Media Center tool... which really sucks hard.

[wihadmin]

The transcoding process from .avi to .wmv does lose some resolution. Make sure you set TVersity's setting to do at least 640x480. I have mine set at 1280x1024 but in actuality, most of my files are less than 640x480. Then use ffdshow's picture properties to do any correction of gamma, hues if needed.

I also noticed that once the transcoding process started on the PC, even if you stopped watching the file midway on the 360, the transcoding process continues. You have to stop the Media Server process, restart it and delete the temp files.

[tHa_KhAn]

I've been using Tversity for a while now for music and pics. Maybe I missed something on setup, but I thought you couldn't stream video without Media Center or WMP 11?

[wihadmin]

I've been using Tversity for a while now for music and pics. Maybe I missed something on setup, but I thought you couldn't stream video without Media Center or WMP 11?

TVersity eliminates the need for WMP11 file sharing. It still requires that you have WMP11 installed to share vids to your 360. But you don't have to do anything other than install WMP11.

TVersity have its bugs, but it does what I need it to do just fine. I just wish that there's some sort of communication from the 360 back to the Tversity media server telling it that I've stopped viewing the video and it should stop transcoding it.

[tHa_KhAn]

Thanks for the tip. I'll get WMP11 asap then. The endless vid clips you could show. Have you been able to setup streams of vids? I know it says you can do that with music, but using YouTube links or something of the sort?

[Drayu]

good question on the streams...would be interesting.