I want to Direct Play instead of Transcoding. Here is how the streaming would work, at most 3 streams would play. most time 1, some time 2, but on the off chance ever one is doing there own thing it would be 3.
Devices:
2 andriod phones
1 wired network pc or ps3, same room one or the other maybe playing video
1 Roku express +
1 HTPC hooked up to AVR
The HTPC is the plex server.
I am ready to start my encoding, but seem to keep getting transcoding thing popping up eating cpu when I stream try to stream. Using MKV format.
I do want to keep the DTS master/ HD audio, but only the HTPC can decode it I think. the others are just tv with built in speakers. What how do I make sure I have right audio for other devices, do I passthur the 2.0 on the disc, do I downmix the 5.1? what codec do I pick stereo?
Also at this point would x264 high profile and level 4.0 or 4.1 be fine for direct play? A chunk of my library will be from blurays.
I found my video settings for a few season based shows, but need to get my other settings right. I am ready to queue up and batch encode.
I was using MKV for its holding of many streams. Is this not a good idea?
I have tested a few so far x264 lvl 3.0, 4.0, 4.1 with high profile.
It always trans codes. 5.1 ac3 or auto passthur, and ac3 downmixed to stereo use about 10% cpu. But AAC stereo uses like 90% cpu. all other video settings the same.
My rig is AMD 8320 with 16gb ram.
EDIT: aac that was 90% was AVC(aac). Is ac3 also a aac?
I, too, have been using mkv but now wondering if I should go back and re-encode everything to mp4 with the goal of making the movies compatible with the majority of streaming devices that have access to my server. I notice that most of the movies that are being transcoded from “H264 to H264,” and I am guessing it’s because the user’s player wants an mp4 format. (I’ll test that with some experimentation.)
Along the same topic, I’ve been experimenting with AC3 vs. AAC. Again, most users are having to transcode the audio file from either “AC3 to AAC” or “AAC to AC3.” (Or, sometimes, it’s “AAC to AAC.” Shrug?) I guess it depends on the player at the other end. Very rarely do I see somebody getting a full-on Direct Stream without having to transcode either the video or the audio stream or both. Trumpy81, you’re saying that AAC is the most compatible? I was thinking it would be AC3 because AC3 is, I think, older and more backwards compatible, no?
Thanks for the detailed answer. I did a test after posting this question. I found a movie that was transcoding both the video and the audio stream (the audio stream was 2-channel AC3). I ran the movie through a conversion program, passing the audio stream through (untouched) and changing the MKV file to MP4. Playing back the new version, the movie now played as a Direct Stream, transcoding NEITHER the video or audio stream, even though the audio stream was the same. SO! That’s encouraging, as I now know how to get a movie to play without transcoding. It’s DIScouraging when I now have to decide if I want to re-encode all of my movies. Also, I need to figure out if the new MP4 file plays as a Direct Stream for all the other users who use my Plex Media Server. It’s a process!
I’m familiar with handbrake and have used it to make my entire library of MKV files. I now realize I should have been making mp4s all along. Now I’m on the hunt for the perfect demux/remux program but have not been able to find the magic app. Many of them work just fine, and some are pretty quick, but they all have the same shortcoming: none of them seem to have a good subtitle tool. They all seem to ignore the subtitle stream. What I wish I could find is program like MKV Toolnix, but for MP4 files. MKV Toolnix just passes every stream through without changing it, including the subtitle file. MKV Toolnix is fast, too. So I need a program that passes everything trough, untouched and, in the process, removes the MKV wrapper and leaves the MP4 file intact and not re-compressed. Anybody seen such a thing?
FWIW, I could be wrong, but I don’t think MKV should ever transcode any more often than an MP4 would, however it might direct stream instead of direct play. Direct Streaming uses very little CPU however, so this shouldn’t be an issue.
rwoffice, I misspoke. The converted MP4 version was Direct Playing (I said Direct Stream). For whatever reason, the Plex app on my Android phone liked the MP4 but wanted to transcode the MKV. But in a strange development, I just checked it again, and now my phone plays both versions in Direct Play mode. Same is true when I watch the video on my Roku, through TiVo and through the Plex app on my Samsung TV. Direct Play, either version, all devices. Shrug? Maybe I’m trying to fix something that’s not broken. Thanks, all, for the feedback and advice.
BTW, wizzard05, I could tell it was transcoding, because in my Plex web app, when I click on Activity (you know the little Activity bubble, menu bar, top right) the resulting window shows me what’s playing, who’s playing it and which stream is transcoding. This doesn’t show WHY it’s transcoding, but it does show you whether or not the file is transcoding.
I just found it XD, if you go to status then now playing it says ex:
transcoding mpeg2video to h264 and transcoding ac3 to aac
I found it after the last encode only pulled the transcoder up on task manger every once and a while max 2%. the transcoding above is laggy and @ cpu 60%+
Still trying to learn what I can about best playback/streaming with Plex. Weird situation: played a movie earlier today and saw that Plex was transcoding the video and audio streams. A few hours earlier, I played the same movie and it Direct Played…no transcoding at all. Trumpy81, I would send log files, but that is a mystery to me. I downloaded them, but do I attach the zip file or do I find a specific log filen to upload? Thanks.
Here is something to try if you want your MKV to be MP4.
I use a program called MCE Buddy ( free or pay $30) That REMUXES mkv to mp4.
It takes like 1 minute per tv show.
It does no re-code but does what has to be done to become a MP4 .
The files stay virtually the same size.
I actually have Buddy set up to watch my tv folders and when it sees an MKV it remuxes to mp4 with no input by me!
It deletes the mkv leaving the mp4 in it’s place (or moves the mkv to a nominated folder)
And extracts subtitles as SRT files
