Paul,

That's how I do it to, from my original timeline but I was wondering if there is a way with your MASTERS already made (Stand alone QTs) with 48k WAV audio if you can just change the audio without doing a lengthy re-encode. I have many old masters that need to have the audio changed. I'm hoping you or someone will have the formula for a 5 minute re-encode instead of a 5 hour one!

Yes, once you hit enter on a file on the WD, it has an anoying pop up that says the name, length and that it's playing! It stays up for about 5-8 seconds. I REALLY wish they would get rid of this "feature".

Yes Paul once you have the master out of FC open QT and use Export. Use movie to QuickTime Movie. Then go to options and you have all the options you have in Compressor but it is much faster encoding and the same quality. This is how i do it for the player and also for all my web content in HD.

Hi Paul,

I'm still missing it. Here's what I'm doing:

Clip on FC Timeline (Field Dominance set to "None")

Export to Compressor

Choose H.264 HD-DVD and drag it up to the encoder window

I choose "progressive" and "best/multi-pass" settings (video looks great)

Questions:

Should I choose AAC under "Audio" and drag that up to the encoder window?

Should I leave "Include PCM Audio" checked?

So near and yet so far...

Maybe it's just me but I like the video quality of Compressor more than Quicktime.

This is sooo ugly! I just wrote to WD, complaining about it. I will not buy it until they have fixed it. Will it ever go away?

I assume that it goes away when it's in looping mode......right? Or does it come up at the beginning of each loop?

Well, my TviX shows these graphics also in loop mode, the duration is around 4s which apparently is shorter than WD TV.

I use the H.264 option in Formats > Quicktime, your problem might be that your choosing the HD-DVD version.

regards

Paul.

Has anyone seen this product before?

MIDTE

Looks good, but can't seem to find any info on in the specs on file types it plays.

The specs are at the bottom. Doesn't play as many codecs as Popcorn Hour or WDMP. I went and got the Popcorn Hour A-110 and stuck a 1Tb hard drive in there. it has played everything I have thrown at it with no problems whatsoever.

The good thing about Popcorn Hour, which is very important, is that is has a massive user base, and an extremely active online forum where any question will be answered in either laymans terms or in some case technical terms ( I didn't understand a thing they were typing!) within minutes of posting.

Check it out.

Ahh yes. Thank you Steve. As usual I skimmed over the page instead of actually reading it!

I like it
 

Thanks for the bump I missed it while I was gone:)

I think I may make this a delivery option.

Actually it chocks on some older WMV videos - probably sound codec incompatibility... but yeah, otherwise I absolutely swear by A-110.

Western Digital has issued severl fixes via firmware for the WD TV....

WD TV Product Update

Annoying information between clips ...
 

I got this answer from WD:

I stripped the mxf wrapper from the EX1's 35mbps/HQ, muxed in DD 5.1, and it's playing natively at the full bit rate, no re-encoding of the video. Even the PS3 doesn't do this easily. The WD is also playing 24p, and outputting 24p. Fast and lossless. Not bad.

I got one of these for Xmas and can now view my S270 and Z7 rushes direct to my HD TV via HDMI straight from the compact flash using a $5 CF reader to USB.

I also have all my IPTV and video files at apple TV res on a card for viewing and presentation at superb resolution.

I can also take my CF cards from my nikon D300 and see them straight on the TV.

What a great product!

How do you mux in DD5.1? I'd be interested to hear that process.

- Edit your MXF with Vegas Pro, export back to same MXF format. Vegas smart renders MXF.
- Separately export a DD5.1 file using the Vegas AC3 Pro encoder.
- Using the Snell and Wilcox MXF Desktop, unwrap the video essence stream from the MXF.
- Use Womble Mpeg Video Wizard DVD to mux the .ac3 file with the unwrapped .m2v file.

Then you just play the muxed file on the WD TV.

There are other tools that can be used I'm sure, but that's how I do it.

WDMP saved the day today.

I've been working on a motion picture project (I can't bring myself to call images from the EXx "video") that is to be the centerpiece of my client's tradeshow booth. The show starts tomorrow. Last week I discussed their playback options and recommended they purchase a WDMP to feed the large plazma. These folks are not techie in the least and assumed a DVD was HD. Once they understood, they opted for file playback from a laptop instead of taking my advice (though I didn't own nor had ever tried the WD).

So, I deliver the windows media file to them this morning, got it transferred to the laptop and.....it chokes. Badly. Not only that, there doesn't appear to be a way to correct the aspect ratio, which makes me crazy (just ask my wife). Looks like total crap and suddenly everyone is looking at me.

That's when I mention that, on a hunch, I purchased the WDMP (it arrived yesterday and by now I know it works a treat), so I offer to let them use it for the weekend. Set it up with a 2GB thumb drive containing the 9000 kbps file and their jaws drop to the floor (it did look sweeeet).

What could have been a disaster turned on a dime. But I do have some issues that the newest firmware apparently hasn't addressed.

The last :10 seconds or so of the .wmv file gets summarily chopped off, even though there's :05 of black at the end. I added another :10 of black at the end in an attempt to outsmart it, so we'll see. Will also try h.264 and see how it behaves in this regard.

48k audio works fine, but the "loop 1" feature is broken. Only works in "loop all" mode. OK, so it needs to be the only file on the drive (or in its own folder, I suppose). Works for me.

Also, still no rewind/ff, at least with .wmv, and that pesky data overlay when the media restarts.

Hoping some of these issues will be addressed in future firmware updates, but overall, very pleased.

I have been using a Popcorn Hour A-110 at a trade show for the last 8 weeks, and it works an absolute treat. Got a 25 mnute clip in HD on a loop. People stand there and stare at the image coming off. Blown away. The A-110 has never got hot, and so far has been faultless. Plus a new firmware came out last week to address a few niggles. Tested it last night and no issues. With a 1Tb hard drive built in, I think its a much better bet than the WD. And it comes with a brilliant, extremely busy forum for instant support.

According to the Popcorn Hour website, none of their media players include a hard drive.

John

I'm surprised at how many of these boxes are out now: (from Amazon.com)

Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player ($99)
Iomega 3400 USB 2.0/AV 500GB ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive ($139)
Iomega 34151 1TB USB 2.0/AV ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Drive ($259)
Mediagate Network Multimedia Center w/Full HD 1080P Wi-Fie and UPNP ($302)
Masscool MP-1368AS 3.5" IDE/SATA Media Player ($89.99)
LaCie LaCinema Premier 301814 500GB USB 2.0 Multimedia Hard Drive ($181)
Popcorn Hour A 110 Networked Media Tank ($249)

The LaCie comes with a 500GB hard drive and a remote. Anyone try it yet?

EDIT: The Western Digital got the highest rating on Amazon
EDIT #2: The LaCie doesn't have HDMI out (only composite and component) Not good.

I think his point is you can put a HD inside. With the WD you can't.

You can buy them in the UK with a 1Tb hard drive already fitted and configured from ripcaster.co.uk

I purchased mine seperately as it worked out a bit cheaper. Compared to the WD it's a better bet. Only one item to carry rather than two, plus better support.

Bill, make sure you communicate these to the company. Defect submissions by customers are handled with greater urgency than a line item on an engineer's personal TODO list.

To me, one of the benefits of the WD is that I can leave it plugged into my TV and I just bring an external hard drive or a USB thumb stick with what I want to watch.

And you can with the Popcorn hour as well.

Done. Supposed to get a response by the next business day.

OK, maybe the Popcorn is the better bet after all.
However, if you need to buy something for a client I guess the WD is cheaper and they can use their own Hard Drives

WDTV Firmware Update!
 

Western Digital has a new firmware version for WDTV.

Version 1.02.07 Now Available:

Release (4/27/2009)
(includes all previously released updates)

Enhanced cover art, album art, and thumbnail support for media files and folders
Additional subtitle languages and decoding support
Improved media playback and navigation
More audio formats for MKV container
Fixed bugs reported by the WD TV user community

WD TV Product Update

Does this fix any issues for anybody?

Saw one of these units at Costco in Canada today for $129 Can.
Maybe i should invest in one.

My main issue, truncation of .wmv files, has not been resolved with the update. WD tech support's only solution is to use another "more supported" codec. Gee, thanks.

I use the WD TV Media Player with a 16gb usb memory stick, ideal for displaying at shows or client showings. Plays H264 files back without so much as a stutter. The longest file I have on the stick is 30 minutes.

I just tried to play back a test shoot I did with me Letus, shot at 1080 25p.
It was a 8 min clip, that I had Compressor convert to H.264 .mov file (same resolution)
Looks like the WD chokes on this, playback stutters and can´t be viewed properly at all.
To try to figure out what was wrong I made a 30 sec clip the same way and the WD plays that clip fine. The pan is smooth as can be.
So is it down to file size, do I really have to downconvert my footage to use this thing?
Any suggestions?

PS File size ca 3,5GB

Does this unit have a loop mode? I would like to use one on an exhibition stand.

It does have a loop mode, but it displays the name of the file for 4 sec. When it starts over. It is something about it earlier in this thread I think.

Thanks Joachim will make a search.

What hard drive are you using to connect to the WD?

Their very own MyPassport 250GB.
I do think it must hav something to do with the filesize, but I´m not sure how,
In the past I have mostly used it with 720p footage and I haven´t had any problems, but mostly I have used it for smaller files I think