Transcode 360 unable to transcode certain files

I am often asked why certain movies will not work with Transcode 360. These are usually wrapper filetypes like .mkv and .avi. I suspect the issue is with the format (compression used) of the movie in the container.

I know if you use the version of mencoder that comes with Transcode 360, many movies will not work. That's why one of the steps in my setup guide is to update the version of mencoder. Without it, transcoding does not work well at all.

The version of mencoder I posted is not nearly as current as it could be. I did some research and found a build of mencoder that should have much better support for different codecs, including h264.

If you have experienced issues with some movies working, and other's not (but they will work if you play them in Media Center), try updating these two files below.

If you want a tool to do this for you download my installer tool. Install the tool, and then run it. Don't worry about the other buttons, just click the Update button in the Mencoder and ffmpeg section.



Or to do this manually...

1) Mencoder.exe - Replace the mencoder.exe with the one in this zip. The default location for the mencoder.exe is C:\Program Files\Transcode360\Wrappers\MEncoderTranscoder C:\Program Files\Transcode360

2) ffmpeg.exe - Replace the ffmpeg.exe with the one in this zip. The default location for ffmpeg.exe is

Now test one of the movies. Make sure the movie will play in Media Center. It is not really a valid test if Media Center itself will not play the movie (maybe it is a bad file?). But, if Media Center will play it, but not the extender, try it now and see if it works. If this works for you I'd like to hear back.