Stream DVD to Xbox 360 -- Part 1
MPEG2 DVD Backups and Your Media Extender
In our earlier segments we’ve learned how to get DVD playback on a fresh install of Windows XP Media Center 2005. We have also learned to play uncompressed backups of a DVD off the hard drive through Win MC, but also that Media Connect won’t stream DVD Movies to the Xbox360. If you try, the result will produce the following error message:
Video Not Supported
Video cannot be viewed in media center from a remote desktop connection.
It seems to make no sense that a DVD, which is just an Mpeg2 file, won’t play through Media Connect (the connection between Windows and Xbox360). Here’s exactly how it can be done using a DVD Decrypter and some file tweaking. To prepare make sure you’ve followed the instructions in Part 2 and then we’ll proceed.
In my example here, we’ll look at turning the DVD Sin City Recut, which divides the Sin City movie into episodes based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller. Each episode is full of deleted scenes that weren’t in the theatrical version.
Here is what the front door of the DVD looks like.
As you can see, select the episode you wish to watch in any order. We’d like to recreate this effect on the Xbox360 through our Windows Media Player. Since we were able to see this menu on our Windows Media Center PC, we’ll assume you already have a DVD Codec in place. This means you can view a DVD through the OS. It is important to note that the DVD is still encrypted. The encryption that is configured on the DVD just happens to allow Windows Media Player 10 to play it back. The encryption will not, however, let us stream it to the Xbox360. Therefore, the encryption on the DVD must be removed to allow streaming to occur.
Decryption
There are many decrypters available at www.doom9.org that decrypt in a variety of ways. DVDDecrypter version 3.5.4.0 is a fine decrypter that will easily compile all the .VOB files in your DVD’s VIDEO_TS directory into one large file. Another decrypter available is the DVD Shrink. Shrink is a great program, which is easier to use than DVDDecrypter and has many more options.
When using any dectypter, there are two basic settings you must observe. We simply want a single .VOB file of the movie itself, we don’t want to make a backup or copy of the DVD, nor are we interested in compression so it fits a 4.5 Gig DVDR.
In DVD Shrink, under the Tools heading and the Preferences sub-heading, you’ll find this setting to remove compression. DVD-9 means we’re treating this backup as a dual density DVD.
Go to Output Files and uncheck Split VOB files. You want one big VOB, not several that are one Gig in size. Most decrypters will have their own way to perform these same tasks.
Select Re-author. Select DVD Browser to find the episodes of Sin City and drag each one from the Main Movie Menu to the DVD Structure you’re building.
Let’s close the deal in
Part 2, How to stream DVD to Xbox360.
