Guide to create H264 + AC3 for the PS3 with DVDFab 5.0.2.0

Complication · 19-05-2008

In my quest to get the best possible quality files that can be streamed to the PS3 I wanted to try H264 and see if it was worth the CPU cycles for DVD source material. Since this is not an easy task with DVDFab, I thought I would share how to do it. The default PS3 profile is limited to stereo AAC which isn't well suited for home theater use.

The short version:

Use custom profile in DVDFab to make AVI with H264 + AC3
Use mkvmerge to create mkv file.
Use mkv2vob to create non-standard vob file that plays on PS3

Lets start with the obvious questions:

Why not just skip a step and use the generic H264 profile for MKV with audiocopy?

The existing profile only allows maximum of 5000 bitrate while the PS3 profile allows a maximum of 10000.
The MKV profiles in DVDFab use the wrong fourcc value for H264 content making the file unreadable by mkv2vob.

Why not just modify the MKV profile?

Tried that, the fourcc="H264" required to make a compliant file works when creating an AVI but does not work when creating an MKV for some reason (bug?).

Couldn't you just make a profile that creates the vob file directly so we can skip all these steps.

Tried that too, but it doesn't result in a playable file.
Maybe DVDFab will able to create the special vob file for the PS3 directly some day. My understanding is that mkv2vob is simply creating a m2ts file and renaming it to vob.

Won't all these steps take a lot of time?

Actually no, only the first step is time consuming depending upon how fast your PC processor is. The other steps are simply file copies.

Setup

Create a new file under Program Files/DVDFab 5/Profiles and name it something like "ps3.avi.h264.audiocopy.480p.xml"
Edit the file and put the following:

Code:

<profile name="PlayStation 3 - AVI" version="200" device="ps3" tag="dvdfab" description="The profile is used to create avi(h264 + audiocopy) file, which can be played in Playstation 3.">
<common>
<file format="avi" mode="0" number="1" />
<audio copy="1" />
<video>
<size list=""/>
<subtitle mode="0" />
<outfps mode="3" value="29.97" list="23.976,24,25,29.97,30" />
<encode codec="h264" fourcc="H264" bitrate_kbps="5000" maxbitrate_kbps="10000" >
<mode value="real_time" list="real_time, high_quality" />
</encode>
</video>
</common>
<vcodec name="h264">
<generic profile="0" level="30" />
</vcodec>
</profile>

Restart DVDFab if it was running
Download and install MKVtoolnix (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVtoolnix)
Download and install mkv2vob (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mkv2vob)

Step 1:

Select PS3 under DVD to Mobile
Select the source content
Click Conversion settings and select the "Playstation 3 - AVI" profile
Encode as usual

Step 2:

Open mkvmerge GUI from MKVtoolnix
Select the avi file you just created
Click Start Muxing

Step 3:

Open mkv2vob
Click on Configuration tab
- Set Video Transcoding to Never (ignore the warning, we know what kind of files we have)
- Set Output File Extension to vob
- Set Transcoding Codec to x264
Click on Add File tab
Choose mkv file created in previous step
Choose destination (can be your streaming server location)
Click Add File button

The result is a perfectly playable H264 file for the PS3 with the original AC3 Dolby 5.1 audio.

In the end, re-encoding to H264 did not keep the quality I was looking for. If you are a quality junky like me and aren't afraid of the command line then you'll find instructions to make a high quality MPEG2 file from DVD Film content here:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f116/high-q...9/#post2057122

Complication · 24-05-2008

I found that you can get a little better quality by raising the H264 level to 4.1. Here is the changed line from the file above:

Quote:

Also, it is better to save the file under application data so that it will survive after a new version of DVDFab is install. The directory is something like:

Quote:

C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Login>\Application Data\DVDFab\profiles

FYI, retested direct MKV creation in 5.0.2.2 and it is still ignoring the fourcc="H264" in the encode portion of the profile. The fourcc of an MKV created with DVDFab is coming up as "V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC" in MKVmerge which both mkv2vob and the PS3 reject.

SkinnyLatte · 24-05-2008

Does the resulting file stream OK?

I tried a similar thing using DVDFab, Handbrake and then mkv2vob to see if I could get rid of the NTSC judder whilst retaining 5.1 audio. The resulting file would play but it wouldn't stream smoothly (even through the bitrate was less than required for a vob/mpg which stream fine).

Complication · 25-05-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkinnyLatte

Does the resulting file stream OK?

I tried a similar thing using DVDFab, Handbrake and then mkv2vob to see if I could get rid of the NTSC judder whilst retaining 5.1 audio. The resulting file would play but it wouldn't stream smoothly (even through the bitrate was less than required for a vob/mpg which stream fine).

This seems to be dependent on your streaming server and the bitrate. I've been doing experiments with 1 chapter of a movie at various bitrates to compare quality. They all play fine, but lower bitrates tend to fast-forward and rewind more smoothly. I am streaming them from my NAS, a Synology Cubestation with only 64MB of RAM.

The lower the bitrate setting, the smaller the files and the more need for 2-pass encoding. If you use 2-pass on DVDFab then you just have to put up with part of it crashing at the end. It still creates a good AVI file. The key to the profile above for Film content is the forced 23.976fps setting.

Guide to create H264 + AC3 for the PS3 with DVDFab 5.0.2.0

Similar Threads

Search this Thread

People who found this also searched for