Play XviD videos on your 360

With an XBOX 360  networked with a PC running Windows Media Center Edition, you can all view all images, videos, and audio files stored on your PC, from your XBOX 360. Microsoft have integrated this support for the 360 since launch, but ran into a bit of criticism because you can only view WMV and ASF files for video.So what if you want to watch other types of video – XviD, DivX, AVI? The answer from Microsoft is simply: tough.

Luckily, coder Albert Griscti-Solerhas come to the rescue! He has made a piece of software called ‘Transcode 360‘ that allows you to view pretty much any video format on your 360, by installing Transcode 360 onto your Windows XP Media Center PC. You then browse for video files the same way you usually would, but instead of just playing the video, select the more info option, and then more. You will then see an option for “transcode”. Once selected, the previously unsupported media will play through your 360.

This great piece of software is still in the Beta stage, and therefore has a few bugs to be worked out. There are a few problems with the aspect ratio being distorted with anything other than 16:9, and the transcoding does require quite a fast PC, as it currently decodes the video and recodes it to play on your 360 in real time. With higher resolution videos, you will need a faster PC to enjoy the video without lag. Although it has a few limitations, Transcode 360 greatly extends the functionality of the 360 as a media center. And – the best thing about it is that this software is perfectly legal, and won’t void your warranty because it runs on your PC not your 360!

Download: [Transcode 360 Beta 2]

With an XBOX 360  networked with a PC running Windows Media Center Edition, you can all view all images, videos, and audio files stored on your PC, from your XBOX 360. Microsoft have integrated this support for the 360 since launch, but ran into a bit of criticism because you can only view WMV and ASF files for video.So what if you want to watch other types of video – XviD, DivX, AVI? The answer from Microsoft is simply: tough.

Luckily, coder Albert Griscti-Solerhas come to the rescue! He has made a piece of software called ‘Transcode 360‘ that allows you to view pretty much any video format on your 360, by installing Transcode 360 onto your Windows XP Media Center PC. You then browse for video files the same way you usually would, but instead of just playing the video, select the more info option, and then more. You will then see an option for “transcode”. Once selected, the previously unsupported media will play through your 360.

This great piece of software is still in the Beta stage, and therefore has a few bugs to be worked out. There are a few problems with the aspect ratio being distorted with anything other than 16:9, and the transcoding does require quite a fast PC, as it currently decodes the video and recodes it to play on your 360 in real time. With higher resolution videos, you will need a faster PC to enjoy the video without lag. Although it has a few limitations, Transcode 360 greatly extends the functionality of the 360 as a media center. And – the best thing about it is that this software is perfectly legal, and won’t void your warranty because it runs on your PC not your 360!

Download: [Transcode 360 Beta 2]