The Best Kodi Boxes of 2016 - Stream MTS, MXF files to Kodi(XBMC)

2016 is poised to be the year that Kodi comes up big. (You may remember XBMC of the past. Now it is called Kodi.)

Kodi is the ultimate media center for cord cutters. If you have a ton of content you want to watch on your TV Kodi is a great management tool to make it happen. What is the best device you can run Kodi on in 2016? Here is our list of the best Kodi devices on the market today.

Nvidia Shield

The Nvidia Shield, with its Tegra X1 processor, is one of the more powerful machines on this list, which means that it's more than capable of streaming videos at 4K resolutions.

This level of power also has several other benefits. You don't have to worry about graphically intensive skins slowing down your media experience, and the system can also be used to both play and stream games when you're not using Kodi/XBMC.

Since the Nvidia Shield runs Android TV as an operating system, Kodi can be easily installed from the Google Play store, and its use is officially sanctioned by Nvidia.

The only downside of the Shield is its cost. With a starting price of $200 (￡150) it's one of the more expensive boxes on our list but, for the money, you're getting a powerful streaming box with enough horsepower for a range of other applications.

Amazon Fire TV

The Amazon Fire TV is an enormously popular streaming device, and with good reason. Its price ($100/￡65) is exceptional considering it offers 4K streaming, and its 2GHz quad core processor means that it's a snappy and responsive device.

There's a big drawback to the Amazon Fire TV though, and that's its exclusive use of Amazon's own marketplace for installing apps. This means that in order to install Kodi you have to perform a process known as 'side-loading'.

This isn't particularly difficult, but if you're someone who doesn't consider themselves to be technically minded then there are better choices on this list.

If you're willing to go through a slightly more involved process to set up your device, however, then the Amazon Fire TV is an absolute bargain.

Cubox i2 (US-only)
The Cubox i2 has a couple of strong arguments to be made in its favor. Coming in at only $90 it's darn cheap, and it comes with Kodi pre-installed to minimise the amount of time you'll spend setting the device up.

That said, the Cubox's 1GHz dual core processor is low-powered compared to others on this list. Plus, it doesn't support 4K playback, and it isn't available outside the US.

If having Kodi pre-installed is a major selling point to you then you could do a great deal worse than take a look at the Cubox, but spend just a little more money and you'll get a much more powerful machine with only a marginally more involved setup process.

Gem Box
On the theme of highly powered devices without 4K playback, we next have the Gem Box. Its price ($99/￡89.99) is significantly lower than the Utilite's however, not to mention the fact that its Android configuration makes installing Kodi a breeze.

However, despite a moderately powerful 1.5GHz quad core processor, the Nexus Player doesn't support 4K playback. If the lack of pixels doesn't faze you and you don't mind Full HD playback, then the Gem Box's easy Kodi installation and ample gaming options (which include streaming over both steam link and Game Fly) might make this box exactly the droid you've been looking for.

Matricom G-Box Q2
The Matricom G-Box Q2 is, for the most part, a quite adept streaming box. It packs Android TV, making Kodi just an easy app installation away.

It's also 4K-compatible, has a nippy quad core 2GHz processor and is even available at a reasonable cost in both the USA ($100) and UK (￡89).

The one odd omission? No gigabit ethernet. The G-Box Q2's ethernet speeds top out at 100gbps, which could potentially bottleneck 4K streams. That said, at least it includes the latest wireless-ac standard of Wi-Fi.

Source From: http://www.techradar.com/news/home-cinema/best-kodi-xbmc-streaming-boxes-2016-1320206

Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more. It allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the internet.

What are the file formats supported by Kodi

Container formats: AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV/MKA (Matroska), QuickTime, MP4, M4A, AAC, Ogg, OGM, RealMedia RAM/RM/RV/RA/RMVB, 3gp
Video formats: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.263, MPEG-4 SP and ASP, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), H.265 (as from Kodi 14) HuffYUV, MJPEG, RealVideo, RMVB, WMV
Audio formats: MIDI, AIFF, WAV/WAVE, AIFF, MP2, MP3, AAC, DTS, ALAC, AMR, FLAC, RealAudio, WMA
3D video formats: Passive 3D video formats such as SBS, TAB, anaglyph or interlaced

As you see, MTS, M2TS, MXF files are not on the supported list, users would have import and playback issues.

To play AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) files smoothly on Kodi, the best solution is to transcode MTS/M2TS files to Kodi best compatible H.264 video codec with AAC audio codec. Here, you can perform the video format transcoding process by downloading a program called Brorsoft MTS/M2TS Converter for Windows/Mac. The program offers a free trial version so that you can try it out fully with a waterstamp to see that it could do what you wanted.



To play MXF files smoothly on Kodi, the best solution is to transcode MXF files to Kodi best compatible H.264 video codec with AAC audio codec. Here, Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac- Acted as the best MXF to Kodi converting tool - is recommended highly. It features a simple yet sleek interface and performs files conversion with fast speed enables you to complete the MXF to H.264 codec task with least quality loss in just a few clicks at your fingertips.



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Best Sony FDR-AXP35 1080P AVCHD Workflow with Final Cut Pro X, FCP 7

In this article, we concentrate on the AVCHD (mts, m2ts) videos recorded by Sony FDR-AXP35, in other words, make the AVCHD videos easily imported into FCP 7, FCP X for further editing.

The PAL Sony 64GB FDR-AXP35 4K Camcorder with Built-In Projector is a palm-sized Handycam camcorder compatible with European broadcast standards. It combines 4K video recording and Balanced Optical SteadyShot image stabilization to deliver clear, high-resolution video, even as you follow the action. It is equipped with a wide-angle Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* lens with 10x optical zoom and up to 20x Clear Image zoom and features an Exmor R CMOS sensor with Bionz X image processor that delivers Ultra HD (3840x2160) resolution video at 24, 25 fps using Sony's XAVC S codec. It also records 1080p video up to 50 fps in XAVC S or AVCHD and takes up to 20.6MP upscaled (interpolated) still images.

I just met problem while i imporiting the 1080p AVCHD films to Final Cut Pro 7 editing. I dragged all of the files from an SD card onto one of my External Hard Drives.

I open up Final Cut Pro 7, Go to Log and Transfer, Navigate to the AVCHD folder then to the BDMV folder then finally to the STREAM folder. In the STREAM folder sits all of the .mts files. They are all greyed out and I cannot Ingest them. They will not add to the Log and Transfer Window in FCP 7. What am I doing wrong? How can I Ingest these files into FCP 7 so I can edit with them?



To solve the issues, the best solution would be to convert Sony AXP35 AVCHD (*.mts, *.m2ts) to MOV for FCP on Mac OS X. Here we recommend this Brorsoft MTS/M2TS Converter for mac to help your transcode Sony AVCHD files to ProRes .mov, the most compatible format for Final Cut Pro.

I bought it because it converts .mts files to formats I can use, it allows me to trim and crop my footage, it offers high resolution output (I output to 1280x720) and it deinterlaces (this is really important to me). Now, follow the step-by-step guide transcoding Sony AXP35 AVCHD MTS to Final Cut Pro X, FCP 7.



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Guide: Transcoding Sony AXP35 AVCHD to Apple ProRes MOV for FCP 7/X

1: Download and install Brorsoft MTS to ProRes Converter for Mac. Click “Add” button and browse to the AVCHD footages either from Sony AXP35 for loading to the converter.



2: Click on “Format” bar and set a FCP friendly format in dropdown-list. You are advised to “Follow Final Cut Pro” template and “Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)” format.



3: Click “Convert” button to start transcoding Sony AXP35 AVCHD files to Apple ProRes MOV for Final Cut Pro 7 under Mac OS X (macOS Sierra include).

Additional Tips:

This versatile MTS/M2TS Video Converter for Mac program not only can change Sony AVCHD to FCP editable format, but also supports converting Sony AVCHD to iTunes, QuickTime, Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc video player or editing programs.

( Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

If you have problems when importing or editing your Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc, camera video files, you can check out “Brorsoft Camcorder/Camera Importing Tips" or "FCE, FCP, iMovie Column"to get your solutions.

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Hot/Great workflow to edit Canon C500 MXF files in Final Cut Pro 6/7/X

What's a pity! Many users are facing issues and find it’s a painful experience to import Canon C500 footage into Final Cut Pro (which includes the FCP X, FCP 7, FCP 6) on Mac OS X. No worries, here is the best solution for you (MacOs Sierra included).

Q: Workflow with Canon EOS C500 to FCP 7

“Hello, can anyone tell me the way to import videos from Canon EOS C500 to FCP X? Not long ago I bought Canon EOS C500 Camcorder and recorded a lot of video clips. Today I copied the C500 recorded MXF files onto my computer’s HDD and would like to edit C500 MXF files with FCP X on iMac, but when I load the videos into Final Cut Pro X, I always get error, the Final Cut said the video format is not supported, after I searched on the Internet I know FCP X supported video formats are limited, the native format is Apple ProRes codec MOV format, do I need to convert Canon C500 MXF to FCP X Apple ProRes? Any suggestion is appreciated, thanks!”

As you see, the C500 user is seeking for a solution to importing Canon C500 MXF files into Final Cut Pro for editing without problems. Have you also met the trouble and got frustrated? Well, don’t blame the Final Cut Pro, the “Import from Camera…” option works just like “Log and Transfer”. The thing is, even FCP 7 does not work with the Canon or Panasonic P2 MXF codec. As far as I know, to solve those problems, the most important piece of the equation is that transcoding MXF files to Final Cut Pro native format (Apple ProRes encoded .mov is highly recommended). Along with some help from the MXF Converter for Mac, it can be done.



To help those who wanna edit C500 MXF files in FCP 6/7 and FCP X, here I share with you a simple guide on how to convert Canon C500 MXF files to Apple ProRes MOV format for Final Cut Pro editing flawlessly.

Downloading the App- Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac

Overall, the program is a professional yet easy-to-use MXF to MOV Converter on Mac OS X which can not only convert Canon C500, Canon C300, XF100, XF105 and XF305 recorded MXF files to Apple ProRes codec videos for Mac editing, but also provide simple video editing functions for you. The Mac MXF to ProRes Converter can convert HD videos from HD camcorders or DVs (like JVC, Panasonic, Sony and Cannon) for editing in Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Express, iMovie, Avid MC, Adobe Premiere Pro etc. Just download it and follow the tutorial below to get the work done.



Guide: Transcoding Canon C500 MXF files to Apple ProRes MOV for FCP 6/7/X

Step 1 -> Download, install and launch Brorsoft MXF Converter for Mac, and import MXF files into the program

Note: Before conversion, you need to transfer MXF files from your Canon C500 to Mac Hard Drive, then click the "add files" button to browse to import MXF videos.



Step 2 -> Click the format bar, and move mouse cursor to "Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)" as output format.



Step 3 -> You can click "Settings" button to adjust the resolution, bitrate, etc. Just customize the parameters to meet your need. You can set video resolution(1920×1080/1440×1080/1280×720/720×480), bitrate（from 1Mbps to 20Mbps）, frame rate (24p/30p), etc



Step 4. -> Click “Convert” button to start transcoding C500 mxf files to Apple ProRes MOV for Final Cut Pro 6/7 /X under Mac OS with the ideal MXF to ProRes Converter Mac.

Once the MXF to ProRes 422 conversion is done, you can transfer Canon C500 MXF footage into Final Cut Pro 6/7/X for editing smoothly on Mac with ease.

If you have problems when importing or editing your Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc, camera video files, you can check out “Brorsoft Camcorder/Camera Importing Tips" or "FCE, FCP, iMovie Column"to get your solutions.



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