How Organized Are Your Movies? - Screenshots!

[DoFoT9]

I will tell you that these are all DivX/XviD rips. I use MPEG Streamclip to save them into a MOV container and then import into iTunes.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e277/bikerx007/Picture1-11.png

you know... you could just download movie2itunes (http://dettmer.maclab.org/movie2itunes.html) and not have to convert anything.. it creates a shortcut that has a .mov extension on the end and imports that into iTunes, iTunes allows it to play and its all done :) no converting needed.

Thanks so much for all the info! At first I was using the iPod Hi-Res because I saw on the net that it would look good on the iPod and TV, but tried the Universal Preset yesterday and it looks GREAT. Definitely worth the extra few hundred megs. If only I could get subtitles to work in Handbrake, I'd be a happy camper. Tried converting "Severance" (fun horror, btw!) yesterday and the first scene is with two foreign girls talking with English subtitles, but I can never get them to show up, and I've tried 3 times. I've clicked every permutation of "Forced Subtitles", "Autoselect", "English", etc, but it never works. They are only in that scene, but...

shuffle1

yes universal will be the best of all worlds :) you cant go wrong

hmm thats confusing about the subtitles, normally i just select the language and it works! i cant help you there sorry. try the latest version of handbrake though (its a bit unstable but still works great) here (http://handbrake.fr/?article=snapshot).. maybe that will fix it?

p.s. congrats on the 1000th post :p

[jimmypopjr]

I finally finished my collection and went to do a batch in MetaX.... ruined like 15 movies out of the 50 I had queued up. Hasn't ever done that with TV shows or single movies at a time.

Very lame.

[DoFoT9]

hmm ok i know this isnt really the right spot for it, but i am converting a BluRay rip directly to a DVD image using VisualHub, the conversion goes fine however it automatically selects the German language of the movie, how on earth do i select Track2 !?!?!?!

[Shuttleworth]

I finally finished my collection and went to do a batch in MetaX.... ruined like 15 movies out of the 50 I had queued up. Hasn't ever done that with TV shows or single movies at a time.

Very lame.

It does do it occasionally for me, usually if the file has already been tagged in some way. I set MetaX to put a copy of the file in the trash before tagging, so there is a backup if it messes it up. I then check the video still plays by opening it in QT before adding it to iTunes.

[rdbnet]

Hi all, been having a look at all your collections... fantastic!! Noticed a DVD case that some have been using as icons for their movies in Finder, but does anyone know how those same cases can be used in iTunes?? The file is a psd file (pictured below) :-)

[rdbnet]

I finally finished my collection and went to do a batch in MetaX.... ruined like 15 movies out of the 50 I had queued up. Hasn't ever done that with TV shows or single movies at a time.

Very lame.

Yes, i've also had a few "issues" with MetaX ruining some movies files when i tried to add an extra chapter marker. Gave up and ended up going back to Lostify for just the basics :-)

[Chase R]

you know... you could just download movie2itunes (http://dettmer.maclab.org/movie2itunes.html) and not have to convert anything.. it creates a shortcut that has a .mov extension on the end and imports that into iTunes, iTunes allows it to play and its all done :) no converting needed.

That is basically what MPEG Streamclip does. All it does is pass-thru everything into a MOV container (MOV can hold XviD/DivX and AC3). There is no converting that is done... Just saving the media in a different container that is iTunes friendly. It is also nice because you don't have a bunch of short clips with shortcuts to a bigger file, the whole movie is contained in one file. Give it a shot!

[jessica.]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to organize an iTunes library carrying two of every movie; one formatted for my TV the other for my iPhone?

[Shuttleworth]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to organize an iTunes library carrying two of every movie; one formatted for my TV the other for my iPhone?

If you're using Handbrake, you can convert using the Apple Universal preset which'll play on both devices, but the file size is big so you don't get many on the iPhone.

For the films where I've done two conversions, one for AppleTV and one for iPhone, I've changed the tag data of the phone version so it becomes a TV show, where the series name is "iPhone movies" and the episode name is the Movie title. This keeps it tidy on my AppleTV and iTunes, I just have to use a playlist to put the movies I want on the iPhone.

However, if anyone has a better way of doing it I'd be interested in hearing it.

[NightStorm]

If you're using Handbrake, you can convert using the Apple Universal preset which'll play on both devices, but the file size is big so you don't get many on the iPhone.

For the films where I've done two conversions, one for AppleTV and one for iPhone, I've changed the tag data of the phone version so it becomes a TV show, where the series name is "iPhone movies" and the episode name is the Movie title. This keeps it tidy on my AppleTV and iTunes, I just have to use a playlist to put the movies I want on the iPhone.

However, if anyone has a better way of doing it I'd be interested in hearing it.

You could use Subler to tag one as HD (even though it isnt), and assign them both the same cnID so they appear as one entry in your iTunes library.

[DoFoT9]

That is basically what MPEG Streamclip does. All it does is pass-thru everything into a MOV container (MOV can hold XviD/DivX and AC3). There is no converting that is done... Just saving the media in a different container that is iTunes friendly. It is also nice because you don't have a bunch of short clips with shortcuts to a bigger file, the whole movie is contained in one file. Give it a shot!

ahh yes definately sounds like a better alternative to the program i linked. nice job!

[Shuttleworth]

You could use Subler to tag one as HD (even though it isnt), and assign them both the same cnID so they appear as one entry in your iTunes library.

Thanks, I'll have a look at it :)

[courtnej]

How do you rip a dvd to your mac and have it include all the extras? Can it even be done like this and still work in frontrow/iphone?

[Chase R]

How do you rip a dvd to your mac and have it include all the extras? Can it even be done like this and still work in frontrow/iphone?

Would be nice, but long story short, there is no way to do that.

[DoFoT9]

How do you rip a dvd to your mac and have it include all the extras? Can it even be done like this and still work in frontrow/iphone?

not that im aware of no, i wonder if "Plex" could do it??

(oh, use MacThe Ripper to 'rip' discs to computer).

[bucksaddle]

Just thought I would add to this thread - like to keep my movies well organised, tagged and in the grid view.

You could use Subler to tag one as HD (even though it isnt), and assign them both the same cnID so they appear as one entry in your iTunes library.

Second screenshot shows the affect of Subler and what NightStorm is talking about - 2 files, 1 entry in iTunes. I only do it for my Blu-Ray rips though, 1 file for Apple TV, 1 for iPod/iPhone. If it's a DVD i do a universal rip.

Throw in a couple of Romance movies as well to keep the wife happy :D

[rhett7660]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to organize an iTunes library carrying two of every movie; one formatted for my TV the other for my iPhone?

Maybe having two library's? You can create a library for your tv, have that on computer "a". Then have the one that connects to your iphone/ipod load library "b" on computer "b". That is of course if you have two computers. Or if you have one computer, just have two library's and when you fire up iTunes, hold down the "Alt" key I think, and it will ask you which library do you want to load. (For some reason I think there is another key to hold down for picking a library from iTunes, can't remember it right now thou.)

[twdawson]

And then what do you do with the icons?

I take it those icons have no purpose other than looking pretty, which to me serves no purpose at all or am i missing something.

I am refering to the images in post 933.

[jendrik]

You could use Subler to tag one as HD (even though it isnt), and assign them both the same cnID so they appear as one entry in your iTunes library.

Or use http://iflicksapp.com. It can add the the HD and cnID tags, while also automatically adding all other metadata.

[hagar]

For me, VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) is still the best solution. I download all my videos (mostly AVI) in a folder named "inbox". This folder is actually a "hot folder", and as soon as a video arrives, VideoDrive is launched and imports it in iTunes. This process is completely automated. :cool:


These are my settings:

1) The folder "inbox" is a hot folder: in VideoDrive Preferences panel, go to the Hot Folder tab, select the folder you want to turn into a hot folder.

2) Go to the queue tab and select the second option to handle the import queue (all your vids are added to that queue when they arrive). This is important, becausy this option makes sure the video is requeued if it's not downloaded yet.

3) While importing, the videos are moved to my external disk and organized in subfolders. This setting is on the import tab. Don't forget this step, otherwise your video files stay in the inbox forever.

4) My import method is method 2 (Reference movies). This is the same as what Movie2iTunes does.

5) The metadata is set to not "ask for confirmation" so that the metadata is automatically downloaded in the background. The names of my video files are not always clear, but VD does a good job in still loading the correct metadata.


My only problem I had with this whole setup is now fixed in version 1.10.1. When an error occurred, the error window would block the process until you clicked the message away. But now, this is finally fixed too. :)

The only disadvantage I still have is that the artwork is pulled from amazon, and the quality is definitely ok, but not fantastic. The developer promised to add new sources a while ago, so if they add that too, I'm happy.;)

For me, the whole automated process is priceless because starting to rename files, converting them, tagging them, it's just a whole hassle I can't be bothered with. I guess some other tools have better results or more options for a particular job (like Handbrake for conversions) but VideoDrive offers one solution from start 'till finish and that's why I stick with it.

[jendrik]

For me, VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) is still the best solution. I download all my videos (mostly AVI) in a folder named "inbox". This folder is actually a "hot folder", and as soon as a video arrives, VideoDrive is launched and imports it in iTunes. This process is completely automated.

If you are only interested in the bare minimum you are right and VideoDrive is a feasible alternative, but otherwise I don't think that it can stand up.

A "hot folder" is no more than a folder action, which can be used with any app. A few folder action scripts are also installed with iFlicks and offer you the same functionality and can be customized.
iFlicks also pulls complete and high quality metadata and artwork for you. Even actors, directors, content rating, hd tag and so on are written to the movie file (pretty much anything that can be edited with tools like MetaX plus a few extras). The new beta even adds compatibility with genius and conversion using the same high quality codecs Handbrake uses.

Please don't get me wrong. I don't want to bash on VideoDrive or anything. Just letting you now that there might be other and more complete solutions out there.

[zedsdead]

If you're using Handbrake, you can convert using the Apple Universal preset which'll play on both devices, but the file size is big so you don't get many on the iPhone.

For the films where I've done two conversions, one for AppleTV and one for iPhone, I've changed the tag data of the phone version so it becomes a TV show, where the series name is "iPhone movies" and the episode name is the Movie title. This keeps it tidy on my AppleTV and iTunes, I just have to use a playlist to put the movies I want on the iPhone.

However, if anyone has a better way of doing it I'd be interested in hearing it.

How do you use Video Playlists? As far as I know, when you add videos to a playlist in iTunes, the iPhone doesn't recognize the video files when you Sync.

[WooBah]

Hi all,

I am getting into ripping DVD TV Shows and movies. I am currently using Handbrake. (I may try Mac the Ripper then Handbrake to see if the process is faster.) Here are my questions"

(1) If I do not want to stream, is it possible to have identical Itunes Libraries on two external USB Drives connected to two different Apple TV's?

(2) If the answer to question 1 is NO, then does anyone use sapphire? This would allow two USB drives on two separate Apple TV's to have the same movie and TV show collection.

Thanks.

[Doju]

Could someone explain to me how the heck you even use Subler anyway? Do you download it from here (http://code.google.com/p/subler/)? When I download it comes up as a default icon and clicking the app icon in the dock brings up no window.

I'm really interested in deploying this HD-SD feature for my two files per movie setup. (One for iPhone, one for TV.)

[WooBah]

Could someone explain to me how the heck you even use Subler anyway? Do you download it from here (http://code.google.com/p/subler/)? When I download it comes up as a default icon and clicking the app icon in the dock brings up no window.

I'm really interested in deploying this HD-SD feature for my two files per movie setup. (One for iPhone, one for TV.)

Hi, download it from http://versiontracker.com

[Angmar]

Could someone explain to me how the heck you even use Subler anyway? Do you download it from here (http://code.google.com/p/subler/)? When I download it comes up as a default icon and clicking the app icon in the dock brings up no window.

I'm really interested in deploying this HD-SD feature for my two files per movie setup. (One for iPhone, one for TV.)

That is where I downloaded it from. To use it, drag the video that you want to edit onto the icon and the editing window will appear.

[Doju]

Can you do the same thing for TV Shows?

And I see how to mark it as HD, but how do I mark it as SD?

Lastly, how do I drag it onto the icon? I have to click open, navigate to the directory, open the file, save it, navigate back to the directory, and then drag it into iTunes. Doing this for every TV Show is not fun, there must be a quicker way?

[bucksaddle]

Can you do the same thing for TV Shows?
Yes, you can


And I see how to mark it as HD, but how do I mark it as SD?
You don't. As long as you mark one as HD and they both have the same cnid number then iTunes will recognise the non HD tagged movie / tv show as SD


Lastly, how do I drag it onto the icon? I have to click open, navigate to the directory, open the file, save it, navigate back to the directory, and then drag it into iTunes. Doing this for every TV Show is not fun, there must be a quicker way?
Just the same as you can with most other apps that are in the dock -just drag your file from the location onto the Subler app in the dock - it will open the edit screen. Saves navigating.

[NightStorm]

Can you do the same thing for TV Shows?

And I see how to mark it as HD, but how do I mark it as SD?

Lastly, how do I drag it onto the icon? I have to click open, navigate to the directory, open the file, save it, navigate back to the directory, and then drag it into iTunes. Doing this for every TV Show is not fun, there must be a quicker way?

You should also be able to right click on the file in Finder and select "Open With -> Subler".

[Doju]

How do I change the cnID so they're the same? I rip all my DVDs using Handbrake then import them into iTunes, btw.

[randy98mtu]

Thanks for the info on subler. I grabbed it yesterday and after some fumbling around, got the 2 movies I have in SD and HD to show up together. I clicked "import tag" and picked my other version, but it didn't copy the setting that it was a movie type file. So it still didn't work. I started going through each tab for both files and caught it. So much nicer not having 2 versions show up!

[jeb1]

Just thought I would add to this thread - like to keep my movies well organised, tagged and in the grid view.



Second screenshot shows the affect of Subler and what NightStorm is talking about - 2 files, 1 entry in iTunes. I only do it for my Blu-Ray rips though, 1 file for Apple TV, 1 for iPod/iPhone. If it's a DVD i do a universal rip.

Throw in a couple of Romance movies as well to keep the wife happy :D

Just out of interest what are the size of the blu ray rips you are downloading. The 5 gb ones seem to be grainy on certain colours in the background.

[Ctrice]

I'm getting ready to convert my DVD collection. I just got a few questions. I tried using the 'AppleTV' preset as well as the 'Normal' preset. The 'Normal' preset produces a considerably smaller file size and the quality to me looks just about the same. Does anyone use the 'Normal' preset?

Could anyone provide me the most common settings that everyone uses to rip their movies?

[randy98mtu]

I'm getting ready to convert my DVD collection. I just got a few questions. I tried using the 'AppleTV' preset as well as the 'Normal' preset. The 'Normal' preset produces a considerably smaller file size and the quality to me looks just about the same. Does anyone use the 'Normal' preset?

Could anyone provide me the most common settings that everyone uses to rip their movies?

When I accidentally leave mine on "normal" they are much larger files than when I use my default Apple Universal. With Apple Universal, it will work on any Apple device. The quality difference to the original DVD is negligible to me. My movies are mostly in the 1-2 gig range.

[courtnej]

I have two MKV movies saved as .mov reference files in order to play them in itunes, is there anyway of using subler to give these two films the HD symbol in iTunes?

Cheers

[CutsAu]

I am trying to use movies2itunes and when I drop the AVI file in the box, it does nothing. I am using SL, so I am not sure if this is the problem or not.

Any ideas ?

[GermanSuplex]

Has anyone found a way to get iTunes to combine the HD and SD shows together on a Windows machine?

I haven't yet found a way to edit the cnid tag on windows. I see MetaX for windows now offers the option to flag a movie as HD, which is good to start, but no way to edit the cnid tag (as far as I can see).

I have found a temporary fix: If you have an HD movie or TV show, particularly one you don't want, you can delete them from explorer, but leave the entry in your library. Then rename the HD and SD version of the video you want to what the other files were, and place them in the same location where the other files used to reside. Now iTunes will treat them as the other videos. However, this does not actually embed the tag info into the file, so if you try to re-add the videos or add them to another library, you'll end up with two entries. I don't know what happens if you tried to add the original, correctly-tagged videos back to the library with the homemade files occupying their entry.

[Nitromaster]

For me, VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) is still the best solution. I download all my videos (mostly AVI) in a folder named "inbox". This folder is actually a "hot folder", and as soon as a video arrives, VideoDrive is launched and imports it in iTunes. This process is completely automated. :cool:


These are my settings:

1) The folder "inbox" is a hot folder: in VideoDrive Preferences panel, go to the Hot Folder tab, select the folder you want to turn into a hot folder.

2) Go to the queue tab and select the second option to handle the import queue (all your vids are added to that queue when they arrive). This is important, becausy this option makes sure the video is requeued if it's not downloaded yet.

3) While importing, the videos are moved to my external disk and organized in subfolders. This setting is on the import tab. Don't forget this step, otherwise your video files stay in the inbox forever.

4) My import method is method 2 (Reference movies). This is the same as what Movie2iTunes does.

5) The metadata is set to not "ask for confirmation" so that the metadata is automatically downloaded in the background. The names of my video files are not always clear, but VD does a good job in still loading the correct metadata.


My only problem I had with this whole setup is now fixed in version 1.10.1. When an error occurred, the error window would block the process until you clicked the message away. But now, this is finally fixed too. :)

The only disadvantage I still have is that the artwork is pulled from amazon, and the quality is definitely ok, but not fantastic. The developer promised to add new sources a while ago, so if they add that too, I'm happy.;)

For me, the whole automated process is priceless because starting to rename files, converting them, tagging them, it's just a whole hassle I can't be bothered with. I guess some other tools have better results or more options for a particular job (like Handbrake for conversions) but VideoDrive offers one solution from start 'till finish and that's why I stick with it.

Hi,
This was like the first program i tried for doing this job, listed in this topic.
However, it failed to add any of the avi files in my movies folder on my external hard drive.
They all fail with

Import of Movie.avi failed because QuickTime could not process your video. Make sure the video can be played in QuickTime and try again:QuickTime Player got an error: AppleEvent handler failed. (error: -10000)

Any ideas? They can all play perfectly in quicktime, and could do so before i installed perian/etc as well.

[Jelite]

Some great info in this thread, im just starting to organize my files as im waiting for a 1TB external HD. I've downloaded the iFlicks trial which would be great but it's a bit hit and miss, some files get info as soon as you drop them into the window, some you need to go into the script menu and manually ask but half of them wont find any information. :( The info is there on the tmdb website but it just wont find it.

[Nitromaster]

iFlicks decided to work finally for me :)
Got most of my movies....few manual edits though needed :)
Using Delicious Libary =)
http://tinypic.com/r/2crq7h1/4

[Jelite]

Tried iFlicks again a few times and it worked eventually, must be the connection rather than the programme.

[digitalmac]

There are 2 ways I organize my movies depending on the formats (mainly I only have 2, mp4 and ripped DVD image):
1. Organize through iTunes - I will download all the artwork through various websites in the Internet.
2. Organize my DVD ripped image in the Movies folder.

[whaled09]

here another shot... try and concentrate on the itunes collection... haha


Just curious what several of your apps are and what programs you use for your movies I know Transmission. What apps do you have in your dock? minus the obvious ones like photoshop etc.

[Mr Dobey]

Since I have to use Plex for all the HD content and always delete the movies after I watch them the only thing I bother doing is titling the files.

[CutsAu]

I have been using iFlicks and its amazing. Just dump a heap of movies into it, walk away or goto bed and when I come back, they are done.

Glad I read this thread.

[bergmef]

I have been using iFlicks and its amazing. Just dump a heap of movies into it, walk away or goto bed and when I come back, they are done.

Glad I read this thread.

Why iflicks instead of metaX? I use handbrake to convert the data for the apple tv, do you use iflicks to add the data or do the full conversion? How are the times?

[eleslieholland]

:eek:Works just like the digital camera lenses (http://www.dinodirect.com/Electronics/Camcorder-Cameras-Accessories/Camera-Lenses/)!

[R.Perez]

I am pretty anal about mine...

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5096/screenshotoa.jpg

[DoFoT9]

I am pretty anal about mine...

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5096/screenshotoa.jpg

so anal infact, that you havent watched any on your computer ;) hahahaha. kidding, i can see the :apple:TV :P

my collection is horrid - you would have a heart attack

[FSUSem1noles]

I try to keep it neat as possible..

[hagar]

I have been using iFlicks and its amazing. Just dump a heap of movies into it, walk away or goto bed and when I come back, they are done.

Glad I read this thread.

I have far better results with VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) because iFlicks crashes a lot. Also, you can set VideoDrive to work fully automated from the moment the video arrives on your disk until it's added to iTunes.

[bergmef]

I'm just looking for one that will add the metadata, but not bothering to covert what I already ran through handbrake. And one that adds the info to the movie file. Videodrive looks like it doesn't add it to the file unless I'm misreading it. I want to try iflick, but it doesn't like my credit card from this side of the pond.

[bergmef]

I have far better results with VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) because iFlicks crashes a lot. Also, you can set VideoDrive to work fully automated from the moment the video arrives on your disk until it's added to iTunes.

Is the data added to the file? Or like apple where it's stored seperate?

From their site:

iTunes Backup

VideoDrive does not manipulate your video files, but it does manipulate your iTunes Library. It is recommended to backup your library before trying out VideoDrive. If an import fails or you don’t like the result, you can always delete videos from iTunes by selecting the affected video and clicking the delete key. Your original video files remain intact.

[FSUSem1noles]

Yes, you can


You don't. As long as you mark one as HD and they both have the same cnid number then iTunes will recognise the non HD tagged movie / tv show as SD


Just the same as you can with most other apps that are in the dock -just drag your file from the location onto the Subler app in the dock - it will open the edit screen. Saves navigating.

If I recode movies with Subler that were already coded in MetaX is that going to screw up the file??

I remember I had tried changing the artwork of a movie after MetaX encoded it and then when I went to play the movie it was just a black screen, no audio or video...

[MrMister111]

I am pretty anal about mine...

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5096/screenshotoa.jpg
Can I ask what you use to tag and do you convert all to itunes format? using what app? Also where do you get the covers from for coverflow? it looks really good like that

[tommylotto]

I tag all of my files with MetaX, but I hear that it cannot lookup info on more recent films. However, it does find multiple movie poster art so you can choose "different" art to represent the file to add visual interest to your iTunes database.

Another thing about tagging that I have experience -- I recently rebuilt my iTunes library and all my TV shows were reimported as Movies, not TV Shows. I changed the designation in iTunes back to TV Show, but Front Row did not recognized the change. All my TV shows were still in the Movie section. I had to change the type of file to TV Show in Meta X, which rewrites the file, for Front Row to recognize the file as a TV Show and not a Movie.

[tbayrgs]

Can I ask what you use to tag and do you convert all to itunes format? using what app? Also where do you get the covers from for coverflow? it looks really good like that

I've used MetaX, Subler, Vidalin with varying results. Personally, I like MetaX (for mac, that is) the best but the developer stopped supporting it over a year ago so it's search function with TagChimp will not work for anything added to their database after that point. You can still manually add info yourself and with the option of saved presets (very useful for tagging episodes of a TV series), it still works well, just requires a bit more work. Also, the ability to queue up a set of tagging jobs is advantageous over other options.

Vidalin is very simple and straight-forward. It essentially tags only the info displayed in :apple:TV and also offers a search function that works fairly well. Downside is you can only do one tag at a time and search functions doesn't work for TV shows so that is a completely manual process.

Recently, I have started to use Subler for all of my movie tagging (still use MetaX for TV) as it also has a search function with TagChimp. I started encoding blu-ray rips so I found Subler very useful for cnID tagging so that both HD and SD versions of a movie are batched together in iTunes. I'll probably continue to use Subler going forward.

You can find cover artwork all over the net--just copy and paste whatever you like either into your tagging program or directly in iTunes (get info artwork tab). FWIW, I generally rely on DVDtown (http://www.dvdtown.com/) for coverart.

[tbayrgs]

If I recode movies with Subler that were already coded in MetaX is that going to screw up the file??

I remember I had tried changing the artwork of a movie after MetaX encoded it and then when I went to play the movie it was just a black screen, no audio or video...

Until i figured out how to add other metadata with Subler, I was first using MetaX to tag and then using Subler to add cnID tag with no problems. I only had the dreaded black screen result if I tried to retag with MetaX after using it once.

[ayzee]

R.I.P to MetaX, i use Subler now which is much better IMO. It also lets you add the HD and explicit icons to your movies/tv shows.

Ive really gotten in to my itunes collection, and am ready to purchase a 2TB HD to carry on my obsession :)

The only annoyance with my collection is that iTunes refuses to accept transparent artwork, e.g transparent plastic DVD covers :(

[suss2it]

R.I.P to MetaX, i use Subler now which is much better IMO. It also lets you add the HD and explicit icons to your movies/tv shows.
You can do that in MetaX aswell.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm302/suss2it/th_HDTag.png (http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm302/suss2it/?action=view&current=HDTag.png)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm302/suss2it/th_Movies.png (http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm302/suss2it/?action=view&current=Movies.png)

[newappleboy]

You can do that in MetaX as well.

That's MetaX for Windows. To my knowledge, the current version of MetaX on the mac still can't flag as HD, though it can do Explicit markers.

[twdawson]

Here's mine. Just started though so not many films on there.
93067

And my Family Guy and South Park. (Futurama and Simpsons to come)
93068

Still don't actually have an Apple TV yet though... too pricey for what they are at the moment.

How do i get my itunes to display the movies like the top image

[marknicholls]

In windows i use Metabrowser to meta data all my MKV's

Now im moving to appleTV , im not sure whether to convert to MOVs or MP4, i dont want to loose any quality from my 720p MKVs

Im going to need to re meta data everything again but there doesnt appear to be on easy tagging app like meta browser which does TV and Movies

Any advice for a x-windows new Apple TV man!?

[getbigg21]

what's out there for Window's?

Yes sad to say i have a Window's machine after all the Macs i have in the house. I saw the iFlicks program where it does all the converting, etc. is there anything like this for Window's?

[marknicholls]

what's out there for Window's?

Yes sad to say i have a Window's machine after all the Macs i have in the house. I saw the iFlicks program where it does all the converting, etc. is there anything like this for Window's?

iFlicks looks amazing, exactly what i need although i was just reading the FAQ's and saw these options for encoding:

Apple TV H.264, max. 960x540, 5 Mbps AAC-LC, max. 160 Kbps, Stereo Apple TV

720p H.264, max. 1280x720, 10 Mbps AAC-LC, max. 320 Kbps, Stereo

Does this mean i cannot select the 720p version as it is 10 Mbps for use on apple tv? if thats the case all of my 720p episodes will have a quality decrease for Atv, is that right?

Also, do i use Elgato Turbo? i dont want to do anything to limit future use of the files (if i ever wanted to use different hardware or software etc)

Thanks

[marknicholls]

iFlicks looks amazing, exactly what i need although i was just reading the FAQ's and saw these options for encoding:

Apple TV H.264, max. 960x540, 5 Mbps AAC-LC, max. 160 Kbps, Stereo Apple TV

720p H.264, max. 1280x720, 10 Mbps AAC-LC, max. 320 Kbps, Stereo

Does this mean i cannot select the 720p version as it is 10 Mbps for use on apple tv? if thats the case all of my 720p episodes will have a quality decrease for Atv, is that right?

Also, do i use Elgato Turbo? i dont want to do anything to limit future use of the files (if i ever wanted to use different hardware or software etc)

Thanks

Ah, i got the wrong end of the stick, it doesnt convert anything then, i tried an MKV to make it into an Apple TV playable file but it was told "the is not a movie file"

Ah, im learning so much at the moment! Perian and Flip4mac sorted that problem, now i need to work out whats better, videodrive or iflicks!

[marknicholls]

There are options in iFlicks and Video drive to convert for Apple TV and Hacked Apple TV - what are the output differences?

Thanks

[mprofit]

How do i get my itunes to display the movies like the top image

I've been wondering this myself, can someone explain it? Looks better than the default view, I think.

[CutsAu]

Other then VideoDrive and iFlicks. What are people using ?

[ayzee]

For anybody wanting to use transparency in their iTunes artwork, just to let you know it is now finally working!

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5996/screenshot02b.png (http://ayzee.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/screenshot_02.png)

I have done a little write up on my experiences and uses of this (http://ayzee.tv/2010/07/18/transparent-images-now-working-in-itunes-coveflow/)

[steviem]

I've been using iFlicks - I even bought it too!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1143143/movies.png

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1143143/movies.png

[hagar]

I see VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) has a new version out: looks very nice with the black UI :cool:! I still prefer it over iFlicks.

[steviem]

Does it only make changes to the iTunes library or can it edit the metadata on the files outside of iTunes?

[Sky Blue]

I see VideoDrive (www.aroona.net) has a new version out: looks very nice with the black UI :cool:! I still prefer it over iFlicks.

It's funny how most of your posts are pimping VideoDrive.

[Dustoff00]

I have been using iFlicks for almost 6 months now and have not had any issues with it...

[rayward]

Until i figured out how to add other metadata with Subler, I was first using MetaX to tag and then using Subler to add cnID tag with no problems. I only had the dreaded black screen result if I tried to retag with MetaX after using it once.

How is Subler for pulling in chapter titles? This is one feature I really like in MetaX, but I am still using both it and Subler because MetaX (for Mac) can't do the cnid or HD tags.

[Bye Bye Baby]

It is so damn hard to keep all these things organised. I have over 500 films.

[JoshBoy]

It is so damn hard to keep all these things organised. I have over 500 films.

It is not hard, it just takes time and a lot of hard work, once it is set up and you do it for every thing you import it gets easier. I have about 62 days of music (there is not any singles, only full albums) and every single one has cover art and all the details enclosed. The movies I would have about 120 and the same with them.

Once you do the hard work it is rewarding having all the info there. :D

[AaronE]

http://i27.tinypic.com/bbpxl.png

http://i30.tinypic.com/e680oz.png

http://i28.tinypic.com/95zf68.png

Had over 100 until the hard drive with them decided to crash. But I decide to rip them at higher quality now so I'm restarting.

[Big Shisha]

How are you ripping them?

I starting to rip my DVD collection, whats the best way to keep high quality and do it quickly?

Handbrake takes about 2 hours(it could be because I have an older machine tho).

[fivepoint]

For anybody wanting to use transparency in their iTunes artwork, just to let you know it is now finally working!

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5996/screenshot02b.png (http://ayzee.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/screenshot_02.png)

I have done a little write up on my experiences and uses of this (http://ayzee.tv/2010/07/18/transparent-images-now-working-in-itunes-coveflow/)

Quick question... I've never understood why this appeals to anyone. Don't get me wrong... I think the aesthetic appeal is obvious; but if you buy even one single video from iTunes, etc. your collection is no longer consistent! I suppose you could retag all of those as well, but that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

IDK. Thoughts?

[dlegend]

it will take 2 hours if you have an older machine. I think that's how long mine used to take. Best way is to queue them up and let them encode overnight.

[ayzee]

Quick question... I've never understood why this appeals to anyone. Don't get me wrong... I think the aesthetic appeal is obvious; but if you buy even one single video from iTunes, etc. your collection is no longer consistent! I suppose you could retag all of those as well, but that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

IDK. Thoughts?

I never ever buy from iTunes!
The iTunes artwork is great, if all of your movies are bought from iTunes.

[The.316]

I try to keep it neat as possible..

Finally...someone else who has Defending Your Life. LOVE that movie!

[CutsAu]

I have tried both iFlicks and VideoDrive, and I just hate VideoDrive. I have nothing good to say about it at all. iFlicks on the other hand is great. Never had a drama with it at all.

[hagar]

I have tried both iFlicks and VideoDrive, and I just hate VideoDrive. I have nothing good to say about it at all. iFlicks on the other hand is great. Never had a drama with it at all.

I had just the opposite experience: iFlicks crashes on me too much. Never had a problem with VideoDrive.

[Chase R]

I wish iTunes supported all media formats, that would be awesome. I really like the way it organizes movies, especially with CoverFlow.

Forced to use Finder. :(

[Bye Bye Baby]

It is not hard, it just takes time and a lot of hard work, once it is set up and you do it for every thing you import it gets easier. I have about 62 days of music (there is not any singles, only full albums) and every single one has cover art and all the details enclosed. The movies I would have about 120 and the same with them.

Once you do the hard work it is rewarding having all the info there. :D

Sorry, that makes no sense. It's not hard it's just hard? really?

And it shouldn't be. Look at Plex. Apple has dropped the ball on this one.

[Icculus]

Sorry, that makes no sense. It's not hard it's just hard? really?

And it shouldn't be. Look at Plex. Apple has dropped the ball on this one.

Plex is nice but I have found myself correcting a lot of my movies because its wrong. Also I have over 400+ concert rips and Plex does a HORRIBLE job at these and most of the time I cannot even get them to show up in the library. I prefer to use metadata because that way I can tag them the way I want and then iTunes just reads the metadata. I agree it is more work, but I really prefer this way over plex.

[Chase R]

Plex needs to fix their aspect-ratio bug (while using hardware acceleration), before I give it another go.

VLC FTW.

[tommylotto]

I prefer to use metadata because that way I can tag them the way I want and then iTunes just reads the metadata. I agree it is more work, but I really prefer this way over plex.

The newest version of Plex (available on their most recent Blog post (http://elan.plexapp.com/2010/12/02/mo-betta-metadata-editing/)) allows you to edit metadata...

[From A Buick 8]

I have been using Identify2, i have done about 420 DVD's so far. They have all been SD DVD Rips using MTR and Ripit and then HB to encode.

[Chase R]

I have been using Identify2, i have done about 420 DVD's so far. They have all been SD DVD Rips using MTR and Ripit and then HB to encode.

Holy moly cows, thats a lot of encoding!

What machine are you using?

[Icculus]

The newest version of Plex (available on their most recent Blog post (http://elan.plexapp.com/2010/12/02/mo-betta-metadata-editing/)) allows you to edit metadata...

Yeah I installed it, but its not reading all the Metadata correctly. I have spent HOURS inside iTunes/MetaX to add in all this info and Plex is not seeing any of it. Kinda pisses me off.

[From A Buick 8]

Holy moly cows, thats a lot of encoding!

What machine are you using?

i started the first week of october. Now that my Movies are done (well caught up), time to start on the TV Shows i have about 100 of them.


21.5 imac 3.2GHz, Intel Core i3

[Chase R]

i started the first week of october. Now that my Movies are done (well caught up), time to start on the TV Shows i have about 100 of them.


21.5 imac 3.2GHz, Intel Core i3

Awesome. About how long does it take to encode your average DVD on the i3?

[Wicked1]

Holy moly cows, thats a lot of encoding!

What machine are you using?



But Rip It rips the entire DVD around 8 GB then how do you use HB for Encoding. I can not seem to get HB to rip and encode as I would rather use one application but then again I just started ripping my library, so I am fairly open to any suggestions as I do not have a defined method yet.

[From A Buick 8]

Awesome. About how long does it take to encode your average DVD on the i3?

With the settings i use (high profile and RF at 19) about 1 hour on average.

Take about 15 min to rip DVD to my HD. I rip about 10, and then load all into HB and let it work on them over night.

[From A Buick 8]

But Rip It rips the entire DVD around 8 GB then how do you use HB for Encoding. I can not seem to get HB to rip and encode as I would rather use one application but then again I just started ripping my library, so I am fairly open to any suggestions as I do not have a defined method yet.

Yes, i use ripit or MTR to get the whole DVD onto my computer. Then i load the ripped DVD file into HB and it will suggest what it thinks is the main title and i add that to the HB Queue.

There were i few ripped DVD's that HB failed to find the right title, i think that is because the original DVD was authored poorly or it had a lot of zero length cells. For those few i would run through DETOX to strip out the main feature and then run that through HB.

[kultschar]

For anybody wanting to use transparency in their iTunes artwork, just to let you know it is now finally working!

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5996/screenshot02b.png (http://ayzee.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/screenshot_02.png)

I have done a little write up on my experiences and uses of this (http://ayzee.tv/2010/07/18/transparent-images-now-working-in-itunes-coveflow/)

Wow how do u do this, the blog link is no longer valid

[Wheeler]

Cool to see others are into this stuff too- I've tried various methods/set-ups, and have it pretty stream lined now- takes the frustration out and makes building my collection enjoyable.

I rip and encode with handbrake on a mini (i7 imac hopefully soon) directly to a raid server- skips the step of having to copy files to server, and works perfectly. Handbrake then exports to MetaX, which then automatically adds the file to iTunes.

Thats it- 2 steps and I have a perfectly organized library accessible from appleTV's and via plex and air video apps on iOS devices.

I used to have a ton of mkv's and avi's and used Boxee on an old AppleTV, but it couldn't always handle the files and the setup wasn't as clean. I just utilized the queue in HB and metaX, and with due diligence converted everything to mp4 in no time. Now my library is clean, organized and gets along with all media devices.

MetaX tip- I used use the toggle button and would get the "cannot write chapters" error often, which would pause the tagging. Now I just check a few items on the main tab and it all goes smoothly. Pretty obvious but took me a while to figure out anyhow...

[gunthermic]

Cool to see others are into this stuff too- I've tried various methods/set-ups, and have it pretty stream lined now- takes the frustration out and makes building my collection enjoyable.

I rip and encode with handbrake on a mini (i7 imac hopefully soon) directly to a raid server- skips the step of having to copy files to server, and works perfectly. Handbrake then exports to MetaX, which then automatically adds the file to iTunes.

Thats it- 2 steps and I have a perfectly organized library accessible from appleTV's and via plex and air video apps on iOS devices.

I used to have a ton of mkv's and avi's and used Boxee on an old AppleTV, but it couldn't always handle the files and the setup wasn't as clean. I just utilized the queue in HB and metaX, and with due diligence converted everything to mp4 in no time. Now my library is clean, organized and gets along with all media devices.

MetaX tip- I used use the toggle button and would get the "cannot write chapters" error often, which would pause the tagging. Now I just check a few items on the main tab and it all goes smoothly. Pretty obvious but took me a while to figure out anyhow...

Pray tell how does HB export to MetaX? Oh I see that now inthe Mac Version. Hmm can this be accomplished via the CLI as well???

[ayzee]

Wow how do u do this, the blog link is no longer valid

Have renewed my domain now so link should work again. Guide on how to do the DVD covers is all there on my blog.

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!

For those using meta x: does it still have problems editing files over 2GB i.e HD content? That's why I switched to using subler, but have to manually enter all the meta data now.

[kultschar]

Have renewed my domain now so link should work again. Guide on how to do the DVD covers is all there on my blog.

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!

For those using meta x: does it still have problems editing files over 2GB i.e HD content? That's why I switched to using subler, but have to manually enter all the meta data now.


Awesome! Any tips for inserting my posters into the DVD layer in photoshop e.g. resizing etc and what you do to export / save the final image?

Im a bit of a novice to Photoshop and image editing. I have figured out how to trim the final DVD group image and export to PNG but not sure how to import my artwork and if I have to resize things!!!

I guess a blu ray case and CD case is also a possibiity

[TheCheapGeek]

I never ever buy from iTunes!
The iTunes artwork is great, if all of your movies are bought from iTunes.

I really prefer mirroring the tagging in iTunes exactly, that way all my content looks identical.

[From A Buick 8]

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!


Was not too bad, my goal was to do ten a day. Now i have my TV show DVD's to do and although there are fewer of these they will be more of a challenge. Rip them, split out each episode and then encode.
I also want to include some of the special features (blooper reels mostly) for each of the show/seasons so all of that will take time. I am starting with the nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond

[ayzee]

I really prefer mirroring the tagging in iTunes exactly, that way all my content looks identical.

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

[ayzee]

Was not too bad, my goal was to do ten a day. Now i have my TV show DVD's to do and although there are fewer of these they will be more of a challenge. Rip them, split out each episode and then encode.
I also want to include some of the special features (blooper reels mostly) for each of the show/seasons so all of that will take time. I am starting with the nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond

Yes TV Shows are a pain, and take much more work than just 1 movie file. Not sure if meta x has a tagging database of tv shows, but that would be your best bet as doing it manually will take you forever...im speaking from experience!

[From A Buick 8]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice

[From A Buick 8]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice.
Getvideoartwork.com

[Omne666]

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice.
Getvideoartwork.com

Yes, they have great artwork but limited, especially re TV shows. Hopefully if enough of us donate images as we can it'll become more complete.

[Omne666]

*jumps up and down* Ooohh!! Me too! I want one. But why stop short? I'd like mine to have 4 1GB drives.

Go Bigger! 4 x 1Tb?? I have 4 x 1.5Tb in my Drobo and one now has a red light....space is getting cramped. Over next 12 months I'll replace all with 2Tb drives.

And if that gets full, I really will need professional help with this hobby. Its way to addictive! Nearly 3000 tv episodes, 1500 movies, and 200Gb of Music. If the Drobo EVER fails me, you'll hear the gunshot closely followed by my body hitting the floor!!!:o

[Chase R]

Go Bigger! 4 x 1Tb?? I have 4 x 1.5Tb in my Drobo and one now has a red light....space is getting cramped. Over next 12 months I'll replace all with 2Tb drives.

And if that gets full, I really will need professional help with this hobby. Its way to addictive! Nearly 3000 tv episodes, 1500 movies, and 200Gb of Music. If the Drobo EVER fails me, you'll hear the gunshot closely followed by my body hitting the floor!!!:o

I would regularly check slickdeals.net for 2TB drives. Usually they have links to sellers offering them for around $70.

That's where I got mine!

And you don't have a backup of the Drobo? I would suggest using a RAID 1 setup so you always have a backup. Hard drives fail all the time. Although, it can get pretty pricey, because your using double the amount of hard drives for the same space. It might save you from that gunshot!!! lol :)

[dlegend]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

Got any pics? Where do you store it all?

[Omne666]

I would regularly check slickdeals.net for 2TB drives. Usually they have links to sellers offering them for around $70.

That's where I got mine!

And you don't have a backup of the Drobo? I would suggest using a RAID 1 setup so you always have a backup. Hard drives fail all the time. Although, it can get pretty pricey, because your using double the amount of hard drives for the same space. It might save you from that gunshot!!! lol :)

Actually the Drobo was bought for the very fact of its own protection. I can lose 2 of the drives (apparently) and still not lose any data. So the story from DR goes. I hope never to actually find out. I use to have 4 x 1Tb WD external drives, but all were standalone storage for the library. Got sick of the cables (especially power) and the fact that none gave me any data protection. Not unless I halved their capacity and ran them as raids.

I do have a large proportion (2Tb) of the library on a single WD Drive in another physical location (240km away), so worst case, I'll lose at best, about half my library. So maybe I'll just club myself in the head a few times with the gun butt instead.:rolleyes:

[ayzee]

Got any pics? Where do you store it all?


For anybody wanting to use transparency in their iTunes artwork, just to let you know it is now finally working!

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5996/screenshot02b.png (http://ayzee.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/screenshot_02.png)

I have done a little write up on my experiences and uses of this (http://ayzee.tv/2010/07/18/transparent-images-now-working-in-itunes-coveflow/)

Above is one of my previous posts.
I store my entire iTunes library on a 2GB WD FireWire external HD. & I keep a 2nd 2TB ext HD at work for backup purposes!

[newagemac]

Hey that's pretty cool! You got any pics on how the transparent covers look on the Apple TV? Does it work there too?

[ayzee]

I dont own an ATV(yet), but the images work just fine in FrontRow which basically is the same interface as the original ATV.

[kultschar]

I dont own an ATV(yet), but the images work just fine in FrontRow which basically is the same interface as the original ATV.

Yeah they work fine in frontrow and coverflow however on the Apple TV interface there are problems. I will get some screenshots up to show my problem!!

[Ingster]

quick question, i'm currently starting to encode my dvd's using ripit and HB, i use the universal pre-set for encodes (so i can use it on my iphone, wife's ipod touch, ipad, mac and soon apple TV2) is this the right one to use or should i use another (plus don't go in too deep on changing rates etc i'm a complete noob at all this encoding lark! i like simple pre-sets :D)

[From A Buick 8]

quick question, i'm currently starting to encode my dvd's using ripit and HB, i use the universal pre-set for encodes (so i can use it on my iphone, wife's ipod touch, ipad, mac and soon apple TV2) is this the right one to use or should i use another (plus don't go in too deep on changing rates etc i'm a complete noob at all this encoding lark! i like simple pre-sets :D)

That should work fine. What TV set are you using to play the material through the ATV.

[Ingster]

Samsung 32" LCD TV 720p

[From A Buick 8]

Samsung 32" LCD TV 720p

Using the universal preset you sacrifice some quality for the versatility to play on all of those devices. With a 32" you should be fine.

The best preset for quality on the ATV would be the high profile and slide the RF to 19 (using one of the nightly builds of HB), but i do not think that will play on some of your other devices.

[Colster20]

I am currently ripping my DVD collection using Ripit and then converting using Handbreak, I have had issues with Metax and no longer want to use it. Iflicks seems to be getting good comments, but if I have all the movies in Itunes will iflicks still add the tags or do I have to delete them out of itunes add the tags and then recopy them back in.

[From A Buick 8]

I am currently ripping my DVD collection using Ripit and then converting using Handbreak, I have had issues with Metax and no longer want to use it. Iflicks seems to be getting good comments, but if I have all the movies in Itunes will iflicks still add the tags or do I have to delete them out of itunes add the tags and then recopy them back in.

I think iFlicks has a apple script that it adds to your iTunes menu for you to edit material allready in there.

I use Identify2 and it does not have a feature like that. I do like the program though, have had great luck with it.

[From A Buick 8]

TV shows are a pain in the A$$, well to be fair so far the TV show The Office (US version) is a pain in the A$$.

The DVD's are a nightmare when trying to pick the right title to run through HB, i have to play each episode and make note of the title. Also for some reason when i dump them into iDentify for tagging the information is all messed up. I am using the same naming convention that i have used for several other TV shows ("Show Name" S1E2).

I have done all the seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Modern Family, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, King Of Queens, Archer etc… and never had the kind of trouble I am having with The Office.

[rayward]

Yes TV Shows are a pain, and take much more work than just 1 movie file. Not sure if meta x has a tagging database of tv shows, but that would be your best bet as doing it manually will take you forever...im speaking from experience!

Yes, Meta X has a database of TV shows (or, more correctly, it can pull tag sets from TagChimp). However, rather than rely on trying to pick a random tag set, I find it best to create a preset for each season. Load up Meta X with the info you want for every episode in a season - including the artwork - click "Preset", then "+" and name your new preset.

Then, when tagging the individual shows, click the preset you created to populate the window with all the consistent data (show name, cast list, season #, genre, rating etc.). After that, it's just a case of filling in the episode-specific data such as episode name/number, synopsis, director, writer etc.).

It's still a little clunky, but it does speed thins up a little.

[rayward]

TV shows are a pain in the A$$, well to be fair so far the TV show The Office (US version) is a pain in the A$$.

The DVD's are a nightmare when trying to pick the right title to run through HB, i have to play each episode and make note of the title. Also for some reason when i dump them into iDentify for tagging the information is all messed up. I am using the same naming convention that i have used for several other TV shows ("Show Name" S1E2).

I have done all the seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Modern Family, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, King Of Queens, Archer etc… and never had the kind of trouble I am having with The Office.

I do not find this problem. If you are ripping/encoding directly with HB, it will default to the "Play All" track, but each individual episode is on the title list too. Just ignore the 2 1/2 hour main track, and select/encode the six 22 minute tracks individually. They are almost always in episode run order, so you can encode them with the correct episode title right from HB.

[hagar]

I am currently ripping my DVD collection using Ripit and then converting using Handbreak, I have had issues with Metax and no longer want to use it. Iflicks seems to be getting good comments, but if I have all the movies in Itunes will iflicks still add the tags or do I have to delete them out of itunes add the tags and then recopy them back in.

As far as I can tell it wll recopy them in. VideoDrive has a dedicated feature to add metadata to iTunes videos. Select the video in iTunes and click "Add metadata". No recopying done.

[From A Buick 8]

I do not find this problem. If you are ripping/encoding directly with HB, it will default to the "Play All" track, but each individual episode is on the title list too. Just ignore the 2 1/2 hour main track, and select/encode the six 22 minute tracks individually. They are almost always in episode run order, so you can encode them with the correct episode title right from HB.

That is exactly how all of my TV shows have worked except for "The Office"

[Omne666]

As far as I can tell it wll recopy them in. VideoDrive has a dedicated feature to add metadata to iTunes videos. Select the video in iTunes and click "Add metadata". No recopying done.

Simply unclick the 'add to iTunes' button in iFlicks, and the meta data will be written into a 'copy' of the original file, and the original will be deleted auromatically.

ANY PROGRAM, will always write to a copy of the original, before writing the metadata, simply to ensure that if anything goes wrong, ie: power failure, Computer freeze....you still have the original uncorrupted file. If the program doesn't, your risking your data.

If the program really doesnt, but only writes the meta data to itunes, again, anything goes wrong, you lose the good work you've done and are left with movies minus metadata.

Be patient, and do it right....whichever program you use.

[CutsAu]

I just can't go past iFlicks. That + Vuze has made life so easy for me.

[ayzee]

I think iFlicks has a apple script that it adds to your iTunes menu for you to edit material allready in there.

I use Identify2 and it does not have a feature like that. I do like the program though, have had great luck with it.

Identify2 is amazing! Brilliant how it automatically starts tagging your videos as you add them. Ive been manually tagging with Subler for the last 12 months since meta x stopped working. Identify2 is better than both by far.

I edited content already in iTunes with Identify2 just fine. Once written, "just get" info on the itunes content to refresh the data.

Tried iFlicks but for some reason couldnt get it to work or even open any files.

[toolbox]

Here here is my library and how i have it. All of this is stored on my 4 TB nas because the itunes folder was close to a 1TB and my imac was running out of space

[jmor]

I've only been doing movies up until now and I just started like two weeks ago and it's been going pretty good, although now I see there are better and more efficient ways I may try out. I've been using MetaX for movies, but now I just got a couple seasons of Entourage on DVD and ripped them with handbrake by each individual episode. Now I want to get the metadata but MetaX isn't working well, and in iTunes they are showing up in the Movies tab instead of the TV Show tab. I'm also unsure how I'm supposed to tag a TV Show, anyone have any tips/ideas? Thanks

[From A Buick 8]

I've only been doing movies up until now and I just started like two weeks ago and it's been going pretty good, although now I see there are better and more efficient ways I may try out. I've been using MetaX for movies, but now I just got a couple seasons of Entourage on DVD and ripped them with handbrake by each individual episode. Now I want to get the metadata but MetaX isn't working well, and in iTunes they are showing up in the Movies tab instead of the TV Show tab. I'm also unsure how I'm supposed to tag a TV Show, anyone have any tips/ideas? Thanks

I use identify2, name each episode like this
"name of show" S1E1
So season 1 episode 1 of the office would be
The Office S1E1
I have done over 1,000 tv episodes using this approach with Identify and it has worked well.

[ayzee]

I use identify2, name each episode like this
"name of show" S1E1
So season 1 episode 1 of the office would be
The Office S1E1
I have done over 1,000 tv episodes using this approach with identify2 and it has worked well.

To the other poster, Stop using metax and use identify2 and I'm sure all your problems will be solved.

Thanks for the tv tagging tip, I'm going to go through and redo all of my tv shows in iTunes like this. After doing it manually for so long o was beginning to lose the will to live

[newappleboy]

I don't know why everyone disses MetaX, specifically for TV shows. I've used it for my entire library and love it. First of all, when adding any files to MetaX it asks if you're tagging a TV show or Movie, so there's no excuse for it flagging your stuff as movies unless you told it to. Secondly, I wish people would stop acting like the internet has to do everything for them or it isn't worth being done. I grab the dates and synopsis information for TV episodes on TV.com and manually copy and paste it myself. I can fly through an entire season of a TV show in less time than it takes to watch a 30 minute sitcom episode (which I usually have in the background to pass the time). MetaX does a great job and if people can't figure out how to use it, then yeah, I recommend finding something else. But it shouldn't ever be because it doesn't get the job done, because it does.

*gets off soap box* :cool:

[jmor]

Okay, thanks for the responses, where should I download iDentify, I'll try it out. So far I've been doing S1-V(volume or disk number)1-E1 but maybe that way will work better.


And I don't mark them as movies if they are TV shows and I have liked MetaX over all the others because it is the most straight forward, but it is having a hard time finding any information for my TV shows so it's getting to be a hassle. I would just like something a bit more automated that made it so I didn't have to do so much manually, but each to their own.

[ayzee]

Okay, thanks for the responses, where should I download iDentify, I'll try it out. So far I've been doing S1-V(volume or disk number)1-E1 but maybe that way will work better.


And I don't mark them as movies if they are TV shows and I have liked MetaX over all the others because it is the most straight forward, but it is having a hard time finding any information for my TV shows so it's getting to be a hassle. I would just like something a bit more automated that made it so I didn't have to do so much manually, but each to their own.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33814/identify-2

[peeaanuut]

thanks for the info on iDentify. I was already using a SHOW S#E# naming convention and it works great. Even on a series I had labeled as SxE it picked up just fine. Man oh man, my TV shows are going to look as sexy as my Movies do.

[hagar]

Okay, thanks for the responses, where should I download iDentify, I'll try it out. So far I've been doing S1-V(volume or disk number)1-E1 but maybe that way will work better.


And I don't mark them as movies if they are TV shows and I have liked MetaX over all the others because it is the most straight forward, but it is having a hard time finding any information for my TV shows so it's getting to be a hassle. I would just like something a bit more automated that made it so I didn't have to do so much manually, but each to their own.

http://www.aroona.net/VideoDrive/Home.html

Can tag your existing TV shows in iTunes and import new ones as well.

[Shambles]

Here's my collection stored on a 1TB external drive. 167 Movies so far..

http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae148/sickkage/Screenshot2011-03-07at074142.png

Never thought of importing them into iTunes.. Will it be worth all the time taken converting all my .mkvs to .mp4s? What programs do you recommend for this?

[DoFoT9]

Never thought of importing them into iTunes.. Will it be worth all the time taken converting all my .mkvs to .mp4s? What programs do you recommend for this?

nice collection, are they ripped BDs? i wouldnt bother, unless you want them all in the iTunes library.

HandBrake would be your best tool to convert (for free)

[ichaddy]

Nice thread.

"Release date" tag for movies

Tagging in either iTunes or Subler doesn't show up on the ATV2. Any ideas, is there another tag I should be using?

Cheers

[ayzee]

Here's my collection stored on a 1TB external drive. 167 Movies so far..

http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae148/sickkage/Screenshot2011-03-07at074142.png

Never thought of importing them into iTunes.. Will it be worth all the time taken converting all my .mkvs to .mp4s? What programs do you recommend for this?

For MKV to MP4 your best bet is to use the application MKVtools
http://www.emmgunn.com/mokgvm2dvd/mokgvmdownload.html

This application extracts the video and audio in its native format from the Mkv file and creates an MP4 file within minutes. Also works for avi files. Using handbrake would take at least an hour for the average film

I only use handbrake when I need to make a video smaller to go onto my iPod/iPhone

[Shambles]

For MKV to MP4 your best bet is to use the application MKVtools
http://www.emmgunn.com/mokgvm2dvd/mokgvmdownload.html

This application extracts the video and audio in its native format from the Mkv file and creates an MP4 file within minutes. Also works for avi files. Using handbrake would take at least an hour for the average film

I only use handbrake when I need to make a video smaller to go onto my iPod/iPhone

And that won't reduce the quality or anything? And the file size is the same? Thanks.

nice collection, are they ripped BDs?

Cheers, haha erm I downloaded them from torrents.. :P

[Jaunty]

I use identify2, name each episode like this
"name of show" S1E1
So season 1 episode 1 of the office would be
The Office S1E1
I have done over 1,000 tv episodes using this approach with Identify and it has worked well.
I use iDentify2 as well, paid for the full version for the import in to iTunes feature. Only been ripping a few weeks, have done a dozen movies or so, and 264 episodes (I think!) of Frasier. I use Show.SXX.Exx as my episode file name in Handbrake ie Frasier.S01.E01 and it has worked fine. Would not have done it without it! (Can you set the default type to Movie or TV Show in iDentify2 does any one know?).

And can I ask how people would catalogue this - Crusade in Europe, a TV documentary, various Volumes (ie discs) each with 4 x 20 minutes chapters on. I am ripping the whole discs and putting the chapter titles in as the description and in the chapter fields, and tagged as a TV Show genre documentary. Or is it better long term to rip the chapters individually? Cheers.

[ayzee]

And that won't reduce the quality or anything? And the file size is the same? Thanks.


Yep exactly the same quality as long as the source video/audio is encoded in an MP4 friendly format: i.e. h264 for the video and AAC or AC3 for the audio. Sometimes for example if the video is in WMV format it also will encode it like handbrake does, to a h264 video.

I just couldn't imagine using handbrake to convert a 9GB HD MKV to MP4. It would take so long and it would probably be of reduced quality.

@ Jaunty - for future proofing purposes I would just split the chapters as separate files.

[peeaanuut]

http://joetakesphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Screen-shot-2011-03-08-at-6.27.20-AM.png

[dlegend]

Why do you have 3 copies of the same movie?

Here are my TV shows so far. Only have 5 movies in iTunes right now but I have another 40 ripped, just need to move around stuff on the hard drives. Trying to finish getting Top Gear into iTunes by next week.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i88/DLnike2003/Screenshot2011-03-13at100139PM.png

[dlegend]

Here are all of my movies so far. Going to convert another big batch while I'm out of town this weekend, wish I had a new iMac to speed this up.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i88/DLnike2003/Screenshot2011-05-04at112954PM.png

[twdawson]

Its took me a while to get this far and i have a long way to go.

[lc25]

Having read through all 46 pages my head is spinning..... From different people i see you all use different software i'm currently using Visual Hub to convert but i'm sure out of date Can i just ask one question ?

Which is the best conversion software for .avi/ .mkv to mp4 ?
Which is the best software for tagging your converted files ?

Ok so thats two but it falls under one in my book, in terms of best im talking more about the one which most people seem to be using at this moment in time.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks LC

[Born Again]

I'd say very organized.

90818

Exactly - iTunes is the worst for movies

[Born Again]

Having read through all 46 pages my head is spinning..... From different people i see you all use different software i'm currently using Visual Hub to convert but i'm sure out of date Can i just ask one question ?

Which is the best conversion software for .avi/ .mkv to mp4 ?
Which is the best software for tagging your converted files ?

Ok so thats two but it falls under one in my book, in terms of best im talking more about the one which most people seem to be using at this moment in time.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks LC

It's not worth it. Too much time to do conversions etc

Just get air video and call it a day my friend


What do u guys think?

[twdawson]

Having read through all 46 pages my head is spinning..... From different people i see you all use different software i'm currently using Visual Hub to convert but i'm sure out of date Can i just ask one question ?

Which is the best conversion software for .avi/ .mkv to mp4 ?
Which is the best software for tagging your converted files ?

Ok so thats two but it falls under one in my book, in terms of best im talking more about the one which most people seem to be using at this moment in time.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks LC

I use Handbrake to convert all my video and dont have a problem.
MKV files i still use handbrake but i depends on the audio, if its dts then i run them through MKV Tools first which only takes minutes.

For tagging i use Metax but the windows version as it allows me to tag the video as HD.

There are probably better ways of doing it than my way but its just the way i have become used to and i know it works.

Hope that helps.

[From A Buick 8]

Having read through all 46 pages my head is spinning..... From different people i see you all use different software i'm currently using Visual Hub to convert but i'm sure out of date Can i just ask one question ?

Which is the best conversion software for .avi/ .mkv to mp4 ?
Which is the best software for tagging your converted files ?

Ok so thats two but it falls under one in my book, in terms of best im talking more about the one which most people seem to be using at this moment in time.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks LC


Easy answer, use Handbrake for the conversion and then identify to tag and add to iTunes.

Once in iTunes use playlist folders and smart playlist to organize.

[From A Buick 8]

It's not worth it. Too much time to do conversions etc

Just get air video and call it a day my friend


What do u guys think?

I like air video but it is no substitute for properly converting tagging and adding to iTunes. That way you have direct access to this with all of your Apple TV's.

With Air Video you need to use an iOS device to send the video to the Apple TV.

[benh911f]

Still in the process. Use RipIt to Rip, Handbrake to Encode, then MetaX. Unfortunately, for some reason I want ALL my movies and TV Shows to look as if they were bought from iTunes, so when I use MetaX for the metadata, I manually type everything in from iTunes, and make sure I get the proper iTunes artwork. Don't ask me why I feel the need to do this.
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_Mov.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=Mov.png)
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_Mov2.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=Mov2.png)
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_Mov3.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=Mov3.png)
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_Mov4.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=Mov4.png)
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_TV1.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=TV1.png)
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/th_TV2.png (http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n309/benh911f/?action=view&current=TV2.png)

[jendrik]

Having read through all 46 pages my head is spinning..... From different people i see you all use different software i'm currently using Visual Hub to convert but i'm sure out of date Can i just ask one question ?

Which is the best conversion software for .avi/ .mkv to mp4 ?
Which is the best software for tagging your converted files ?

Ok so thats two but it falls under one in my book, in terms of best im talking more about the one which most people seem to be using at this moment in time.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks LC

You can try using the latest beta of iFlicks for adding mkv videos to iTunes (use the "iTunes compatible" preset). It is pretty fast and most files will play on the ATV2, iPad, IPhone without time consuming encoding.

To tag videos right from within iTunes you can use the iTunes Servies menu (also new to the iFlicks beta). This makes updating metadata a blast.

You can download the latest beta of iFlicks from http://www.iflicksapp.com/download/iFlicks-beta.dmg. I appreciate any feedback I can get.

[lali]

Here are my TV shows so far. Only have 5 movies in iTunes right now but I have another 40 ripped, just need to move around stuff on the hard drives. Trying to finish getting Top Gear into iTunes by next week.

Image (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i88/DLnike2003/Screenshot2011-03-13at100139PM.png)
.
.

Hello

I have a question:

How can we group many TV seasons of one show, into one single icon in that view (right above on the link I am quoting) ? For example "Las Vegas" would be one icon only. If you click on it you have all your seasons nested under that one icon.

Is this feasible?

Please advise, thank you.

François

[AdrianK]

.
.

Hello

I have a question:

How can we group many TV seasons of one show, into one single icon in that view (right above on the link I am quoting) ? For example "Las Vegas" would be one icon only. If you click on it you have all your seasons nested under that one icon.

Is this feasible?

Please advise, thank you.

François

Doesn't appear to be an option :(

[dlegend]

.
.

Hello

I have a question:

How can we group many TV seasons of one show, into one single icon in that view (right above on the link I am quoting) ? For example "Las Vegas" would be one icon only. If you click on it you have all your seasons nested under that one icon.

Is this feasible?

Please advise, thank you.

François

I haven't tried it, but I imagine you could just put them all in the same grouping. Might need to change the episode ID's from episode 1 to 101 and season 2 episode 1 to 201.

[Omne666]

.
.

Hello

I have a question:

How can we group many TV seasons of one show, into one single icon in that view (right above on the link I am quoting) ? For example "Las Vegas" would be one icon only. If you click on it you have all your seasons nested under that one icon.

With the ATV2 as it currently stands, no, not possible. The ATV1 does it well, but still waiting for them to 'fix' iOS for this.

Only option is to create playlists to do it, or alter all the episode numbers as mentioned. I don't suggest this as IF Apple ever does fix this issue, you'll have to go back and redo the episode numbers.

[ichaddy]

Here's the TV Shows, its been painful to catalog the some 1200 episodes. For example why all the Frasier or Friends are not in a single series is a big question mark Apple!

[Chase R]

Until iTunes (or a third-party plugin) allows iTunes to host any video file (avi, mkv, m2ts, mp4, iso, etc...) without converting, I'll just be using Finder. I've got some 500 movies on an external RAID drive and they will be staying there!

[slothrob]

Until iTunes (or a third-party plugin) allows iTunes to host any video file (avi, mkv, m2ts, mp4, iso, etc...) without converting, I'll just be using Finder. I've got some 500 movies on an external RAID drive and they will be staying there!
Why not just encode them all to .mv4 in the first place?

[Chase R]

Why not just encode them all to .mv4 in the first place?

Hmm... ;)

[monaarts]

Here is mine… All of the movies have descriptions, artists, producers, directors, etc… A majority of them are HD, the ones that ares are from my DVD collection. I have about another 30 DVD's to rip and about 15-20 more HD movies to convert to iTunes media. ;-)

[fuseman13]

I'd post a screen shot of mine but I don't know how to capture it?

I'm new to the Apple Family, I have a iPhone, iPad, iMac and ATV2. The last 3 were all purchased with in the last 45 days. My database is housed on a Synology NAS DiskStation.

I use MakeMKV for my full DVD rips, those I store in a different partition of my NAS, (I haven't gotten to my 100+ BluRays yet but I'll use MakeMKV for those as well) and I use Handbrake so iTunes can use it, then MetaX to get my info and cover art.

I'm pretty finicky about how things are organized in my iTunes account so I make sure all movies are labeled with as much info as possible and I make sure they are "Sorted" properly. So if I have a trilogy or series of movies they come up in order of first to last.

I have about 200 DVD movies ripped so far (around 250gig's) with about 150 to go, then onto the BluRays.
Oh yeah...I've been lurking for a few months and this is my first post.

[HateMondays]

Still in the process. Use RipIt to Rip, Handbrake to Encode, then MetaX. Unfortunately, for some reason I want ALL my movies and TV Shows to look as if they were bought from iTunes, so when I use MetaX for the metadata, I manually type everything in from iTunes, and make sure I get the proper iTunes artwork. Don't ask me why I feel the need to do this.


I'm the same, apart from I use subler on my mac.

On that note does anyone have Avatar purchased from iTunes store?
I've only just ripped it but as it's no longer available I am failing to get the proper metadata.

[GeekOFComedy]

All mine have the album cover art and the ID3 tag descriptions and everything although I mostly have TV Shows!

[moneyman118]

All mine have the album cover art and the ID3 tag descriptions and everything although I mostly have TV Shows!

Where do you get the tags?

[djrod]

You can try using the latest beta of iFlicks for adding mkv videos to iTunes (use the "iTunes compatible" preset). It is pretty fast and most files will play on the ATV2, iPad, IPhone without time consuming encoding.

To tag videos right from within iTunes you can use the iTunes Servies menu (also new to the iFlicks beta). This makes updating metadata a blast.

You can download the latest beta of iFlicks from http://www.iflicksapp.com/download/iFlicks-beta.dmg. I appreciate any feedback I can get.

For me, this is the best app to get tags for tvshows

[HelixOmnimedia]

Oh no http://www.getvideoartwork.com/ is down. :(


Anyone know of any other sites you can get artwork for?

[HelixOmnimedia]

I'm looking for the artwork for Downton Abbey -- the US iTunes Artwork one.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/downton-abbey/id410597630

[Paratel]

565 movies and counting... I usually get all my artwork just by googling it and then getting it from www.imdb.com. Just dragging it over into the artwork tab.

[newappleboy]

Oh no http://www.getvideoartwork.com/ is down. :(


Anyone know of any other sites you can get artwork for?

The owner of the site is aware and working with the domain admins to get it back online. There are just a few issues that he's dealing with and is trying to get it done as soon as possible. A temporary substitute that provides iTunes only artwork can be found here (http://iart.toaos.tk/dashboard).

[barbarbar]

I organized my itunes collection with Ivi, http://www.southpolesoftware.com/iVI/iVI.php

It's very simple to use, and add poster, info to the movie.

If you know something better, let us know.

[rdubya5]

Attached is part of my collection, all done with subler. I like to add the year to the end of the movie name and I take the small description from imdb.com (it's usually just a sentence or two and fits great in the small description area). All my artwork is exactly 1000x1500 pixels. I get the best looking artwork from either, themoviedb.org, getvideoartwork.com or http://bendodson.com/projects/itunes-tv-artwork/

I also remove the Actors, Screenwriters, Directors and such from the metadata. The results are a clean look on the apple tv. The image is bigger and it simply displays the description of the movie.

Let me know what you think.

[jmbrown91]

Hi,

Is there a setting in RipIt to only rip the 'Main Feature'?
When I tried it over the weekend it ripped the whole disc, about 6GB?! And would only open in 'DVDPlayer'.

TIA

[harpster]

Plex with Freebase as the Meta Agent. Blows iTunes away!

[Omne666]

I also remove the Actors, Screenwriters, Directors and such from the metadata. The results are a clean look on the apple tv. The image is bigger and it simply displays the description of the movie.

Let me know what you think.

But for me removing such metadata removes so much flexibility such as playlists based on actors or directors. A smartplay list is a very handy thing, but it needs metadata to work best.

[nebo1ss]

For those not familar with PLEX thought you might like to see how it organizes movies. All of the artwork and description is pulled automatically by the application no need for any additional apps. You scroll left to right to see the rest of the library.
You can select by alphabet, year, recently added, unwatched and a host of other categories.

You just tell PLEX which directory the movie is in and it does everything else.

Screenshot attached.

[Wicked1]

How do you get the artwork, Title, Cast, Year, and other information of the movie when you rip from an original DVD?

I rip my DVD's but then I have to search for the artwork, and enter in the details, Author, Director, Year , cast etc, it is a pain in the butt.

[nebo1ss]

How do you get the artwork, Title, Cast, Year, and other information of the movie when you rip from an original DVD?

I rip my DVD's but then I have to search for the artwork, and enter in the details, Author, Director, Year , cast etc, it is a pain in the butt.

The Plex server does all the work for you it has a built in media scanner that gets all the metadata from freebase.

[pacmania1982]

While I like the features in Plex, such as it telling you what resolution the movie is and what the audio format is, I much prefer Boxee for its overall appearance. It does have some annoyances, but here's mine.

449 of them are HD. Some movies that I'm not really fussed about are 720p, the ones I really like, like The Adjustment Bureaux and Inception (to name just two) are 1080p. Since July '10, I haven't transcoded any of my movies for the Apple TV as it was just taking too long. I really hate the way iTunes and the Apple TV is limited to MP4 video without hacking. Hence the move to Boxee.

Disk space used is 3.84TB for the HD movies and 40GB's are SD. Thats not including the HD ones I have in MP4 format on the Apple TV. They obviously are 720p.

We originally only had a small HDTV and you couldn't tell the difference between SD and HD, but I knew that in the future we would get a larger TV, so I started upgrading our library from DVD to 720p (due to Apple TV). I used to have about 450 movies in iTunes that all worked on the Apple TV, but since then, I have upgraded all but about 40 movies to either 720p or 1080p as stated above.

pac

[tallpaul]

I've been using the iFlicks app, very good and very easy to use, was able to retro tag 100s of movies and Tv shows quite quickly as it creates a new copy of the movie and can trash the old one

Available on App store €15

Works much better than Metax

[obsidian1200]

How do you get the artwork, Title, Cast, Year, and other information of the movie when you rip from an original DVD?

I rip my DVD's but then I have to search for the artwork, and enter in the details, Author, Director, Year , cast etc, it is a pain in the butt.

Alternatively to Plex, iDentify is a very good tagging application. I never touched MetaX again and know that Plex can't properly tag a good chunk of my movies and TV shows (TV shows I still tag manually via iTunes) from experience.

There's a free, legal version of iDentify on the internet (google it), but paying the $9.99 for it unlocks some extra features you may or may not use. Plus, bulk tagging an iTunes library is very easy; just highlight the movies you want to tag in iTunes and drag them into the iDentify window. If iDentify has trouble finding metadata for your movie, you can go to imdb.com and copy the tt## part from the URL and give it to iDentify, which will then get you the metadata you need. Doing the drag and drop method I described did not break any of the links or videos in iTunes, either. For the record, I get by just fine with the unregistered edition.

[sandyjmacdonald]

Does Plex and/or XBMC do movie playlists? That's something that really annoys about the Apple TV. iTunes will let me organise movies with smart playlists, but the Apple TV just ignores them. Scrolling through hundreds of movies to get to the one I want is a pain in the ass.

[georgee2face]

MetaX (it's mac only)

It is the best tagger ever... http://www.kerstetter.net/page53/page54/page54.html

metaX is not Mac only. They have a windoze vesions as well. The best thing about MetaX is its ability fto let you make a template to "batch" tag TV shows

----------

Does Plex and/or XBMC do movie playlists? That's something that really annoys about the Apple TV. iTunes will let me organise movies with smart playlists, but the Apple TV just ignores them. Scrolling through hundreds of movies to get to the one I want is a pain in the ass.


i don't know about Atv, but ATV2 has the ability to read playlists, as I organize my movies into the IMDB movie classification, and a seperate playlist for the current years movies . ATV2 sees it

[sandyjmacdonald]

I don't know about Atv, but ATV2 has the ability to read playlists, as I organize my movies into the IMDB movie classification, and a seperate playlist for the current years movies . ATV2 sees it.

Really? Where do you access them on your ATV2? I can't see them in either the movies section or the music section (where all of the other playlists are).

[hagar]

If you want to batch process all your videos in iTunes to convert them to ATV2, I can recommend VideoDrive (http://www.aroona.net) .

step 1) Select your non-MP4 videos in iTunes
step 2) Check the checkbox under the black AppleTV in VideoDrive
step 3) Hit the "Copy Videos" button
step 4) It will start converting. The nice thing is, you can even use HandBrake as the conversion tool. This has nice results, but clearly, it's still slow to convert a lot of videos.

Also nice is that all your artwork and metadata is copied to the new files as well. I've used MetaX and iFlicks for a while, but VideoDrive is the most flexible. While it has a non-Maclike interface, it's very intuitive and fast to work with. It's also updated very frequently with new features, so I'm still happy with it.

I guess Apple will never support other formats than H.264 videos, so we are stuck with converting if you want to use the whole iTunes system and its iOs devices.

[slothrob]

Really? Where do you access them on your ATV2? I can't see them in either the movies section or the music section (where all of the other playlists are).
When you go to Computers>Movies or TV Shows, and view them By Genre, By Date or By Movie, not Unwatched, Playlists should be your first option at the top of the list.

[sandyjmacdonald]

When you go to Computers>Movies or TV Shows, and view them By Genre, By Date or By Movie, not Unwatched, Playlists should be your first option at the top of the list.

Thanks. I'll investigate when I get home.

[Omne666]

Thanks. I'll investigate when I get home.

Go into settings (on the atv) also and turn Playlists from 'Music only' to all. That'll help!

[sandyjmacdonald]

Go into settings (on the atv) also and turn Playlists from 'Music only' to all. That'll help!

Someone buy that man a beer.

[foodog]

Just curious how long these take to encode and what hardware you have.

MacPro 2010 2.8 Quad 12G RAM

I use a two step process this is what I average for Bluray

1) MakeMKV removes the protection take about 20-30 minutes

2) iVi to take the .mkv file and make an AppleTV 720p video. This app gets all the tags, and artwork for the movie, then imports it into iTunes. ~ 2 Hours

----------

How do you get the artwork, Title, Cast, Year, and other information of the movie when you rip from an original DVD?

I rip my DVD's but then I have to search for the artwork, and enter in the details, Author, Director, Year , cast etc, it is a pain in the butt.

Look in the Mac app store for iVi it's like 4 dollars. I used to use handbrake to rip and Metax to tag... iVi does it all at once.

----------

Hi,

Is there a setting in RipIt to only rip the 'Main Feature'?
When I tried it over the weekend it ripped the whole disc, about 6GB?! And would only open in 'DVDPlayer'.

TIA

Run the ripit file through handbrake to extract the main feature... Ripit only removes the copy protection for the disc copy.

[sandyjmacdonald]

Whoah. My new Mac mini that I just got can encode a 720p movie almost as fast.

[northy124]

Kind of ashamed to post this as there is like 8 films in total :( I have been re-doing my library as I lost most of it from the PC, with iCloud I am hoping that I can get my films back when they allow Films to be downloaded like they have with TV :)

Anyway used HandBrake to encode, Subler to tag and iTunes to organise (obviously :p).

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5492/screenshot20111102at180.png

[MultiBat]

Kind of ashamed to post this as there is like 8 films in total :( I have been re-doing my library as I lost most of it from the PC, with iCloud I am hoping that I can get my films back when they allow Films to be downloaded like they have with TV :)

Anyway used HandBrake to encode, Subler to tag and iTunes to organise (obviously :p).

Image (http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5492/screenshot20111102at180.png)

I also use Handbrake and the subler to tag (after first having ripped my DVD with ripit).

But the main reason I wanted to respond to you post is to say that you need not be ashamed of it only being 8 movies. Not when one of them is Groundhog Day! :D

That is one great movie!

[dlegend]

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i88/DLnike2003/Screenshot2011-12-16at65325PM.png

Working on tagging the TV shows now. Hoping to get another big batch done over Christmas.

[Mr. McMac]

Mine

[Darien Red Sox]

Always keep min tagged with artwork and make sure it gets done as soon as I load the movie. When it comes files computers that is one of the few areas (the other being tools) that I insist on being super organized. A messy desk around the computer doesn't bother me (I am not an neat and clean kind of guy) but one file out of place drives me crazy.

[morningsong]

How are y'all changing the background color in the thumbnail view?
I have a white BG and can't find any where to change the setting.
thanks!

[northy124]

How are y'all changing the background color in the thumbnail view?
I have a white BG and can't find any where to change the setting.
thanks!
Pref > Grid View > Scroll Menu > Select Colour.

My new updated library :) only added like 8 films but still :)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4602/screenshot20111217at225.png

[From A Buick 8]

Mine so far.

[morningsong]

Thanks northy!!!!

Eclectic collection you have there...I couldn't tie all those flicks together if you paid me! :)

[jeffburk]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but it's a good thread, and it's relevant to something I've been researching here and on the Web and can't find many suggestions on: how to organize TV shows.

I've used the automator scripts generously shared by Mac.Jedi to rip, encode and tag several hundred movies and a couple of thousand TV episodes. I watch them almost exclusively on the ATV2.

Figuring out what to do with movies released in theaters and regular TV series is easy. But I have a lot of DVDs and Blu-Rays that do not neatly fit into one category or another. Many of them are documentaries from PBS, BBC, Food Network, History Channel, Discover, etc. Some of them are in series or mini-series. Others are one-off specials.

For example, what do you do with a TV documentary that consists of only one episode and is not part of a larger series? A lot of times those are found at the themoviedb.org rather than thetvdb.com. I have generally listed these as TV shows, making them episode 1, season 1 with the show name and episode name having the same value. This means that a single episode gets a whole show and season to itself.

Some of these have been set up on thetvdb.com as a series such as "History Channel Documentaries," into which all the one-off specials are grouped. This solution works OK, although it seems a bit artificial to treat all these documentaries as being a single series.

Or how about a DVD of selected episodes from different seasons for a TV show for which most episodes are not available? For example, the Food Network tends to put out compilations of episodes for its chefs that are organized by subject matter (entrees, desserts, etc.) and not season. If you organize them by season and episode, you might get four seasons showing for a collection of just six episodes. I have just organized these by leaving the season and episode numbers blank, so that they are alphabetical.

Particularly given that Apple has never gotten around to restoring the nesting of seasons under a TV show on the ATV, it takes scrolling through hundreds of listings to find something. (This has been made even more fun since the iTunes 10.6 update has screwed up the order, but I assume they will fix that in the next update.)

What about made-for-TV movies? Do you put them in movies or TV shows? I put them under movies.

By the way, what is the benefit of filling in the artist, album artist, album, track number, dvd number and episode ID fields for purposes of viewing movies and TV shows on the ATV2? I have all this metadata filled in, but I cannot figure out whether it makes a difference.

I know there are plenty of work-arounds for these issues (such as playlists), but I am curious how others with large movie and TV show collections organize their media. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Dhelsdon]

Thanks for bumping this, I too found it to be super-useful. Those are some good questions, I guess it come down to personal preference as to where you'd feel most comfortable looking for them.

Luckily for me I haven't ran into the situation that you're in, I just have regular TV shows and movies. Once my ATV arrives I'll begin organizing my media a bit better.

I am still a bit unsure as to how exactly to go about it though, since I use a second media box, the WD TV Live. I'll have a lot of conversions to do if the jailbreak doesn't come out for awhile.

[x-evil-x]

heres mine nbd 324 movies in there

[x-evil-x]

and yes all my covers are front and back art from the dvd covers. The only ones that are different are digital copies that have all the info on them.

[slothrob]

By the way, what is the benefit of filling in the artist, album artist, album, track number, dvd number and episode ID fields for purposes of viewing movies and TV shows on the ATV2? I have all this metadata filled in, but I cannot figure out whether it makes a difference.
The only one of those I have found useful for video is the track number, which will number your episodes in iTunes, which can come in handy occasionally.

[obsidian1200]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but it's a good thread, and it's relevant to something I've been researching here and on the Web and can't find many suggestions on: how to organize TV shows.

I've used the automator scripts generously shared by Mac.Jedi to rip, encode and tag several hundred movies and a couple of thousand TV episodes. I watch them almost exclusively on the ATV2.

Figuring out what to do with movies released in theaters and regular TV series is easy. But I have a lot of DVDs and Blu-Rays that do not neatly fit into one category or another. Many of them are documentaries from PBS, BBC, Food Network, History Channel, Discover, etc. Some of them are in series or mini-series. Others are one-off specials.

For example, what do you do with a TV documentary that consists of only one episode and is not part of a larger series? A lot of times those are found at the themoviedb.org rather than thetvdb.com. I have generally listed these as TV shows, making them episode 1, season 1 with the show name and episode name having the same value. This means that a single episode gets a whole show and season to itself.

Some of these have been set up on thetvdb.com as a series such as "History Channel Documentaries," into which all the one-off specials are grouped. This solution works OK, although it seems a bit artificial to treat all these documentaries as being a single series.

Definitely an issue of personal preference with this (then again, tagging your content really does come down to this anyway). I personally categorize them as movies, just like I do with other Made-For-TV movies.

Or how about a DVD of selected episodes from different seasons for a TV show for which most episodes are not available? For example, the Food Network tends to put out compilations of episodes for its chefs that are organized by subject matter (entrees, desserts, etc.) and not season. If you organize them by season and episode, you might get four seasons showing for a collection of just six episodes. I have just organized these by leaving the season and episode numbers blank, so that they are alphabetical.

For automated tagging purposes, I use the order that the episodes appear as on the metadata sites. Then, once I have the basic info, like summaries, ratings and whatnot, I open the files in Subler and edit the show field to the name of the DVD (example, Food Network: Deserts Collection or what have you) and reorder the episodes as they appear on the DVD if necessary. This way, in iTunes, the episodes do appear under one category. The only time I wouldn't do this is if you own the rest of the series in question, then I'd just leave them as is.

What about made-for-TV movies? Do you put them in movies or TV shows? I put them under movies.

Same here, no sense in adding more unneeded scrolling to the TV shows menus haha.

By the way, what is the benefit of filling in the artist, album artist, album, track number, dvd number and episode ID fields for purposes of viewing movies and TV shows on the ATV2? I have all this metadata filled in, but I cannot figure out whether it makes a difference.

I know there are plenty of work-arounds for these issues (such as playlists), but I am curious how others with large movie and TV show collections organize their media. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The only fields that I think make a difference are the track # and disc #, to be honest. I personally prefer to have the other fields filled in, though, since I'm a bit of an organizational nut.

I'd like to note that using playlists has made things much easier for me. It makes more sense to have an ordered playlist for film franchises that don't have conventional numbering schemes (such as the Godzilla films) than searching through a list of movies for films you know you don't want to watch at the given time. Also, I tend to do the same for tv shows that have more than 50 episodes/3 seasons, which ever comes first. I wish I didn't have to, but the lackluster sorting functions on the apple TV kind of force my hand there. Plus, in the case of TV shows, playlists let you easily watch episodes back to back without getting sent back to the menu at the end of each episode.

[atandon]

Folks,
How do u organize your home movies (shot off camcorders). I have a ton of videos that I would like to arrange by year, month, etc

Would have been nice if we had album support with iTunes and apple tv. Closest thing i could find is playlists

The way I have it organized right now

[home movies] <- playlist folder
|
|-> [2008] <- playlist folder
| |
| |-> summer playlist
| |-> winter playlist
| :
| :
|
|-> [2012]

One problem with this is that I end up "mixing" my home videos with my movie collection (hollywood stuff).
Other option is to classify my home videos as TV shows and use the season tag to classify the videos year wise. Only issue with this is that every video for a given season gets the same thumbnail

Any recommendations?

[ayzee]

Folks,
How do u organize your home movies (shot off camcorders). I have a ton of videos that I would like to arrange by year, month, etc

Would have been nice if we had album support with iTunes and apple tv. Closest thing i could find is playlists

The way I have it organized right now

[home movies] <- playlist folder
|
|-> [2008] <- playlist folder
| |
| |-> summer playlist
| |-> winter playlist
| :
| :
|
|-> [2012]

One problem with this is that I end up "mixing" my home videos with my movie collection (hollywood stuff).
Other option is to classify my home videos as TV shows and use the season tag to classify the videos year wise. Only issue with this is that every video for a given season gets the same thumbnail

Any recommendations?

Tag them as a tv show e.g home videos. Use a tagging application like identify, and u will be able to add the full date to the video by tagging the release date e.g 2011-04-04

You can then sort by release date in iTunes and voila! Home video organisation!

[Dizzle88]

This is mine I am incredibly OCD about this kind of thing.

[khollister]

372 blu-ray's, transcoded with Handbrake, tagged with Subler

http://khollister.smugmug.com/photos/i-52r5Fzq/0/L/i-52r5Fzq-L.jpg

[urkel]

How are people handling multiple formats of the same movie?

For years I've converted my DVDs to an iTunes compatible file but only recently started with BluRay. This created a huge organizational annoyance because now I've got multiple versions of the same film:
- Old DVD rips (which I'll gradually update to HD if I ever buy the BluRay)
- New BR Rips
- iTunes Digital Copy (The ones that come with your Movie that CAN'T be streamed?!?!)
- Low Quality Rips (We use an old 16GB iPad as our car movie player)

So what does everyone do when theyve got multiple versions? Tag it like "Toy Story 3 (1080p)" and "Toy Story 3 (Digital Copy)"? Or is there some sort of hidden field that can help me classify these better,

[rayward]

How are people handling multiple formats of the same movie?

For years I've converted my DVDs to an iTunes compatible file but only recently started with BluRay. This created a huge organizational annoyance because now I've got multiple versions of the same film:
- Old DVD rips (which I'll gradually update to HD if I ever buy the BluRay)
- New BR Rips
- iTunes Digital Copy (The ones that come with your Movie that CAN'T be streamed?!?!)
- Low Quality Rips (We use an old 16GB iPad as our car movie player)

So what does everyone do when theyve got multiple versions? Tag it like "Toy Story 3 (1080p)" and "Toy Story 3 (Digital Copy)"? Or is there some sort of hidden field that can help me classify these better,


I have only just recently upgraded to ATV3, so I now have a very mixed set of hardware for which I need various levels of resolution. What I had been doing is as follows as follows:

- For DVDs: 1 version at 480p for all hardware
- For BDs: 1 version at 544p for iDevices and 1 at 720p for ATV.

For BDs, I would name the 720p file as the movie title, and append "iP" to the title for the lower resolution version. I use Subler to tag the 720p file, and add the Apple Content ID to both versions. I then drag the 720p file to iTunes first and then the "iP" file second.

What I didn't know, but am very happy about, is that iTunes would automatically rename the files adding "(HD)" to the 720p file and deleting the "iP" from the 544p file. I never saw this because the Content ID means both versions have one entry in the library.

So...now that I have added ATV3 to the mix, I am starting to make a 3rd version at 1080p. After tagging with Subler as above, remembering to set the 1080p tag, I simply drag the file to iTunes and it puts it into the same library entry and renames it with "(1080p HD)". iTunes sends to 1080p version to my ATV3, the 720p version to my old ATVs and syncs the 544p version to my iDevices.

I am very happy with how simple this process is.