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cwedl

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 5, 2003
1,401
30
Hi,

Is there anyway I can get my videos to play within the apple tv even though they are stored on an external HD and my music is stored on my mac?

Thanks

cwedl
 

sandman42

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2003
959
59
Seattle
Yes. In order for your movies to play on the :apple:TV (without hacking it, that is) they have to be part of your iTunes library, but they don't necessarily have to be stored in the iTunes Music folder on your computer. If you go into iTunes preferences and de-select "keep iTunes Music folder organized" (under the 'Advanced' tab), you can add items to your library without iTunes copying them into your iTunes Music folder.

In other words, once you set that preference you can select 'File' --> 'Add to Library' in iTunes, then select your movies and they will be part of your library but still reside on the external drive.

Alternatively, you can leave the 'keep organized' preference selected but override that function (the organization) by holding down the 'option' key and dragging your movies into the library portion of your iTunes window. The movies will show up as part of your library, but iTunes will leave them where they are.

Bear in mind that in order for any movie file to play on the :apple:TV it has to conform to the supported video formats listed on this page.
 

cwedl

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 5, 2003
1,401
30
Yes. In order for your movies to play on the :apple:TV (without hacking it, that is) they have to be part of your iTunes library, but they don't necessarily have to be stored in the iTunes Music folder on your computer. If you go into iTunes preferences and de-select "keep iTunes Music folder organized" (under the 'Advanced' tab), you can add items to your library without iTunes copying them into your iTunes Music folder.

In other words, once you set that preference you can select 'File' --> 'Add to Library' in iTunes, then select your movies and they will be part of your library but still reside on the external drive.

Alternatively, you can leave the 'keep organized' preference selected but override that function (the organization) by holding down the 'option' key and dragging your movies into the library portion of your iTunes window. The movies will show up as part of your library, but iTunes will leave them where they are.

Bear in mind that in order for any movie file to play on the :apple:TV it has to conform to the supported video formats listed on this page.

Thank you so much! that has answered my question. and Yeah I'm using Visual Hub to convert my films 45 mins per film and I have 250 of them!!!
 

tom1971

macrumors 6502a
May 15, 2007
670
0
Hi,

Is there anyway I can get my videos to play within the apple tv even though they are stored on an external HD and my music is stored on my mac?

Thanks

cwedl

If your movies are not in a ATV compatible file format, you mght want to consider to enable the USB port of your aTV and just plug your external drive into your ATV.
 
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