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I'm getting confused, what do i need?

E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
Okay, for a long time now I'd like to stream my movies that are stored on my macbook to my TV via the most simple way.

My native language is not English, so it's very important the streamer must be able to read .srt files that are stored in the same folder as the actual movie.

I really dont need other options (netflix is'nt available in my country, no need for youtube apps or facebook apps)

I understand that the apple tv streams everything via iTunes and lacks the support for seperate SRT files? So i'll skip that one.

But what is my best alternative with a maximum price tag of 99 euro's?

Is it a WD TV Play (i'm reading that it can't stream movies from mac's??)
a Roku ?
An ouya with xbmc??

Hope you guys can help, remember, streaming the srt is a must !
 
P

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
Cheapest would be HDMI cable and VLC player.
SRT-s can be embedded into iTunes movies in no time, using eg Subler.
 
costabunny

costabunny

macrumors 68020
May 15, 2008
2,466
71
Weymouth, UK
Elho said:
Okay, for a long time now I'd like to stream my movies that are stored on my macbook to my TV via the most simple way.

My native language is not English, so it's very important the streamer must be able to read .srt files that are stored in the same folder as the actual movie.

I really dont need other options (netflix is'nt available in my country, no need for youtube apps or facebook apps)

I understand that the apple tv streams everything via iTunes and lacks the support for seperate SRT files? So i'll skip that one.

But what is my best alternative with a maximum price tag of 99 euro's?

Is it a WD TV Play (i'm reading that it can't stream movies from mac's??)
a Roku ?
An ouya with xbmc??

Hope you guys can help, remember, streaming the srt is a must !
Click to expand...

What model/year macbook do you have? it may be able to simply send the movies to the apple TV using airplay.
 
J

jmerrilljr

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2012
20
1
embedding srts

You can find an app called MP4tools online. This is free (actually nag-ware). The software will re-mux an mkv or mp4 file to create an m4v file with your srt subtitle embedded.

This is a very fast and easy process. Your aren't recoding -- just switching containers.
 
costabunny

costabunny

macrumors 68020
May 15, 2008
2,466
71
Weymouth, UK
OR if you have a Apple TV and own an iOS device, AirVideo is awesome. you use the app on the iOS device to play the video, that is served by AirVideo Server on the mac.

Then you can simply tell the iOS device to send the video to the Apple TV (thats the system I use for all my media - never had any problems with 1080p content and the Air Video Server uses the mac to do all the hard work).
 
E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
I have an 2008 first gen alu MacBook.

I'd liked to connect via a media streamer box, not directly via my MacBook.

Can the Apple tv handle this? With SRT?
 
costabunny

costabunny

macrumors 68020
May 15, 2008
2,466
71
Weymouth, UK
Elho said:
I have an 2008 first gen alu MacBook.

I'd liked to connect via a media streamer box, not directly via my MacBook.

Can the Apple tv handle this? With SRT?
Click to expand...

basic answer is no not really. better off with a DLNA capable box.

I cant offer any opinion on which to get as I don't have any experience with them.
 
P

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
Elho said:
Would be great if somebody else does...
Click to expand...
If you value your time and nerves - forget DLNA.
On a Mac you could also give a try to Beamer. Handles various movie formats and external. SRTs.
Or you could investigate the Plex route.
 
E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
I already managed to set up plex on my mac as a server. I can stream to my ps3 but it can't read the srt.

After some googeling and youtubing Ii think raspberry pi or ouya are my best options...
 
costabunny

costabunny

macrumors 68020
May 15, 2008
2,466
71
Weymouth, UK
Elho said:
I already managed to set up plex on my mac as a server. I can stream to my ps3 but it can't read the srt.

After some googeling and youtubing Ii think raspberry pi or ouya are my best options...
Click to expand...

I guess its an older TV (silly question I know) but my mum and I had a similar discussion after I bought her an AppleTV last year - turns out her TV had LAN and dnla capabilities all along :)
 
L

linds15

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2012
535
1
Great White North
i think your best option it to use subler and just add the SRT files to your movies, that way you have a lot more options, including native ATV playback from iTunes
 
E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
actually my TV is quite "modern". It's a Philips 42PFL7606h/12 with DLNA and is already hooked up on my local network. I can stream movies to it with my plex server. But it cant read the SRT files. Besided that it's really crappy to navigate and almost impossible to go fast forward...

The thing is, I already have quite the apple ecosystem (like almost everybody on this forum I guess) but i'm hesitating to go for the apple tv because i dont want the hassle with itunes. And i certainly don't want any hassle with handbrake or other apps to convert movies to whatever extension apple tv needs to play them.

Both the beamer app and air video app seem like some good alternatives, but as i understand, i still have to go to my home office, open the movie, and airplay it to the apple tv? (Now I actually sound very, very lazy).

I already have my input automated with couchpotato and utorrent. It's only getting the content on my tv with SRT that I need a solution for. Plex seems great, but what is a good plex client that can read SRT's? (My PS3 and Philips tv can't handle SRT's with plex)...
 
E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
linds15 said:
i think your best option it to use subler and just add the SRT files to your movies, that way you have a lot more options, including native ATV playback from iTunes
Click to expand...

i'm testing out that subler, seems to work. I can run movies in itunes with the subtitles! Succes!

But the only thing, it's really eating my processor speed to encode the file and it takes like 15 minutes for a 6gb file. Besides that, i'm using my macbook in clamshell mode and the fans are going crazy!

Looks like i'm also going to need a new mac ... My wife is going to laugh!

"yes honey, if we would like to watch Love Actually I will have to buy a new mac and apple tv first :p"
 
B

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
Do it directly, there are 5m HDMI cables for close to nothing.... Install XBMC and stay far away from all the AppleTV horror stories with MP4 conversion, DTS recoding, subtitle freakshows....

If it HAS TO BE a different tool, get a Raspberry Pi. At 35$ it is a crazy little machine and way more versatile than a AppleTV. Little rougher on the handling, but nowhere as rough as the total user experience of the Apple TV when you start converting DVD's or downloading MKV's.
 
JGRE

JGRE

macrumors 65816
Oct 10, 2011
1,012
664
Dutch Mountains
Elho said:
Okay, for a long time now I'd like to stream my movies that are stored on my macbook to my TV via the most simple way.

My native language is not English, so it's very important the streamer must be able to read .srt files that are stored in the same folder as the actual movie.

I really dont need other options (netflix is'nt available in my country, no need for youtube apps or facebook apps)

I understand that the apple tv streams everything via iTunes and lacks the support for seperate SRT files? So i'll skip that one.

But what is my best alternative with a maximum price tag of 99 euro's?

Is it a WD TV Play (i'm reading that it can't stream movies from mac's??)
a Roku ?
An ouya with xbmc??

Hope you guys can help, remember, streaming the srt is a must !
Click to expand...

They the free demo of Beamer-app in combination with an ATV.
 
E

Elho

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
135
0
Belgium
blanka said:
Do it directly, there are 5m HDMI cables for close to nothing.... Install XBMC and stay far away from all the AppleTV horror stories with MP4 conversion, DTS recoding, subtitle freakshows....

If it HAS TO BE a different tool, get a Raspberry Pi. At 35$ it is a crazy little machine and way more versatile than a AppleTV. Little rougher on the handling, but nowhere as rough as the total user experience of the Apple TV when you start converting DVD's or downloading MKV's.
Click to expand...

Hmm directly, that's a big maybe.... But I'm starting to like the idea of buying an apple tv. But like you mention, i'm already encountering subtitle problems. For instance, subler can't handle .AVI files, part of my collection is .AVI :-(

On the other hand, i like the idea that an apple idea fits in my ecosystem, i could use it for the airplay function. And maybe with beamer, it will work with avi too.

On the other hand, there are raspberry boxes on the internet, encased and with xmbc or plex pre installed, for about 60 euro's. That's almost 50% cheaper than apple tv.

yet again, the problem is choice.
 
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