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New to apple tv?
- Thread starter cjuni
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Yes, netflix for instance. But it'll be easier to give an answer if you explain what you want to do.
Ok, well i have a lot of movies on an external hard drive on my iMac but the only why i know how to view them is to add them to my iTunes library which i don't really want to do.
Using your iTunes Library for your own collection of Movies has to be formatted as MP4 or M4V. I normally use Plex, if you have an iDevice you can use it to Airplay it to the Apple TV or you can use another app called Beamer for the Mac that you can AirPlay to Apple TV..
Cause I was in your same situation of trying to use the Apple TV to play my own collection of movies.. But most of my movies are in MKV format or AVI, so I just used Plex to Airplay it to the Apple TV.
Thanks, i have a Plex account, turns out but not how to use it. So i guess i will be join on youtube and chi it out, thanks again.
Is there any particular reason you do not want to use iTunes? The AppleTV is really designed to integrate with iTunes. You do not have to buy anything from Apple, but the ATV concept is designed around having iTunes act as a central server.
That's not to say it can't be used other ways.
That's not to say it can't be used other ways.
Is there any particular reason you do not want to use iTunes? The AppleTV is really designed to integrate with iTunes. You do not have to buy anything from Apple, but the ATV concept is designed around having iTunes act as a central server.
That's not to say it can't be used other ways.
Yes, a lot of movies ties up a lot of space, which is why i have it on an external hard drive. But in order to view it i have to add them (in the correct format on iTunes (pain in the a$$) also.)
What I'm noticing is that Beamer only allows you to play the movies, so every time the movie has ended if i want to watch something else i have to go back to the iMac and drag and drop another movie into Beamer.
Plex give you the entire external library so u can pick and chose which one to watch without having to go back to the iMac, but it seams more complicated.
He's right. It sounds like you're about to do WAY too much work. Re-route your iTunes library to your external. You're probably about to say "but I already have iTunes media in there on the internal drive." Well if it's really that big of a deal, just set up a second user.
You'll find that whatever way you're about to try doing this is more work than it's worth and also, you wont receive any support from Apple when something doesn't work.
The reason why he doesn't want to use the iTunes library is the need to reformat the movies in the format it needs to play.
I don't have any media locally stored in my iTunes library, I use iTunes Match for my music content due to its much easier to store music in the cloud. And I use Plex for my movies collection... Since most of my movies are in various formats.
Actually, re-read his posts. He never actually said that, what he said is that it would take up too much room which is why they were on his external. You are the one that said you have MKV's and AVI's..... He alludes to it, but never actually specifies how much work it would be. What if it were just one that is wrong? Really as far as I can tell, he just doesn't want to use iTunes.
If you don't want to convert your current files, which makes perfectly sense, just look into something else. AppleTV is nice if you like the iTunes eco-system, but if you're not, just grab one of many cheaper and more flexible alternatives.
And besides, the AppleTV is most of the time used with a Mac, so in most cases, the better and more flexible alternative is already there and free, namely your mac!
And besides, the AppleTV is most of the time used with a Mac, so in most cases, the better and more flexible alternative is already there and free, namely your mac!
I don't know if you have an iPhone or iPad, but if so, why don't you try Air Video? No need to convert the video files, Air Video converts on the fly. Air Video server on the computer, assign all your drives to be accessibel. Download the Air Video app on your phone and stream the video via Airplay to the Apple TV.
I use iTunes, Plex and Air Video, but for ease of use, Air Video is hard to beat.
I use iTunes, Plex and Air Video, but for ease of use, Air Video is hard to beat.
You don't even have to do anything special with the library. Whether on Windows or OSX, just tell iTunes where the folder/file is you want to add and it adds it. It doesn't copy or move anything (unless you tell it too in Preferences). I keep my movies and music on their own volumes, which are separate from where iTunes runs from. No problems on either platform.
Hi!
It may take a while to convert all file format and add your movies/TV shows to your iTunes library and add in all the informations, but I find it great to have all my content on my TV with all the details and all ready to play! It took me a while to do this, but it's very tidy and it's much more easier to enjoy my content now.
On windows, use format factory, on mac I'm not sure. And once you have all your movies and TV shows sorted, if you downl... I mean buy
new movies or TV shows, convert and add them to iTunes straight away, don't wait for all your content to pile up and force you to spend days sorting everything out. It's a real drag, trust me.
It may take a while to convert all file format and add your movies/TV shows to your iTunes library and add in all the informations, but I find it great to have all my content on my TV with all the details and all ready to play! It took me a while to do this, but it's very tidy and it's much more easier to enjoy my content now.
On windows, use format factory, on mac I'm not sure. And once you have all your movies and TV shows sorted, if you downl... I mean buy
new movies or TV shows, convert and add them to iTunes straight away, don't wait for all your content to pile up and force you to spend days sorting everything out. It's a real drag, trust me.
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