Atv 3 & nas

[Scooterpig]

Have decided to upgrade to new ATV as tired of the JB scene and ATV2 slowing down etc, but as I have a QNAP NAS with all my movies & TV Shows on it am wondering.

Obviously with the ATV2 & being JB I used XBMC or Plex, but as the 3 can't be JB am wondering how I then get the ATV3 to talk to my NAS.

Is it possible and if so do I need to run iTunes Server from the NAS and do I need to convert all my files to M4V?

Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The ATV3 won't talk directly to your NAS. You can run iTunes on a computer, and direct iTunes to store its media library on your NAS. Turn on home sharing in iTunes, and it will serve media (audio & video) to your Apple TV and other Apple devices. The computer needs to remain on.

I use my primary Mac Mini for this purpose, I have it set to never sleep & just turn off my monitors when I'm not actively using the Mac. Some people choose to set up a dedicated computer for this purpose, sometimes a "headless" (no monitor) machine to act as a media server.

To go this route, all your media needs to be in an iTunes-compatible format (e.g. M4V) and imported into the iTunes library. Depending on how it's stored now you might need to convert media using something like Handbrake.

 

[Scooterpig]

Thank you very much FE just what I wanted to know, but with the NAS storing the data, does it need to be running iTunes Server or is just a folder in correct file format ok?

Can iTunes read more than 1 folder, i.e. TV Shows & Movies?

Also how do I tell iTunes on my iMac to read from the NAS?

I have my iMac running 24/7 as is so that's fine.

 

[paulrbeers]

Thank you very much FE just what I wanted to know, but with the NAS storing the data, does it need to be running iTunes Server or is just a folder in correct file format ok?

Can iTunes read more than 1 folder, i.e. TV Shows & Movies?

Also how do I tell iTunes on my iMac to read from the NAS?

I have my iMac running 24/7 as is so that's fine.

Yes it can read for subfolders, multiple folders, etc....

Doesn't your NAS basically show up as another hard drive and/or computer on your network? Just use it like a hard drive and drag all the content into iTunes.

 

[Scooterpig]

Yes it can read for subfolders, multiple folders, etc....

Doesn't your NAS basically show up as another hard drive and/or computer on your network? Just use it like a hard drive and drag all the content into iTunes.

Yes it does but then if I drag all the contents into iTunes then wouldn't the files then be stored on my iMac and not the NAS, thereby defeating the purpose of using the NAS?

 

[paulrbeers]

Yes it does but then if I drag all the contents into iTunes then wouldn't the files then be stored on my iMac and not the NAS, thereby defeating the purpose of using the NAS?

There's a setting in iTunes to not copy the files to your iTunes folder. Problem solved.

 

[clarkie604]

You can also airplay Plex to the Apple TV. So if you have an iOS device with Plex installed then you can use it to airplay any Plex content to your AppleTV. Works great for content that isn't iTunes compatible.

 

[Scooterpig]

Thank you guys, will see if I can work it out today