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JoeC2k6

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2008
54
0
I have an iMac with an attached Drobo that serves media inside my home (Apple TV, Home Sharing) as well as AirVideo. It's on 24/7.

Is your mac or drobo on 24/7? Im thinking of getting a DLNA hard drive that will serve as my dedicated server.
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
I have an iMac with an attached Drobo that serves media inside my home (Apple TV, Home Sharing) as well as AirVideo. It's on 24/7.

I use a Mac Mini and keep it on 24/7. Serves my Apple TV and other iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) with server apps like Air Video, iTunes Home Sharing, Plex Media Server, etc. Also serves as my main computer. The iPad and iPhone handles all of my portable needs. Liking this setup a whole lot better than a laptop mainly because of the problem with having to keep a laptop open all the time to function as a server to the Apple TV and other iOS devices isn't practical. A desktop works excellent for that purpose.
 

ClaireL

macrumors 6502a
Apr 4, 2010
522
0
New Jersey
Still using Air Video but Zumocast as well. For Avi torrent files I download directly to my iPad, I use Buzz Player which played the Avi right away on my iPad. :)
 

tturek

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2011
1
0
Best is to use VLC

Best is to use VLC; there is no need to convert AVI, you can directly transfer avi files (iTunes, applications - on the bottom: add file).

It is quick and easy (and VLC is free - so far). But it is the application I'm happy to pay for. So much different from "free" avitoipad.net. It is advertised as free, after download you realize that there are "free" 3 minutes of video or quite a large watermark :(( Pretty ugly way how to get you pay.
 

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
you download a server on your desktop and then tell airvideo where to look on your computer.
So there is no way to get avi files to play on an iPad or iPhone without having another computer as a server? Seems like such a drawn out process just to show my family/friends avi files on these devices.
 

baller1308

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2009
1,047
191
So there is no way to get avi files to play on an iPad or iPhone without having another computer as a server? Seems like such a drawn out process just to show my family/friends avi files on these devices.
You can try using those other apps that were mentioned. I was lucky enough to download VLC before they removed it from the App Store.
 

h00ligan

macrumors 68040
Apr 10, 2003
3,028
136
London
it sucks for those who didn't download vlc before it was removed. It allowed native playback with drag and drop.

I'd send it to you but it wouldn't do you any good.

You could jailbreak and install the recently released xbmc
 

j_maddison

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2003
700
32
Nelson, Wales
So there is no way to get avi files to play on an iPad or iPhone without having another computer as a server? Seems like such a drawn out process just to show my family/friends avi files on these devices.

Not true, there are lots of apps that allow you to view files natively on the iPad. A quick two minute search on the app store, or on this forum will lead you to those examples

it sucks for those who didn't download vlc before it was removed. It allowed native playback with drag and drop.

I'd send it to you but it wouldn't do you any good.

You could jailbreak and install the recently released xbmc

VLC was ok, but there are better apps out there IMO, and there's no need to jailbreak the iPad to use these apps

yxplayer is about the same as VLC was on iPad:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/yxplayer/id373751560?mt=8

Good example, I use OPlayer and my training partner in the gym uses Buzz player. I"m sure there are other programmes out there that allow native playback on the iPad.

It's not like there's not an app store, I can't remember the last time I used Apples native 'videos' app to watch a movie or TV show.
 

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
Not true, there are lots of apps that allow you to view files natively on the iPad. A quick two minute search on the app store, or on this forum will lead you to those examples.
You couldn't just tell me the name those apps?
 

j_maddison

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2003
700
32
Nelson, Wales
You couldn't just tell me the name those apps?

I did, on the bottom of my reply lol

The ones I know of: OPlayer, Buzz player, YxPlayer, and thanks to another poster on this thread Cinex player

I've tended to use OPlayer my self, but in the last 24 hours I've started to use Buzz player. I'm pretty sure the playback on Buzz player is smoother than on OPlayer
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,284
4,030
Florida, U.S.A.
I've used AirVideo for months, haven't found anything better yet

With AirVideo, you can watch any movie format over WiFi or 3G. Your MAC/PC will need to convert on the fly.
It also has a conversion queue; just select which files you want to convert, and AirVideo will convert them for you, giving you the option to remotely bring your converted files into the iPad's iTunes. You can also replace your old format files with these newly converted files.

It supports subtitles and multi-audio files too.

Simple and very effective, with great audio/video quality.

I have tried ZumoCast before, but it was terrible.
VLC requires using iTunes to import the video files.

There was another app that also supported audio and photos, but after an update, it started to have problems, so I stopped using it.
 

sportster

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2010
271
0
Katy, TX
Like some of the others have already said, I like and use VLC almost daily on my iPad. I am able to drag over .avi tv shows and watch them on my iPad. I had a few issues with VLC on my iPhone when I first got it, but now it seems to be running great on my iPhone and iPad.
 

h00ligan

macrumors 68040
Apr 10, 2003
3,028
136
London
it's gone unless you jailbreak. It violated the opensource license for apple to wrap encryption on it, so there was a one man crusade to remove vlc from the app store, which worked.
 

iPhoneCollector

macrumors 6502a
Nov 30, 2010
669
1
Home
didn't vlc have some problems like audio sync failing or something?
ps. i have the app on my ipad so that wont be an issue
 

Bytor65

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2010
845
169
Canada
VLC being gone was mentioned many posts back.

But also mentioned several posts back are several other players that are just as good (and bad).

All of them will play lower res Xvid/Divx quite well.

None of them play higher res Xvid/Divx very well at all. But most higher res files are h264 these days.

So the loss of VLC changes nothing. There are many replacements which do the same thing.
 

j_maddison

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2003
700
32
Nelson, Wales
iPad doesn't support common AVI formats, you have to convert AVI to MPEG-4 format.

The iPad does support them, there are lots of apps that play them and no conversion is needed

That's like saying your Macbook doesn't support word processing because you have to install a word processor

:D
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,891
One quick read of the thorough reviews, and you can see that it does not work any better than VLC does right now.

As long as they're doing software decoding, its not going to get any better.

I'm using both on my iPod Touch and Oplayer is far superior in handling AVI file than VLC, regardless of spec.
So I would recommend Oplayer for anyone who want to watch AVI file downloaded from the web. Just drag the file onto the app on iTunes. It even has a web browser to download file from the net to your device directly. And it also support SRT and SUB subtitle file.

Better yet if you want to download the files you already had wirelessly, try Zumocast which is similar to AirVideo. This app allows you to select files and download to your device without a need to connect to iTunes.

Both apps have iPad version.
 
Last edited:

roblin

macrumors regular
Apr 5, 2007
212
23
i have more cpu power in windows(on my mac pro), which is the best windows program to use to convert video2ipad?

(will use air video@home, but need something for the long flights etc). thanks!
 

delirious1

macrumors newbie
Apr 22, 2011
9
0
AVI player needed

I've bee following this thread. I have the SD card adapter for the IPad and when I load AVI files onto the IPad with it, It loads them to the photos area and I only get a grey Icon and they won't play.

Soooo, I need a program that can open the AVI from the ipad photo library. I download photos while in the field and don't have access to a PC. THis is fine for photos but I have two Game spotting cameras that take 30 second AVI files. I need a program that can open them and find the ipad directory.

Thanks for any suggestions. Ive read the VLC media player can read these but it's no longer available and I've sent emails to cinexplayer and Buzz player. Buzz replied that their program doesn't find the ipad library and I haven't hear back from cinexplayer. Evidently the Ipad can play some AVI files that are H.264. I don't know what these avi files are coming off the game camera SD card but they are 10 frames per second which is fine for what I need them to be.
 
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