I have been reading up on the new Apple TV and it sounds awesome. My questions is, I have about 120 movies that I am wanting to rip to my MBP hard drive and stream to the ATV. I know the ATV plays the movies through iTunes, but I dont wanna leave all these movies on my laptop eating up valuable HD space. If I get a 2TB external hard drive, is there a way to move the movies over to it, and then have them show up again when it is plugged in??
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Wanting a APPLE TV. Please help with some questions...
- Thread starter YoNadz
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Yes, you can store media on an external HDD while still being able to play them in iTunes or on the Apple TV.
Just uncheck this:
![HT1751_01----002.png]()
Just uncheck this:
Hi,
you can do what the above poster said, but assuming you want to keep your whole library on that external disk, you have to keep that box checked but instead change the path that itunes points to, to the new location and move the files there. The path can be found on the screenshot the above poster provided to you.
Thanks
AE
Agreed with the top two, I dont know what type of network you have, but if you have a airport extreme, you can plug a usb 2tb drive into the extreme and put your itunes file on that, and like they said above, point itunes to the airdisk, that may you can have all your movies off your laptop. the only thing i would be worried about is back up, you should look at the wd my books with raid to keep your data protected.
Unchecking that box would not be the best idea.
![HT1751_01----002.png]()
Rather change the path of the iTunes media folder to the external hard drive so your entire library is on the external drive. This is what I do but I don't have a portable machine. If you want to have your library file on your mac HD and then have the actual files split between the internal and external drive you will be forced to manage your files manually.
Rather change the path of the iTunes media folder to the external hard drive so your entire library is on the external drive. This is what I do but I don't have a portable machine. If you want to have your library file on your mac HD and then have the actual files split between the internal and external drive you will be forced to manage your files manually.
I would suggest creating a second iTunes library for just movies on the external HD. That way you can have your music on your computer and your movies on the external HD. When you want to watch a movie, plug in the HD and hold option when opening iTunes, then choose the movies library.
option key
Oh yes, the option key - forgot about that
And movies = large files.
Thankuuuuu RoscoeUA
"I would suggest creating a second iTunes library for just movies on the external HD. That way you can have your music on your computer and your movies on the external HD. When you want to watch a movie, plug in the HD and hold option when opening iTunes, then choose the movies library."
Oh yes, the option key - forgot about that
And movies = large files.
Thankuuuuu RoscoeUA
"I would suggest creating a second iTunes library for just movies on the external HD. That way you can have your music on your computer and your movies on the external HD. When you want to watch a movie, plug in the HD and hold option when opening iTunes, then choose the movies library."
I was having the same dilemma and figured this was the best option. Let me know how it turns out. 
But also remember, you have to have your computer on to share the iTunes to the Apple TV. You can't just have it on a hard drive attached to the network. iTunes HAS to be running. This is my complaint with the new AppleTV; and why I'm lucky enough to have an old one where I can copy the stuff to it directly.
I need to upgrade the HD in it though, it is the 30GB model and I have a 500GB laptop drive sitting around begging to be installed.
I need to upgrade the HD in it though, it is the 30GB model and I have a 500GB laptop drive sitting around begging to be installed.
I have done what has been suggested and it works great. I have all my music on my MacBook Pro hard drive. I have a 2TB external drive hooked up the my Airport Extreme. I keep my movies on this drive in a separate iTunes library. Right now anyone in the house can access the movies and play them on their computer.
I will be getting an Apple TV soon. The only concern I have is when I play a movie. It will stream from the Airport hard drive to my MacBook Pro and then stream back to the Apple TV. I am not sure if this will cause any video stuttering / problems.
I will be getting an Apple TV soon. The only concern I have is when I play a movie. It will stream from the Airport hard drive to my MacBook Pro and then stream back to the Apple TV. I am not sure if this will cause any video stuttering / problems.
I'd like to know if you can stream videos straight from a NAS device without the use of a computer. I want to set up like this...
*Apple TV(jailbroken to run aTV Flash(black))
*NAS(wired, wireless... idc)
Would that work, or would I have to use a computer?
*Apple TV(jailbroken to run aTV Flash(black))
*NAS(wired, wireless... idc)
Would that work, or would I have to use a computer?
So there are three ways I bring data into iTunes, download for iTunes store, rip music from CD with iTunes and then there are ripped movies and recorded TV shows which iTunes can't do on its own. If I uncheck this wont the music that iTunes is importing itself put that music in the iTunes library or will it put the file somewhere else? Then the music could be on the local computer for portability and the movies can be kept on a separate drive but not have to switch between libraries. Then the only manual file management would be the video which has to be manually manipulated anyway.