Apple TV question

[wizzywig27]

Hi all

I have an iMac and MacPro, if I buy an Apple TV and download a film (.avi format) is it as simple as playing it on iMac or MacPro for it to be displayed on my TV?

 

[bt22]

The file will have to be formatted in an Apple friendly format which is MP4. You have to put it in iTunes for it to stream to your apple tv.

 

[wizzywig27]

The file will have to be formatted in an Apple friendly format which is MP4. You have to put it in iTunes for it to stream to your apple tv.

Thanks, so obvious question now is, do you know of any conversion apps in the store to go from avi to mp4?

Thanks

 

[BennyK]

Thanks, so obvious question now is, do you know of any conversion apps in the store to go from avi to mp4?

Thanks

I use Handbrake. free fast and awesome

http://handbrake.fr

 

[Delmar]

I use Handbrake. free fast and awesome

http://handbrake.fr

Ditto. Have used it for years with no issues.

 

[Mrbobb]

Now the conversion make take hours, depending on your machine.

For quick playback, just use VLC on either cpu and mirror it (wirelessly) to the ATV, or hook up either cpu via HDMI bypassing ATV.

 

[priitv8]

Thanks, so obvious question now is, do you know of any conversion apps in the store to go from avi to mp4?

The question is: why on earth do you need AVI? I've not seen a need for AVI files for several years now.
Especially in the era of HD picture, surround sound and soft subtitles.
And if you are downloading your movies, you should:
- forget about AVI files
- look for material already AppleTV compatible. Believe me, there are many!
- look for decent HD rips (usually from BluRay sources), that come all in MKV format, due to obvious selection of tools available 😀
The BDrips can either be recompressed (in HandBrake) or repackaged into iTunes-compatible MP4 files (in Subler, MP4tools, VLC etc), with some limitations (main problem is the DTS audio track, in rare cases also the Microsoft-format VC1 video track - this one needs to be converted to H.264/AVC).
At any rate, repackaging MKV into MP4, even with audio conversion is much, much faster than reencoding. The downside is large file size.

 

[wizzywig27]

It's the format I download them in, but I will certainly be looking for mp4 files moving forward.

Thanks for all your help guys

 

[ElectronGuru]

Convert the file if you want to store it in your iTunes library and 'pull' it later from the ATV. If you just want to push a video one time (per video) from a Mac, check out:

http://beamer-app.com

 

[NewbieCanada]

If the AVI file is XVID (most are) it's actually MP4 with MP3 sound. An app called MP4 tools can convert files to MP4 without touching the video, which is much quicker and doesn't lower the already fairly wretched video quality. This will also work on MKV files.

Depending on how recent your iMac is, it may support AirPlay mirroring, in which case you can play the files in the player of your choice without conversion.

http://www.emmgunn.com/mp4tools/mp4toolshome.html

 

[nebo1ss]

The question is: why on earth do you need AVI? I've not seen a need for AVI files for several years now.
Especially in the era of HD picture, surround sound and soft subtitles.
And if you are downloading your movies, you should:
- forget about AVI files
- look for material already AppleTV compatible. Believe me, there are many!
- look for decent HD rips (usually from BluRay sources), that come all in MKV format, due to obvious selection of tools available 😀
The BDrips can either be recompressed (in HandBrake) or repackaged into iTunes-compatible MP4 files (in Subler, MP4tools, VLC etc), with some limitations (main problem is the DTS audio track, in rare cases also the Microsoft-format VC1 video track - this one needs to be converted to H.264/AVC).
At any rate, repackaging MKV into MP4, even with audio conversion is much, much faster than reencoding. The downside is large file size.

Almost certainly the Op is downloading from a BitTorrent. That is why he is getting .avi files.

As far as converting I agree that Handbrake is the answer. But I have found that If I use MakeMKV to produce a .MKV file and then run that through handbrake it is actually quicker than just running a .avi file through handbrake.