Is it possible to create menus like the ones used in some iTunes films as I'm currently backing up my dvd's into iTunes for use on aTV's and I have box sets like the Dirty Harry films that I would like to contain into the same menu.
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Creating .m4v menus?
- Thread starter Ka Ora!
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What kind of menus are you having in mind?
The .m4v file format in itself does not support anything close to menus.
What you might be referring to in iTunes is called iTunes Extras (iTunes LP for music) and the specs to create those are public:
iTunes LP and iTunes Extras
PS As long as those are only viewable in iTunes (and not on Apple TV), I figured it's not worth spending the time and effort.
The .m4v file format in itself does not support anything close to menus.
What you might be referring to in iTunes is called iTunes Extras (iTunes LP for music) and the specs to create those are public:
iTunes LP and iTunes Extras
PS As long as those are only viewable in iTunes (and not on Apple TV), I figured it's not worth spending the time and effort.
Every now and again a film will work with menus on the aTV for example The Hobbit DOS extras are working fine on my aTV 1.1. Im prone to deleting them as some of them take up far too much space but as a container for box sets I thought it would be good.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
A long time ago when 
TV was new (gen 1), you could tag a series show like Dirty Harry, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Star Trek, etc with the same name in the "Show" tag in iTunes and it would occupy one line in the "movies" list in TV. For example, in that list, one would click "Star Wars" and that would open a list of the 6 movies. It was a GREAT feature so naturally it had to be killed in the "upgrade" to the new OS of TV 2 and now 3.
It's one of many "just works" features that worked GREAT in gen 1 that still hasn't been resurrected or better implemented in gen's 2 & 3. Of course, back then, our own movies were in the "movies" menu instead of "Computers" and our own tv shows were in the "tv shows" menu instead of "Computers" and so on. But that for-dummies, "just works" intuitiveness had to go too.
Personally, I still wish the last incarnation of that first-gen box could run on third-gen hardware. I still think that version of the UI was the best to date.
TV was new (gen 1), you could tag a series show like Dirty Harry, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Star Trek, etc with the same name in the "Show" tag in iTunes and it would occupy one line in the "movies" list in TV. For example, in that list, one would click "Star Wars" and that would open a list of the 6 movies. It was a GREAT feature so naturally it had to be killed in the "upgrade" to the new OS of TV 2 and now 3. It's one of many "just works" features that worked GREAT in gen 1 that still hasn't been resurrected or better implemented in gen's 2 & 3. Of course, back then, our own movies were in the "movies" menu instead of "Computers" and our own tv shows were in the "tv shows" menu instead of "Computers" and so on. But that for-dummies, "just works" intuitiveness had to go too.
Personally, I still wish the last incarnation of that first-gen box could run on third-gen hardware. I still think that version of the UI was the best to date.
A long time ago when
It's one of many "just works" features that worked GREAT in gen 1 that still hasn't been resurrected or better implemented in gen's 2 & 3. Of course, back then, our own movies were in the "movies" menu instead of "Computers" and our own tv shows were in the "tv shows" menu instead of "Computers" and so on. But that for-dummies, "just works" intuitiveness had to go too.
Personally, I still wish the last incarnation of that first-gen box could run on third-gen hardware. I still think that version of the UI was the best to date.
I not so keen on the way movies are presented on the first gen but I like the way Trailers are presented and would prefer Movies was like that as well, just lots of DVD covers. I was going to invest in a 3rd gen but I'm holding out for the time being. My first gen has served me well whilst removing the hard drive saved them money and created a cheaper product imho it spoilt it no end. I want them to put the hard drive back in so you don't have to be quite so reliant on iTunes being open all the time.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Rather than put the hard drive back in (and only make some people that want it happy- when the storage size Apple would choose happens to align with someone's wants), I think the better option would be normalize that USB port so that someone could hook up any amount of storage they desire- even multi-drive raids if one wants.
But I'm with you on the desire to resurrect local storage in some form. That was a very nice benefit of the first gen too.
But I'm with you on the desire to resurrect local storage in some form. That was a very nice benefit of the first gen too.
A long time ago when
It's one of many "just works" features that worked GREAT in gen 1 that still hasn't been resurrected or better implemented in gen's 2 & 3. Of course, back then, our own movies were in the "movies" menu instead of "Computers" and our own tv shows were in the "tv shows" menu instead of "Computers" and so on. But that for-dummies, "just works" intuitiveness had to go too.
Personally, I still wish the last incarnation of that first-gen box could run on third-gen hardware. I still think that version of the UI was the best to date.
Amen to all of that. Also why are all my purchased movies baked directly into the Movies section on desktop iTunes and in the Movies app for iOS, yet on the ATV (surely the main device you would go to when watching a movie) they are still under a "Purchased" section. As much as the ATV 2 & 3's provide some great functionality (Airplay, etc) they also display a real step back in the movie/TV watching experience, hence no iTunes extras / menus