How to move home movies to Apple TV movies?

[donawalt]

I have 3 home movies that I imported into the TV app on my Mac. I then changed the media kind to "Movie" on the Options tab of the Information dialog. After that, they all showed up as Movies in the TV app on my Mac - great.

However, on my Apple TV, they do not. They are not in the Apple TV app at all, they are in iTunes/Computer/Home Movies. I don't see a way to get them into Movies in the Apple TV app on my TV.

Is there a "syncing" that is not being done from my Mac to the Apple TV app on my TV? Or is there a way to change the media kind to Movie on the TV? Or is there some other way to get these movies into the Apple TV app, so all my movies are in one place?

Thank you for your help!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nope. TV app on AppleTV exists to sell subscriptions, Apple Store videos, etc and/or fulfill those sales or rentals. Basically, if there is no revenue for Apple, they cannot be "seen" by the AppleTV TV app.

To watch your own media like these home movies, turn to the Computers app on AppleTV. They will be there.

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If you don't see them, be sure to turn on "home sharing" so that AppleTV can "see" your media stored on that Mac. Mac must be ON and connected to the same network and either the TV or Music app needs to be open.

Computers will be free of the barrage of pitches to buy/rent/subscribe. If you decide you like it, consider downloading anything you've purchased from the Apple Store and index it in Mac TV app (or Music for purchased songs) and enjoy that media through Computers too. Computers app can be the one-stop app for all owned media if you like.

Your Photos photos and/or albums can be viewed through Computers too. You just opt to make them available in a different place...

Computers (app) is the second most used app in our household. TV (app) is rarely opened, except to watch an occasional Apple rollout event or a movie trailer.

One more thing: if you have a LOT of owned/created media, just dropping it into the TV app will eat up a lot of internal drive space. If you have plenty of such space, no problem. But if you don't, you might want to uncheck ONE box in Mac TV app Settings, so that the files are left wherever you might choose to store them (like a BIG external drive) but only index them in the Mac TV app...

That's basically saying leave the files where they are but index them LIKE they are copied to the internal drive.

 

[donawalt]

@HobeSoundDarryl thanks for the explanation. My movies are in computers, so I’m fine with that part. And I don’t think I would mind having all my purchased movies in computers as you suggest. But I’m not sure I understand, what did you mean by “consider downloading anything you've purchased from the Apple Store and index it in TV”? How do I download and index?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I've fattened up the answer in #2 to cover one of your new questions but here's the answer to the other one:

Downloading purchased content from the Apple/iTunes Store

The typical approach to media storage is big external drive. So download any of it to such a drive and organize your movies/tv shows/etc however you like. Then consider unchecking that box referenced in #2 and drag and drop the downloaded media into the TV app. That will index them without copying them to the internal drive (and eating up internal drive space).

Bonus: possessing the media means you can sync it and/or enjoy it when you lack broadband or don't want to hog up wifi by streaming video. For example, sync a mix of purchased and your own videos from the TV app to your iDevice and then you can fly and enjoy the media, even if you have no internet connection. Possessing purchased media also means that should some behind-the-scenes action make one of "your*" videos stored in the cloud disappear, your local copy will still play. It's always better to possess what you own vs. trusting for profit strangers in some cloud to be caretaker of your* stuff.

The one "weakness" in this otherwise "whole solution" is that 4K versions of purchased movies are stream only. So while you can download up to 1080p HD versions of purchased movies, if you want to watch one that have a 4K version, you need to go back to the TV app on AppleTV for access to the 4K version. However, that's just a mental awareness thing: take note when you want to watch a purchased movie and if you want to watch it in 4K, open the TV app and locate it there. Of course your own home movies shot in 4K and/or rips from Ultra BluRay discs in 4K will play just fine via Computers app.

Another tip: you can tag your home movies as movies or even home movies and either tab will be available in Computers app on AppleTV but I have chosen to tag my home movies at TV Shows. Why? Because TV Shows can be easily grouped by "Season" (Year) and even stacked up in date order during that year. If you have only 3 videos, this is no big deal but if you build up a big library over the years (I have HUNDREDS of home movies), it's very helpful to group them by year "at a glance." For example, which Christmas video from 10 named Christmas do I want to watch? If I know it is Christmas 2014, I can go to Season 2014 and watch the ONE video named Christmas in there. If I tagged them all as Movie, I better name them all with dates to find that one: Christmas 2014, Christmas 2015, etc. The TV Show tag simply offers a lot of handy organization options for lots of home movies, not available if they are tagged Movie or Home Movie.

Tagging your own movies can be very helpful here. Free tools like Meta-Z and Subler can make it easy to tag them just like professional videos... even with thumbnail images that display when browsing them. Use tools like those to present them just like purchased movies are presented: thumbnail poster, descriptions, dates, ratings, format, etc.

 

[donawalt]

Awesome @HobeSoundDarryl thank you for such a complete and comprehensive answer! I am on my way....

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It's really great when you get it all set up like this- especially when you pile up plenty of your own media. Like I wrote, Computers is the second most used app in the household here. AppleTV app is barely used at all. As such, Computers app moved up into the top row of apps on the AppleTV for quick & easy access.

 

[donawalt]

I was just thinking I need to move where the computers app is on my TVs!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

And shoot more life memories (home movies) and maybe seek out other sources of home movies (like converting old 8mm or 35mm home movies, VHS, S-VHS, etc into digital files- there's services for this). I've got one home movie shot back in the 1950s in the collection. Those old silent movies people could shoot up until VHS hit are usually film which can be scanned at high resolution. It's nice to see long-since-gone relatives in towards HD or actual HD quality.

Even if you have no such media available, start capturing more of the medium-to-bigger life moments in 4K on iDevices and then add them to your collection. If you just grab some major holidays/vacations/etc, that might add 5-10 or more new home movies each year. 10 years from now, you might have 50-100 on top of the starter 3. And such an archive of personal memories only mean more and more to us as time passes.