Split were iTunes stores files

[gianthobbit]

So I have iTunes (on mac) take all music I put in it and copy it to the music directory and let it organize it etc. I then delete the source files/folder. This works great as I have a local and online backup of my local drive to cover my extensive music collection.

I have started to rip my DVD collection and have a massive amount of movies (all in .m4v format) saved on a 2TB external HD. I want to be able to stream these moveis via the upcoming Apple TV to my TV but don't want them to be on my main drive due to storage (iTunes would make a duplicate and save one locally with current settings). I just want it to know the files are there, is there a way to do this?

 

[calb]

I don't think it's possible, but I'd like to know this too.

 

[gianthobbit]

I don't think it's possible, but I'd like to know this too.

That means I have to move everything to the external HD then. That means no more time machine, no more carbonite so if the drive dies I lose everything. What is the best solution here...

 

[calb]

I keep all my music on my MBP but videos on an external hard drive. I move a couple of videos across when I know I'm going to view them, for lack of a more elegant solution. A bit difficult if you want to use iTunes for streaming to Apple TV though.

 

[swiftaw]

What if you replace the Movie folder inside your ITunes folder with an alias that points to a folder on your external, would iTunes be able to handle that?

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes, you can easily have iTunes media for the same library in multiple locations. Simply Add to Library and point to files or folders on external drives where you have media. I do this, since my library won't all fit on my internal drive. Make sure you have "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" UNchecked while you're adding the external data.

I prefer to leave those unchecked all the time, as I prefer my method of organization over the iTunes method.

 

[gianthobbit]

Yes, you can easily have iTunes media for the same library in multiple locations. Simply Add to Library and point to files or folders on external drives where you have media. I do this, since my library won't all fit on my internal drive. Make sure you have "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" UNchecked while you're adding the external data.

I prefer to leave those unchecked all the time, as I prefer my method of organization over the iTunes method.

See I am perfectly happy letting iTunes organize and copy over my music. Its all on my local drive and has redundant backups. I guess I just will have to manually drag in the files to the music folder, not that big of a deal I guess. Thanks for the help.