ATV1 question

[Cibbersicks]

I'm getting an ATV1 for Christmas (I prefer the fact it's got hard drive to those saing " why don't you get the ATV2) so using Handbrake I've ripped a few DVD's I want and stored them temporarily on my time capsule until my ATV arrives.
My question is this, when I put the movies back on my MacBook so I can sync it with my ATV, will I be able to delete the movies off my MacBooks hard drive to save space? Meaning, when I re-sync it afterwards, if i decide to rip another DVD for example, will the movies stay on the ATV even though they are not in iTunes on my MacBook? Or will I have to keep the movies on my MacBook so when I re sync they stay on my ATV?

Cheers

Tom

 

[Markusp]

Why not simply add a 1 or 2 TB USB drive to the time capsule and point your iTunes library there? That way you don't have to copy files back and forth to your laptop and you will always have a back up should your ATV have problems.

 

[Dougr]

Yes you can do what you are asking, the trick is to manualy delete the file from your iTunes music folder but leave it alone in the iTunes interface, that way apple tv thinks nothing has changed in itunes, if you want to sync more movies it will add these without changing your existing ones. This is how I used to manage my movies until I ran out of space, you will be surprised just how quickly you fill a 160Gb hard drive.

 

[BertyBoy]

Three options open to you.

1. Put them on your iMac (in your signature) although it could do with a bigger drive. Maintain your iTunes movie library from there.

2. purchase and connect a 2TB drive to either the iMac or the laptop and maintait your iTunes movie library from there.

3. You can remove the files from the MacBook, but don't remove the movies from the iTunes database. It's like a russion roulette solution, it'll work until iTunes tries to re-sync it.
If you edit the iTunes metadata for the movie, it'll try to re=sync it.
You can never watch or attempt to watch the movie from within iTunes.
If you need to factory restore the AppleTV, it'll try to re-sync it when you choose your set of movies to sync from within iTunes.

One tip may be to disable the "Automatic Sync" - something in iTunes where it decides what should be sync'd to the AppleTV and what should no - WHO uses that ? - and select "Custom Sync" where you decide what should be sync'd. And don't stick with the defaults, like all Unwatched movies, or 5 most recent, etc. As soon as the movies you've ripped fall out of that category, ie. you watch them, they'll be removed from the AppleTV. don't worry, you can also pick selected movies, which I think is how most people do it who are serious about keeping a well-organised iTunes library.

A great gift, the upgrade to latest firmware v3 is well worth it, just so you can use your iPod Touch / iPhone as a remote control - much better than the original remote (even the one with the ATV2).

 

[Cibbersicks]

Thanks for the tips guys, certainly some food for thought. I may go down the route of saving the movies on my iMac for now with that having a bigger drive than my MacBook.

Would it be possible to load my movies into iTunes, keep them there, and move the files from my iTunes folder to my time capsule, then edit the location of the file in iTunes so it locates it on my time capsule?

Cheers

Tom

 

[Dougr]

Create a folder on your time capsule called movies or something similar and put your movie files there, in iTunes preferences uncheck "copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" then drag your movies from the time capsule folder to iTunes, iTunes will see your movies and play them automatically from your time capsule folder in future.

I believe you can also do this by pressing control or shift when dragging the movies to iTunes instead of going into preferences but I can't remember what key to press.

When you are finished importing your movies don't forget to re-check the "copy files" option in preferences.