Can I store movies on the AppleTV?

[WarMace]

I'm sure this question has been answered before but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Is it possible to store movies on the AppleTV and if so, how is it done?

I am contemplating buying an AppleTV would like to rip all my kid's DVDs and store them on the AppleTV for them to watch. I don't really want to store the files in my iTunes library. I would rather copy them to the AppleTV and store them on a external disk or just toss them (I always have the DVDs for backup).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[bacaramac]

I think they have to be in iTunes and then you can sync them to ATV. The thing I don't think you can do is delete them from iTunes after sync

 

[pilotError]

You need to rip the DVD's, convert them to mp4 and then sync them.

I have about 12 movies and a couple of hunded songs on a 40gb ATV.

Figure about 2-3GB per movie.

That's exactly what I bought an ATV for BTW

 

[mr_matalino]

The thing I don't think you can do is delete them from iTunes after sync

Huh? This makes no sense.

Of course you can. Anything can be deleted from iTunes...even after you sync and it will delete the file from ATV.

 

[mechamac]

Load up the movies in iTunes, then sync them to Apple TV. Then, find those movie files via the Finder and delete them. Don't delete the files via iTunes because then they will be removed from Apple TV. Delete via the Finder and the movies will remain on Apple TV. Works great.

 

[OldSkoolNJ]

Load up the movies in iTunes, then sync them to Apple TV. Then, find those movie files via the Finder and delete them. Don't delete the files via iTunes because then they will be removed from Apple TV. Delete via the Finder and the movies will remain on Apple TV. Works great.

What I was about to post. Basically your fooling the AppleTv and iTunes into thinking the file is still there by leaving the data in the library but deleting the file from your finder.

Kevin

 

[WarMace]

Great workaround, mechamac. Thanks for the advice.

After playing around with this for a little while, I also realized a convenient workaround for the videos I do want to keep a backup of. Move the files to my external disk then option-drag them to iTunes so that they do not copy to my iTunes directory. Sync with the disk plugged in then turn off the disk. This way I can keep a backup of my kids' favorites in case the AppleTv breaks.

 

[pjarvi]

You could always put them all on the external drive, turn off the option in iTunes that copies files added to the library, then add the movies to the library and sync with the TV. That way the movies stay on the external drive, but still appear in iTunes.

Edit - kind of like what you were saying, but this way you don't have to option-drag them.

 

[ipedro]

Awesome work arounds guys!

I'm running iTunes from my MacBook Pro and I was already expecting the worse with regards to HDD space. I'm already down to 6GB left!

The external HDD via Option+Drag will work beautifully!