Looking for media solutions

[wrz0170]

Hi there! We are looking for a media solution, if a viable one exist for our current setup. We ripped all of our DVDs via Handbreak to our laptops. In addition, we have a couple thousand pictures.

What would we need to do to centrally access these movies and pics?

2 Macbooks
ATV2
Netgear router
500gb external drive (looking at upgrading to a 2 TB) and using the 500 as our Time Machine back up.

Thanks a million in advance!

 

[Dobbs2]

Hi there! We are looking for a media solution, if a viable one exist for our current setup. We ripped all of our DVDs via Handbreak to our laptops. In addition, we have a couple thousand pictures.

What would we need to do to centrally access these movies and pics?

2 Macbooks
ATV2
Netgear router
500gb external drive (looking at upgrading to a 2 TB) and using the 500 as our Time Machine back up.

Thanks a million in advance!

Itunes.... Appletv $99

Non itunes... use plex on a mac mini

 

[aussiedj]

If your movies are in MP4 or m4v format then just use 'Home Sharing' on itunes with your ATV2.

OTHERWISE

1. Jailbreak your ATV2 with Seas0npass (easy)

a) install XBMC (Tear your hair out set-up & very choppy playback depending on the format & size. Forget anything over 1.5GB)

b) PLEX - converts format live on mac while streaming to ATV (Simple installation but runs 170% of my CPU & hits over 90 degree temps. May as well just convert everything to m4v manually.

2. Get a mini display out (+ either USB or Optical audio if you don't have a separate sound system set up) to HDMI cable.

http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1101

http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1102

I went the first option, and at the moment I kind of wish I had gone the HDMI cable option, but up to you. The first one will keep you busy for a while, the second is just a plug in & work basically.

 

[wrz0170]

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Oops. Well we do have a mini display out. We were fortunate enough we have mid '10 MBs and can run video and sound via HDMi.

Anyway what we want to do is move all media, pics and vids to an external and be able to access centrally. If possible....

Thanks!

 

[wrz0170]

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So I did some more digging. Is a NAS drive the way to go? Hook it up to router or MB and point iTunes to it?

 

[bcburrows]

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So I did some more digging. Is a NAS drive the way to go? Hook it up to router or MB and point iTunes to it?

I have just this set up, I have a NAS connected to my time capsule and can centrally access it from my TV, playstation, mac, xbox360 etc

Works a charm, but obviously a decent connection is needed depending on the filesize etc. I have found the appleTV to be quite good.

 

[wrz0170]

I have just this set up, I have a NAS connected to my time capsule and can centrally access it from my TV, playstation, mac, xbox360 etc

Works a charm, but obviously a decent connection is needed depending on the filesize etc. I have found the appleTV to be quite good.

Thanks! I will get a NAS drive and hook it up to the router and see what happens.

 

[gdeusthewhizkid]

I have just this set up, I have a NAS connected to my time capsule and can centrally access it from my TV, playstation, mac, xbox360 etc

Works a charm, but obviously a decent connection is needed depending on the filesize etc. I have found the appleTV to be quite good.

can u post a link to the exact wd nas you have. I would like to do the same thing i already have the 1 tb time capsule. does that wd nas hold your itunes media files also ?

 

[milbournosphere]

If you're using non-iTunes supported file types, setup a mac mini server to host the files, and run a Plex server on that. With Plex, you'll get a nice front-end to use on your laptops and on your Apple TV as well. I would imagine a mac mini with a 2tb hard drive in it would fit your needs very well. This would also allow you to setup an iTunes server to easily access all of your music.

If you're using files supported by iTunes, just use the Home Sharing feature. However, your files won't be centrally stored.

 

[wrz0170]

If you're using non-iTunes supported file types, setup a mac mini server to host the files, and run a Plex server on that. With Plex, you'll get a nice front-end to use on your laptops and on your Apple TV as well. I would imagine a mac mini with a 2tb hard drive in it would fit your needs very well. This would also allow you to setup an iTunes server to easily access all of your music.

If you're using files supported by iTunes, just use the Home Sharing feature. However, your files won't be centrally stored.

Everything we have is pretty much iTunes based. I picked up a 1tb, WD My Book Live NAS. It allegedly has a way to run an iTunes server. This is where I really have to do some reading because it gets a bit fuzzy on how I go about this.

The Wifey wants to keep our music separated as she doesn't want to consolidate music (me too) but does want a central place to access movies and pics and be able to access all through ATV2.

 

[keeper]

Everything we have is pretty much iTunes based. I picked up a 1tb, WD My Book Live NAS. It allegedly has a way to run an iTunes server. This is where I really have to do some reading because it gets a bit fuzzy on how I go about this.

The Wifey wants to keep our music separated as she doesn't want to consolidate music (me too) but does want a central place to access movies and pics and be able to access all through ATV2.

I use a QNAP NAS, used to store only Movies and TV shows.
Also used as my time machine, I have the 219P with 2 - 1.5Tb drives in a raid 2 which is all backed up to external USB and cloud using Crashplan
1tb for files, 500mb for time machine. you could back all your macs to it.

 

[BeachChair]

If your movies are in MP4 or m4v format then just use 'Home Sharing' on itunes with your ATV2.

OTHERWISE

1. Jailbreak your ATV2 with Seas0npass (easy)

a) install XBMC (Tear your hair out set-up & very choppy playback depending on the format & size. Forget anything over 1.5GB)

b) PLEX - converts format live on mac while streaming to ATV (Simple installation but runs 170% of my CPU & hits over 90 degree temps. May as well just convert everything to m4v manually.

Very choppy playback? That's simply not true.
Any h264/x264 file will play smooth. I've only had a problem with a 720p XVID file -- 480p xvid's play fine. Usually 720p and higher are h264.

 

[aussiedj]

Very choppy playback? That's simply not true.

orly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HknqiTasOh8

This is the best I can get it.

 

[wrz0170]

Sadly, I would up having to take the WD NAS drive back. Apparently it did not like to go to sleep when it was supposed to and it seems to be known problem. So it's back to the drawing board.

Wonder if I should just get a Mac Mini and set it up my media that way?