Playing Divx, Xvid and other codecs through Airplay

[amavel]

Hey guys

So I'm thinking of buying an Apple TV 2, but I'm really thrown off by not being able to play files coded with Divx, Xvid, etc.

Currently I can play these files with Quicktime using the Perian plugin. What I can't find online is if using Perian to play these files in Quicktime, I'm also able to play them on the Apple TV, through Airplay. I found some threads talking about this issue, but none talked about this (im)possibility.

I also tried VideoDrive, but when I imported a file, it started converting, and that I can do with other software.

Honestly, if I have to convert each file using Handbrake, I might as well just forget about the Apple Tv and just use a wire to plug my computer to the TV.

Thank you!

 

[MonkeySee....]

You can always jailbreak it and install plex.

or

You can man up and convert the files.

I've done a TB worth of video and it wasn't too bad. Just queued them all up in handbrake, selected the ATV2 setting as default and left it to it.

Easy.

 

[hafr]

Hey guys

So I'm thinking of buying an Apple TV 2, but I'm really thrown off by not being able to play files coded with Divx, Xvid, etc.

Currently I can play these files with Quicktime using the Perian plugin. What I can't find online is if using Perian to play these files in Quicktime, I'm also able to play them on the Apple TV, through Airplay. I found some threads talking about this issue, but none talked about this (im)possibility.

I also tried VideoDrive, but when I imported a file, it started converting, and that I can do with other software.

Honestly, if I have to convert each file using Handbrake, I might as well just forget about the Apple Tv and just use a wire to plug my computer to the TV.

Thank you!

It's an old and outdated codec, so you're better off moving away from it either way...

Possible solutions for you:

1) Download the app Airplay. It airplays videos with just about any codec.
2) Jailbreak the ATV2 and install Plex, XBMC or ATV Flash (black), that way you can play any type of file.
3) Put your films on queue in iVI, Handbrake or whatever program you find best and let the computer do the work as you're not using it and pause the process when you need the computer (if it's slowing you down, otherwise just let it process the films as you're using the computer).

But what you need to do is stop downloading films ripped in XviD.

 

[amavel]

1) Download the app Airplay. It airplays videos with just about any codec.

Can you send me a link of this app? The name of the app makes it hard to find.

2) Jailbreak the ATV2 and install Plex, XBMC or ATV Flash (black), that way you can play any type of file.

Yeah I found this solution as well, but I was trying to stay clear of the jailbreak option.

Thanks again.

 

[hafr]

Can you send me a link of this app? The name of the app makes it hard to find.

The name of the app makes it super easy to find actually... First hit on both google and in the app store... http://www.inmethod.com/air-video/index.html

Yeah I found this solution as well, but I was trying to stay clear of the jailbreak option.

Thanks again.

How come? If you like the native UI then ATV Flash (black) is perfect, otherwise I'd recommend XBMC. With Plex you can leave your computer running and access all your videos from any given computer, ATV2 with Plex and so on

If you don't like it, it takes but a few minutes to restore to factory settings

 

[amavel]

1) Download the app Airplay. It airplays videos with just about any codec.

The name of the app makes it super easy to find actually... First hit on both google and in the app store... http://www.inmethod.com/air-video/index.html

Cool, thanks :] (actually you said the name of the app was airplay as well) whether this supports apple tv it's kind of fuzzy from what I see though. But I've found some solutions for it though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_4wl-oZRZM&feature=related

 

[hafr]

Cool, thanks :] (actually you said the name of the app was airplay as well) whether this supports apple tv it's kind of fuzzy from what I see though. But I've found some solutions for it though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_4wl-oZRZM&feature=related

Oh, I did. My bad, sorry

Not being able to send video feeds from Air Video to ATV2 was fixed before summer last year, so as long as you don't have ancient versions of iOS you should be good

 

[Asmod4n]

AirFlick just about sends any video you got on your Mac to your ATV, though, i would recommend getting Subler or Handbrake to convert them, use Subler when they are h264 video with ac-3 or aac sound and are in a mkv container or similar, handbrake for the rest.

Subler has the great advantage that it only changes the mkv oder mp4/m4v file without needing to reencode everything.

 

[MonkeySee....]

AirFlick just about sends any video you got on your Mac to your ATV, though, i would recommend getting Subler or Handbrake to convert them, use Subler when they are h264 video with ac-3 or aac sound and are in a mkv container or similar, handbrake for the rest.

Subler has the great advantage that it only changes the mkv oder mp4/m4v file without needing to reencode everything.

How long would you say it takes? I've been changing all my files with handbrake. *facepalm*

 

[hafr]

How long would you say it takes? I've been changing all my files with handbrake. *facepalm*

It depends on the sound and subtitles (how many tracks, do you need to make a stereo track etc). I have a 4 GB movie that took about 90 minutes without even touching the video (it has four audio tracks, 5.1 and stereo for two different languages, plus four subtitle tracks), but I also have a 4 GB movie that took fifteen minutes to pass through.

 

[MonkeySee....]

It depends on the sound and subtitles (how many tracks, do you need to make a stereo track etc). I have a 4 GB movie that took about 90 minutes without even touching the video (it has four audio tracks, 5.1 and stereo for two different languages, plus four subtitle tracks), but I also have a 4 GB movie that took fifteen minutes to pass through.

It would be a simple mkv that one may have acquired from a site that may or may not be kosher.

 

[hafr]

It would be a simple mkv that one may have acquired from a site that may or may not be kosher.

Even simple mkv:s from more or less questionable sources might have several soundtracks and multiple subtitle tracks... Or at least so I've heard...

 

[Asmod4n]

How long would you say it takes? I've been changing all my files with handbrake. *facepalm*

mkv with h264 video and aac audio should be done in seconds with subler, ac-3 also doesn't need to be converted, your apple tv decodes that just fine, the only thing that usually needs to be redone are the subtitles, Quicktime (iTunes, Apple TV, iPod, iPhone et all) only supports 3GPP .

Oh and keep in mind Subler makes heavy use of Quicktime to reencode video/audio, so be sure to have Perian, XiphQT and maybe Flip 4 Mac installed. (XiphQT isn't very Lion friendly at the moment, had to compile it myself)

 

[MonkeySee....]

Cheers Chaps! Very helpful advice. I love you all!