Steps to import Movies on ATV

[GRuizMD]

Hi Guys! I have a bunch of iTunes purchased videos and a good 50Gb of Home Movies and Movies converted by Handbrake into the ATV preset.

My 160Gb ATV will arrive later this week and I Would like to start importing those videos into the thing...

How Do I import my handbrake'd material into iTunes?

File>add to Library > etc...

Because if I do that iTunes will start Copying the file, OTOH if I double click the file iTunes starts "Converting" the file... Converting to what?

Now How do I go about getting the artwork, is it done before or after importing the file into iTunes...

Thanks

 

[yancey47]

The Apple TV will start syncing as soon as it gets connected to your network. You can then choose how and what you want synced. Initial sync can take a while (especially while running "g" wireless so you may want to bump up to "n" for that.) so it's best to do it overnight. But you can start streaming right away. Have fun. It's a great toy.

 

[Shuttleworth]

I add all the artwork, ratings, chapters etc. before adding it to iTunes, using MetaX . I then 'add to library' in iTunes and once it's imported and I've checked it plays ok, I delete the original.

 

[kadeschs]

I add all the artwork, ratings, chapters etc. before adding it to iTunes, using MetaX . I then 'add to library' in iTunes and once it's imported and I've checked it plays ok, I delete the original.

Doesn't iTunes allow you to do this as well? Does iTunes convert videos formats that people are going to have the most of such as avi? If iTunes is going to be so finicky on what we can use, I would assume it would do these two things exceptionally well. What are your guy's experiences?

 

[Shuttleworth]

iTunes does do some of it, but MetaX can add other info as well, such as film ratings which I find useful. It also has links to IMDB and TagChimp that can fill in a lot of the info (cast, crew chapter names etc) and artwork without you having to search.

Also MetaX seems to be a bit quicker, you can queue up a load of jobs before writing, it has a template type facility which is very good for tagging TV Shows, and you can set it to put a copy in your trash before writing, so you have a copy of your original, tagging sometimes screws up the file so it won't play, has no sound etc, so you can just restore your original from trash.

MetaX is free and you can get it from the Apple website.

 

[kadeschs]

So if I drag say an avi file over to iTunes, it will automatically convert it to a format that it prefers? Any loss in quality? Have you heard any plans for Apple to upgrade their iTunes to provide a more complete solution of adding in metadata?

 

[Shuttleworth]

No idea on either count, sorry. The Metadata thing would be a good thing for them to improve, for example adding certificate ratings, but iTunes and Front Row definitely need improved parental controls to make the most of this.