Comments on: How to add your DVDs to AppleTV

By: Puulima

Puulima — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:11:43 +0000

Use MetaX for all tagging of mp4/m4v files. You can add the cover art, specify Movie, TV Show or even Music Video. You can also assign the Season and Episode for TV shows. And iTunes will automatically organize the files using the TV show name and season info. There’s a slightly different syntax for what goes in each field. Look at a purchased TV show if you have one.

MetaX also let’s you add the movie or TV show rating (G, TV-G etc) so using that with parental controls keeps the kids out of movies not for them. Also – I tag all movies for the kids as “Kids and Family” so they can simply view by GENRE and not have to wade thru all the movies. MetaX has a lookup feature that pulls in all the tags and art most of the time – and chapter names – from Tag Chimp. But also has the capability to drag/drop this info from other sites (B&N).

I use AnyDVD vs DVD43. It’s always being updated and allows you to rip to an image file (ISO) or DVD structure.

Lastly, I wouldn’t waste your drive space on large output files from Handbrake. I’ve tested larger files vs. the AppleTV preset and there is little or no erosion in quality. Pretty much all my movies are between 800MB and 1.5GB and look stunning on my ATV and on XBMC or BOXEE on other HTPCs here at home.

By: nuclear-guy

nuclear-guy — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:39:30 +0000

For TV shows in iTunes, while in iTunes go to “get info”, then click the “options” tab. In the “Media Kind” field select “TV Show”. Also, under the “Video” tab entering the TV show title along with episode name as well as season and episode numbers will cause iTunes to automatically group your TV shows.
Hope that helps.

By: technicalguy

technicalguy — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:22:27 +0000

Moreperf: I don’t believe there’s any way to put content in the TV section. Movies is the only part that is open to add to.

By: moreperf

moreperf — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:21:34 +0000

This has worked great, i am actually using a paid for program that incorporates handbrake and works well. Is there a way that you know of to rip a disk of a series and have it in the tv show section of apple tv? So far all i can do is keep each episode as a seperate movie.

By: technicalguy

technicalguy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:58:39 +0000

Amy: I’m not a Handbrake guru and I don’t play with all the settings, but I get great resolution by setting the destination file size to 3840Mb (multiples of 64) and let handbrake do the rest. This is a close to 4Gb you can get. I’m very happy with the results, albeit the conversion time takes longer. I also remove any subtitles.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:45:33 +0000

Good question Mike, and probably one for the Handbrake forum. Please reply back when you get an answer. I'm also still trying to optimize the AppleTV preselect on Handbrake to get the best resolution possible under 4Gb.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Great article – I’m already using the handbrake + DVD43 combo – which works well most of the time!
I also agree about storing in the highest quality. What I still haven’t figured out though, is how to encode using handbrake so that it comes up as ‘HD’ on my Apple tv. Any thoughts?

By: alfdari

alfdari — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:32:17 +0000

El programa Hand Brake aun en formato 64 es bueno, pero algo debe de tener pues cuando se pasa al itune y este a su vez se sincroniza al AppleTV, la reproducion en el TV es muy mala, pues cuando se esta reproduciendo se pierde colores y hay constantes perdidas de definicion, y lo unico que pienso que esta produciendo esos problemas es que en Hand Brake no convierte muy bien a los formatos MPG4 aun H264. Esa es mi apreciacion despues de haberlo probado, si alguien ha superado esta situacion por favor escucho consejos…. gracias

By: technicalguy

technicalguy — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:42:55 +0000

Heathan: here’s a link to DVD-Guides that talks about stressing the DVD (http://www.dvd-guides.com/guides/dvdrip/235-convert-dvd-to-h264-mkv-mp4-using-handbrake). Maxosx.com forum also says, “Converting directly from a DVD puts a lot of stress on your drive, as the conversion process can take a long time.” The feeling seems to be that the constant head tracking over a long period of time can stress the DVD Player. Anyone know anything more?

By: heathan

heathan — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:54:07 +0000

Meta X is great for downloading all cover art, actors and descriptions. Chapters are dicy. Hope this helps. I also use Handbrake to rip directly from DVD to MP4 for AppleTV. I haven’t heard about stressing the DVD head. Can anyone shed any light on this?