Finally made the move from windows to Mac

[weelzSA]

Just to get my head around this properly before I make a big screw-up. So if I convert everything that is on my external hard drive using Handbrake I will be able to play it on my tv through my apple tv without any problems and then when I get new media, first convert it again and add it to the folder (ie-series, movies ect) and then the new media will be visible through my apple tv? Basically I want to have all my media I have accessible through my apple tv, iPad ect? And regarding 720p and 1080p content, if I convert these will they be accessible through the apple tv or will I have to watch these files through VLC on my iMac? Sorry for all the questions, just don't want to make a mess of things

Most media players can handle the format with a dream, like I said I use my movies on both Android and iOS, works with default Windows media player and VLC. My media PC loaded with XBMC on Linux also has no issues.

Note I use AAC and not CoreAudio AAC(OSX support only) for the audio and H.264 for video. I had to update the firmware on my Samsung TV but it now also supports playing the mkv files strait off a USB stick.

What I did to convert my media is to have a second drive, well I actually moved them to the NAS once converted. Will have to get larger drives soon as I almost filled my 2 TB of space.

 

[Elimentals]

Just to get my head around this properly before I make a big screw-up. So if I convert everything that is on my external hard drive using Handbrake I will be able to play it on my tv through my apple tv without any problems and then when I get new media, first convert it again and add it to the folder (ie-series, movies ect) and then the new media will be visible through my apple tv? Basically I want to have all my media I have accessible through my apple tv, iPad ect? And regarding 720p and 1080p content, if I convert these will they be accessible through the apple tv or will I have to watch these files through VLC on my iMac? Sorry for all the questions, just don't want to make a mess of things

In Handbrake Just use the Apple Universal or the Regular preset, both are fine. I convert all my media and like I said, place them on my NAS, iTunes is set to watch that folder to import new media to the library without any issues.

The presets work for all the media devices I mentioned.

 

[weelzSA]

Cool thanks again Elimentals, really appreciate all the help. Looks like it's gonna be another long night, but atleast it's only the first time, from now on it will just be converting the new media instead of all 400+ gigs.

In Handbrake Just use the Apple Universal or the Regular preset, both are fine. I convert all my media and like I said, place them on my NAS, iTunes is set to watch that folder to import new media to the library without any issues.

The presets work for all the media devices I mentioned.

 

[weelzSA]

Hi Elimentals, I am in the process of converting all my media with handbrake but just have a few questions if you dont mind helping me out? Firstly, you said there is a batch process - am I right in understanding by that you just select a folder and then all the media in that folder will get converted?

Secondly, I have different folders with different media in each (movies, series ect) so what I did was I added just the one movie folder and i saw handbrake only selected 59 files but in the movie folder there are over 100 but half of them are in there own folders (ie: a movie with its own folder in the "movie" folder) so my question is does handbrake not recognize these as movie files? What I did in the movie folder I am talking about is I took all the movies out there own folders so there are no more folders in the root of the "movies" folder - will i have to do this with all my folders?

sorry for the long explanation and hope you understand?

In Handbrake Just use the Apple Universal or the Regular preset, both are fine. I convert all my media and like I said, place them on my NAS, iTunes is set to watch that folder to import new media to the library without any issues.

The presets work for all the media devices I mentioned.

 

[weelzSA]

Is there no way to add multiple files to the que in handbrake without going through each one at a time and clicking add to que? the first batch of movies I wanted to convert now, I managed to add them all but inorder to get them added to the list, I had to go through them one-by-one in the drop down menu and select add to que - there were 99 files I had to do and still got a good couple of files that I want to convert so just want to know if there is not an easier way to add them to the que?

 

[Elimentals]

What I did, was enter them in batches like one night I did from A-D and the next night E-H and so on but then I did it when I went to bed and set it to turn off my PC when done Granted that my A-D had a hell of a lot more movies than you I guess.

It also does not scan sub folders, but you can add files to the que while it is progressing them So if you want to go for one time process you can add them like that manually.

Just watch your free space, or are you deleting them when done?

 

[weelzSA]

Dont know what happend there, my post is not showing. I am doing something similar, I have differnt movie files classified in years and genres ect so I started with just the general folder and then will continue from there. So if I understand you correctly, I can add the folder to handbrake and it will add all the movie files to the que and then I can go and manually add the other folders within the movie folder to the que so that way I wont have to remove each file from the subfolder or is that wrong? Space wont be a problem now as I ma saving everything to 2TB external drive so nothing is being saved on the iMac's hard drive now. Which brings me to another question, can I keep all my movies and series saved on the external hard drive plugged into the iMac and have the apple tv read it and play the files?

What I did, was enter them in batches like one night I did from A-D and the next night E-H and so on but then I did it when I went to bed and set it to turn off my PC when done Granted that my A-D had a hell of a lot more movies than you I guess.

It also does not scan sub folders, but you can add files to the que while it is progressing them So if you want to go for one time process you can add them like that manually.

Just watch your free space, or are you deleting them when done?

 

[[)roi(]]

Dont know what happend there, my post is not showing. I am doing something similar, I have differnt movie files classified in years and genres ect so I started with just the general folder and then will continue from there. So if I understand you correctly, I can add the folder to handbrake and it will add all the movie files to the que and then I can go and manually add the other folders within the movie folder to the que so that way I wont have to remove each file from the subfolder or is that wrong? Space wont be a problem now as I ma saving everything to 2TB external drive so nothing is being saved on the iMac's hard drive now. Which brings me to another question, can I keep all my movies and series saved on the external hard drive plugged into the iMac and have the apple tv read it and play the files?

You can store your iTunes media on an external drive, for example: http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-store-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-drive/

Btw good luck with the mass convert -- a lot of work, but you'll be happy with the final result.

Btw once you have converted all your media files and added them to iTunes, you might also want to fix the tags, here's an app that can help with this: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33814/identify + it's also available on the app store.

 

[weelzSA]

@[)roi(] cool thanks for the advice. Yeah I think it's going to take some time as I started last night with 101 movie files and this morning there are still 59 to go, granted I only started at like 10pm last night but Im sure once it is done I will be happy when I can stream all my movies through my apple tv without any hassels. Just two questions quickly, firstly I have chosen "Apple Universal Preset" to convert all my movie files so what i want to know does it keep the same quality or does it loose quality? And secondly does handbrake save the files on the iMac somewhere like in a cache cause I am looking at the storage under the "about this mac" and there is 45gigs under "other" so just want to know what that could be? Thanks for the help.

You can store your iTunes media on an external drive, for example: http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-store-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-drive/

Btw good luck with the mass convert -- a lot of work, but you'll be happy with the final result.

Btw once you have converted all your media files and added them to iTunes, you might also want to fix the tags, here's an app that can help with this: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33814/identify + it's also available on the app store.

 

[Elimentals]

@[)roi(] cool thanks for the advice. Yeah I think it's going to take some time as I started last night with 101 movie files and this morning there are still 59 to go, granted I only started at like 10pm last night but Im sure once it is done I will be happy when I can stream all my movies through my apple tv without any hassels. Just two questions quickly, firstly I have chosen "Apple Universal Preset" to convert all my movie files so what i want to know does it keep the same quality or does it loose quality? And secondly does handbrake save the files on the iMac somewhere like in a cache cause I am looking at the storage under the "about this mac" and there is 45gigs under "other" so just want to know what that could be? Thanks for the help.

Handbrake does use a temporary store while converting. I dont have a Mac so will not be able to comment on how it handles this part, my guess would be that its under /tmp or something like that. Sorry I can not be any help there.

As for quality Apple Universal preset drops it to 720p problem here is universal takes the best for all devices, Apple TV 2 for example can handle 1080p but the ipod touch can not. So you have a catch 22 problem. If you keep 1080p you will not be able to use the file on all devices.

That said I doubt many people download the 5 gig files

 

[bwana]

@[)roi(] cool thanks for the advice. Yeah I think it's going to take some time as I started last night with 101 movie files and this morning there are still 59 to go, granted I only started at like 10pm last night but Im sure once it is done I will be happy when I can stream all my movies through my apple tv without any hassels. Just two questions quickly, firstly I have chosen "Apple Universal Preset" to convert all my movie files so what i want to know does it keep the same quality or does it loose quality? And secondly does handbrake save the files on the iMac somewhere like in a cache cause I am looking at the storage under the "about this mac" and there is 45gigs under "other" so just want to know what that could be? Thanks for the help.

Disk Inventory X might give you the sort of detail you're looking for.

 

[weelzSA]

So in theory I shouldnt use the universal preset but rather the Apple TV 2 preset as that will be the main device I will watch the content on? If I want to add the files to my iPhone 4 or iPad 2 then I will manually add them and convert them if I have to. I just dont want my movies to be in bad quality when I watch them through the apple tv.

Handbrake does use a temporary store while converting. I dont have a Mac so will not be able to comment on how it handles this part, my guess would be that its under /tmp or something like that. Sorry I can not be any help there.

As for quality Apple Universal preset drops it to 720p problem here is universal takes the best for all devices, Apple TV 2 for example can handle 1080p but the ipod touch can not. So you have a catch 22 problem. If you keep 1080p you will not be able to use the file on all devices.

That said I doubt many people download the 5 gig files

 

[PaulMark]

A few years back I converted my whole movie and TV series collection using Handbrake and then tagged them correctly using Identify. It was a mission at the time but I have never regretted it.

I have recently started using an app that does both the conversion and the tagging called iFlicks. Whats even better about it is that if the encoding format of the mkv or avi container file is h.264 it doesnt re-encode the file it just puts it in an mp4 wrapper which plays perfectly on an AppleTV. This saves a lot of time and doesn't result in a degradation of quality. Even better, if the surround audio format of the mkv is DTS (which is not compatible with ATV) it will re-encode just the audio to AC3/Dolby Digital. It also allows the whole process to be automated by monitoring a folder for any new files and then automatically converting them and adding to iTunes. Highly recommended!

 

[Elimentals]

A few years back I converted my whole movie and TV series collection using Handbrake and then tagged them correctly using Identify. It was a mission at the time but I have never regretted it.

I have recently started using an app that does both the conversion and the tagging called iFlicks. Whats even better about is that if the encoding format of the mkv or avi container file is h.264 it doesnt re-encode the file it just puts it in an mp4 wrapper which plays perfectly on an AppleTV. This saves a lot of time and doesn't result in an degradation of quality. Even better, if the surround audio format of the mkv is DTS (which is not compatible with ATV) it will re-encode just the audio to AC3/Dolby Digital. It also allows the whole process to be automated by monitoring a folder for any new files and then automatically converting them and adding to iTunes. Highly recommended!

Nooooo, its Mac only

Oh well.

 

[weelzSA]

So if I install iFlicks I can then add my full media collection and convert it with the app instead of using handbrake to do the conversions? Does iFlicks read movies in subfolders too or will I have to manually add those? And lastly will iFlicks not degrade the quality when it converts? Thanks for the info by the way, gonna try it tonight.

A few years back I converted my whole movie and TV series collection using Handbrake and then tagged them correctly using Identify. It was a mission at the time but I have never regretted it.

I have recently started using an app that does both the conversion and the tagging called iFlicks. Whats even better about it is that if the encoding format of the mkv or avi container file is h.264 it doesnt re-encode the file it just puts it in an mp4 wrapper which plays perfectly on an AppleTV. This saves a lot of time and doesn't result in a degradation of quality. Even better, if the surround audio format of the mkv is DTS (which is not compatible with ATV) it will re-encode just the audio to AC3/Dolby Digital. It also allows the whole process to be automated by monitoring a folder for any new files and then automatically converting them and adding to iTunes. Highly recommended!

 

[PaulMark]

So if I install iFlicks I can then add my full media collection and convert it with the app instead of using handbrake to do the conversions? Does iFlicks read movies in subfolders too or will I have to manually add those? And lastly will iFlicks not degrade the quality when it converts? Thanks for the info by the way, gonna try it tonight.

Yes iFlicks will be able to batch covert your whole movie collection. Not sure about manually adding sub-folders but an easy way to solve it would be to do a spotlight search on your "Movies" folder for all movie files. Then just drag and drop the results into iFlicks.

As said before there will be no degradation in quality as there is no need to re-encode the files provided the original files are encoded using h.264. So files that handbrake could take an hour to re-encode will be done in 30 secs. If you are dealing with mkv files, most use h.264 but historically most .avi files were encoded using DivX. If the files are DivX then iFlicks will automatically re-encode them to h.264. and that will take the usual encoding time.

Not sure how well your files are named but I would recommend making sure all the names are correct (series, episodes etc). If the are all correct iFlicks does a brilliant job in tagging the files with the correct artwork, plot summaries etc.

 

[Zyzzyva]

A few years back I converted my whole movie and TV series collection using Handbrake and then tagged them correctly using Identify. It was a mission at the time but I have never regretted it.

I have recently started using an app that does both the conversion and the tagging called iFlicks. Whats even better about it is that if the encoding format of the mkv or avi container file is h.264 it doesnt re-encode the file it just puts it in an mp4 wrapper which plays perfectly on an AppleTV. This saves a lot of time and doesn't result in a degradation of quality. Even better, if the surround audio format of the mkv is DTS (which is not compatible with ATV) it will re-encode just the audio to AC3/Dolby Digital. It also allows the whole process to be automated by monitoring a folder for any new files and then automatically converting them and adding to iTunes. Highly recommended!

Great find, i'll try it tonight. Thanks

 

[weelzSA]

@paulmark - So I stopped the handbrake conversions and deleted them and the started it all over again with iFlicks - I must say that the quality was kept the same after the conversions but it takes really long for the conversions to finish. I loaded 105 movies to be converted and started at about 9pm and this morning at 6am it had only finished around 35 or so, so I worked it out to be on avergae 20minutes per movie. But I dont mind it taking long as the quality doesnt get affected and I supoose once I finish converting them all it will be easier as I will then only have to convert the new movies or files I add instead of doing all of them over again.

Yes iFlicks will be able to batch covert your whole movie collection. Not sure about manually adding sub-folders but an easy way to solve it would be to do a spotlight search on your "Movies" folder for all movie files. Then just drag and drop the results into iFlicks.

As said before there will be no degradation in quality as there is no need to re-encode the files provided the original files are encoded using h.264. So files that handbrake could take an hour to re-encode will be done in 30 secs. If you are dealing with mkv files, most use h.264 but historically most .avi files were encoded using DivX. If the files are DivX then iFlicks will automatically re-encode them to h.264. and that will take the usual encoding time.

Not sure how well your files are named but I would recommend making sure all the names are correct (series, episodes etc). If the are all correct iFlicks does a brilliant job in tagging the files with the correct artwork, plot summaries etc.

 

[Grimspoon]

Wait until the thing breaks and you need support from Core. I was just burned by this, this weekend. I will never purchase another Apple product while in South Africa. Not worth it!

Yip 100% correct! I will never buy another iMac again based not only on the iMac's inherint screen problems that Apple refuse to acknowledge but the less than adaquite service I recieved from the Sandton drive iStore. No thanks, not when I am forking out close to R20k for a

ditto

21k imac + 3k in software down the drain.

Sad isn't it. I was "Fortunate" enough that my iMac died only a month and a bit after buying it and after a huge fight eventually got my money back.

Can you give some more detailed feedback re. aftersales and warranty issues? We have recently purchased a MacBook Pro from The Core and in process of buying another.

After sales services is ****. Got a problem with your brand new shiny machine? Tough ****, we will book it in and we will get back to you in 2 weeks. Don't even bother to ask them to look at the issue, they won't. They will only send it in. And if it completely breaks and you want a replacement? A refund? FORGET IT! I had to spill blood and tears to get a refund on my iMac. After all the driving and phone calls it almost wasn't worth it.

 

[[)roi(]]

Yip 100% correct! I will never buy another iMac again based not only on the iMac's inherint screen problems that Apple refuse to acknowledge but the less than adaquite service I recieved from the Sandton drive iStore. No thanks, not when I am forking out close to R20k for a



Sad isn't it. I was "Fortunate" enough that my iMac died only a month and a bit after buying it and after a huge fight eventually got my money back.



After sales services is ****. Got a problem with your brand new shiny machine? Tough ****, we will book it in and we will get back to you in 2 weeks. Don't even bother to ask them to look at the issue, they won't. They will only send it in. And if it completely breaks and you want a replacement? A refund? FORGET IT! I had to spill blood and tears to get a refund on my iMac. After all the driving and phone calls it almost wasn't worth it.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.
Although Core will never be Apple (similarly the service levels).
I believe your situation to be the exception, as many of us have had fairly pleasant experiences with the use of Apple's product.