I have an iMac on Ventura 13.2.1 and an Apple TV (third generation) connected by ethernet.
I am looking for the best place to store a significant number of movies (MP4) so that I can play them over AirPlay.
I do not want to use Music as they would be stored in Songs, and I have approximately 8000 songs there.
Any suggestions appreciated.
iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.4
Hi there markfrommanunda,
You are asking about where to store media files to play with your Apple TV from your iMac over AirPlay. If we understand your setup correct, you might consider an external hard drive to store your media files. Start with this guidance on choosing and setting up an external hard drive for storage with your iMac: Connect and use other storage devices with Mac
Then, you can use the Apple TV app to play movies while using the AirPlay playback controls to your Apple TV device: Stream audio and video from your Mac with AirPlay
You may need to change the media folder location for the Apple TV app to direct to your external hard drive. Use these steps: Change Files settings in the Apple TV app on Mac
Reply back with any questions or concerns as you walk through this.
Take care.
Hi there markfrommanunda,
You are asking about where to store media files to play with your Apple TV from your iMac over AirPlay. If we understand your setup correct, you might consider an external hard drive to store your media files. Start with this guidance on choosing and setting up an external hard drive for storage with your iMac: Connect and use other storage devices with Mac
Then, you can use the Apple TV app to play movies while using the AirPlay playback controls to your Apple TV device: Stream audio and video from your Mac with AirPlay
You may need to change the media folder location for the Apple TV app to direct to your external hard drive. Use these steps: Change Files settings in the Apple TV app on Mac
Reply back with any questions or concerns as you walk through this.
Take care.
Yes, it looks like my only option, altho I’m not keen on changing the TVApp library location.
I had copied my movies from my external HD to TVApp using Import, and they show in the Computer location, but will not play. They’re all MP4s of between 1 and 4gb. Previous imports of single movies played without a problem. I’m thinking maybe TVApp cannot cope above a cetain number/volume of imports.
Hey markfrommanunda,
That's definitely possible. We suggest that you try the files one by one and see if it makes any difference.
If the issue persists even with a single file, let's get you over to Apple Support team next: Apple Support
Cheers!
Many thanks for your help. The issue has been solved. Some files, for no apparent reason,. were going to “unknown Album”, and the process was exceptionally slow.
I found that I must have at some stage switched on “Copy files to Media Folder” , or that is the default. I switched it off.
As a result, “Import" changed to “Add to Library”, and files were loaded very quickly (obviously).
Apple TV now playing files perfectly, thanks.
I think I have found the problem. It seems the import has not kept the location wit the files. Not sure what I did wrong. Here’s the system message.
Thanks v much. I think I have found the problem. It seems the import has not kept the location with the files. Not sure what I did wrong. Here’s the system message. I’ll try to locate all the files.
Hello markfrommanunda,
We're glad you found the source of the issue, and we hope you have a great day.
Cheers!
How do I store MP4 video files so I can play them using AirPlay
