Hello, can I use VLC to send video files through apple tv? most movies i have are not in Itunes format and I would prefer not to have to covert them. they are in .avi and .mp4 formats. If VLC is not the right software, is there another one that I can use? thanks, Ron
AppleTV 2, Mac OS X (10.7.1)
No, AppleTV only accepts streams from iTunes, it will not accept streams/transcodes from other apps.
You will need to convert them. Try Handbrake.
AC
There is a third party app that converts on the fly and allows you to stream it to ATV. It's Airflick: http://ericasadun.com/ftp/AirPlay/AirFlick-0.51.zip
airflick works fine; thanks. tried it and it works totally fine (for now) with mp4 exensions.
any idea on how the .avi can be streamed?
Ron
Apart from Airplay streams I should have added!
Interesting link MacDaddyJ.
You would really think that Apple would be incorporating Airplay functionality more widely into OS X especially say for QT and Safari. Seems to be Apple primarily want Airplay as an iOS feature to sell mobile devices.
AC
Sorry I'm just getting back to you. Yes, there is another way - if you have an iOS device. Download the Air Video app from iTunes, then install the Air Video Server on your computer. Basically, what it does is converts on the fly to your iOS device, then you can send it to your ATV2 via AirPlay. You can access your files over the Internet, as well (also 3G), not needing to be connected to the same network as your computer. You can check it out here:
Alley_Cat,
I agree. It's such a simple thing to incorporate. I think it has more to do with forcing people to purchase movies via iTunes rather than 'allowing' us to pop a DVD into our Macs and stream it to our ATV2. Absolutely absurd.
Alley_Cat wrote:
Interesting link MacDaddyJ.....
The software is a joke. When the software's own demo movie shows it failing to work properly one should be extremely cautious about even having it your mac
Which software are you referring to, Winston?
.....then please tell me how it got past Apple's watchful eye and onto the App Store?......
Firstly, there are plenty of examples of useless software in the App store, I don't believe the vetting is about quality but rather to make sure software doesn't breach the terms of use. Secondly, I wasn't aware it was in the App store, perhaps you'd show me where.
Of course it's an individual choice whether to use such software, I'm only pointing out that the people who created it openly tell you it doesn't work properly. I can't find the promo video they made that shows it not working properly at the moment, however it would be worth reading their own website to get the idea. I just feel if you're going to suggest solutions to users here, that those users should be aware of all of this.
I was quite excited when I figured out that Stream To Me and Serve To Me works perfectly as a link between my .avi and other video-files and my ATV2 :-) Finally I can watch everything on my server on my ATV without converting. At least I think it´s not converting.
just donwloaded this app nils and its pretty fantastic
i never owned an apple tv, so not too familiar with the interface
can you jot down the steps for hooking up the apple tv with the serve to me/stream to me app
many thanks
Hello lzinder
just visit http://projectswithlove.com/streamtome/ to download the Serve to Me programme for your PC (I guess it´s the same for Mac-users), and follow the instructions. There you can select wich folders or disks you want to share on your network It´s also important to set up some security by selecting a login and password.
If you cannot find your computer automatically on your device (iPhone, iPad), you´ll find the IP address on the Serve to Me homescreen.
Hope this works for you as it did for me :-)
All the best
Nils
Hi Nils -- I did it as you said. I installed stream to me. That works when it comes to streming stuff on my mac to m ipad. However when I hit the airplay button, only the audio gets streamed to the ATV2, not the video. Do you have the same problem? It can't be a matter of CODEC since I can't even stream JPG stills....
Hello Efrommi
Hmm. No I have never encountered that problem you´re experiencing. However, I´m not an expert on this. I might just have been lucky :-)
What I have encountered though, is that other AirPlay apps have intereferred with the Stream to Me app. What normally happens is that I get 2 seconds of video, it then shuts down and I get a message on my iPhone that another app is running AirPlay (or something). What i do, is to shut down alll the apps that might be sending on AirPlay (like Music, etc). This works all the time.
I´ve never had problems with CODEC or anything, sorry
Nils
from vlc to apple tv
