Just recently bought the Western Digital ShareSpace NAS 2TB and got another 2 x 1TB Caviar Green WD HDDs into the ShareSpace NAS, totalling 4TB.
















Some of the components are already in place. The 3 Apple TVs have been serving movies and music from the Time Capsule, but it is running out of space fast. 290 movies at 690GB, 4066 audio titles and music videos at 24.6GB, 45 TV Shows at 225GB, 114GB worth of vacation/home movies and 11GB worth of photos in varying resolutions, spread between the 320GB internal notebook HDD on the Macbook White and the 1TB Time Capsule, and it's coming to the last few remaining GBs on storage space. Time to move up.

Phase 1 - To configure RAID 5 on the 4 x 1TB WD Caviar Green HDDs, to prep them to receive the related medias.(movies, TV Shows, music, photos, essential/sensitive datas).The ShareSpace will be formatted to RAID 5, and still in the process at this moment, and only projected to finish the RAID process in 17 hours. Once that is done, the projected space available will be around 2.68GB, with both the protection of striping and mirroring.

Phase 2 - To relocate all the movies(DVDs or home vacation), music, photos, and TV Shows to the ShareSpace.

Phase 3 - Linking them to iTunes is also required so that they appear right on iTunes, with correct links pointing to the WD ShareSpace, with tagged album art/movie poster and song/movie/TV Show infoappearing correctly, will take another sizable chunk of time.

Phase 4 - It would also be important to test to see if all these transferred media, stream right to all three Apple TVs around the house.

Phase 5 - Once all that is in place, hopefully the Time Machine backup residing on the 2TB MyBook will not take that long to complete.

At the moment, is on Phase 1.Time to dig in the heels, get to work, and *pray* nothing goes wrong, else I'd be losing a lifetime worth of work/data.

The hopeful end result would be automated backup system running in tandem with the video-on-demand media serving capabilities between the Apple TVs and their storage containers(ShareSpace) working smoothly. The target objective is to have a pseudo-VOD-like system not unlike the hotel pay-per-view system, with vast array of selection of entertainment medium at the fingertips of the end user(or at the tip of their Apple Remote ). I'm not holding out much on the wired/wireless capabilities of using the WD ShareSpace as a scratch disk for video editing, but if that turns out to be somewhat manageable, then that would be a bonus. In the end, I hope I dont need to look into larger storage solution until much, much later. Thus, is the curse of an Apple TV user with library size spiralling out of control.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 3 2008, 06:38 PM

Omg so complicated for me to understand =.=

3 Apple TV? Omg even 1 I can't afford =.=

all those GB numbers driving me crazy =.=

Massive setup and time consuming data relocation. Good luck on your project.
I'm too lazy & poor for all that.

Yikes! Looks like a lot of work...

I just want a second AppleTV to show family photos on the dining room TV when we have the extended family over.

The living room Apple TV is the one where the movies are loaded onto. Don't really want to watch movies anywhere else but the living room.

And I completely refuse to have a TV in the bedroom....

Yikes and time consuming indeed. Phase 1 completed, RAID 5 clocking at 2.68GB. Enter Phase 2, transferring the data from Time Capsule and the iTunes folder from the Macbook White to the ShareSpace. Time til completion? 46 freaking hours! Sigh.......

Wait I'm a dummie guy, so your plan is to stream your videos using your Time Capsule by using another hard-drive? WOW! uhh still confused lol.

I plan to stream all iTunes-related contents via the Time Capsule, yes. The beauty of a NAS (ShareSpace) is that it acts like a connected external portable hard drive when it is attached to the Time Capsule via Gigabit Ethernet.Like a portable hard drive, you have access to all type of data, not just movies, music or the likes. And when the ShareSpace NAS is connected to the Time Capsule, the Time CApsule broadcasts its contents to all components you see in that diagram there, including the Apple TVs, which would arrange them as per how they are seen in the iTunes inside the Macbook White (also connected in the network to the Time Capsule), and present them as Front Row-like interfaces easily navigate-able by using the Apple Remote.

Think of it like Astro, only difference is, I choose my contents. And of course, not service disruption when it is raining outside.

Dear Stringfellow,

So in total how much is the total price for the hardrives & stuff. Umm oh yeah do you require mac to be online to to stream the video, Your idea is really great !!

Dear iAce,

Yes, you need a Mac to be on to do so. Reason being, the Apple TV needs to use A Mac's iTunes library to be used as reference content to choose from. I can choose to sync the Apple TV with some content, but the largest HDD on an Apple TV without modification is 160GB. Not big enough in my books.

So, in my configuration, I'm using the Apple TV as Streaming receiver, 3 Apple TVs connected to 3 different TVs throughout my household. If I choose to, I can offer different amount of content for those 3 different Apple TVs, or use Parental Locks if I want to, since all my movies and TV Shows are tagged with ratings(R, MA, PG-13, etc). At the moment, I'm just planning to spread them evenly and offer all three Apple TV all the content available.

I just realized something. With all the content relocated to the Sharespace, I can finally add another type of download into my daily routine: Podcast. I had deferred downloading podcast in the past, because of space constraints. Not anymore!

---

Added on December 4, 2008, 9:09 pmTo answer your question, the Mac just need to be on, not online. The Apple TVs need a reference library to stream from, and the links are inside the iTunes inside the White Macbook. I don't have to turn on the White Macbook if I choose to sync (copy) selected content into the Apple TV's hard drive, but there is not much you can put inside the Apple TV's small size HDD. Therefore, I choose to "relocate" the "HDD" into the ShareSpace, and stream it over to the Apple TVs. This mode requires the White Macbook to be turned on.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 4 2008, 09:09 PM

Haha a very complicated process for a 16 year old. Anyways good luck with your idea.

PS : I got it.

you setup is my dream, but mine idea setup is much more simple.

PS3 + Apple Tv (hacked) + Netgear NAS + wireless N MIMO
- Mainly cause of PS3, listen to music using ps3 is quite fun cuz the visualizer (the earth) very nice.
- Reason why choose Netgear NAS, simply it can direct set torrent in and download with on my computer all the time.
- Hack apple tv, as i read gizmodo b4, hack version can do alot thing.

but dunno when can I make it happen.
(Ps3 also ship back to japan, with my brother right now)


1 question, in this kind of sharing network setup, it's very important to use RAID?
or else will be lag?

how much Aussie dollor it costs for these setups


This post has been edited by cRazYee: Dec 5 2008, 10:25 AM

A few problems with that setup, to me at least.

The PS3 requires me retagging the music I have to allow the album art to show. I am a perfectionist, and I would not rest until I get things right, and having that little thing called album art, is important to me. I set this up as if I will be evaluated by a tender approver , so it has to be perfect to my own self-imposed standards. I know to some it is enough already to have just the contents appearing, even if they are only appearing in list text form. But this is more for my own self-satisfaction and i hope it makes my guests coming over during movie/TV show nights feel like they have fun using them without complicated instructions.

uPNP on PS3 requires me to retag all the music , and the interface is kinda lifeless to me. Plus I do more than just music. TV Shows and Movies with synopsis, info like actors, directors, date produced, so all this would not appear correctly on uPNP device. I've tried uPnP with Medialink and EyeConnect, pairing it with PS3, but the result is bland, to say the least.

I don't torrent, my media downloads comes primarily from iTunes itself, so pairing a Mac with an Apple TV is a no-brainer. I all for hacking the AppleTV, but my need for a hacked Apple TV only comes for the need for Boxee, which now connects to Hulu.com video streaming service. I don't download TV Shows unless they are shows that I really want to keep, and if I do, I get them through iTunes. TV Shows on iTunes come ONE day after they are broadcasted on their respective network in the States, and I like their quality to be perfect, not with advertisement scrolling at the bottom of them screen, or things like that. If it is a show I'd like to watch but not keep, I watch them streamed from Hulu.com, that way, I abide all the copyright rulings, and still get them fast. Just my opinion.

RAID is very important to me, especially RAID 5, since all these contents are purchased from iTunes, and if I lose them, I cannot redownload them again, unless I repurchase them. So keeping them safe requires RAID 5, which combines the speed and mirroring of RAID 1 and 0.

As for the price, I only bought the ShareSpace NAS in Melbourne, for AUD799. The other two 1TB WD CAviar Green was purchased in Lowyat, for RM720. The rest of the components you see in that setup diagram, is already in place.

oh, you remind me of music tagging problem with sony system,
untill today, i still dont how to settle with that, even though psp 1.
that;s why psp just for gaming, as the screen quality damn lousy.
iphone works better

Apple tv: ya, hacked for Boxee.

RAID 5 is it combines all the drive together? 5 drives to 1 partition?

looks like buy bluray sudah.... better quality
uk here damn cheap now. Batman the dark knight just 15 pounds

but as a student now, dunno when can happen all these thing\

just read your signature,
woa!
Sony SEP-10BT Sony Rolly + Sony DR-BT50 BT Headphones | Grado SR60

actually is the Rolly fun?
i tried once b4 in Japan @ Sony Concept centre, Ginza. but like.........????
but it's very beautiful, especially, the red color special edition 1

---

Added on December 8, 2008, 8:49 ambro, wanna ask something out of topic.
how do you align your signature to center?

This post has been edited by cRazYee: Dec 8 2008, 08:49 AM

I've tried Boxee before, but the fact that Hulu block all non-US IP addresses, totally makes Boxee installation on Apple TV worthless.

RAID 5 is RAID 1 and RAID 0 combined. In my case, let say if I chose to format the 4 1TB drives to RAID 0, I would have the system see it as a large singular 4TB storage space. File access speed is also increased from this configuration. But if there are problems later and one of the drives kaput, I lose all other drives in the RAID array, and losing 4TB worth of data is not something I'd look forward to. Next would be RAID 1, which mirrors the drives, basically carbon-copying one another. In this case, a RAID 1 array on my config will result in a 2TB storage space only since the other 2TB is used to check parity and repair the other drives should one of them fail. Basically, it allows recovery of data from other still working drives. RAID 5 combines RAID 0 and RAID 1, which means it has the speed of RAID 0 and the redundancy of RAID 1, so I'm covered on both ends.

Yup, I buy Blu-rays too, but for independent movies, rom-com (don't look at me, ask my better half ), or other type of movies that I feel that it is not worth buying Blu-ray for, I buy them either in DVD format, or in lots of cases now, I buy them off iTunes. I also collect 4 TV shows, Family Guy, South Park, Lost and Heroes, so these shows I have bought season passes from iTunes, and they are downloaded into my system 1 day after they are broadcasted on US network television. The rest of the shows that I do watch, like House, Fringe, and the rest, I don't download them, I watch them via streaming from Hulu.com. That way, I save on storage space, I obey the copyright laws, and still able to enjoy the most current shows on American TV network.

I strictly buy Blu-rays on titles that showcases good image quality or outstanding audio quality. I don't waste my money buying Blu-rays on sitcoms of rom-coms or movies that dont show great scenes, or audio capabilities. (although sometimes my better half breaks that rule with her own choice of purchases like The Devil Wears Prada........women! ).

As for the Rolly, I use it as a living room talk piece. It is so hard not to notice it when it is docked on its docking station sitting on the center of the coffee table or the living room table, and not getting asked what it is. Once I pair it with my NWZ-A820 16GB Sony Walkman via Bluetooth, the Sony Rolly becomes 2 things: a Bluetooth speaker with DAMN GOOD bass/volume, as well as a dancing robot! That livens up any evening that I have guest over, they love seeing the little bugger dance. I don't keep my songs inside the Rolly, so the lack of storage space issue does not matter to me, because I stream the audio via Bluetooth from the 16GB Sony Walkman. The NWZ-A820 + SEP-10BT + DR-BT50 = match made in heaven! I got them in 3 different places, the Rolly in Osaka, the Walkman in Singapore, and the BT Headphones in KL. Phew!

To align any text to center, use this code:-



Replace whatever text you want centered in there.

Which broadband are you using that you're apple watch video streams from Hulu?

With all your season passes, you must be stocking up on those iTunes gift cards

Hulu video streams while in KL is painful to say the least. I have to cache it first, before hitting the play button if I'm using Streamyx. It really takes off when I'm at work. Places that I go, like Osaka and Tokyo, as well as European destinations all have blazingly fast Internet connection, so watching Hulu there is like pressing the play button on any movie playing software.

Yup, believe it or not, I've breached the USD1000 mark on the stuff I've bought from iTunes. And I still have Lost Season 5 season pass to buy.

Wow string bro.... your house is almost fully digitalized welcoming home.
I really amazed with the whole concepts you have to make it all digital+wirelessly

running RAID 5, I thought it would be great if you are having at least 3 hard disc in order to make to work better, which is the minimum requirements for RAID 5, if I'm not wrong about it.

I thought that stuffs purchased from iTunes can be re-download once we lost it, like Application/Games for iPhone/iPod Touch. Is it only movies, TV Shows and musics cannot be re-download if we purchased via iTunes ?

I wonder if those all devices are ON 24-7 ? With your huge collections in your NAS, it really suits perfectly for the use of Wireless and Remote features available in Tech World.

If I were your honoured guest to be able to your 'digital world'.... I think I will be totally stunned and speechless.

Anyhow... it is a good start for you (and for the rest of us to know how technology can helps us to make our dream comes true).

just looking at this thread also kena stun d lar no need to go his house

I've been trying to emulate those smart home concepts I see on movies and TV shows, but I don't want to spend a ton to do so. This way, I still have control over what component I use, and how much money I spend on doing so. If I had the money, I'd be splurging on the Kaleidescape Home Theater setup, and no having to worry a thing about setting things up as such.



The price of this setup? In the millions, so I think I'll stick with my own, thanks. There are TWO Malaysian dealers of this ultra-high-end setup, but I dare not even try and look them up and see if they allow a demonstration of the system.

RAID 5 needs 4 HDDs as minimum, well, that's what WD says in their manual for the ShareSpace.

Apps and games are redownloadable from iTunes, but not movies, TV Shows and music. Reason being, you can claim loss of content, but you can set up your iTunes account on a different computer and redownload it there if Apple allows redownloads of these contents. This is akin to piracy. With apps and games, they are tied to an iTunes account AND an iPhone/iPod Touch, so no hanky-panky there.

These devices are on when needed. I can leave them on 24/7 and allow remote management, but seeing how Malaysian weather being prone to lightning storms, I'm not too keen on playing chicken with God when it comes to my Terabytes of content.

This project is mainly done to make my guests at ease when they come over for movie/TV Show nights. One day, I'd like to be able to entertain them, hosting a movie or TV Show premiere at my place, at the ease of simply flicking a switch or a press of a button. At the moment, there are still rough spots, but it is on the way.

We usually have the Lost TV Show premieres with my other Lost fanatic friends, and seeing how Lost is coming back on Season 5 on January 21st, I have to get this done by that date. Heroes, not so much, but if they want, and when they decide it's my turn to host, I'll put it on, or any other Blu-ray titles I've just purchased. Different groups with different interest, some like movies and TV Shows, others love games. The gaming crowd would come mostly on games that are rare and/or fun to play on multiplayer, such as the recent Super Street Fighter II Turbo High Definition Remix on PS3/PSN. Otherwise, it is much more convinient if we only play each other while multiplaying online on Playstation Network or Xbox Live.

Don't worry, I keep a spare defibrillator handy. You stunned and pengsan, I shock you back to life......but outside the compound of the house lah. Nanti stun again.

Thanks for the detail info about stuffs purchased from iTunes.

With your own 'digitalize' entertainment concepts already blow me away... kudos ! And I believe you have done so many of research and gathering information.

Can't wait to see the rest of the phases' progress, while you trying to build them up.

Phew!

Tackled Phase 2 AND 3 in one fell swoop, in the process iTunes calls Consolidating a Library. Pointed the Library to the new ShareSpace storage, and consolidated so that all the contents go into the iTunes folder in the ShareSpace and corrrectly linked to it as well. The length of the process? Well, let's just say I started it the day before I left for Shanghai, left the White Macbook running, and only now have completed the lengthy process! 3 DAYS!

Starting Phase 4, checking to see if all three of the Apple TV streams the content fine from the setup. From the Apple TV streaming closest to the Sharespace + Time Capsule, the few TV Show episodes and trial test movies tested streams beautifully without hiccups. Next would be the one in the guest room, and the further in the living room. Things look rosy from here on.

Already starting evacuating the iTunes folder inside the White Macbook, and suddenly I have 260GB free! Time Machine backups should take faster time to complete, and I have more room to abuse on it. So Phase 5 is running in tandem with Phase 4 at the moment, and should be done by tomorrow.

Sorry if the description is a bit more descriptive than empirical, since I have not done any statistical tests to check on the throughput of the data flying around wirelessly using this setup. But I'm only interested to see if the content being streamed around is adequate for the Apple TVs/ Time Machine requirements, and it certainly is.

Also a point to note, since every single iTunes library content has been transmigrated into the Sharespace, syncing of my iPhone(especially syncing applications and games, as well as the periodic iPhone backups) and Apple TV takes a while longer than before since it has to access the Sharespace via network, instead of locally available on the hard drive. Not a big problem, and it works as it should. Also on the opposite route, contents purchased and downloaded INTO the iTunes folder into the primary library also downloaded, written and stored properly and without issues into the Sharespace. Yesterday, got the email notification from Apple about the availability of the new Heroes Season 3, new episode Our Father, and once download is initiated, it is routed nicely into the new pointed library in the ShareSpace.

It has been a long journey, and it was a pretty nail-biting one, to say the least. During the 84+hours of transferring the iTunes library and data content into the Sharespace, I had been extremely worried should a power failure occurs and wipe things out, having me to do it all over again. The fact that everything went as automated as it is, while I was away in Shanghai, and returned to see that it works beautifully is a testament to the fact that Apple made this possible, and made this right! Thank you Apple!

This journey is coming to the end of its road, and I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. What is left to do, is to continue ripping movies, TV Show DVDs and music into the ShareSpace as I am continually doing now. At the moment, I'm ripping Futurama - Bender's Big Score and Futurama - The Beast with a Billion Backs, so the work continues.

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Added on December 11, 2008, 7:25 pmPictures of the completed setup will come once everything is set and done. Stay tuned!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 11 2008, 07:25 PM

bro, need you share something with me
the HD movie purchase thru itunes store, what the quality?
Resolution:
FPS:
File format:

i have a problem, although I have perian installed, my front row cant play .mkv properly. I try the same file play with Quicktime, FPS sometimes drop to 12/13 fps, Lag.
i found .mkv frame rate is just 23~25 whereas .mov is about 30 frame per second.
i have 1080P(11GB) & 720p(8GB) the dark knight, both are in .mkv format.

Any advise for this case?

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Added on December 13, 2008, 10:48 pmbring up the post

This post has been edited by cRazYee: Dec 13 2008, 10:48 PM

HI Stringfellow

i am waiting for an excuse (and enough $$$) to set up such a system. One question, how do you add age restrictions to ripped movies or home videos? i want different apple tv's to have access to different playlists or files. especially content that are not suitable for kids.

Was thinking of Drobo instead of the WD SHarespace. I read somewhere you had concerns about the Drobo throughput?

b.regards
sin yc

Try re-encoding it into an .mkv recognized by Quicktime, I suggest using HandBrake. The new HandBrake has presets for MKV built into it.

Easy! Remember, your Apple TV is just a husk, an extender for your iTunes. If you have tagged your media right, that would come with ratings. Mine does. Every time I rip my movies using Handbrake, and tagging them using MetaX, MetaX includes embedded rating into your newly ripped movies. Once done, you can arrange this as per the ratings, or IIANM, you can already do so from within Apple TV. That way, you can exert parental controls over what your media is available to your loved ones.

I was heavily into Drobo+DroboShare as well, but looking at the price, it wasn't feasible. The ShareSpace includes 2 x 1TB Caviar Green HDDs with its price, compared to am empty husk for the Drobo, not to mention the added cost of DroboShare. I intended the ShareSpace as a NAS, not a wirelessly-transmitting storage space. From my time having the Time Capsule in my network, it has proven to work beautifully, so I'd like to continue doing so, with as little changes to the already up-and-running system I have. Sure, I'd love to have the Drobo's hot-swappable HDD feature, but judging from the reviews I read online, doing hot swaps results in the HDD arrays left in the Drobo recovering from that loss of a HDD, and rebuilding that array takes a while. More so, that it negates the advantage of this hot swap itself. It may take considerably less time if you're dealing with a smaller RAID array, but once you hit the Terabytes, that advantage diminishes.

Good luck on yours, I am having so much fun with mine. Been downloading podcasts like crazy, even the HD ones, which were not possible before because of storage constraints. I even am in the process of ripping more movies into the ShareSpace, I had to be selective before because of storage space again. I can also finally get rid of all my CDs( or at least store them away ), and DVDs, and eliminate clutter. Life is good!

bravo!!! u the man....
okie been reading alot of your settings...
will try to start with the basic NAS fitst then slowly i'll implement your concept home design I love your style bro... well...im tried to create something like yours...something simple..but i do not hav time ~

Will like to know more on the WD ShareSpare NAS.. this baby comes with 2HDD? (2TB) so i can just straight plug n play? will this monster hook up my connection?

Any tweek i need to configure this NAS storage? will the come along HDD support MAC OS format?

Thanks

marvelous! this is craziness
apple everywhere.. ehehee

Danke, danke!

If you want something simple, that simply plugs and plays straight out, I would suggest using a WD MyBook, configured to RAID 0 or striped configuration. That way, you have maximum possible space and the fastest access speed as well. Bear in mind, RAID 0 allows 2 TB full disk space, but no protection against data loss due to failure of any of the other striped HDD. You lose one, you lose EVERYTHING. If you want protection, set it to RAID 1, that way, every 1s and 0s of data you have is mirrored, so losing one HDD means that you can rebuild the TOC and the content itself from the remaining surviving HDD. But doing RAID 1 means halving the available content, so if you got the 2TB ShareSpace, you effectively only have 1TB of storage space, because of the mirroring.

Moving up the table to 4 x 1TB HDDs, you can configure to RAID 5, which stripes and mirrors your data, basically the best of RAID 0 and RAID 1 combined.

The Sharespace comes with 2 x 1TB HDDs already inside, or a more pricier option, a full 4 x 1TB HDDs. I opted for the cheaper 2 x 1TB HDDs, since I can outsource cheaper prices for the remaining 2 x 1TB HDDs that I need. Also, your choice of HDDs is also somewhat important. Tendencies would go for the fastest, hence performance driven HDDs in the WD catalogue, hence the "Black" Edition. But there are drawbacks in this setting, mostly from power consumption, acoustics and life expectancies of the drives. I chose the WD Caviar "Green" Edition HDDs, which are also the HDDs that WD chose to put into the Sharespace, because they run on lower power consumption (meaning it would not be like a blistering hot oven when all these 4 HDDs are running in that tight space confines of the ShareSpace enclosure), they park when they are not accessed (hence lower possibility of the platters getting damaged by constantly moving reader head), and since they spin at a lower RPM compared to the "Black" Edition, they are very quiet. I place the Sharespace inside my bedroom, and I dont even hear them even during heavy access. It is even more critical if you choose to place the ShareSpace in the living room, you dont want to hear the whines and drones of the drives spinning, while entertaining your guests.

For a Mac , it is easy. If you are planning to use this plugged straight to your Mac, pick an empty Ethernet port. Gigabit Ethernet works best, providing optimum speed. Right-click your Finder, and choose "Connect to Server". Type in "smb://wdsharespace" in the server address window, and voila! It comes up instantly as an acessible storage space, just like how a USB-type storage space would. Done with it? Eject is as per normal. The same instructions as what I have typed above is available on the provided manual. I find it that on the Mac it is easier to access the Sharespace than on a PC running Vista, on Vista, you would have to run WD's specific software to access it as a NAS. On a Mac, it acts just like any storage device, thanks to its Bonjour-friendly characteristics.

If you are planning to use the ShareSpace as per my setup, the same instructions applies. Just that now you have to make sure your wireless router plays nice with the ShareSpace. Mine works beautifully with the Time Capsule, zero config, right out of the box.

As for the HDDs supporting Mac, that point is moot once you decides which RAID configuration you are going to go. In my case, I picked RAID 5, and I had to go through a 15 hours RAID 5 setup to prep the 4 x 1TB HDDs to stripe and mirror each other. Your mileage may vary, may be vene shorter, on smaller capacity drives, or if you plug the Sharespace straight to your Mac using a wired Ethernet cable. I did my RAID setup while in a wireless environment.

The end result? Have you been to a nice high-end hotel which offers video-on-demand movies for purchase on their in-room TV? The one that you can choose with the remote and purchase if you like? Mine uses similar principles, only that the movies are free, of course. And best of all, they come with the slick, awesome Apple TV interface you can move around using that little Apple TV remote (or in my case, I'm using my Logitech Harmony One Universal remote), with beautiful movie poster art, movie details such as directors, screenwriters, producers, and the actors, date of these movies produced......even, their ratings (PG-13, R, etc)! That way, I can simply do my own self-censoring, by blocking out the more unappropriate content when guests with young childrens in their families come over to my place. They always have their kids diving for the Apple remotes wanting to check out what new movies their Uncle Stringfellow have for them to watch. Latest ones are WAll-E, Speed Racer and Kung Fu Panda as digital copy download from their Blu-ray packages, while for the more responsible adults gets Wanted, Get Smart, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls and Hancock during our movie nights. Popcorns, snacks and sodas included of course, I love entertaining my guests.

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Added on December 30, 2008, 1:11 amAnd by the way, I dont stop at movies. Next month, we're continuing our tradition of TV Show nights as well, when Lost Season 5 starts January 21st. Add the new season of Family Guy and South Park, it's going to be awesome! iTunes provides these episodes ONE day after they are screened on national American TV network, so we're not missing on the freshness of these episodes! We rotate homes to go for during TV Show nights, others subscribe to other shows, so when the latest episodes are available, we go to their house to watch them together.

Also, the Sharespace holds all my music collection, as well as vacation photos and home-made videos I've made during the holidays. The photos come out as beautiful slideshows WITH accompanying music, set on Apple TV as screensaver. And even when all my iTunes library is stored on the Sharespace, when my iPhone or iPod Touch is plugged in to sync, or back up with iTunes, and it having to access the Sharespace wirelessly, the sync/backup went in flawlessly. No hiccups whatsoever. I now have a centrally-located storage of all my multimedia-related, as well as sensitive/personal data on the Sharespace.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Dec 30 2008, 11:16 PM

WOW That's what i can tell u bro...Thanks for explaining to me...i will go thought the simple way..either the Apple 1TB time capsule or i try to hunt around at Singapore see whether they are selling WD SpareSpace with affordable price

Regardless the RAID settings....if i opt for NAS device....probably i'll go for 2x 1TB better just in case the hdd failure....

Very good idle home settings, will keep lookout for your awesome digital home environment

i'll stay in the loop for your updates hehe

Thanks ya

This post has been edited by terencetoo: Dec 30 2008, 10:59 PM

Hi Stringfellow,

I am really impressed with your setup.
I am currently thinking on doing something similar (But at a MUCH MUCH MUCH smaller scare)

I was wondering whether any Movies (Especially HD Movies from your camcorder/camera) played through your AppleTv lag in anyway?

I intend to put an AppleTV in my company's conference room which has no ethernet port so it relies solely on the wifi. I also intend to pickup an Airport Express along with it. However, i have my reservations due to the speed of the transfer. Some of our presentation videos are gigabyte big and my boss insist on keeping the files in his Mac Pro so i have to resort to this idea.

I have a D-Link 323 with 2 bay storage. A Mac Pro, Mac mini and Macbook Pro is connected to it at the moment. Another AppleTV and Mac mini is on its way, pending the effectiveness of the airport express streaming effectiveness.

Secondly, The digital copy that you got from your BD's... they are stored in your PS3 or in your NAS system as well? Are they in .mp4/.mkv format?

Thanks

My HD movies from my camcorder are in the .m2ts format, so I'll have to use VoltaicHD to convert them into a H.264 file wrapped in the .mp4 container. Works fine by me, and I am very finicky when it comes to IQ.

If you're planning wireless transport via WIFI, use Wifi-N. "G" would work, but prone to inteference. also make sure there aren't double wifi-hops, meaning you dont transmit twice over wireless environment, if you do, you'll get slideshows instead of any semblance of a movie. Only transmit ONCE over wifi, preferably between the transmitter and the end-user(in this case the Apple TV).

The stength and quality of the throughput greatly depends on the distance and line-of-sight hindrances between your transmitter-receiver (Airport Express and your Apple TV). Otherwise, they work beautifully.

I don't store any movies or songs on my PS3, the PS3's interface is hideous compared to the Apple TV. I tried streaming content to the PS3 using MediaLink and EyeConnect before, and the filetree and directory is so ugly, and unwieldy for common layman to navigate through, I scrapped that approach. Plus, media streaming to the PS3 requires strict uPNP and DLNA compliance, resulting in some of my files arriving onscreen via my PS3 with their metadatas and tags missing, including album art. I am so used to Apple TV's presentation of the media being streamed over to it, including its beautiful album art and metadata tags, that I cannot live without it.

All the digital copies from the BDs are verified and copied over into iTunes, which in turns, since I place the primary iTunes library pointed to the WD ShareSpace, gets copied there as well. When I want to play them, just turn on the Apple TV, which links up with the iTunes and points to that digital copy in the ShareSpace and voila! Instant Video-on-Demand!

The digital copies are in .m4v format. Some of the digital copies, from Hancock and Speed Racer are in the .wmv format, so I need to re-encode them back to .mp4 before I can add them into the primary iTunes library.

Good luck with your setup!

Hi String - How long does it take for you to rip and encode a single video for Apple TV format? As for me, it took quite sometime...many hours in fact... I used the 4Media Apple TV Converter software to do that.

Poison Poison and more Poison ... haiyaaa.

I was considering Drobo as well but now seeing that you said its not as good as the reviews, i'm having 2nd thought.

I am using Handbrake, and using its built-in preset, it took as long as the movie itself. So you can imagine, all this effort took long man hours, and I am not taking any chances about losing all those effort down the drain should the drives go kaput.

The Drobo is good, just not so good when you look at the price you pay. The dealbreaker for me was after researching its features, I found out that its supposedly hot-swappable feature, is not so superior, when user reports stating that the rebuilding of the files from the removed HDDs (if you want to upgrade to bigger size HDDs or removing faulty ones) takes a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. IT also uses Data Robotics proprietary file system, unlike the RAID config. For the price you pay for the Drobo(much more expensive, and WITHOUT any HDD inside, unless you get them straight from the US), it's relegated to second choice to me. For the time being, any NAS-related devices from QNAP or Synology is better than the Drobo. WD Sharespace just happen to be available when I was shopping around Melbourne at that time.

wow
drobo sound like incredibly easy
makes me abit worry

dear stringfellow,

about lost season 5 pass, BUY IT. in HD. i don't know why, but somehow i think lost HD is the best looking HD tv show offered. i've bought all season of battlestar galactica in HD, and somehow it didn't look as nice. so in conclusion, you'll not regret the purchase.

i'm totally having the same problem as you in regards to managing video contents, especially those bought from the itunes store. i believe i'm too are nearing the usd1000 mark of itunes purchases. i thought of buying an apple tv, but decided against it cause the functionality vs price ratio just didn't warrant a worthy purchase to me, and i have a love-hate relationship with the idea of wireless streaming my itunes library; doesn't seem very energy efficient to have both the comp & the lcd tv + apple tv on. since i've yet to have my own home, my network of media devices are constricted to my own bedroom (ie everything is just a few feet from each other) thus the need of a centralized nas device seem irrelevant, in my case.

nevertheless, one day i'm sure i'll be looking for a similar solution (albeit not with multiple apple tvs), so this is a great starting point. good luck in your highly ambitious endeavour

ETA: sorry, i must've missed some part. u've already bought lost season 5 pass, my mistake. though, huzzahhh

This post has been edited by dawn152: Jan 3 2009, 10:08 AM

Hi String ..

Too bad there are no Western Digital ShareSpace NAS available around my area...cant search for the price tag...only NAS system which i listed privoursly..

what about Apple TC? Will that be a better solution to start with or i should go with normal NAS first?

I would like to transfer all my movies/music/documents to ext hdd

Thanks

This post has been edited by terencetoo: Jan 4 2009, 11:07 AM

What about the HP MediaSmart Server?

@String
Bro ... where do u usually go to read reviews on this stuff? Need to do some research first.

hello mr.stringfellow..

Hav u tought of hacking the ATV to play other non-apple video format?

I'm very interested in the ATV, but I would like to be able to play other non-apple video format

AND at the same time is there a way/hack to make itune recognise those files so that I can use the itune UI in ATV??

Pls advise. Thanks....

This post has been edited by ryancfs: Jan 5 2009, 10:55 AM

Erm,

A simple answer is in here

How to Install Divx, Xvid, WMV On Your Take 2 AppleTV

http://www.apple-times.com/?p=433

This post has been edited by pmsoo: Jan 5 2009, 11:53 AM

LOL, we're both two crazy iTunes junkies, aren't we? Yup, if your immediate area of operation for these media delivery is small, the most common-sensical way to go about it is wired, be it wired GE or USB/FW. There's no uncertainties about wired connection on whether your media transfers would work or not, it just does.

As for Lost, I went hi-def on the Blu-ray route. I keep the standard definition from my iTunes Season Passes, so I'm sticking it that way.

The Time Capsule is good start, but it would start getting pretty cramped sooner or later. With a NAS, you can easily(relatively) swap the smaller sized drives for bigger ones later when they are made available or becomes cheaper later. So, in essence, it depends on your needs, and how you are approaching this in terms of future ability of storing your data later. If you only hold smaller sized data, and/or not planning to upsize your storage size later, then the TC would be adequate. But trust me when I say that, all this storage capacity and filling it up, gets addictive, at least to me. I always find ways of filling them up with things, even things that would be time-consuming, like ripping entire seasons of TV shows, that I initially would not prefer to do later. There's always something about the ease and accessibility of all those TV Shows, movies and photos at the tip of your fingers using the Apple Remote. Very very liberating.

I've not read on the MediaSmart server, so no comment on that. As for where I read reviews on this stuff, I actually dont read them until I've narrow it down to a few candidates. For that, I follow up with the guys at Macrumors.com forum, there is this one thread about the members there utilizing their Apple TV and discussing about their iTunes library spiraling out of control in terms of size. A few go for the external HDD route ala MyBook, but there are a few who dealt with NAS for their storage choice, and it seems like the NetGear ReadyNAS is popular there. Me? All I need is the NAS to be readily and easily detectable by iTunes, and of course fast transfer system via the Gigabit Ethernet. The reviews for the ShareSpace, I read the all over the place, but I pay particular attention on choices of NAS which hold not problems with detection within iTunes, as I want as little problem as possible, and as much automation as I can so that my guests can easily go about turning on this VOD system as easy as turning on the Macbook and turning the Apple TV on.

Hello there!

I've thought about hacking it, but the movies and audio I mainly use the Apple TV with are on formats readily recognizable by the Apple TV. Personally, I kept avery high standards on what I store in my ShareSpace and what I have running on the Macbook serving the ShareSpace to the Apple TVs, so I dont want things like dodgy files from shady and questionable sources to permeates my system and possibly undermine and disrupt my VOD ecosystem. I've seen a few of those "torrents" of TV Shows and movies, and personally, although they are passable in quality, but they are not good enough for me to put as servable media in my VOD ecosystem. Some have rolling advertisement at the bottom of the screen, some have questionable aspect ratios, and even the TV network logo on the top right corner. Others may not mind these things, but I want my media to be pristine and free from these "blemishes".I want to serve them right. And to do so, I even research them, these TV shows and movies and songs, I tag them properly using websites like TV.com, Film.com, and IMPawards.com for their metadatas like directors, actors, screenwriters, year of release, length of movie/TV Show, ....even their ratings (PG-13, TV-PG, etc). That way, it looks very very professional and authentic.

To some, watching TV shows and movies may just be about "downloading/leeching" pirated copies of them and watching them on their PC monitors, and then delete them off, but to me, great TV shows deserves collecting and proper management of them. Watching them is also an experience, an event for itself, I have friends, guests and diehard fans of these shows and movies over for a Movie Night, throw some popcorn into the microwave, a few jugs of soda and/or tipsier beverage , and have a great time watching them. That way, you would appreciate them more, than just simply associating watching TV shows or movies with illegal downloads and piracy. We (my buddies and I) make it into an event, and we rotate houses, for Heroes and Lost, the come over to my place, for House, 24, Battlestar Galactica(before it ended last year ) or other series, we go to our other buddies' houses and they hold their own Movie Night events.

There I go babbling again. To answer our question, I have thought of hacking it, but I dont feel the need for it. My home over in LA, the Apple TV has been hacked to use Boxee to watch TV shows on Hulu, which Boxee supports, but it is a moot point here, since Hulu implements Geo IP blocking stopping streaming outside continental US.

pmsoo,

Thanks for the link. But, how about making itune to recognise sync with those files?

Basically, I want to keep those file in my external HDD and view it using the ATV with the ATV Cover-flow UI...

Thanks.. Thanks...


mr.stringfellow...

hehe... i can't afford to have such high standard, i would love too but cannot la.... anyway.... thanks for yr feedback.... and congrats on yr kicka$$ VOD setup...

---

Added on January 5, 2009, 11:36 pmnobody came across the need to sync itunes with non-apple format media files???? i.e. divx,mkv...etc

i hope i didn't offend anyone in my previous post...

This post has been edited by ryancfs: Jan 5 2009, 11:36 PM

Erm if you really insist on using the ATV coverflow UI, You'll need to convert them to .mp4 (Isquint and VLC is reasonably fast... Handbrake is pretty good too but it kept crashing on me for some reason )

then you can use metaX to add dvd covers from amazon,etc..

http://osx.iusethis.com/app/metax

This post has been edited by pmsoo: Jan 6 2009, 04:18 PM

Yes - I faced a similar problem too! The Handbrake kept crashing on me too!!! Arrghh!!

Hm... thanks guys... will explore more b4 buying... too much of hacking not to mention w/out a mac... :-(

Handbrake works fine by me, including the latest version. If the disc I'm ripping is too stubborn, I use MacTheRipper to rip the VOB files out and feed that VOB into Handbrake. I dont do cross-encoding between format that much, because I don't "download" other format contents. The most would be transcoding between .wmv to mp4/m4v because some of the digital copy included with Blu-ray movies I've bought are in that format.

Maybe that's the reason why in your case it didn't crash.
I normally re-encode from .avi to .mp4 format.

Hi String

Sorry if this is a noob question

How do you add songs that are saved in an time capsule to your three apple laptops?

After i transfer my songs to my TC, i have to manually add them to my itunes and retag them again? It sounds like a lot of hassle. is there any easier way to do it so i can see my songs from my macbook pro and macbook air?

First things first.

Open your iTunes. Go to Preferences, and go to the Advanced tab. Did you check the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to Library" box? If you did not, then iTunes maintains an alias, a link to where your songs are located and points to that when you click to play them. If you do check that box, and you wish to maintain that setup, what you need to do, every time you select a file and drag-and-drop them into iTunes, you need to press and hold Alt-Option, so that iTunes does the opposite of what you've checked in that box, in this case, keeping your files intact at its present location , instead of copying them into your iTunes Music folder.

Or if you choose to keep your songs in your Time Capsule permanently, it is even easier! Open up iTunes, go to Preferences and change the iTunes Music folder to a folder you would appointed residing INSIDE the Time Capsule. iTunes will then go through the lengthy process of relocating all your media to that folder, and once that is done, all your songs will reside in that iTunes Library folder in your Time Capsule. If you are using the Time Capsule as your wireless router, then it should come out automatic when it comes to detecting the location of where your media resides.

It all depends on how you want to keep your Library organized. Do you want it to stay in one centralized location, or do you want to keep them spread across a few locations but still want iTunes to play them when you click on them. I prefer the former, but there are circumstances where you have to do the latter. Your choice.

EIther one is fine with me. How about the album art tagging?

With both methods keep the album tagged? I tagged wireless via my macbook pro.

The minute you have tagged them, either with iTunes or third party apps like MetaX, the metadata stays embedded within that media file. So yes, they stay tagged until you strip them of that metadata.

I think what you are experiencing is the occasion where your iTunes fails to connect to your Time Capsule for some reason, and when you open iTunes and look at the album art, the artwork remains empty. That is because iTunes only links/aliases to that song/album, it does not keep album artwork. It is the job of that song/album to be made visible to iTunes so that it can see the album artwork. Therefore, you need the location of where you keep those songs to be visible and connected to iTunes at all time.

I have this case all the time with my other two laptops, the Macbook Air and the Alienware. The case with both the MBA and the Alienware is that, I simply dont have enough space to keep all the movies into their local hard drives, so I point them over to their location in the Sharespace NAS whenever they are connected in the wireless network environment. The movies comes with nice movie poster artwork tagged in them. Obviously, when I'm away from home, they are not in that wireless environment, and whenever I view the movies previously tagged with these nice artwork comes out with no artwork, and cannot be played as well, since the location the iTunes is pointing them to, no longer exists. (since I'm not at home).

hi stringfellow

there is an online reseller in singapore selling the Western Digital 4TB sharespace for SGD 1630 ~ RM 4000. Your system is about RM2800. such a crappy big difference..

Have looked around in malaysia and came to the conclusion that the small independent retailers here will not stock such items. wonder if bigger outlets like IT hypermart or harvey normans will stock it. It seems to me Malaysians have not gotten round the concept of a proper backup/sharing system. (keeping data on a single external usb hdd is not a backup in my book). I see a lot of Maxtor mybooks around.

ideally when i get my NAS (at the moment its down to WD sharespace or drobo), i'd like to sync my data with a second NAS offsite or with an internet storage service (but after calculating the monthly charge for 1TB of data - ). I am not sure how to veryfy the data with such a sync considering our internet service is so sporadic and crappy.

maybe i just have to bring the second unit home to sync wired.

another questions, what do you use your Mybook 2Tb & Time capsule 1Tb for considering the WD Sharespace 4TB should cover everything?

do you know of an option to stream your data over the air to your iphone while you are away from home? so far i only know of slingbox (iphone app coming in march) which can stream astro even (live EPL during dinner obligations! )

regards
sin yc

can the pros enlight me on this 2 , can buy ar?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20Wor...ng/MEFW924AL2K/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20Wor...ing/MEFW912AL2/

That idea about syncing online is my plan of action as well,you dont want to keep all your eggs in one basket. But The only time I can use a fast enough internet connection to do so, is while I'm in Japan, and I dont get to go to Japan that often these days. Another way of doing it is by doing secondary backups to a different external drive, but in my case, that is a bit redundant. The 4TB is backing up itself with RAID 5, while the Time Machine backup on the Time Capsule is basically a mirror image of the working HDD on my Macbooks. One gone , the other can replace. So having another secondary backup is not necessary in my case, as well as the self-backing-up nature of the RAID 5 on the Sharespace.

The 4TB Sharespace basically holds all my media, while the Time Capsule holds my sensitive/personal data. At this moment, the 2TB MyBook has been disconnected, until a time comes when I have exhausted the storage space inside ShareSpace and need to store it somewhere else.

I'm afraid I do not know any option of streaming data to the iPhone, and do not wish to do so. Reasons being, our line is crappy, as you eloquently put it. and most importantly, I need to leave the Sharespace on all the time. I'd rather have it turned off while I'm not around, so as to prolong its lifespan. Helps on the utility bill at the end of the month too.

Looks good, with great compliments of connectivitiy options as well. Two slots only though.

ya lor, 2 nia, but the pricing ok? looks like a macpro to me, i dem tempted

btw, bro, shud i get the SATA or the IDE one? ide one cheaper by abt 40usd

Cant comment on the price, I've only dabbled with WD MyBooks all these while. Never really researched enclosures like these before.

By all means, please dump the IDE, go for the SATA.

okok, avoid IDE

wat abt this?
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20Wor...ing/MEFWU2HAL2/
hmm only USB 2.0

Stick with the previous one, you'll thank me later. Sustained speed of transfer through Firewire, and the convenience of eSATA connection is worth it.

wokie,will heed ur advice
is this consider a NAS?

btw, i just amazon-ed ur WD sharespace.... the pricing....overkill for me

It would be a NAS if it is accessed via your network, be it wired or wirelessly. If you plug this in straight to your MBP, it is just another external hard drive. However, if you plug the USB end of this enclosure to your Time Capsule, and access it via the Time Capsule wirelessly, then it is a NAS.

The Sharespace comes with three configurations, although I've only seen two configs on storefronts.

1. Empty shell, just the NAS enclosure, no HDD inside.

2. NAS enclosure + 2 x 1TB WDC Green HDDs.

3. NAS enclosure + 4 x 1TB WDC Green HDDs.

Which model did you look at?

Also, Western Digital is looking into producing the world's first 2TB WDC Green drives, trying to beat Seagate and Maxtor to the punch. Looks like when that happens, my setup would be growing twice in size.

finally i paham wat the fark NAS is liao, thanks

i saw the one with the 2gb, how much is it selling for just the casing?

No idea, I have never seen it either.

yea, amazon only got the ones with hdd enclosure, i see the price also my balls kecut

---

Added on January 14, 2009, 11:21 pmis there any other hdd enclosure tat look like macpro ar?
i just found another by macally, dem cute

This post has been edited by rx330: Jan 14 2009, 11:21 PM

up for string

Like I said before, my experience with enclosures is restricted to WD MyBooks only, boss. The whole idea is to keep any external storage I need to connect to, connected wirelessly, so I dont have dangling cables to deal with. So if you look at the chart I made, all these external storage drives I had, are connected to the Time Capsule itself, nothing is on the laptops. I do have a Buffalo 500GB USB-powered external HDD, but that one does not stay stuck to the USB port on any of my Macbooks permanently.

If you're into looks, then I guess LaCie would be complement the looks of your MBP. But I've read some bad things about LaCie drives, no matter how good they look.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 15 2009, 02:11 PM

will do thanks

rx330 how much i saw WD ShareSpace? cant really find at Spore~
Either settle with 1TB TC/ WD 1TB Firewire 800/ Netgear NAS

Western Digital's hard drives now tops at 2 TB!

Looks like it's time to overhaul the Sharespace again. Anybody wants 4 x 1TB WD Caviar Green?

haha String~ how much u plan to let go
me probably getting my 1TB on thursday ~

2TB for WD cost..approx rm1.2k~

Wait till I get my grubby hands on those 2 TB units first, then we'll discuss the price. Probably wont be less than 70% the market price, since it is more less quite recent.

Too bad I dont have another Australian run next month, Gizmodo already reported that the 2 TB HDDs are already on store shelves there.

much respect goes to you MR Stringfellow. I have been creating my home media network over the past year and have a very similar set-up to yours: lots of apples, a few MyBooks and a PS3. the last item on my list is now the WD-SS. do you recall where you purchased it in Melbourne? i am in Melbourne and have only seen them from as low as $899. $100 may not be so much but i'd rather spend that $100 on something else than just give it to officeworks for nothing

regarding the appleTV, i had hacked it a couple of times to enjoy the extra features but right now it is back to factory settings. i found boxee and xbmc to be finiky and slow. plus now that Handbrake has finally provided me with a compressed MPEG file that plays 5.1 sound on BOTH the ps3 and appleTV, iTunes is more than adequate server. and like you, i am perfectionist when it comes to metadata. it is very distressing not seeing the posters etc on the ps3. does anybody know how to make this happen? i have (tried) medialink, ps3mediaserver, eyeconnect, toast streamer and another one that i can't remember but none make the ps3 look as good as the aTV. they are all boring trees and folder icons. i was thinking to use the RAID back-up of movies formatted FAT32 and link that to the ps3 to achieve proper imagery of posters etc. what are your thoughts? is this, or something similar possible?

the only features that i really miss on the hacked aTV are bluetooth keyboard and EyeTV. applying the EyeTV app turns the aTV into a PVR and gives a real use to the 160gb on board memory. the picture could be a choppy or slow but i found when i trimmed down the number of fr/apps, the EyeTV performed better. do you record terrestrial TV at all or only iTunes/ Torrent? i see you point re tv shows being available ONE day later, but i don;t always think the answer is to simply buy it. i also enjoy searching for torrents etc. just personal choice. and of course with a bluetooth keyboard, web-surfing/ emailing/ etc is sooooo much easier/ better.

anyway, you have detailed your experience and set-up very thoroughly. thanks for taking the time. i notice you have also been very generous with your responses to all queries. i hope i can also call on you for advice? and maybe i offer you a trick or two!

regards,

Hi TS,

I am interested in setting up a similar setup. However i am a Mac newbie and has zilch to build upon. Thus due to my limited knowledge and cost constraint, i am planning to start with only 1X (AppleTV) and 1 X(TimeCapsule+USB hdd).

1) If i attach a simple USB hdd to the TimeCapsule, will i still need a working Mac to become the iTunes reference for the AppleTV?

2) Does the AppleTV only play h264 codec only? Does hacking it helps? This is a major headache for me as my files are of all sorts.

Thanks for the help.

hi, i'm not TS but i can answer your questions:
1) no. iTunes is the conduit to the appleTV and iTunes works equally as well via PC.
2) the appleTV can play any file type if it is hacked. if you are a novice user and can afford USD50, try atvflash. it is very easy to use and has every available fr/app for the aTV. if you would prefer not to spend $50 or are a competent user, hacking is very easy. iClarified has many how-to's and includes links to any required dl's. the atv-loader on google is also very easy to follow and install.

personally, i have hacked the atv and found most fr/app's useless or too much maintenance. may i suggest converting all your files to h264/mpg instead. in the end you will find this to be a better decision.
i have used Handbrake as it converts any file type to H264 or you can convert direct from a DVD. now all the files are H264 and play in 5.1 on atv and ps3. And they are all stored in iTunes.

hope this helps,

Very nice setup.... my dream.... just waiting to come back to malaysia and design my dream home....

---

Added on March 3, 2009, 9:09 pmjust wondering.... is time capsule worth to buy... coz it seem cost toooo much compare other brands with same features.... do you have any problem with it? how about its wireless streaming speed-n??? is it reliable & as fast as they claim?...

This post has been edited by desaputra: Mar 3 2009, 09:09 PM

stringfellow, can you share with about iTunes HD movie experience?
how the quality? it really concern me now

YES. I guarantee it.

Disclaimer: The guarantee is honored only if you run an all-Apple network of devices. Add the mess that is Windows, I can no longer vouch for that guarantee.

Zero problem whatsoever.

Quality? Apple's HD offerings from iTunes, is not HD by true definition. The resolution may be 1280 x 720, allowing the "HD" moniker, but the video and audio bitrate, plus image quality from these videos falls way short from a 720p you can get from HD-DVDs or Blu-rays. Streaming them using my setup, because of the crappier quality, allows better transmission, because the data rate being transmitted is wayyy below the bandwidth cap, or if any, its overheads.

I have not tried streaming ripped .mkvs from Blu-rays, because frankly, it is legally wrong. Plus not to mention, these rips only tries to preserve the quality of the image, but takes a laidbrack approach when it comes to sound.

Either way, I keep my SD and HD content separate. SD via this wireless delivery system, with the occasional "HD" from iTunes, and the true HD contents using Blu-ray discs and players.

it's understandable itunes's HD movies are in lower bandwidth. Cuz none of the ISP can provide sufficient internet speed to support such a huge file download.

Speaking of HD content, Apple just launched HD downloads of movies through iTunes today at 4 AM. Before this, only HD versions of TV Shows were available. Filesize for the HD movie download is around 3++GBs, so expect 720p resolution, and Dolby Digital Plus at best. HD movie purchase, however, also includes SD versions of the same movie, for your iPhone/iPod/Apple TV viewing.

sounds good too you?

previously, the series are 720p?
i tot previously also got movie with HD, but about 1.3/4/5Gb file size one?

Why pay USD19.99 for a HD download from iTunes, when a Blu-ray costs only USD17.99? Stripped-off image quality and severely pared-down audio format is not what I call HD.

Ouch.. US$19.99 is broad daylight robbery.. in the comfort of our living room!

String, my D-link 323 2Tb have been periodically restarting on its own, its driving me nuts! When you setup your WD sharespace, Can it hot swap?

D-Link 323 force me to format them before i can use it which is a pain in the ass. I have about 900-950 Gb filled,i cant transfer manually unless i have a spare 1Tb drive and even then, its gonna take forever

Same here. I had to format and RAID them up, that takes 47 hours. I dont think the Sharespace is hotswappable, just easy toswap due to its construction.

Touchwood, mine works fine so far. Coming up to 75% full, and still works as good as Day 1.

Iwould suggest, as painful as it is, to transfer your data out to a spare drive and reformat it back again. Losing that data out because of its inconvinience can be more painful.

anyone encounter any problem when convert .mkv to mp4?
I converted Quantum of Solace from .mkv to .mp4 by handbrake
setting:
ave kbps: 5500
sound: AAC Dolby Pro logic II 48Mhz 160kbps
resolution as source

it was successful converted, but when i tried to play, it cant

I tried twice, results are the same.

Any help?

---

Added on March 22, 2009, 9:59 pmi have no idea why, now i can successfully convert into .m4v and play
but the sound crap

AAC Dolby Pro logic II Auto 160kbps

the sounds is lagging
why?

---

Added on March 23, 2009, 9:33 amguys, other that handbrake able to convert .mkv to m4v for HD
is there any other?

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Added on April 1, 2009, 6:14 pmdamn.....
having problem for converting movie. An hour and half movie become 3 hours, why?
audio got delay...

This post has been edited by cRazYee: Apr 1 2009, 06:14 PM

Just bought the NEW Time Capsule, with the "dual-band" feature, and guest network. No more downgrading the "N" network to "B/G" compatible when the iPhone(s) logs in into the network. Also great for the guests coming over for TV Show nights, so that I can assign them a secure guest network channel, that is separate from the band allocated for wireless transfer of media to the three Apple TVs at home.

Lol..
I don't really understand the dual-band feature..
Care to explain to me guys?

means u can run both N and G at the same time

string, selling of ur old TC?

It means that my Apple TV can run at full N speed, without being downgraded to G whenever an iPhone logs into the network. Joy!

Yup, RX it's for sale now, but a colleague already "sambar" the TC when I broke the news on my new purchase. However, since it's all just verbal.......

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Apr 7 2009, 12:33 PM

Omg,it is not even a concept.It is true.lol

Super impress you.

This post has been edited by ff8ong: Apr 7 2009, 12:56 PM

What is "not even a concept"? VOD? VOD is a term that has been tossed around for quite a while already, just that the method of delivery is dependant on the entity that sets it up. The most common one is the hotel environment via their TV remote.

haha RX330, u really fast ya..asking string for TC..

Bro, me interested too

Sharespace saw at lowyat around rm3~4k +if im not mistaken...

If interested, we deal in PM. But if the interest is superficial only, it goes to my colleague by this Friday. The Time Capsule already packed back nicely into its box.

I saw the WD ShareSpace at DigitalMall for under RM2K with 2TB of HD. Still contemplating to get it or not. So many things to upgrade la, thinking of replacing my old netgear router to a faster one preferably a Belkin N+.

Bro string ... have u seen the DroboPro? Now that thing reignites my interest for Drobo.