Need Help: iTunes Movies

I had that same problem before. I only had a 100GB Internal Hard Drive, but a media library that was 150GB plus. What I did, was move my entire iTunes Library onto a 500GB External drive. That way my entire library was in one place.

The downside was I was doing this on a laptop. Therefore if I didn't bring around the 3.5inch external drive with power brick, power cord, and USB cord, I couldn't play anything in iTunes without it attached. You mentioned having an iMac, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Transfer your library onto the external and then import the movies into itunes.

EDIT: These are the exact directions I used when I moved it to an external. (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/) Keep in mind that it was written using an older iteration of iTunes, so the directions will be a little different. I no longer run my library off of an external drive. That was on my old HP laptop about two years ago. Now I have my MacBook with a brand new 320GB HD that I upgraded this week. Lots of room, although with the new HD TV Shows, that might fill up faster than I had planned.

 

afaik, that's not possible. Those hundreds of movies you have in your external hard drive need to be imported into iTunes and for itunes to properly catalogue it. If space on your internal hard drive is an issue, there are ways to move your itunes library from your internal hard drive to your external one. The steps: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449?viewlocale=en_US . Another article: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive

 

If you import into itunes, itunes will convert the files to mp4.

An alternative for you is to use frontrow. just put an alias of your movies folder into your ~users/*user*/Movies folder. and when you fire up frontrow and go to the movies section you will see your other movies.

 

Hmmm. I have MP4s on an external drive and i just add them into iTunes. I set it in such a way that it doesn't have to copy the movies into the iTunes library. Then it works. You just have to have that drive connected whenever you watch those movies.

 

As i've said, you don't have to point anything in iTunes. Just add the files into your iTunes library and it will catalog it in that location. It won't copy the files into your local drive.

 

Just set the preferences to 'NOT' copy into the iTunes Library when you import. Been doing that ever since.

 

@theelhombre......ironman's solution works. I tried it with my flash drive and sure enough itunes catalogued it and I was able to view the movie. When I removed the thumb drive, itunes could not locate it. Well, what do you know......another new thing I learned today about iTunes. Thanks Ironman for sharing this.....you're my hero

 

Hehehe. De rien. When i get my Apple TV, i'll surely ask your and rbenzon's help.

 

no problem bro.......now can I get a hug from my hero?????

ot: btw, might be worth waiting for the next ATV. I was alerted by balikpinoy about ATV 3.0 and waiting this morning for SJ to unveil a new ATV. Sorry, no go. Its iPod and iTunes. Disappointed but hope springs eternal. The wishlist is kinda long including Time Cap/ATV, Blu ray drive etc. Oh well....

@theelhombre.....just to make sure, I checked the info on the movie that was catalogued and itunes correctly located it in f drive (thumb drive). BTW, although its not my business, I'm just curious why you have hundreds of movies????? Are you planning a movie rental business? (joke joke joke).

 

harharhar... ><

OT: Whoa, 3.0? It's good that i have you guys to spread these little news. I guess i have to wait. I'm looking at upgrading my digital receiver anyway.

F drive?? Are you in Windows?! That's taboo! =))

 

ot: @ironman.........yup, I sync and/or stream my itunes downloaded movies and songs between my mba, peecee and ATV. I wanted to add my ever growing collection of original DVDs (138 at last count) to my iTunes library but just the hassle of converting it and copying it to my iTunes library........its not worth my time nor effort.

 

OT (ish): I want an Apple TV, a widescreen HD TV, an AEBS, and one of these babies to hold every media file I'll ever need.

http://www.drobo.com/

That, my friends, would be the ultimate home media setup.

 

Is that a link? (http://www.zepp13videos.com). It doesn't work. I have a lot of original movie and TV DVDs too. But i'm overwhelmed by the time it will take to convert them to MP4. Sigh.

 

ot, with due apologies to the TS: @rafaelc378.....ahhhh.....kulang pa. You need a good audio set up to make that a respectable enough system. Go McCain / Palin!!