Play Virtually Any Video Format in Apple TV

Apple TV is missing a vital feature: the ability to play back non-iTunes supported video files.  Right now, Apple is officially stating that Apple TV will only play back M4V, MP4, and MOV files.

Well, I guess that means that all of us who have libraries of AVI, WMV, FLV, etc. video are just screwed then, right?  Apple officially says yes.  I, officially, say no.     

Here's the deal... Quite obviously, Apple doesn't want you using these file formats.  They want you using Apple TV to play back television shows and movies that you've bought via iTunes.  That said, they haven't gone as far as to completely stop you all together.  

Thus, below I will go through the reasonably simple process of getting Apple TV to play back virtually any video format (I'm not going to deal with audio in this post, though chances are the process will be identical).

The important thing I want to stress here is that, since no consumer in the world actually owns Apple TV yet (they are set to ship sometime in February) I am speculating that all of this works.  

That said, I feel very confident that my methodology is sound and that what I am showing you will work with Apple TV. 

Why?  

I've spoken with multiple official Apple employees and the key point every one of them has stressed to me with regard to format playback in Apple TV is this: if you can get iTunes to play back the video, it will work with Apple TV.  Thus, iTunes play back is the key.  And, since I am indeed able to get iTunes to play back non-iTunes supported video files, Apple TV should work with these files as well.  Also, I have directly asked Apple about the process explained below, and they have said it should indeed allow you to playback non-iTunes supported files in Apple TV.

The second thing I want to stress: nothing I will show you below has anything to do with re-encoding.  Obviously, your AVI or WMV or whatever files will play back in Apple TV if you take the time and effort to convert them to a format that iTunes likes.  For many people, however, the amount of work (and storage space!) this entails is simply out of the question.

Third: this demo comes from the point-of-view of a Mac user, since that is what I am.  Thus, officially this is only a guide for other Mac users.  That said, I feel confident that what I'm doing will also work on a PC, though I have not tested it (Apple TV does officially support Window XP, but, as of right now, does not support Vista).

Fourth and finally: you're going to need Quicktime Pro.  Not just Quicktime.  If you don't have it, get it.  I don't know of any way to do any of this without Quicktime Pro.

Ok.  Whew!  Now let's get started.  There are only three simple steps.

Step 1: Install some codecs.  

If you've already done this on your computer (as I'm sure many of you have) skip this step.

For Mac users go here.

(If you're on a PC, which this guide does not officially support, try here.)

Step 2: Create a Reference Movie

Open any non-iTunes supported video in Quicktime Pro (in other words, if you've got an AVI or WMV or whatever file, open it in Quicktime Pro).  If Quicktime Pro won't open AND play back your file, this probably means that you did not properly install the codecs.

In Quicktime Pro, with your movie open, go to "File" then "Save As."  Select "Save as a reference movie."  Name it whatever you wish.  Save it wherever you want.  Click "Save."  The saving process should take less than three seconds.

Step 3: Add the reference file to iTunes

Now, simply drag-and-drop the new reference file (which should be pretty small) into iTunes.  To see if you've added it correctly, check in the movies section.

Finally, try playing back the newly added video in iTunes.  Note that there are four different ways to play back a video in iTunes: in the main window, in a separate window, full screen, full screen (with visuals).  To choose the one you like, go into your iTunes preferences.

If the video played back correctly in iTunes, you're all done.  That's it!  It should now playback just fine via Apple TV.

One very important thing: while you can move the reference video file around all you want, you have to keep the original video file in the exact same spot on your computer.  If you move it, you have to create a new reference movie for the new location.

You will have to do this with every video file you want to be able to use with Apple TV.  Thus, there is a little bit of work.  That said, an entire season of a show would take about a minute or two.  When you compare this to how long it would take for you to re-encode an entire season of video files into an iTunes-friendly format (many, many hours), you'll see why this is quite a great little hack indeed.

So, that's it for now.  If our little blogosphere digs this article, I'll next write a post on creating a script or macro that will allow you to automate this whole process, making it even easier.

Note: you should most certainly NOT base your purchasing decision on this guide.  I could very well be overlooking something.  And just because an Apple rep has told me that he thinks this will work, he could also be wrong, or even just an idiot.  Also, in an attempt to be as honest and forthright as possible, here is a list of places that disagree with this guide: here, here and here (more will be added as I find them).

Update #1: Here is a screenshot of a conversation I had with an "Apple expert" over at the Apple store (top right hand corner of that page -- it is actually 3 separate screenshots that I had to put together via Photoshop).

Update #2: This story made it all the way to the Digg homepage.  My first time ever.  Yay!

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