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Apple TV Apple TV3 Plex
- Thread starter Ben1l
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Do you mean as in the jailbroken Plex app? If so then you are out of luck. The ATV3 can't currently be jailbroken.
Yikes ok, I may have jumped the gun a little by shelling out for an Apple TV 3.
In that case is there any way of streaming video content from another mac on a home network, where the content is NOT in iTunes...??
Thanks!
I'm not sure about the capabilities of Airplay if you have a more modern Mac (as I have an older 2009 iMac which isn't supported). If you don't then take a look at this. I am unaware as to how well it works for video, but looks promising.
You could always download the Plex app for iPhone/iPad and then airplay from the device to the ATV3. I think you lose surround sound this way, but it might be a quick fix while we all hope for a jailbreak soon.
The best way to "run" Plex, XBMC, etc... on an ATV3 is the use ML's AirPlay mirroring on your mac, assuming it is fairly new. The Mac doesn't have to be in the same room or area as the ATV3. Use Rowmote on an iPhone, iTouch or iPad. Rowmote (or Rowmote Pro) mimics the Apple remote and more. It will (a) start AirPlay mirroring on the Mac with one touch and (b) launch whatever program you want on the Mac. You now effectively have Plex or whatever playing via the ATV3. It is really neat. Far better than the jailbreak route though of course much depends on what Mac you have.
philip
I have done exactly the same thing, didn't realise ATV3 couldn't be jailbroken yet. I have plex running on my iMac now, and use iPhone to mirror onto the ATV. It works but its no where near ideal.
You don't want to mirror the iPhone. You want to AirPlay the iMac to the ATV3. The easiest way to do that is RowMote. Perhaps that is what you are doing?
The only thing I don't like about that approach is having to use the iPhone as the remote and the inability to turn off the iMac's screen (you can dim it).
I have found this to be better than the jail breaking ATV2 option, but much depends on your network. The ideal would be to have Plex on the ATV3 as an approved app, but that doesn't seem to be imminent,
Philip
I definitely wasn't using RowMote, think I was just mirroring the iPhone. I was only messing around with it the other day.
Do you mean download RowMote on the iPhone or iMac? Can you still use the iPhone while RowMote is playing?
RowMote is a remote control app on the iPhone. It is 99 cents. You install it on the iPhone and the free Remote helper on your Mac. This gives you both a remote as well as a trackpad/keyboard to control the Mac and much more.
You need Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8) running on your Mac. The Mac has to be newer than 2011 summer or so ( so a mid summer 2011 Mini is fine). If that is the case then ML will allow you to mirror the Mac to the ATV. With Rowmote you can connect to the Mac and decide which program you will run. Say Plex. From Rowmote you can also start the Airplay mirroring on the Mac so that you now have Plex video and sound happening on the ATV. The advantage here is you don't have to run to the Mac to start things.
Yes you can use your iPhone while watching whatever.
philip
If your mac does not support Mountain Lion's Airplay Mirroring, just try AirParrot. My 2009 MBP does not support mountain lion airplay mirroring, but AirParrot works just fine. Anything that's on the Mac's screen will mirror to your ATV.
http://airparrot.com
http://airparrot.com
Were you using a wired connection? I ran both Plex and XBMC that way for a while and quite liked it. I only had 720p video though and no complicated audio. It was smooth with only the very occasional pause. Not perfect but pretty nice. I think the network matters as the first time I tried it it was very jerky. Then I changed the router and it was like night and day.
philip
My network is completely wired. Since then I've downloaded iFlicks and started converting all my content to MP4 to stream from iTunes. everything works much better now.
I've tried to use Iflicks on my 3 TB of movies but some of the files lost the audio or subtitle. so I stopped now and I'm searching for alternatives, I have the beamer and AirParrot but it's not what I really want. I want to see the sheared folders from my mac mini late 2009 on the Apple TV 3...surfing the net for hours nothing promising came up to have a solution. the AT3 is in different room upstairs.
S.O.S
Use Handbrake to convert your movies to iTunes format and in iFlicks, make sure in the Preset drop-down menu, you have "iTunes compatible" selected. iDentify is another program that works pretty well.
Unfortunately there looks like there wont ever be a jailbreak for the new Apple TV so for now your best bet is Airplay. If you have an iPhone or an iPad then you can install Plex client app on either and have Plex Server installed on your computer then you can stream the movies to your iDevice and then Airplay to your Apple TV. It works great for me but be warned if you have surround sound you will lose a lot of sound quality. So it would be best to disable your surround sound and let it play through the television.
One thing that is overlooked is most Smart Tvs now have PLEX app for download. I didn't know that for the first few months I owned my Samsung Smart TV. The app works flawlessly for me and it will stream any file I throw at it, even 3D blu-ray rips.
I have Plex on an LG TV and it works fine but I prefer Plex on a Sony GTV box or Roku or Mac Mini. The whole Smart TV thing seems risky. It's easier to change a box.
If you have an Intel based Synology then you can use their DS Video app to play video directly from the Synology NAS via DLNA or AirPlay. This is not playing to the iDevice and then to the TV but goes direct. It works great and the DS Video metadata is almost as good as that found in XBMC or Plex. Well worth a try in my opinion. I have used it extensively with an ATV3, Sony GTV box (NSZ-GS7) and XBMC running on an i3 NUC. It doesn't seem to work with the PCH-A400 which is odd.
philip
If you have an Intel based Synology then you can use their DS Video app to play video directly from the Synology NAS via DLNA or AirPlay. This is not playing to the iDevice and then to the TV but goes direct. It works great and the DS Video metadata is almost as good as that found in XBMC or Plex. Well worth a try in my opinion. I have used it extensively with an ATV3, Sony GTV box (NSZ-GS7) and XBMC running on an i3 NUC. It doesn't seem to work with the PCH-A400 which is odd.
philip
But if it transcodes down in quality won't that affect the AirPlay result? The nice thing about the Synology approach is that it sends the video directly to the ATV3. I don't think Plex does that, though I am not certain.
Philip