40gb vs 160gb - creating a video library on external hard drive

I'm considering buying an Apple TV and want to make sure it accomplishes what I want before I do. If so, I'm wondering if I should buy a 40gb version or the 160gb.
Ultimately, what I'd like to do is put my entire video library onto an external hard drive. I don't want to deal with physical DVDs any longer. I know how to convert my home movie DVDs and get them into iTunes so that isn't an issue (although I know it'll take time).
I currently have 1 iTunes library that I connect to with my iMac and my MacBook Pro. The library is on an external hard drive. Can I connect an AppleTV to this external harddrive where the existing iTunes library is?
If this is possible, is the larger 160gb hard drive necessary? My thought is if I keep my iTunes library on an external harddrive, I wouldn't need the larger capacity AppleTV?
I appreciate input from others that may have done this. Thanks!

Can I connect an AppleTV to this external harddrive where the existing iTunes library is?
No. Your TV device is connected either via your wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n network or via your 10/100 base-T wired network. As long as the TV can communicate with iTunes and iTunes knows where your library is located, the data will be sent to the device for viewing. I currently am using a 1 TB LaCie drive for my iTunes library but as I have almost reached full capacity for just my standard definition files, will be switching to a 2 TB as soon as it arrives. The only advantage for having a large internal TV drive is that you can watch your movies with your computer/iTunes turned off. Since my computer is on all day anyway working to convert my video library for use with Front Row/iTunes management of iPhone/iPod/TV files, I have no problem viewing my content exclusively in the "streaming" mode.

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Creating an iTunes library on external hard drive

So I've done a bunch of google searches for my dilemma but can't find the answer as I'm not trying to move my folder but create one. Here's my situation; I have transferred all my CDs to digital files and have them all in a folder on my external drive. A friend set this up before and he created an iTunes library recognizable by the application on my iMac. It took all night as it appeared all the files in my folder were added to this library. Anyway I had a power cut which turned my computer off and now I'm back to square one. My music folder sits on the external hard drive still but I can't find the iTunes library that my friend created to connect to.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks Gordon. I've done this but the files do not seem to be recognized by iTunes when I open the application. It's basically empty.
Here's the path on the advanced setting:
/Volumes/Boring 1/MylesOfMusic/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes.localized/Music
I feel like there is a simple step that I am missing but I can't figure out what that is.
Thanks again for your help.

How do I keep photos and videos on an external hard drive and run the application on the macbook

I am running out of space on my Macbook and would like to move all my photos and videos to an external hard drive to free up disk space. How do I designate those drives as the destination drive when running the application (iPhoto, iMovie) on the Macbook.

Moving your iTunes Music folder   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Moving your iPhoto library    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229
Moving iMovie footage to another drive    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1026

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

That code is
-36
ioErr
I/O error (bummers)
Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk. If that fails to help I'd try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

ITunes won't show library on external hard drive

I have just bought a MacBook Pro but I don't know how to get library on external hard drive to show in iTunes... Any suggestions please?

This is relevant portion of the support document with a bit of editing for clarity.
If iTunes is running, quit iTunes.
Using a Mac click the icon to open iTunes and immediately press and continue to hold down the Option key.
You should see the following screen:
If iTunes opens normally, close it and try again.
Once you've got that dialog you have two options. If your previous iTunes library database is stored on the external drive use Choose Library to browse to it and open it. If you only have the media folder on the drive then use the Create Library option to create a new iTunes library at /iTunes on the external, move the media folder to /iTunes/iTunes Media and then add it to your new empty library.
tt2

Iphoto library on external hard drive now does not show all the photos when i access it from macbook

i backed up iphoto library to an external hard drive. Deleted photo library on the macbook. After transferring some new photos to macbook from a camera, when i access the iphoto library on external hard drive only the new photos show up. Originals are still in files, but don't appear when opening iphoto library on external hard drive.

Make a temporary, backup copy of your library if you don't already have one (Control-click on the library and select Duplicate from the contextual menu) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
OT

Moving iTunes library to external hard drive

I would like to free up some space on my internal hard drive and move my iTunes music, movies and videos to an external hard drive. Can this be done and iTunes still access the files to play or sync them to my iPad when needed?
If so, what do I need to do?

1. Yes.
2. Drag the entire library there, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and choose that library. Keep a copy of it on a second external drive in case the first fails.
(120468)

Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

Need help using music library on external hard drive

Here is my scenario. I am hoping some one can help me as I have been having a heck of time trying to figure this out. I am what you would call newbie to Mac(I just purchased macBook) so bear with me).
I have a iTunes library on an external hard drive that was created using Windows PC machine. I now would like to use the same library on my Mac. How can I get the Mac to connect to the iTunes Music on the external hard drive?
This is what I have done so far. I have been able to network the Mac with my current network so it does see the external hard drive.
BTW, I would like to achieve this without having iTunes open on Windows machine. I know about the sharing option in iTunes but I have discovered that it only works if I have iTunes open on the Windows machine. This may not always be the case so this is why i am hoping their is an alternative to get the mac to connect to the library on the external hard drive.
I look forward to help on this one.
...Bruce

Maybe I did not explain myself clearly. All I want to do is be able to listen to the music in my itunes library on external hard drive on my new MacBook. I am thinking all I will have to do is create the itunes database file on my Mac using the music in my library(on external HD).

Is there a way to watch videos from an external hard drive on my iPad?

I have a collection of home videos on an external hard drive. Is there a way I can view those videos using my iPad?

Do you have a desktop machine running iTunes?
If so then yes, setup home sharing and you can stream anything in your iTunes library to your iPad.
It works good.

Problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive.

Help - I'm having problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive. The drive appears on the desktop but when I try to drag in my i-tunes music folder I just get the circle with a line through it symbol. I can drag items from my mac to a different 4 gig memory stick with no problems. I put some music onto the hard drive from a windows p.c. and that dragged into my i-tunes fine. Any help would be much appreciated.

i'm guessing the external HD is NTFS formatted, which your Mac cannot write to (read only).
you will either have to reformat it (FAT32 or, better yet, for Mac) or install the _*NTFS 3G*_ driver.
JGG

I have copied videos onto an external hard drive. to free memory on my macbook. When I try to delete these I am warned that I will not be able to use this video in existing projects How do I point iMovie to events in my external hard drive so I can pl

I have copied videos onto an external hard drive. to free memory on my macbook. When I try to delete these I am woarned that I will not be able to use this video in existing projects
How do I point iMovie to events in my external hard drive so I can play projects which use them?
MacBook, iMovie 9.0.4

Hi
You can do this - by not doing it the way You describe as it will not work.
a. the external hard disk - MUST BE - Mac OS extended (hfs) formatted -
UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange - will work for most things - BUT NOT FOR VIDEO (iMovie, iDVD or FinalCut doesn't matter)
b. Do not alter or move any folder named
• iMovie Event's - or -
• iMovie Project's
on DeskTop/Finder - at all
All moving's of Events and Projects must be done within the iMovie Application - then connections will not break.
(move them back and see if iMovie remembers them - then do move as described above)
Yours Bengt W

Can't create new folder on an external hard drive, and how to transfer files?

Hello everyone,
the non-English speaking videographer I translate for is having problems operating his Premiere CS5 for Mac from an external hard drive. He cannot create new folder on the external hard drive (the "New Folder" button is grayed-out when tries to export media onto the external hard drive) and when he simply tries to create new folder, the "new folder" option isn't available.
He suspects it's because the hard drive was formatted for PC.
Questions:
- should PC-formatting cause that problem?
- what's the proper way to transfer media files from PC-formatted external hard drive to the internal hard drive on Mac?
Would appreciate your advice.
Dimitri Vorontzov

He is right on the money
Now, for the sad or FAT part. You need to format the drive as FAT32 to make it work both on PC and MAC but, and that is a big BUT, the max file size of any given file will be 4GB. I haven't treid other formats yet, like the journaled MAC OS extended, but I don't think that would work. We transfer our files through or own gigabit network so I never had to try it, other than FAT32 formatted SDHC cards.

When I download videos (from an external hard drive), they appear to be downloaded (file sizes look correct) but they all stop playing a few minutes in!

When I download videos (from an external hard drive), they appear to be downloaded (file sizes look correct) but they all stop playing a few minutes in!

Try the following in the terminal
ls -alh filename
du -chs filename
And what happens if you play the files directly of the external drive?

TS3355 I loaded video from an external hard drive to my desktop. How do I import the video into iMovie 09? I tried "Import Camera Archive". Didn't work.

I loaded video from an external hard drive to my desktop. How do I import the video into iMovie 09? I tried "Import Camera Archive". Didn't work.

It depends on the type of video. iMovie will only import video that it can edit.
In general, you would use FILE/IMPORT MOVIE...

40gb vs 160gb - creating a video library on external hard drive

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