# AVI files in iTunes?



## treysik (Aug 27, 2008)

Hello everyone,

Can you put AVI files into iTunes? I have 100+ movies I want to migrate to my mac mini media system, but they are all AVI. Or, do I need to spend time slowly converting them?

Thanks!

J


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## pictor (Jan 29, 2007)

not without converting them. If you want a simple solution, try this
iSquint 1.5.2 - MacUpdate

It's very simple, but it will convert them to h.264, and add them to iTunes.


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## treysik (Aug 27, 2008)

Great, thanks! I will try that. 

Oh and I see you are a follow Ottawa resident.  

Cheers,

J


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## crawford (Oct 8, 2005)

Why do you need them to be in iTunes? If you're using Front Row, I'm pretty sure that you'll still be able to play them using a plug-in like Perian.


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## treysik (Aug 27, 2008)

crawford said:


> Why do you need them to be in iTunes? If you're using Front Row, I'm pretty sure that you'll still be able to play them using a plug-in like Perian.



Not using Front Row. I am converting from PC to Mac. Right now, my movies are on my PC media system. I bought the Mac Mini to replace it, but need to move them over to it. Rather then playing them in VLC, I rather use iTunes if possible.

Thanks!


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

Converting 100 movies to mp4 h.264 on a Mac mini is gonna take a long time. My 2.4 macbook pro takes an hour per hour to do that. The Mac Mini will probably do at best 1.5 hours per hour. BUt, go for it!


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Adrian. said:


> Converting 100 movies to mp4 h.264 on a Mac mini is gonna take a long time. My 2.4 macbook pro takes an hour per hour to do that. The Mac Mini will probably do at best 1.5 hours per hour. BUt, go for it!


Not sure what's happening there but my MacBook Pro 2.2GHz does a movie in about 15-20 minutes using iSquint. Are you sure you aren't thinking about ripping from DVD times vs. converting from avi times?


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

treysik said:


> Not using Front Row. I am converting from PC to Mac. Right now, my movies are on my PC media system. I bought the Mac Mini to replace it, but need to move them over to it. Rather then playing them in VLC, I rather use iTunes if possible.
> 
> Thanks!


hi Treysik,

I don't have a mini, but it comes with a remote, you can just tuck the movies into your movies folder and front row can access them. i don't use itunes necessary on its own, but through FRow most of the time.
(just trying to save you a ton of conversion time 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## pangolin (Jun 22, 2008)

Install xbmc and watch your movies using it. Make sure that your media disk is accessible via SMB and you're good to go.


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## pictor (Jan 29, 2007)

To distill some of the other points made, if you install Perian
Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components
then your mac can play those avi files just fine in something like quicktime, although iTunes still won't play it.

However, you will be able to browse your movie folder in Front Row, and those AVI files will play.

However, the OP did state they actively wanted to watch this stuff in iTunes. For that, they would need to be converted. Personall, I agree with the other respondents however, unless you are trying to get them to an Apple TV, why not just use Front Row, or VLC, or Quicktime, and just play the avi itself.


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## crawford (Oct 8, 2005)

pictor said:


> To distill some of the other points made, if you install Perian
> Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime® components
> then your mac can play those avi files just fine in something like quicktime, although iTunes still won't play it.
> 
> ...


I would second this approach.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

jiogoal said:


> now I can see my avi movie but any one know How to save space ?? I min How to save more memory?? I there any way???


Not clear on what you're asking for here ...


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## treysik (Aug 27, 2008)

Thanks everyone! iSquint will do the trick. The reason I rather put them in iTunes, is for the ease of sharing accross the network. I use iTunes to stream my music accross 5 computers, I want to stick with that for streaming movies as well.

Thanks!


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## rafayj (Oct 27, 2008)

Sir , You'll Have to convert them before you transfer . hope this solves your problem. Cheers . :clap:


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## Vancanman (Nov 8, 2007)

*There is another way*

If you do not want to convert the movies, you can do it another way which is waaay faster and doesn't degrade the quality.

You will need:
(1) QuickTime Pro Mac - about $30
(2) Perian - Free

Steps:
Install QT Pro
Install Perian

Transfer all your files to the new Mac, organized however you want them.

Open one of the .avi files in QT Pro

In QT Pro choose Save As

In the popup that follows, choose Reference Movie

QT will save a ~1 MB .mov file in the same subdirectory as the original file (if it doesn't default to that, change it)

This process takes about 2 seconds on my older Core 2 laptop for a whole movie.

Once you have done a number (I'd test after the first one), then open iTunes.

Look in Preferences, Advanced

Check "Keep iTunes folder organized"
UNCHECK "Copy files to iTunes Library ... "

The go to "Add to Library"

Select the *.mov file that you created in QT Pro

It will add it to the Library

You can now play that .avi file in iTunes.

That's how I do it.

I'm still trying to figure out an equally painless solution for my Apple TV.

Good Luck


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Vancanman said:


> If you do not want to convert the movies, you can do it another way which is waaay faster and doesn't degrade the quality.
> 
> You will need:
> (1) QuickTime Pro Mac - about $30
> ...


That's quite the solution. I have QT Pro and Perian and never thought to do this. I am still converting certain avi files to mp4 before dumping in iTunes. If I ever get sick of doing it this way, I'll give this a try. I usually prefer to copy my files into the iTunes structure since I keep very little video on my MacBook Pro. Once files are out of general rotation they are copied off onto an external drive. I could maintain a dedicated directory for the avi without any real hassle.


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## boxlight (Mar 20, 2008)

treysik said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> Can you put AVI files into iTunes? I have 100+ movies I want to migrate to my mac mini media system, but they are all AVI. Or, do I need to spend time slowly converting them?
> 
> ...


If your AVI file plays with Quicktime, then (I read once that) you can buy Quicktime Pro (about $40), open the AVI, and "Save As" a Quicktime format ("mov"?). It only takes a second because it just wraps the video file in a Quicktime wrapper -- no conversion takes place -- and then you can add it to iTunes.

However, I'm pretty sure that the file (because it's still an AVI underneath) will not be playable on iPods and AppleTV.


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## mgmitchell (Apr 4, 2008)

Hope I'm not derailing the conversation. I found the nifty iSquint application, and find it amazing that I can snip YTube videos, save them as an flv file, then drag them into iSquint and presto, into iTunes.
I've still got both files, though. Should I delete the flv files and only keep the iTunes file? The iTunes file is much bigger. Also, should I be choosing the H264 option in iSquint? I've got all these duplicates on my Mac. Probably silly.
Thanks for anyone providing insight.
M.


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## Irie Guy (Dec 2, 2003)

I am going to jump into this thread as I am contemplating purcahsing an Apple TV. I want to take all the DVD's my kids watch and do whatever I need to do to make them playable on the Apple TV.

What do I need to do. Handbrake or Cocktail?? Or follow one of the procedures shown above??


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## Elric (Jul 30, 2005)

Handbrake, one click, done.


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## digitddog (Jul 5, 2006)

*The new Handbrake*

Agreed. Handbrake 0.9.3 was released yesterday and it handles more than just DVDs. I tested it and it looks pretty darn good...

According to the Website, it handles "Most any multimedia file it can get libavformat to read and libavcodec to decode."

Site: HandBrake


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