Please help me get movies to my apple TV (wirelessly) from HDD

[jimbanville]

I have 13" Macbook air, three latest gen Apple TV's, 2TB passport HDD, external Pioneer blu ray drive.
My goal is to rip my blu rays and play them wirelessly through my 3 apple TV's.
I've seen a few 1-click programs that will make them into compatible form for the ATV's.
I want it to be as easy as possible. I don't mind spending a few bucks on a program if it saves time and makes life easier.
I ONLY want to use my Macbook air to take the movie from the external pioneer blu ray drive and put the file on the passport HDD.
I do NOT want to use the Macbook air as a means of getting the movie from the HDD to the ATV's for everyday viewing.
I'm guessing I need some simple (small/inexpensive) "computer" that I can leave on 24/7 and requires no user input to get the movie from the HDD and onto my TV screen, through the ATV. The only thing I want to touch to control access to the movies is my ATV's remote.
True? Suggestions? Thanks!!!

[Baldrick]

Can you access files from the passport hdd using appletv?

I have an appletv but it's so limited to I just use it for streaming services.

[jimbanville]

All I watch on tv is through the Apple TV. I love it.
I'm just starting on this endeavor. I haven't ripped the first blu Ray yet. My understanding is that the Apple TV will play movies I store in iTunes, once in the correct format. I'm looking for a simple/seamless method. This would not be an issue if I was going to leave my MacBook air connected to my home network, but I am not. I can not afford, nor do I want a full fledged, full sized computer attached to the passport hard drive, just as a means of getting to movie from the drive, to the Apple TV. I want something small/inexpensive that I can leave on 24/7, just for serving up the movie from the hard drive, to the Apple TV.

[Baldrick]

You can rip blu-rays with MakeMKV, convert/shrink the MKV to mp4/itunes friendly format using handbrake. Import in itunes.

But this will take SEVERAL hours/bluray.

[jimbanville]

You can rip blu-rays with MakeMKV, convert/shrink the MKV to mp4/itunes friendly format using handbrake. Import in itunes.

But this will take SEVERAL hours/bluray.

That's not my issue. How do I get them from the storage point (portable hard drive) to the Apple TV, wirelessly. What is a small/inexpensive device that requires no I interaction beyond turning it on, and leaving it on? I do not want to use my MacBook. I don't have a lot of room for a normal, or even slim line computer. I will connect it via Ethernet to my router. It won't be playing the movie, only transporting the signal, which will be sent out wifi from the router, yes?

[Baldrick]

No. No idea. Post back if you find a solution.

[Wumonger]

Sorry I realize this is an old thread, but looks like you never got an answer. I don't think there is a way to do what you want without a computer. I'm pretty sure that Apple TV needs to connect to a computer on your network and then your iTunes library.

I ended up purchasing the WD TV Media Player: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JXFM75Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's inexpensive and you can hook up your HD directly to it. If you get additional units I believe you can connect over WiFi to that HD on the first media player. It works kinda quirky with Mac networking protocols but once I figured out the quirks (like I need to restart the device anytime the connection to my Mac gets severed) I'm able to work around them.

I also have 2 Apple TVs. I keep most of my movies in my iTunes library and watch them on my Apple TV. I had a HD on my computer as well as on my WD TV where I have, let's just say, other types of movies and I'm able to access them over my Wifi network as well as the external HD connected to my WD TV.

Alternatively, you could probably also pick up a used or refurbished Mac Mini on Ebay and have that drive the iTunes library. That will allow all 3 of your Apple TVs to access it.