My putzing about with Boxee on the Apple TV continues. I just got filesharing to work – meaning streaming content from my Mac, which has a large hard drive attached with video content procured using Handbrake.

To get your Apple TV / Boxee to see files stored on your Mac, you have to turn on said Mac’s SMB sharing. To do this, go to your Mac Preferences, click Sharing, and check the box next to “File Sharing” listed under services. Then add a folder you want to share by clicking the plus box beneath the “Shared folders pane.” I wanted to share a volume attached to my Mac, so I have my whole Mac Mini set to share.

Then select the folder you want to share in that pane, and click “Options.” Check the box next to “Share folders and files using SMB” to turn on SMB (Samba) for that folder.

Now launch Boxee on the Apple TV. Go to the side panel and choose Settings. Select Media Sources and Applications. Select and choose Network Sources. In this area, you can designate a folder for Boxee to monitor for content. Your Mac should appear and you can navigate to the folder you activated SMB sharing on in the previous step.

Now when you’re using Boxee and visit Video in the side panel, you can choose “Sources” and the source folder you designated will appear as a place containing content. This will be a little easier than drilling down through the network menu each time.

You may be asking, “Why the heck would I want to do this, since this essentially duplicates functionality already covered by the Apple TV?” Well, Boxee can play many more video formats than the Apple TV, which is limited to content playable in iTunes. Meaning, Boxee can play WMV, AVI, DiVX, heck, I even threw an FLV at it and it played successfully.

I did test a feature length movie ripped using Handbrake, meaning H264 and high resolution. The video took a while to get started and initially played back with some jitters, inferior to the Apple TV, plus the Apple TV’s user interface is simpler and more elegant. I think I’ll continue to use the Apple TV to play back higher quality videos and reserve Boxee for content gathered via the Internet that is already encoded in non-Apple friendly formats.

Glitches aside, Boxee continues to demonstrate its worth on the Apple TV. Check it out at Boxee.tv. For steps on how to install Boxee on the Apple TV, read my previous posts Apple TV: Boxee and Apple TV: ATV USB Creator, SSH Access.

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Categories: Apple, General, Technology :: ::

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