Backing up DVD/Bluray collection on hard drive

[impur]

Do any of you do this? I'm planning to pickup a couple external hard drives and start storing all my movies on them so i can get rid of the dvd storage rack.

 

I'm curious what programs you use? Can you just store the ISO image? Then you could just mount the image on a virtual drive and watch the movie. Any compression? I'd like to have the best quality possible, with the smallest file size.

 

And how about Bluray disks?

 

I use dvdfab decrypter and image burn to backup my DVDs to disk. But again this takes up room. I'd like to just be able to take the external HD with me and plug it in via USB and watch

[moovinfast]

I use dvd fab also. I keep them in the .VOB files for picture quality and just keep the main movie and main audio track. Ive tried a bunch of ways to save/back up/convert my dvds and VOB is by far the best quality. Don't do it to my Bluerays. They take up too much room. But regular DVDs take up about 3-4 gigs each with DVD quality. I have a 1TB HD dedicated to just movies and it has 183 movies on it right now and have room for a few more still. I have that HD shared on my home network but havent figured out how to hook up the Mac laptop see the drive yet.. To catalog your movies I highly recommend My Movies. Its free to download and is part of WMC.

[ciao]

If anybody is interested in getting a multimedia tank(I believe that's what they are called) I would highly recommend the Popcorn Hour 1100. Do a google search on it. I bought one about 6 month ago and love it! It plays anything you throw at it and it's cheaper than trying to build one on your own. There were only two things I don't like about it though. The remote control has a pretty weak IR signal so you need a direct line of sight in order for the receiver to pick up the signal. The second thing I didn't like was on certain movie formats, you couldn't go faster than 8x on fast forward. You can get around that by skipping in increments of 10% or if you know the time index, you can skip right to the spot you left off on. Otherwise it's pretty cool!

[Rick]

I initially back up to hard drives (around 1 1/2 terrabytes in my HTPC system and another terrabyte on the network) and then move them to DVD's. I do not use ISO as that limits the number (I currently have 200 or so that are not yet backed up to DVD's) that can be available at any given time. The exception are the few blu-ray movies which have to be mounted for my blu-ray software to play them so they are in ISO format. Regarding space I have somewhere around 800 movies on DVD's that I keep in 3 different notebook/briefcase type cd/dvd cases. (I abandoned the racks when they started taking up too much room and have the original cases stored in boxes) To keep track of all of them I use DVD Profiler and then occasionally print out a nicely formated alphabetical list (including pictures, descriptions, categories, ratings, etc.) that I keep with them.

 

Regarding programs I normally rip with DVD Decrypter to the hard drive as a folder and then use DVD shrink (an old version) to compress it and place it in an iso that will fit on a single layer DVD since it has more options to choose what is kept and what gets compressed the most and the least. I then use Image Burn to put them on DVD's.

 

Note: VOB is nothing more than a container formated for DVD players to read and has no impact on image quality. The image quality is determined by what compression the MPEG contained within the VOB has been subjected to. (DVD rippers including DVD Decrypter will often apply this compression automatically during the rip depending upon what options are chosen)

[reef165]

Regarding programs I normally rip with DVD Decrypter to the hard drive as a folder and then use DVD shrink (an old version) to compress it and place it in an iso that will fit on a single layer DVD since it has more options to choose what is kept and what gets compressed the most and the least. I then use Image Burn to put them on DVD's.

 

 

 

I used to have these two, the DVD Decrypter and shrink but the newer DVDs ( this was 3 years ago ) have different encoding and I ran into no being able to back up the newer DVDs and so I dumped the programs. Is there a way around that that I couldn't find or are you just collecting older movies?

 

Thanks, Ed

[reef165]

On that same note, I have young kids and am starting my Blue Ray collection, is there a way for me to copy them to another disk so they can destroy the copy instead of the original?

[Rick]

I used to have these two, the DVD Decrypter and shrink but the newer DVDs ( this was 3 years ago ) have different encoding and I ran into no being able to back up the newer DVDs and so I dumped the programs. Is there a way around that that I couldn't find or are you just collecting older movies?

 

Thanks, Ed

Whoops I meant to say I use DVDFab Decrypter rather than the old DVD Decrypter. http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm Note that recent changes with it mean that some of the newest DVDs are not covered using the free version so you either need to purchase it or rip the main movie only (I've only run into one DVD that wouldn't work that way)

 

For Blu Ray I use AnyDVD for the rip but I run it on a dedicated system when I do as it often interferes with the copy protection schemes on some games. I.E. They sometimes look for programs like this and will not allow the game to be played if a program like AnyDVD is installed. This works for backing up blu ray to the hard drive but putting it on a disk is more complicated as you need to either reencode it to a different format that uses up a lot less space (beyond the scope of this conversation) or burn it onto a blu ray disk which is pretty expensive to do at this time. (In a couple of more years it will probably be more affordable)

[Byrd]

On that same note' date=' I have young kids and am starting my Blue Ray collection, is there a way for me to copy them to another disk so they can destroy the copy instead of the original?[/quote']

 

 

http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html

 

They are running a special 43.00 I think for lifetime, yes.. "membership"

It does all the decrypting and I've never had a movie I could not back up-if I wanted to

 

In the past I used to do the DVD Decrypt, the DVDFab, with IMG Burn or Shrink and it was not failsafe as time went on better encrypting etc, this product is. They have told me they will be having DVD CloneBD for the blu rays. They have a free 21 day trial for their products, you should check it out.

 

Highly recommended-3 years and going strong!

[impur]

Usually i find if i cannot backup a DVD with DVDfab, i can either go download the update or wait a few days for enough ppl to complain, and then they update the software and it will work.

 

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I guess i can just continue using DVDfab and store the main movie along with the main sound track. That seems like the best route, it keeps the quality, doesn't take up a lot of room, and is easy to play on pretty much any computer.

[Byrd]

Usually i find if i cannot backup a DVD with DVDfab, i can either go download the update or wait a few days for enough ppl to complain, and then they update the software and it will work.

 

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I guess i can just continue using DVDfab and store the main movie along with the main sound track. That seems like the best route, it keeps the quality, doesn't take up a lot of room, and is easy to play on pretty much any computer.

 

Its the best "free" route, you should check out that link I included, free 21 day trial and no waiting for new encryptions to be found. For movies with tons of graphics, burn to a DL disc, zero quality degradation

AnyDVDHD and DVD Clone-works EVERY time!!!

[wanareef]

I use DVD Fab Decrypter the free version along with DVD Shrink and IMG Burn. Also use Any DVD and Clone DVD and Nero as well. Having over 1500+ (yes I do DOH!) movies on DVD gets to be a PITA to catalog them and/or keep track.

 

So far not using Blu-Ray, but that will change soon and ripping/burning movies is quick and fast for me. Keep the quality in both sound and pix I can rip a movie in less 10mins using a combination of the programs I have on to the HD and if I want a DVD, I use IMG Burn.

 

I use to convert the .ISO into a .avi to save space reducing it to about a 3rd of it's side from 4.3gb to 1.36gb and use VLC to play it back either on the PC or portable HD. I used to load .avi movies for watching movies @ work DOH! VLC is a great free program as it will play just about anything you have.

 

Now what I do is rip it to one of the 3 1TB HD's in .ISO format and store it until I want to watch it on the HTPC and just network it across.

 

There is a very small lag doing this any suggestion?

 

I use Taiyo Yuden TYGO3, DVD-R either 16X or 8X those BluRay blanks cost a pretty penny and take up too much HD space at almost 25gb's per movie

 

As for using external HD like My Book - don't!! It'll slow your system down cause USB2 is slow - firewire is faster or use internal HD's.

 

I got a My Book 1tb from Wally World (walmart) for $78 my boot up has slowed down a LOT! I'm using a 73gb Raptor 10k for my boot drive and use to take about 20 seconds and good to go, now it's about 1.5 mins (nutty)

[Rick]

....Now what I do is rip it to one of the 3 1TB HD's in .ISO format and store it until I want to watch it on the HTPC and just network it across.

 

There is a very small lag doing this any suggestion?

....

Rather than iso format just save it as a folder. The size will be the same and it takes one step away from the system accessing it. Also is the network a gigabit network? Or wireless N? I can view any DVD across the network using Wireless N and some Blu-Ray as well. On a wired gigabit connection I can view anything.

 

....

As for using external HD like My Book - don't!! It'll slow your system down cause USB2 is slow - firewire is faster or use internal HD's.

eSata is a better option for external drives as the speed is identical to an internal drive.

 

Personally I use an adapter that will connect to any ide or sata drive and has the option of either an eSata or a USB connection. This allows the fastest connection whenever possible and still allows a connection through USB which is still the most widely available.

[impur]

What program do you guys use to access your movies over the network? I'm looking into TVersity, it will allow me access movies from my PS3 too

[Rick]

I just network drives and then access them using WMC.

[Byrd]

Uhhh [language filter] are you guys saying-(laugh)

 

I got lost at Wanna's second paragraph-

 

Glad to see another Slysoft user-I just upgraded the HD version and cant wait for the CloneBD.

 

That way I dont need to undestand what the heck you guys are saying-LOL

 

If I want to spend a couple hours I could, but with the slysoft products I can focus on how to frag Xenia

 

Thats a joke in case you thought I was serious-

[Krux]

slysoft, do it now

[huskerduck]

I DLed AnyDVDHD about a week ago after I installed Windows7 and I started getting mini-dumps while playing Blurays via HTPC.

 

I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the video to play though, I used to use AnyDVD for years when I had 720P projectors but I havent watched a standard DVD since I bought a 1080P projector. 40 gig a movie seems a little harsh but those minidumps are pissin me off a lil and not all are streaming the audio to my D-Box motion controller which is why I wanted to try AnyDVD again.

 

So far the mini dumps that crash windows have been on Public Enemy, The Hangover and Terminator 4. Inglorious Basterds played fine but didnt stream the audio to the D-Box. Im sortof wishing I had stuck with Vista, never had a glitch.........ever

[CA2OR]

Bummer, I can't engage in this conversation.

[Rick]

I DLed AnyDVDHD about a week ago after I installed Windows7 and I started getting mini-dumps while playing Blurays via HTPC.

 

I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the video to play though, I used to use AnyDVD for years when I had 720P projectors but I havent watched a standard DVD since I bought a 1080P projector. 40 gig a movie seems a little harsh but those minidumps are pissin me off a lil and not all are streaming the audio to my D-Box motion controller which is why I wanted to try AnyDVD again.

 

So far the mini dumps that crash windows have been on Public Enemy, The Hangover and Terminator 4. Inglorious Basterds played fine but didnt stream the audio to the D-Box. Im sortof wishing I had stuck with Vista, never had a glitch.........ever

 

Do you have a blu-ray player installed? I don't know if Windows 7 WMC has one in it or not but I know Vista WMC doesn't. I use Cyberlink PowerDVD for blu ray using iso's I mount using CloneDVD. The primary reason I use it is because that's what my blu-ray rom came with.

[CA2OR]

all I can say is I have noticed quite a few people converting Blu Ray's to MP4's for....uh....back up purposes...yeah that's it.

[huskerduck]

Do you have a blu-ray player installed? I don't know if Windows 7 WMC has one in it or not but I know Vista WMC doesn't. I use Cyberlink PowerDVD for blu ray using iso's I mount using CloneDVD. The primary reason I use it is because that's what my blu-ray rom came with.

Yeah I have Cyberlink PowerDvd ultra, but still cant figure out how to play or even find the playable file, it used to be just click on the ISO file and off it went

[huskerduck]

After thinking about it I wonder if I associated it with Theatertek somehow in the old days when I ran a server.

 

Can you still use DScaler and FFDShow to scale out the Black bars and put full resolution on a scope screen? Or do you have to have an anamorphic lens and a standalone scaler?

[huskerduck]

all I can say is I have noticed quite a few people converting Blu Ray's to MP4's for....uh....back up purposes...yeah that's it.

Actually I think the "illegality" of it was overlooked for die hard Home theater geeks like me that had HTPC ( home theater PCs)

 

You would rip all your movies to a server and Use Cinemars Mainlobby, or CQC ( charmed quark) or Media Center , or Meedio or..........something to arrange all your movies into a menu and just click and play.

 

Down at the bottom is sort of a demonstration of what you see on a touch screen http://www.charmedquark.com/ ( give it a few seconds to load flash player for examples)

 

So basically your guest show up, youre upstairs fixin drink and say who wants to watch a flick? Everyone says ME ME ME, and you ask which one and point to the 10" touch screen, hit "Movies" and they pick, you even let them click the touchscreen. As you head down to the theater "The Macro" takes effect, turns on projector, receiver and brings up the lights to a preselected dimmed rate and starts preselected music for a couple songs, after 5-6 minutes the lights dim to the music and the movie starts WITHOUT ALL THE GARBAGE they pack infront of them, Blueray is the WORST offender of garbage up front, one of the studios plays like 2 or 3 different BluRay commercials that are telling you how fantastic BluRay is and you already know this because you're watching Bluray. Unbelievable.....

 

And Sony winning the HD wars.......uhhhggg, Ive noticed the discs have alreay cheapened up considerably, you can actually look through them like glass, Im not wondering if this is whats causing my mini dumps

[CA2OR]

I know all about it. I run a set up, not like yours, but sort of with a 46 in and my 2 TB worth of movies. I got em ALL....HA HA HA HA HA

[impur]

I DLed AnyDVDHD about a week ago after I installed Windows7 and I started getting mini-dumps while playing Blurays via HTPC.

 

I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the video to play though, I used to use AnyDVD for years when I had 720P projectors but I havent watched a standard DVD since I bought a 1080P projector. 40 gig a movie seems a little harsh but those minidumps are pissin me off a lil and not all are streaming the audio to my D-Box motion controller which is why I wanted to try AnyDVD again.

 

So far the mini dumps that crash windows have been on Public Enemy, The Hangover and Terminator 4. Inglorious Basterds played fine but didnt stream the audio to the D-Box. Im sortof wishing I had stuck with Vista, never had a glitch.........ever

 

 

Hmm wierd. No probs here for me. Went thru about 20 DVDs and 8 blurays this week all work great. Put em on a networked WD 1.5TB HD using my PS3 to watch. Works great!!