Archiving DVDs...

AliP

AliP

AliP

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24 Feb 2008
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68
Hello one and all,

I am currently considering the costs and implications of moving my and my girlfriend's DVD collection into storage on hard drives. I hope to eventually build a media server, complete with raid array, which will host our music, films and photos. I'd like to be able to store the DVDs in such a format so that they can be streamed across a network on a media extender (either a 360 or a PS3), and are easily viewable. This will eventually mean the boxes and original discs can be safely stored, and the whole collection will be available on demand.

The cost of storage is not really a worry, but I'm keen to preserve and maintain this collection into the future, so I don't want to base any encoding or compression on some esoteric technology that isn't commonly supported.

Quality however, is an issue, and I want to preserve everything possible.

My question is therefore, what format should I store the DVDs in? Is there a way of storing the video in a lossless format, similar to flac for audio? What software is best for performing the rip? How much quality am I likely to lose in the process?

Has anyone been through this process and is willing to share war stories?

Thanks !
 
Just straight copy. It's what i'm doing. Not sure on xbox or ps3 can paly them. but i'm setting up a cheap htpc for that. Will cost me about £60 in total. just using old parts scraped together. apart from case and a wireless compact keyboard with touchpad.

766Gb and 131 Dvds.
 
Errrm where have you been the last 5 years? :D
I've stored all my Blu-ray discs in loss less format and they are not small lol.
I simply create a disc image (.iso) of the disc and do not compress anything (maybe strip away the annoying adverts and trailers) and then simply load them up to play. There are lots of other methods available but this one suites me the best.
Again there are loads of different programs to use from DVDShrink, AnyDVD, DVD Decrypter etc.
As a rough estimate - most DVD's in exact copy are anywhere from 4-8GB and Blu-rays are from 25-50GB per movie (that's why I currently have 3TB)
 
AliP said:
Hello one and all,

I am currently considering the costs and implications of moving my and my girlfriend's DVD collection into storage on hard drives. I hope to eventually build a media server, complete with raid array, which will host our music, films and photos. I'd like to be able to store the DVDs in such a format so that they can be streamed across a network on a media extender (either a 360 or a PS3), and are easily viewable. !
Click to expand...

I use DVD Fab to copy the main movie in its native format (still effectively a DVD but without the menus and extras). Typical 4 - 5Gb per film. Use AnyDVDHD for Blu Ray - size 30 - 50Gb

Store everything on a NAS drive then have multiple computers around the house for viewing. The main HTPC is actually in the garage with an HDMI cable and a USB cable coming through into the lounge. Then use IR repeaters and a wireless keyboard to send commands to it.

Wouldn't particularly bother going go the raid front to be honest.
 
All makes sense, and I understand I can do a straight copy, but was really wondering if there is a way of storing it so I can stream to a ps3 or 360. Building an HTPC is a whole other project that I don't really have the pockets for yet :)
 
They probably can be streamed to either. but I'm not sure. So you would have to wait fior someone to confirm.
haven't you got any old parts lying about. you need next to no computing power for a SD htpc.
 
I probably do have parts lying around, I'll see what I can do. Server comes first though I think. I'm keen on RAID for redundancy purposes, I've lost data through hard-drives randomly dying one too many times for my liking.

I really don't feel there's a valid excuse to lose data in 2009.
 
AliP said:
I probably do have parts lying around, I'll see what I can do. Server comes first though I think. I'm keen on RAID for redundancy purposes, I've lost data through hard-drives randomly dying one too many times for my liking.

I really don't feel there's a valid excuse to lose data in 2009.
Click to expand...

Surely you will still have the master DVD's that you backed up from should a drive fail. I do this on several large drive and regulary check the health of them and if any seem to be failing I get a new one and copy across.

If a drive did fail them all you are losing is the backup and you simply need to re-create it. Time consuming I know but not enough to make me bother with RAID.
 
I know, but there is other data, (downloaded music / personal photos / software etc) which might not necessarily have an original or master. I understand what you're saying, and you might be right when it comes down to the cost tradeoff - I just figure that storage is so cheap these days, it's not really such a huge jump.

Plus, you know, it's a tech toy to play with :P
 
DVD Shrink. All non-English audio / subtitle segments are discarded.

I'm currently trying to rip Once Upon a Time in America. The movie is so long that it comes on two DVDs. I can merge them in 'Re-author' mode, but there is an annoying pause when it moves to the second title. I can see the player skipping over the empty chapters, one by one. :mad:
 
I use autogk to convert ripped dvds to x264 format. I find that an approximate 1.5gb x264 (for a standard 90 minute film) conversion is identical in picture quality to the original. I playback using a HTPC onto a 42" 1080p plasma.

Total conversion time from disc to x264 is about 60-90 minutes (overclocked 3.2ghz q6600). I usually do 2 or 3 a night.

I decided to use a classic raid 1 mirror. using

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-029-BT&groupid=701&catid=1240&subcat=1239

Coupled with 2x500gb drives I had spare, which is enough for say 300 films.

Its the simplest and cheapest solution IMO.

Only problem is I keep on replacing old dvd's with Blu rays, and I am slowly coming to the conclusion that ripping dvds is a dead end. As in a couple of years all my SD stuff will be replaced by HD.

Oh well
 
I've got a load of DVD's ripped to HDD as .vob etc... in the video_ts folder.

Using MyMovies I stream these to my 360. Works brilliantly.
 
entireweb said:
I use autogk to convert ripped dvds to x264 format. I find that an approximate 1.5gb x264 (for a standard 90 minute film) conversion is identical in picture quality to the original. I playback using a HTPC onto a 42" 1080p plasma.

Total conversion time from disc to x264 is about 60-90 minutes (overclocked 3.2ghz q6600). I usually do 2 or 3 a night.

I decided to use a classic raid 1 mirror. using

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-029-BT&groupid=701&catid=1240&subcat=1239

Coupled with 2x500gb drives I had spare, which is enough for say 300 films.

Its the simplest and cheapest solution IMO.

Only problem is I keep on replacing old dvd's with Blu rays, and I am slowly coming to the conclusion that ripping dvds is a dead end. As in a couple of years all my SD stuff will be replaced by HD.

Oh well
Click to expand...


Exactly how I do it. I currently have 1.1Tb of DVD's this way. Files are roughlt 1.2gb/hour of footage I think. I rip all the files off the dvd and then convert them on my home server. Took me 2-3 months. Oh, and it took me roughly the same time to rip as it does to watch on an AMD X26000+
 
AliP said:
I'm keen on RAID for redundancy purposes, I've lost data through hard-drives randomly dying one too many times for my liking.

I really don't feel there's a valid excuse to lose data in 2009.
Click to expand...

Hmmm you're saying that you are keen on RAID for redundancy but you are using it for backup - these aren't the same thing though often confused.

RAID is primarily aimed at availability ie you can continue working even though you have lost a drive and the array is being rebuilt. It's purpose is not really backup. The only thing you are protected against is hard drive failure, whilst this is a biggie there are also lots of other things threatening your precious data (theft, fire etc.) And any external event that could cause a single drive to fail could have the same effect on other drives in the array, in which case you are not protected.

I'm just not sold on the use of RAID within a home setup I think it gives people false comfort.
 
AcidHell2 said:
works fine in media centre.

Enable dvd gallery and get the xml files from http://www.dvdxml.com/news.php so you egt all the info/artwork.
Click to expand...

Thanks. When you play a DVD through media centre, can you change it to VLC for example? I am looking to buy a new LCD and don't want a large screen as DVDs look quite bad on my 32" Samsung, however VLC looks a bit better than Windows Media Player.
 
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