This past weekend I finished up a rather tedious project of digitizing the few DVDs that I own. The reason for this project was to clear up more space in the apartment and to make the films more convenient to watch.
By this point I think most people have done this with their CD collections, importing them into – well, let’s face it – into iTunes. Does anyone really use any other media organizer? (OK… I admit, Songbird is pretty awesome, but if you’re syncing an ipod iTunes still feels like the way to go.)
So while most of us have converted to digital music, there are still lots of DVDs hanging around. This is in part because of the film industry’s successful attempts to block DVD copying software but it’s also admittedly because most people don’t really desire the same convenience from their films as from their music.
The allure for me was realized recently on a domestic flight with no programmed entertainment – no movie on a 5 hour flight?! Sure, I had my iPod with me and I listened to podcasts and music, but as long as I had my laptop with me, I might as well watch a movie on the bigger screen. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any DVDs with me and even if I did, the DVD drive spinning would chew up the battery.
I used a few programs on my Mac to record the DVDs into a reasonably-sized file that sits on my disc. It was a pretty simple process really (once the right software was installed – including VLC media player, Handbrake copying software and MetaX data tagger).
All of my DVDs (and really, we’re only talking about maybe 30 or so) are now in a cardboard box where I can place them next to my CDs and forget about them. The files on the other hand can be managed through iTunes and synced with my AppleTV so I can watch them on my TV, on my laptop or even on my iPhone (Though I don’t see that happening any time soon).
I've been considering something similar myself, although I'll need considerably more space that my laptop offers as my collection is hundreds strong. We've got absolutely no closet space here, and DVDs take up a ton of space.
I'm considering picking up a few TBs to start converting movies as a result. I'm less concerned with the mobility for airplanes and such (I prefer crosswords and sleep while flying), but setting the media drives to be accessible from anywhere in the house sounds pretty dreamy… I can then watch my entire collection from the living room, my office, my bedroom, my wife's office, etc.
A friend of mine (hi, G!) swears by his new Time Capsule, but I'll admit that I haven't done much research as yet.
On your “reasonably sized” files, how is the compression? How would they look on a HD or big screen?
I've been doing this for a while now–very convenient, though I don't think the MPAA would approve. I use Handbrake to convert to MP4s (H264) at a 1600 kbps bitrate. On my meager 27″ screen, they look indistinguishable from the DVD (examine the shadow areas though and you'll notice some pixelating). Most movies come in at around 1Gig.
(Yo! Hey Christian!)
I have a Time Capsule / Apple TV combo – the “reasonably sized” files were for the Apple TVs benefit – the little pizza pie ATV just doesn't have the best processor/memory config so I had to keep the files down to a size that it could handle.
That said, on my 37″ (??) LCD television the picture and sound quality was great – as good as anything I have downloaded from iTunes.
I do store the files on an external drive (connected to time capsule) and not my laptop – but if I travel it's an easy process to dump a couple onto the laptop. One of these days I'll get around to posting how I've got my home network set up – it's been working really well ever since I wrote this post: http://www.knuetter.com/christian/2008/07/16/th…
I've been doing this for a while now–very convenient, though I don't think the MPAA would approve. I use Handbrake to convert to MP4s (H264) at a 1600 kbps bitrate. On my meager 27″ screen, they look indistinguishable from the DVD (examine the shadow areas though and you'll notice some pixelating). Most movies come in at around 1Gig.
(Yo! Hey Christian!)
I have a Time Capsule / Apple TV combo – the “reasonably sized” files were for the Apple TVs benefit – the little pizza pie ATV just doesn't have the best processor/memory config so I had to keep the files down to a size that it could handle.
That said, on my 37″ (??) LCD television the picture and sound quality was great – as good as anything I have downloaded from iTunes.
I do store the files on an external drive (connected to time capsule) and not my laptop – but if I travel it's an easy process to dump a couple onto the laptop. One of these days I'll get around to posting how I've got my home network set up – it's been working really well ever since I wrote this post: http://www.knuetter.com/christian/2008/07/16/th…