Ask Engadget: What's the optimal DVD archival solution?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 10th 2008 9:00PM
posted Jul 10th 2008 9:00PM
This week's Ask Engadget question is a bit on the specific side, but it's one we've heard asked time and time again. Thus, we figured it was time to finally get it out in the open for you readers to debate."I have an extensive DVD library that I would like to archive on a network drive and be able to access via my PS3, menus and all. I am currently using TVersity to stream videos from my PC to the console. I've seen walk-throughs for archiving DVDs, but I haven't seen anything that will present these via a DLNA server (to my PS3) with their original menus intact so that you can access special features such as commentary tracks and featurettes. I am not even sure that it is possible to navigate the menus via the PS3 remote. Any recommended solutions out there?"
Can't you just hear the hopelessness in poor Ron's voice? Throw the guy a bone, will ya? And while you're at it, throw our highly sophisticated email sorter a question of your own at ask at engadget dawt com.
I like MKV files, which have complete menu, subtitle, alternate audio, and other stuff support. The problem with that is I don't know anything that can rip to MKVs.
My solution (assuming you have the space) --Puppy Linux has a built-in image creater, and I just store the entire ISO which I can either mount the ISO (again, Linux can do this, even over network, even installed on a PS3), or just open it in VLC (which runs in --you guessed it -- Linux). It takes the entire size of the DVD, but it also has complete use of the DVD.
...and I'll come back if I can find a MKV ripper.
The latest version of Total Video Converter can rip DVDs in MKV files.
wait a just a minute there buster how are you getting your mkv movies if you dot know how to rip dvds into mkv? Should we alert the mpaa here lol
If you want to use Matroska files, the best options are SUPER (http://www.erightsoft.biz/GetFile.php?SUPERsetup.exe) and HandBrake (http://handbrake.fr/).
SUPER is Windows only, HandBrake is for Mac, Linux and Windows. Both of them are free and HandBrake is Open Source (I recommend HandBrake)
One problem with handbrake is that the MKV files it creates have really slow seek rates. Hardly slower than real time, in fact. What I do is take the matroska files Handbrake pumps out and pass them through mkvmerge, and then they seek just as well as an avi.
Google "Dvd Ripper"
Awesome ripper that rips to many different formats, including an iso and individual files.
Fast, solid, and unblocks almost all DVD copyright protection. For legal backup use of course. The only problem is some newer Disney movies, which sometimes foul up the decoding process.
huh?
Currently I use MyMoives which is a sort of plugin/program. You can save your .vob files on a hard drive and stream them to an xbox 360. It will give you actor information and dvd covers as well, no menus though.
website:
http://www.mymovies.dk/
steps on how to use:
http://www.mymovies.dk/forum.aspx?g=posts&t=5000
I have a similar set up but I have a Windows Home Server set up to stream to the XBOX. The beauty of WHS is that you can keep adding drives and they just add to the storage cloud.
As an added bonus, with the right add-on, you can actually stream your DVD library to any connected laptop or cellphone anywhere.
I would recommend a NAS box such as the QNAP TS-109 Pro paired with a
1 terabyte heard drive. It's been proved to be totally compatible with TVersity, and you will have plenty of storage for your entire DVD collection.
The NAS box can stream to any computer or console on your network and
can be expanded to suit your needs.
Not to be sarcastic or anything....
Save the disks in .iso, and boot PS3 in Linux.
Linux DVD 9to5 will rip and compress DVDs into ISOs in a single step. Maybe you can remote-mount them from an HTPC.
Alternatively, you can simply rip them, uncompressed and setup VLC as a server, tell it where the VIDEO_TS folders are, and stream to your HTPC.
I have no idea how you'd do it for a PS3.
I'm already starting down this track using a free linux solution
Basically it is:
1.) RIP DVD to raw mpg format
2.) Run a batch job that converts them to a much more storage friendly size such as mpeg4 or divx using a tool like transcode
3.) Run a UPnP server. Perfect for this in Linux is MythTv (free!). I run it now and it's great with UPnP clients on consoles such as XBOX360 and PS3. Myth is also great for media management, although it is somewhat cumbersome to get set up.
4.) Enjoy all your movies from your console!
Cheeers!
The question specifically mentions that he wants to serve up these DVDs _with_ menus.
And, simply put, you can't do that with the PS3. You can hack up the 360 and Windows Vista Media Center to do it (google for the DVD Library extender hack, which is somewhat new), but it just isn't going to happen on the PS3 - none of the formats it supports can have menus in them, excepting DivX (possibly).
I probably should have read more carefully and noticed the importance of the menus. But the title led me to think that this was for ways to archive DVDs and serve them up to PS3s.
Alternatively, after googling around, this tool might help (not free though)
http://www.downloadatoz.com/dvd-to-ipod-video-converter/pq-dvd-to-ps3-converter.html
How about get off your lazy butt and switch the DVDs manually. Jeezus what a lazy pud...
The funny thing is, he'd put more work into creating the media "archive" then if he just got off his "lazy butt and switch[ed] the DVDs manually."
itsa so funny, cause itsa true!
That means you have to have the DVDs on hand. It's like music collections. I don't want to keep dozens of albums nearby at all times, and it's the same with DVDs.
It's called backup for a reason...
John's on point. Someday you kiddies will grow up and might even move in with a girl. That girl might want her home to look all pretty and nice. She probably won't want your parents old 7 foot tall entertainment center complete with space for 400 DVD's cluttering up her living room. My DVD's are in the shed, I ripped them all with handbrake, imported to iTunes and watch them on my AppleTV. Everybody's happy.
you know you can buy a DJ case which holds 500+ dvds for like $20 and is the size of a large audio reciever. You can then easily store that in a closet or beside your equipment. Its what I do. Discs dont need to be a clutter and space taker. I have over 2500 discs and they are all stored in an area smaller then a a desk.
Not to mention with discs, you dont need to worry about backup as much because there are no hard drive failures, you can lend them to friends, they are portable and cheaper. So yeah.. Your already in the right spot by having disks.
I had this exact desire, and I couldn't find a solution for my PS3, so I decided to get a Mac Mini hooked up to my Home Theater via a DVI-HDMI/Optical Toslink cable and use FrontRow to access my DVD rips.
You'll need to use a Mac program such as MacTheRipper to save the DVD in folders, and then find the DVD cover art and save it in the root folder of the DVD as "Preview.jpg".
I keep all my files on a networked Drobo using Droboshare, and then put alias of each genre folder in the "Movies" folder on my Mac Mini. Then when I'm in Front Row, it shows the cover art, I then click play, and it launches as if I've got the DVD in the drive.
Since it's over a gigabit network (using Cat-5e cable) there is a slight delay, but once it starts playing, it's smoooooooth as butter.
Sadly, again, no PS3, but this will do exactly what you want.
Cheers!
1. MacTheRipper (To rip the encryption)
2. Handbrake (To encode it to mp4, m4v, etc)
3. MetaX (for meta tags and artwork)
4. Enjoy on AppleTV or XBOX 360 if you have connect 360 that is.
What he said, except I skip step 3. And for my kids' room, I only do step one and use DVDPedia to handle the library, which streams off of a 3-year-old 1.5TB Infrant NAS. It's so easy, my 3-year-old can access all the ripped movies in our collection.
...or get RipIt4Me, dvd decryptor, and dvd shrink. these get rid of the encryption, allow you to select which features to save, and save to iso
i thought divx 6 and above allowed for menu's within the divx file... so logic would tell me that as long as you encoded in divx 6+ you could get the menus... even though i have not tried it myself... can anyone out there confirm/deny this?
To keep menus and such, either mkv or mp4 can be used. PS3 fully supports mp4, not sure if it does mkv as well. Sourceforge will be a good bet to find programs that will do conversions for you, but do expect to violate every copyright law in the book. For that reason alone engadget is not the best place to come to for answers.
Not sure how this fits in with the PS3, but I rip them to ISO files using DVD Decrypter and then "play" the ISO files using VLC. Since it's an ISO file you get the whole disc, menus, navigation, everything just like the physical disc. Sure they are large, but storage is cheap and they look great.
I use HandBrake and place the files on a Terrabyte server running FreeNAS on an old 1GHz AMD motherboard with a built-in RAID controller. I used to copy folder.jpg of the cover art, but now I just let boxee.tv handle all of the meta data automatically for me. A Mac Mini in the living room running boxee streams the content from the server and the 10-foot UI of lets me see the images, review and even trailers for some of the movies (in case I forget why I ripped them) and music...
To Rip, I use AnyDVD / CloneDVD from SlySoft.
To Store, I use a 4TB LaCie NAS appliance with (2) additional 4TB Bigger Disk Extreme external drives attached for a total of 12TB.
To Stream, I use Wizd Media Server for Syabas based players.
To Play, I use Helios Labs X5000 Network Media Player.
Best setup ever:
-XBMC linux box
-Drobo media storage
-Big ass TV.
XBMC seriously is the best media center ever. Everyone should use it.
http://www.xbmc.org
I agree, we've been using it for 4 years all over the house. Newer formats lag out the Xbox1 now and I haven't been keeping up with the PC or Linux ports of XBMC, is it up to par?
I hear nothing but great things about XBMC, but I read somewhere that it doesn't support HD video. Is that true? To me that would essentially render it completely useless as a media streamer, I have a hard time believing that all these people who adore XBMC never have any need to watch HD video.
@chefgon_ign
you're right. XBMC cannot stream HD because it runs on a 1.0 Xbox, which only has SD output. If you could get XBMC on a 360, then you could do it, but that seems like a waste of a perfectly good 360.
@ chefgon_ign
XBMC was originally made as a media player for a modded Xbox 1. It did, and still does, work better than most media centers. But as you mentioned, it does not support HD video because the Xbox 1 was not powerful enough to do so. Fortunately enough tho, the amazing team behind XBMC is now working on porting it to Linux, Windows, and OSX.
@neofolklore
The linux port is the farthest along in development it seems. You can even test it out easily by installing one of the beta releases to a thumb-drive and setting your computer to boot from USB. You can find the thumb-drive release here:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=32853
Hey 'Ron',
Coming from the next-gen iteration of the 'Greatest Generation' these are my observations about your poignant quest:
1) Vinyl LPs promised endless replay till needles (and the imperfect humans who placed them on track 4 over and over) scratched and destroyed my data storage medium.
2) Cassette Technology and my Sony Walkman conspired to file off the iron oxides (playing track 4 over and over) till my tape medium aged, stretched, and crashed as a playback paradigm.
3) The pitted grooves of my mass-produced, laser etched CD music - they still load up great, except for the songs scratched by endlessly inserting and exiting the CD tray. (track 4 maybe?)
4) DVD's - ditto
5) Hard Drives...mmmmnnn.....I've never had a hard drive last longer than 6-7 years.
I haven't ever seen a storage medium that can outlast memory and the need to preserve it. Good luck in your terrabyte search;)
Professor Doom
I use SageTV (www.sagetv.com). They have hardware HD extenders, etc. Have most of my DVDs archived to 2TB hard drive. Oh yes, it's a great home theatre system too. I have 6 tuners (4 HD QAM) on the system.
Wow. Great ideas guys... expect for the whole "with menus", "PS3", "DLNA server", "PS3 remote", etc...
But, you know, thanks for trying.
This is worse than Slashdot. People here can't even read past the title!
Why do you want to watch video via a PS3?
Because there aren't any games to play on it... Burn! J/K
It seems I'm like many people here. My solution doesn't include keeping the entire DVD (with menus) in tact. I've just decided to keep the DVDs for the movies that have extra content I care about and rip the rest...
These tips work, allegedly, although they are probably not making the MPAA happy. An old, but still worthwhile and free app is DVDShrink (note: NOT dvdshrink2008). There are many free DVD decryption apps to choose from. Set it to rip to ISO (you can also compress them to burn them onto a single layer DVD, remove audio tracks and chapters, etc.). Using Toast or IMGBurn or most other burning programs, you can also then burn a copy of the DVD with working menus. For the Mac, Handbrake should do the trick.
Why bother with converting DVDs to a HDD? Why not just have a system that you can store more than 100 DVDs in one unit accessible over the network. Something like this (although this is only USB accessible): http://www.toadmode.com/powerdrive.htm
If properly implemented this could act as a SMB share with each DVD represented as a seperate folder. I'm sure that would suffice as a DVD archival solution with the least amount of effort. Not sure if it would be the cheapest tho...
Seems to me that most of the answers didn't really answer the original question, i.e. how do you archive DVDs so that you can view them on your TV with cover art, chapters, special features, etc.
There have been various answers on how to rip DVDs, how to customize the results so they are playable with cover art, but it seems like they all ignore some of the above. Also, all of the solutions are labor intensive. Rip the DVD to an ISO (come back in a half hour), transcode the chapters you want one by one (a queueing function helps here, but why do I have to queue them individually), edit the metadata manually with another program (long delays with each step), etc.
Lets say we broaden this beyond the PS3. I'd like a program which will rip my DVDs to SOME format (mp4, divx, whatever) that I can save them in which will playback just like the original DVDs via some STB that can live next to my TV. If DivX Encoder Pro can do this (in one step), and there is a STB that supports that format, including the menus and everything, great.
I don't really care if it takes all night to do the encoding, I just want to minimize the amount of time I have to sit in front of the computer.
And yes I'm willing to pay for the software. It just has to be a step up from handling only small parts of the problem.
It has been mentioned already, but I will refer to it anyways. Windows Media Center with the my movies plugin does just that. You can rip to ISO format in any program you choose, and then it allows you to access all your movies (also indexes them by genre, actors, etc) in a Kaleidescape-like interface. By sticking with ISO format, you keep everything that was on the original disc. Additionally, you can rip the movies straight from the interface by simply sticking it in the dvd drive. It has the ability to handle multi-disc collections intelligently (e.g. TV Show seasons on DVD) it retrieves all sorts of cool meta info automatically through the web. And best of all, the plugin itself is free. As in beer.
Yes, it requires a HTPC, but it is so very worth it once you get it set up. Couple that with the other things you can do with MCE (it's functionality as a music server is totally bitchin') and it is a winner.
OK, first of all, thanks for your comments. Yes, I really do want to stream the DVDs from my network to my PS3. Why do I not want to attach a Mac mini/media extender/HTPC/etc instead? Put simply, because I already have enough stuff hooked up to my TV and I am trying to simplify, not complicate the mess. Add to that the fact that I currently enjoy being able to stream DL'd TV shows through my PS3, I would like to extend that functionality to DVDs as well, to have a one-stop shop, as it were, for my video viewing enjoyment.
That said, it is sounding like there is no simple solution for viewing ISOs or another more compressed format that contains all the stuff on the DVD, via my PS3. And no, I do not want to boot the PS3 into Linux. I would like to be able to switch between games and movies at will, without the intermediate hassle. I guess that if I need to go with ripping the DVDs into individual separate files, what is the best 'one-button solution' out there to allow me to select what I want to rip off the DVD, and to be able to organize it (along with artwork and descriptions would be a great bonus!) quickly. I have a ton of old DVDs that I would like to do this to, so having to jump through a bunch of hoops for each DVD would add up to a significant time sink.
Again, thanks for all your help.
Just use DVD Fab Platinum!!
It works amazing and you can rip straight to a ps3 compatible mpeg4/h.264 file right from the menu. Seriously, I tried all the other rippers and this is DEFINITELY the easiest one button program. And if you actually buy the program, you get updates which allow you to rip all the new movies with new encryptions that keep coming out.
Okay, I just looked at the web site for DVD Fab Platinum, and while it seems to be a very nice ripping program, and can queue up multiple encode jobs simultaneously for all the different video segments on a DVD, I don't see any mention either in the Platinum or Mobile descriptions or tutorial wrt keeping titles and so forth, let alone cover art and so forth.
Are you sure DVD Fab Platinum can output files for Apple TV, PS3 or anything else that include titles/art etc?
Sounds like what you really want is a 360.
Oh, and seeing Fanfoot's post, that is pretty much what I am looking for too, albeit a solution specific to the PS3.
oh, i would just forget about keeping the menus and junk, not worth it.
Your suggestion's like buying a shirt & cutting out the pockets because the pen you're using *today* doesn't fit properly. Maybe you or someone else in the house wants those additional functions.
Example: Sometimes we watch movies w/ captions, sometimes we don't. Most of the programs mentioned above strip those too.
DVD Decrypter + DVD43 to get the security stripped.
I tried this same approach & ended up abandoning it. Too labor intensive. But Decrypter allows for removing any part of the DVD you want.
I Just rip and convert to XVID/DD 5.1 (no menu). I'm unsure if you could possibly rip the dvd into a DIVX format and have the menus be converted to DIVX menu format...
Unfortunately, Until the hackers are able to open up the graphics card portion of the PS3 on Linux, there won't be many home brew solutions to expand the media capabilties of the PS3....
If you have a different machine, like a PC, hacked AppleTV, etc, you could just directly rip the DVDs into VIDEO_TS folders ( or ISO images) thereby preserving the original disc structure/menus/etc and run them through any media player software.
I use DVD Decrypter to rip DVDs to .iso in full - so I have all the menus, extras, etc.
I play them back using XBMC. Once it got .iso support it was a no-brainer.
DVD Decrypter is becoming dated though and I am just actually testing out tonight a handful of ripping tools looking for one as simple as DVD Decrypter that "just works" but supports all the latest copy protection schemes.
It would be nice to stop using XBMC on the xbox - it's noisy and a bit bulky, so I'm hoping all the different ports (OS X, Windows, Linux) gain a lot of ground and become options soon too.
Just get DVD43 (free) or AnyDVD ($). Both install as a tray utility and are updated regularly to track the latest copy protection. Then you can keep using DVD Decrypter since it will see an unprotected DVD.
"It would be nice to stop using XBMC on the xbox - it's noisy and a bit bulky"
Well, the bit of bulkiness is there and, AFAIK, there's little you can do about it.
But to annihilate the noise, you can replace the stock fan with a silent 80mm one. Cost is about $10, is used this: http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-nexus80mmrealsilentcasefan.htm, but any quiet fan will do, really.
There's a little DIY to do, but I did it and I'm far from being a DIY person, and believe me, it makes a world of difference.
Details here: http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/80mm-fan.php
Also, check that you're running a newer copy of XBMC. There must be better power management going on, because mine has been running quieter that it did about a year ago.
If you want to PROPERLY archive your DVDs...
1) Buy a large drive. I bought a 1TB Buffalo NAS for under $300.
2) Download DVDFab.
3) Rip pure DVD files.
This will create absolutely, 100% pure DVD rips. You can even rip just the movie alone if you'd like, and they can be burned later for backups or what have you. It is the perfect backup program.
Hmm.. Pochi's suggestion here sounds the most simple and the most promising. And would the PS3 upconvert without any problems? I'd love to rip certain DVDs I really like and then just keep the original discs in storage.
I'd also like to get rid of a lot of DVDs and replace them w/ Blu-ray discs as they are released (especially my TV Shows - 24, Lost, Smallville). Those are probably going to be too big to back up and keep on a hard drive so we'll have this conversation again for backing up our blu-ray collections in a few years.
Yeah, I spent a LOT OF TIME researching this for my own archiving purposes. I tried literally a dozen or so methods before I found DVDFab and fell in love.
I don't own a PS3, but my friend who does says it can play true DVD files (the ones that are actually on your standard DVDs, VOB files). So this leads me to believe it will upconvert like it would any normal DVD. Since these are true DVDs, only hosted on a HDD and not optical media, it should act like a normal DVD.
Think of DVDFab as a program that does absolutely nothing but perfectly copy the DVD to your hard drive. It can compress DVD9 (dual layer 4.7GB+ DVDs) to DVD5 (single layer 4.7GB or smaller DVDs) for some space conservation as well, but I just rip them all at DVD9 to ensure that when I watch a movie I am watching it without a single pixel compressed our out of place.
So generally I choose to rip the main movie only (I could care less about extras) with the best audio track available (usually the 5.1 DTS) and all English subtitles (they take up almost no space). Averages about 5GB a movie (some bigger, some smaller). Then I just pop on my media center PC, click the file I want to play, and it starts right up on my TV. Looks beautiful, too. Better than a standard 480P DVD player since the PC's resolution essentially automatically upconverts the "DVD," as it were, for you.
And with a NAS, you can watch the movie from any DVD playing device in the house capable of accessing the network too (all the laptops and desktops here, in my case). It's great, I can allow my movies to be streamed anywhere I'm at now. It's the purest and easiest way to do things, I think.
i would want to see a program that can rip and encode in one step, saves me the time in front of the computer
PIMPSTREAM, an application originally made for the PSP works as a DNLA media server. its watt I use. message typed on a DS3 on PS3. SOOPERGOOMAN187
for rip & encode google winnydows
I am using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS with MediaTomb. After a bit of configuration, the PS3 picks it up and pays back audio, video and photo without any problem, and it does it all wirelessly. It's coming from an old Optiplex SX280. It's a pretty good setup and the kit was 90% free.
Personally, I'd dump trying to use the PS3 and instead invest in a Popcorn Hour A-100. They're only about $179.
Then use DVD Shrink to rip your films (still with all the menus and uncompressed) to .iso format. You can either stick a HDD (up to 750GB) in the Popcorn Hour itself or stream over your network from your PC/NAS.
Just out of curiousity, just how many DVDs are we talking about here?
The effort to get all your DVDs on the network, stored on a RAID drive to ensure your efforts aren't suddenly lost, just seems like a lot of work and money.
Once your collection is digital it is portable. The effort is worth the work! Do you use mp3's at all? Why? That's a lot of work to take CD's and rip them...
Right, because you can take it on a portable player, burn a backup copy, take a clip using editing software, watch it in multiple rooms using a network, share with others (illegal and I don't condone, but people do it), etc.
Think about it. Worth the time.
the popcornhour - www.popcornhour.com - can play DVDs straight from ISOs over the network, i know you wanted to do it from your PS3, but the PCH is so cheap and handles this solution so well, it might be worth looking into.
I agree with Rich. Get yourself Popcorn Hour A-100. Plays everything you throw at it... DVDs in ISO or TS format but also all other video formats including High Definition (MKV, DIVX, MP4, Quick Time, etc)... even High Definition clips from my AVCHD camcorder straight from the SD card without any need for conversion. It will also upconvert all your content. You can plug in HDD (internal or external USB), or a USB CDROM, or Flash Card readers... can you tell I'm happy with it?
Rip your DVDs or ISOs to retain original quality and store on internal HDD or external HDD or a NAS or a networked PC... the choice is then yours.
The most versatile device on the market for the money... hands down.
Cheers.
Well the biggest for this on PS3 is that it uses FAT32, and the biggest file size that it recognises is 4GB.
Big problem for what the original poster asked for. Game over.
Well the biggest with your suggestion is that you don't read.
His not wanting to store the files on the PS3. As you may have noticed every one is talking about streaming the files. Even when they suggested PS3 Linux, still would be mounting a remote share over a network.
The big problem you'll run into with keeping menus intact on the PS3 is that the PS3's streaming media interface offers you no way to navigate from point to point on the menu screen.
You can always rip a VOB straight from the DVD, and stream it over the network using a DLNA-compatible server like TVersity. You can even open the VTS_01_0.VOB file that (usually) displays the main menu. But once you get to the menu, you can't do anything. The software interface for streaming video is different from the BD/DVD interface, and is simply not designed to let you navigate to different points on the screen and select options. So at this point, I'd say hoping for a good firmware update is sadly your best bet on PS3.
Don't forget to catalog those discs. Get something like disclib which can read your discs and put them into a database. It works great for all kinds of things. Best of all it's free. It comes from lyrasoftware.com
I like creating ISOs using RipItForMe which is basicly a wizard for both DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink.
It allows you to use the advanced ripping features of both programs to backup your DVDs.
I've backed up all my DVDs to ISO and can now browse them over the network on my HDTV set with XBMC.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RipIt4Me
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm
BTW, if any one has another couple 500GB harddrives around I could really use it. :)
"BTW, if any one has another couple 500GB harddrives around I could really use it."
That's because you didn't encode your files...this is the biggest draw back to leaving in ISO or VOB format. I have the entire seinfeld collection (roughly 8 volumes of 4 disks each with about 5 episodes = 160 GB) Mines under 50 GB because I encoded the VOB files to x264. Looks just like DVD quality but 1/4 the size.
That's why the solution is more complicated that people are making it sound. Plus streaming a VOB isn't quite right with seeking and other features because it's "faking" like its an MPEG file, and it's not.
I can't say much about how to use a PS3 to do this, but why bother when you can take an old PC gathering dust and load MythTV (Linux) on it for use as a media server. I used machines as old as Celeron 500 Mhz to do this. Install a huge HD, rip your DVDs to ISO images, and play them directly. Supports all menus and features. Has nice menus for selecting movies, plug in an IR receiver and program your learning remote.
See http://coryhammer.com/tips.php if you want more details.
I've been struggling to find an answer to this question for months. I ended up using a combination of a few solutions but I stopped archiving my discs when I realized that I was missing things like surround sound and seek support. I need a FULL solution like the one the submitter wants. Ideally through the PS3 since it touts so many media capabilities. Would be nice to have ONE device hooked to my TV and not three or four.
To the poster that asked how many DVDs we are talking about here... I haven't counted recently, but I am roughly estimating ~ 150-200 movies in our DVD library (accumulated over the years since DVD first came out). Add to that about 50 or so DVDs of TV series (Babylon 5, SG-1, Dark Angel, BSG, etc), and it becomes unwieldly to store and manage all the discs. We have a Sony disc changer, but it takes forever to find and change discs with it (at forget about cataloging: most discs you need to manually enter titles, which you then lose if things get shuffled around or you have a power outage)... it is easier just to load discs manually than use that.
I really would rather not have yet another box attached to my TV (PS3, Tivo, DVD changer) when I am already using the PS3 enjoyably in viewing torrented shows. As I stated already, it is sounding like I will need to drop the idea of accessing the DVD menus and just go with ripping individual titles from the disc. So again, what would be the easiest one-shot solution for grabbing a title with an appropiate audio stream, and cataloging it with title, description and artwork?
Ron,
Have you considered an mx-3000 with the DMX 3000 software? Basically it is a touchscreen remote that, when loaded with the proper software will give you a cover-art interface for choosing all your movies. I have a sony dvd-changer and went thought the same headache. It's worth checking out.
Here is the link to the official MX-3000 site:
http://www.universalremote.com/product_detail.php?model=34
And to the DMX software:
http://triplebsoftware.com/DMX-3000/index.htm
And to the place where you'll need to go once you get an MX-3000 to learn how to program it:
http://www.remotecentral.com
It is pricey(ebay is your friend), but worth it IMHO not just for the DVD changer control, but also the whole Home Theater control. It also does variables (for state tracking), RF (no more need for line of sight on your remote), and allows custom graphics (see the final link for free files). Though I've since moved on to Window MCE with the My Movie plugin, the above provided a great "wife-friendly" solution for many years.
-aedile-
ok, i know he wants menus and streaming but... more as a reply to the others: I have about 150 DVDs from my collection that I have used Handbrake to rip and encode; I specify on handbrake a max size of 2GB and to include subtitles (because I like them) and Handbrake outputs to MP4 that my PS3 understands, I purchased a 320GB HDD from directron.com for about $110 - replace the internal drive on the ps3 and load all my DVD into it; now I just go thru PS3 menu and find all my movies, once on the ps3 you can edit fields, I use 'album' field to type the genre of movie and sort them by 'Album' - no menu, no streaming, but quality is excelent and subtitles are there, which i couldnt do with divx.
Handbrake is especially good if you have a computer that's dual or quad core. It knows how to split the encoding across them to speed up the process.
Then, put the files on a QNAP NAS to serve them like this: http://www.qnap.com/images/products/Application/TS109AP08.htm
Now this is a REAL solution. Shows you brought your A-game. Though, you did get taken on the HDD. You can get 500 GB+ for under $100...
Has anyone tried to use a gaming adapter or wireless ethernet bridge, or even powerline adapters for the popcorn hour a100? I would think the wireless would hurt quality. I have had a few people tell me that powerline ethernet adapters work well, but i don't know anyone that has used it with the a100
Currently I use DVDFab. I have tried many DVD rippers and this one works the best.
FTW... ISO files, Virtual CD, and your favorite DVD player software.
Here's what I 'hear' works real nicely: :-)
1. Ripit4me (who got shut down)
2. DVD Decrypter (who got shut down)
3. DVD Shrink (who got shut down, notice a theme here?)
4. Virtual CD 6 or later
5. Win DVD 9
The whole process takes about 15 minutes to get a playable ISO file that can be inserted into a virtual DVD drive.
Ditch the PS3, get the Popcorn Hour and hook up a Drobo with DroboShare as your NAS. That's my plan, anyway.
One word. Kaleidescape. It's the best hands down AND it's legal, if you can afford it. Even though I install them, I can't afford it. So, the next best thing for me is a Vista Media Center with My Movies software and AnyDVD. You can even rip and archive BluRay's now as long as you have the full MyMovies license and purchase Arcsoft's Total Home Theatre software.
What I do:
-> Mac The Ripper 3.0r14m
-> Squared 5 - MPEG Streamclip 1.9.1
-> Netgear ReadyNAS Duo RND2150
It works fantastic. The MPEG4 output of Streamclip is 1.8Mbps SD DVD quality. I am slowly working through my DVD collection the only issue right now is I can not get the HTTP streaming working so the iPhones and iPods in my house can work directly from the NAS.
Best solution that I use...
I have a decent HD media center I built... so i rip the dvd to iso... mount the movie whenever i want to watch it. Its been working great ever since MCE2k5.
WHATS THE BEST WAY TO BACKUP BLU-RAY to the hard drive? Id like to back them up to the network drive so they can be accessed thru out the house via laptops, extenders, and media center pcs. Anyway to compress a blu-ray image?
ALSO
Are there any media centers out there (likely linux-based) that allow for mass backup/retrieval? A media center that would recognize a movieDVD as new(meaning not currently backed up) and back it up automagically? From a media center interface i would love to be able to surf thru all my DVDs and watch whichever one catches my eye.
I thought about ripping all of my DVD's to harddrive for instant access over the computer. The idea just sounds awesome.
Then, after looking at all of the solutions, it seems I would be wasting my time when I read about this:
http://www.roku.com/
Its a 100 dollar Netflix player, network connected. 10,000 tv and movie shows available now. They might not have some unique movies that you end up having in your collection, but how many of those would you really have? Maybe rip only your unique ones?
Anyway, I'm sure they will have like 100,000 movies available in a few years, and it will all be in HD. Way more movies than anyone I know would have in their home library.
Just a thought.
I used MyMovies in Media Center for a long time, then decided to same some space and switched over to MKV because it was the only container that supported "all" formats. I use the tool AutoMKV, which isn't perfect, but it's free and it does the job once you figure out the few small bugs. The main problem I have with it is that you can only choose a maximum of 2 audio streams or just take all of them. It's fast and the videos look and work great though and I was able to add the .mkv extension to the registry and get them to play in Media Center :)
I have two 5tb esata boxes with about 450 blu ray movies that I run from my pc to my tv via cat5. Using a the TVIX 6500 allows for perfect playback
Johnny B-
I thought the same thing about his drive purchase, as I just picked up a 640 from same outfit for 90 bucks, But he is talking about 2.5" drive to go into his PS3. those puppies are not as cheap...
(xbmc, popcorn hour owner)
OK, I have a PS3 and a NAS that will hold the movies. I created a .iso file by ripping with DVD Fab Platinum. The PS3 doesn't recognize the .iso so how do I fix that? Can I just rename .iso to something else or does it have to be converted?
rip and tversity
rip w/ ur fav s/w and TVERSITY
People... STFU about the xcrap... It's all about the PS TRIPLE!