Portable movies!

[jacqueg]

Wasn't sure where to post this, so here is where I'm putting it.

I don't believe in renting cds/books/dvds. So I know how to digitize/carry reading material and music, but I am struggling with movies. I have too many dvds to carry with me, so I'm looking at digitizing. What is stumping me is the best way to carry the digitized movies. I figure I'll need a terabyte or two. Very interested in hearing how people handle this, especially recommendations for portable storage drive(s).

 

[B and C]

I carry movies, books on tape and music on western digital and seagate portable hard drives. These are small and powered from the usb port they plug into. They may be travel drives but I make sure they are not powered on while driving. This is the last one I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MY44DJS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[RVTravel]

Carry them on hard drives or solid state drives. When ripping/encoding them you could play around with the settings to make sure the movies are around 500 to 750 megabytes per movie. Others may have more input on settings to use.

 

[jacqueg]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I was worried about using a hard drive for travel, but on second thought, since I am retaining the actual disks, it wouldn't be a disaster if the hard drive couldn't take the bumps and knocks involved in traveling.

 

[jacqueg]

Anyone use any particular software to index the movies, or do you just scan the file directory on the drive?

 

[B and C]

I have a backup hard drive with duplicates of all the movies, etc. on it so I don't have to worry too much. All my DVD's stay at the house. I used to carry my movie collection in DVD format so the folders were 4.3 Gb per movie. I used 4-4 TB and one 5 TB travel drive to hold them all. I am in the process of converting them all to MP4's using Handbrake. Now I am hoping they will all fit on 1-5 TB drive and a backup on another one. I have had 5 computers working for two weeks around the clock to get them converted. Today, two of the last three computers are finishing. The other one should be finished tomorrow.

Indexing? At the house I use MyMovies on the server but in the van they are files sorted by name. Star Wars, etc. are in a subfolder. I am working on a Pi 4+ to be my media/file server in the van and may run Emby server on it. Runs off 5V (USB powered) and is about the size of a deck of cards.

 

[Tony's Dream]

I converted all of my VHS tapes to CD to save space. I use the thin CD cases to also reduce space. When we buy CD's we take them out of the case they come in and again use the jewel cases because they are much thinner. I can fit about 150 movies in a shoe box. If I could find a way, I would transfer them over to thumb drives.

 

[maki2]

Thumb drives have been very unreliable for me, the USB interface plug is what breaks off. I would choose to use one of the high capacity SDHX cards or some other very small in size card. You can store a whole library of movies inside of a very small folding case. Plus you might want to put the card into the slot on your tablet to watch the movie rather than using a laptop and hard drive.

 

[wagoneer]

WHEN IS NOMADLAND BEING RELEASED?

 

[RVTravel]

Nomadland sometime in 2020 is all I can find.

 

[RVTravel]

B and C, what Handbrake preset or settings do you use for ripping/endocding from dvd to mp4 for your movies? Do you use "High" preset or "normal" preset for instance...

 

[B and C]

1080P fast with web optimised on. I also set the subtitles as forced for foreign and add regular closed captions. Audio is set as stereo and another track for dolby pro logic ii.

I thought there was going to be video quality loss going to mp4's but I was mistaken.

 

[66788]

Just a quick reminder that copying any commercial motion picture by any electronic means is a federal felony under the digital millennium copyright act, even if you own the original disc.  I am aware of selective prosecutions for this crime and I'm surprised this thread has not been deleted for all of the admissions made by members.

 

[hugemoth]

I find a wifi enabled hard drive to be convenient. No wires to connect, just stream the movie to any device or download. The SSK 1 tb drive I use costs about $75.

 

[RVTravel]

https://info.legalzoom.com/dvd-copyright-rules-22206.html

"Fair Use
The Fair Use Doctrine allows individuals to use DVDs and other copyrighted items so long as the use does not cause economic harm to the copyright holder. You have the right to purchase, view and show DVDs to others. Educational use, such as showing a DVD to a classroom of students, is also a typical permissible use. However, using a DVD at a series of seminars or other money-making educational venture may not be permissible.

Copying
Copyright laws allow DVDs to be copied for archival reasons. However, only one person should have access to the copy. For example, you may make a single copy of a DVD movie if you are concerned about the DVD being scratched or stolen. You may not, however, make copies of the DVD to give or sell to other people, as this use can constitute economic harm to the DVD's creator or copyright holder. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits altering a DVD for non-personal use and prohibits the use of any technology that interferes with DVD anti-piracy protection."

 

[66788]

Sorry, that is incorrect.

https://en.softonic.com/articles/rip-dvd-bluray-legal

If the DVD is encrypted, and virtually all commercial DVDs are, making a copy even for personal use is prohibited.

 

[B and C]

And you never drive over the speed limit and always wear your seatbelt.