How can I backup my DVDs for quick & easy access?

[Arc]

using dvd shrink when you do the back up uncheck create seperate audio and video folders
then have it save in a folder with the name you want
then in media center go to movies tab right click then add movies select folder to watch

i have a folder on my hard drive called movies then in that i have a folders for each movie

it also helps to add a picture in the folder and rename it to folder
give me a bit of time i can post some screen shots of what i have but it will take me a bit

Almost!! The best way to create a movie library. Do U know about the software "HANDBRAKE" ? Its the easiest and finest way to rip your DVds to XVID or MKV. Obviously those formats take a place much less than even a shrinked DVD, but doesnt compromise with video or audio quality. My suggestion to make a DVD library
1. Rip your DVD using handBreak (or you may try virtual dubMod)
2. Download the Album Art for that movie title, edit it as a square pixel (say 500*500)Using Nero photosnap Viewer or The GIMP or Photoshop.
3. Place the album art it the same folder as the dvdrip, rename the image as "folder" and Hide it ( it will give a nice folder view as large or extra large icon) .
4. Add to media center Movie Library , and get such a nice look.

 

[Arc]

There is another software called KMPLAYER which can make movie library nicely. The library looks somehow like the coverflow view of the MAC OS X . As well as HANDBREAK, KMPLAYER is also free. It takes random snapshot of the movie title to generate thumbnail, so no need to have an album art, too.

 

[Beastie]

XVID or MKV

i do not want xvid or mkv
the way i have been doing it is fine it allows me to have all the dvd features that are on the disk
i used to rip them to divx
but i wanted something that i can have the entire dvd feature with

as far as how it looks the pic i took is on my gaming machine
my videos are on another computer that i watch them with and record my tv shows on
i use media browser on that one

 

[JohnnyScience]

this is inside my movie folder

this is inside one of the movie folders

this is what i get with media center

That actually looks pretty sweet. I LOVE media center - but I can never use it because it locks up the screen/mouse. I have multiple monitors, so I cant be locked onto one monitor with the mouse.

Is there any way to change that?

Arc I've tried Handbrake with Ubuntu & never got it to work. Plus that sounds like a lot of work to get pictures etc.

So if I cant get media center to not lock a screen, how do I create files that will just allow me to double click ONE file & it places the movie?

 

[valtonray]

try handbrake. store them in your video file or whatever you want to do with them. if your using 7mc point it to your directory and they will all show up. if you want posters instead of icons, find the image you want to use, put each video file into it's own folder named for the movie and add the corresponding cover art changing the files name to "foler.jpeg"

 

[Arc]

try handbrake. store them in your video file or whatever you want to do with them. if your using 7mc point it to your directory and they will all show up. if you want posters instead of icons, find the image you want to use, put each video file into it's own folder named for the movie and add the corresponding cover art changing the files name to "foler.jpeg"

My opinion goes with you. HandBrake works nice in windows 7. If a movie is ripped using handbrake, and not imported to media center, just double click on it.... it will begin to play. The folder view or icon view is a matter of customization. If you dont want it, no problem at all.

 

[JohnnyScience]

try handbrake. store them in your video file or whatever you want to do with them. if your using 7mc point it to your directory and they will all show up. if you want posters instead of icons, find the image you want to use, put each video file into it's own folder named for the movie and add the corresponding cover art changing the files name to "foler.jpeg"

My opinion goes with you. HandBrake works nice in windows 7. If a movie is ripped using handbrake, and not imported to media center, just double click on it.... it will begin to play. The folder view or icon view is a matter of customization. If you dont want it, no problem at all.

Right but I'm not just trying to get this to play on Media center, but also all other players.

Also as I mentioned, when I tried HB on Ubuntu, I was never able to do it.

So why cant I use DVDShrink to copy the DVD into a single icon that I can double click?

 

[Phone Man]

Ok so I finally had a chance to try out DVDShrink and I'm a bit stuck.

I ran through the process to save everything to my HDD, but then I was left with an empty AUDIO_TS file & a VIDEO_TS file with a bunch of .VOB files.

I wanted to back this up so that everything was all under one file/icon that I can double click to just start automatically playing the movie.

So how do I change these files to do that?

What you have is the way the DVD format is setup. Look under the VIDEO_TS folder and look for VIDEO_TS.IFO file. Click on this file and it will play the DVD. You could make a shortcut to this file and place it where ever you want.

Jim

 

[JohnnyScience]

Ok so I finally had a chance to try out DVDShrink and I'm a bit stuck.

I ran through the process to save everything to my HDD, but then I was left with an empty AUDIO_TS file & a VIDEO_TS file with a bunch of .VOB files.

I wanted to back this up so that everything was all under one file/icon that I can double click to just start automatically playing the movie.

So how do I change these files to do that?

What you have is the way the DVD format is setup. Look under the VIDEO_TS folder and look for VIDEO_TS.IFO file. Click on this file and it will play the DVD. You could make a shortcut to this file and place it where ever you want.

Jim

Isnt there a way to just combine all of the files into a single file to click on?

It seems like it would keep it more neat & organized that way too. Instead of having to search through a bunch of video files to find a single file. It just seems very time consuming & more clicks than it should.

 

[Arc]

In DVD format, perhaps not . If a movie is a very short one, you may encode it in dvd format, it may contain in a single .vob. But for a normal sized movie, usually there is more than one .vob files.

But if you can copy a movie and use a program that can join .vob files, what you want may happen ( it is more laborious than ripping a dvd)

 

[JohnnyScience]

In DVD format, perhaps not . If a movie is a very short one, you may encode it in dvd format, it may contain in a single .vob. But for a normal sized movie, usually there is more than one .vob files.

But if you can copy a movie and use a program that can join .vob files, what you want may happen ( it is more laborious than ripping a dvd)

hmm ok.

Well obviously if I use Media center to play the files, they can stay in the .vob format

But what if I want to load a movie up on an iphone?

They wont play like normal will they?

 

[Arc]

All information relating to video formats supported by iphone and the appropriate resolution of the video may be had here : The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats | iLounge Article

In this field (dont take it otherwise) , handbrake is the best option , too

 

[JohnnyScience]

All information relating to video formats supported by iphone and the appropriate resolution of the video may be had here : The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats | iLounge Article

In this field (dont take it otherwise) , handbrake is the best option , too

Ok so if I want this to be possible, I need to keep two versions of the same movie?

One with a higher quality for playback on the computer & 46" lcd tv & then another version for the iphone?

Or does handbrake create a version that will work on both yet only make one file?

 

[Arc]

All information relating to video formats supported by iphone and the appropriate resolution of the video may be had here : The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats | iLounge Article

In this field (dont take it otherwise) , handbrake is the best option , too

Ok so if I want this to be possible, I need to keep two versions of the same movie?

One with a higher quality for playback on the computer & 46" lcd tv & then another version for the iphone?

Or does handbrake create a version that will work on both yet only make one file?

Its all about screen resolution. As the iphone's screen in smaller, it needs small resolutions, and as the lcd display is bigger, it needs a larger resolution.

You may play a larger resolution movie in iphone, too. But it will take a lot of unneeded space, and the video output will not be perfect. On the contrary, you may play a small resolution movie in your lcd (by clicking "videos-->fit video to player on resize), but it will be a bit hazy .

So, I think it is better to have a same movie in different resolutions for different players

 

[JohnnyScience]

All information relating to video formats supported by iphone and the appropriate resolution of the video may be had here : The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats | iLounge Article

In this field (dont take it otherwise) , handbrake is the best option , too

Ok so if I want this to be possible, I need to keep two versions of the same movie?

One with a higher quality for playback on the computer & 46" lcd tv & then another version for the iphone?

Or does handbrake create a version that will work on both yet only make one file?

Its all about screen resolution. As the iphone's screen in smaller, it needs small resolutions, and as the lcd display is bigger, it needs a larger resolution.

You may play a larger resolution movie in iphone, too. But it will take a lot of unneeded space, and the video output will not be perfect. On the contrary, you may play a small resolution movie in your lcd (by clicking "videos-->fit video to player on resize), but it will be a bit hazy .

So, I think it is better to have a same movie in different resolutions for different players

Hmm ok.

So I can copy the dvd via dvdshrink & get a single file that can be played in Media Center/Player etc

What would I then use to format that file into an iphone friendly format if I wish to?

 

[Arc]

My Choice is HandBrake. If you dont like it , you may use this :
iPhone Video Converter, iPhone Converter, iPhone Movie Converter
But it is not free.

EDIT: DVD Shrink does not provide a single file. It compresses the video_ts folder.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Yeah I'm not into it if its not free.

So far I've found dvdshrink to be much easier to use than HB. I did only try HB in Ubuntu though...

I may be open to try it again if I had a really easy walk thru.

If I copy via dvdshrink, will these movies be able to be watched in Ubuntu with no issues?

 

[Arc]

If you have to create a single .vob file, you may try this :
VOB Joiner - join VOB files, merge vob merger, combine vob combiner, Camcorder, MiniDV

 

[Arc]

Yeah I'm not into it if its not free.

So far I've found dvdshrink to be much easier to use than HB. I did only try HB in Ubuntu though...

I may be open to try it again if I had a really easy walk thru.

If I copy via dvdshrink, will these movies be able to be watched in Ubuntu with no issues?

Obviously not(I mean they will play in linux with no problem) . And believe me, handbrake is most easy to work with. Have a try it windows 7, if there is any problem, then what for the forum is?

 

[JohnnyScience]

using dvd shrink when you do the back up uncheck create seperate audio and video folders
then have it save in a folder with the name you want
then in media center go to movies tab right click then add movies select folder to watch

i have a folder on my hard drive called movies then in that i have a folders for each movie

it also helps to add a picture in the folder and rename it to folder
give me a bit of time i can post some screen shots of what i have but it will take me a bit

I there no way to rip the artwork with the dvd so I dont have to worry about finding it & adding it in later manually? Seems like a lot more work than it should be.