Too many DVD's

bizzy_lizzie

Hi
We have a ton of DVD's and do watch a lot of films but I wondered if it is possible to copy the films to a hard drive and keep them. Films would be easier to find and take up a lot less space. I was thinking a dedicated PC etc in the sitting room, all rigged up to the TV. My son says its a nice idea in theory but doesnt think it is as simple to rip DVD's as it is CD's.

Any advice gratefully received please

Thank you

Lizzie

Oblivion

I use a free bit of software called BitRipper to convert DVDs into .AVI files to store on my hard drives. Some DVDs have DRM (copy prevention) that prevents this process however.

It's a slow process when it does work.

http://bitripper.com/download.html

matttye

I copy and paste the contents of DVDs containing CCTV at work and put them into folders on the desktop. This works absolutely fine and they can be played from that folder.

Not sure if it will work for DVDs containing films; never tried it. Might be worth a go though.

bizzy_lizzie

Ah right,so its a deliberate thing to stop you pirating, hence copying the CCTV works as normal. That makes sense obviously. I only want to rip my own discs and then stash them in the attic out of the way but it might not be so simple.

bizzy_lizzie

oops meant to say 'and thank you both'.

googler

You don't want a PC in the living room - you want a media player. Look up 'WD TV' on Amazon or similar places.

The WD TV live spec says the video formats it will play are

Video - AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264)

So, find ripping software to convert DVDs to one of these, copy to portable HDD, connect portable HDD to WD TV, play through telly.

bizzy_lizzie

Ah right. I am glad I asked them.Back to google. Thank you

So does that mean you play the films on Media PLayer but you store them on a PC elsewhere?

kwikbreaks

The media player reads external usb hard drives. Some have network access so could read a networked drive too. Some have iPlayer support. You could store the videos on a PC and transfer them to usb drives or even usb sticks but itmakes more sense to just keep them on external drive(s).

S0litaire

It's easy to do, but time consuming! Depending on the speed of your PC it can take 20 mins to twice the length of the move! to rip a DVD.

I'd use a program called "Handbrake" it's free and easy to use.

Once it's been ripped you can put it in a PC or an external drive that has a network connection.

Then you can use a PC /Media player/ or the TV itself (if its a smart one that is!) to play back on the screen.

bizzy_lizzie

A media player to play
An external hard drive to store the discs
A reasonably powerful computer and associated ripper software to get the files on the hard drive in the first place.
Sorted.
Thank you all most kindly, I have learnt a lot in a very short time here.
Lizzie

[Deleted User]

bizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Thank you all most kindly, I have learnt a lot in a very short time here.

Having a "ton" of DVDs means you'll have to spend an inordinate amount of time transferring them to the other medium.
Personally, I wouldn't bother...