Step 2: Digital Copies

Disclaimer – The subject of digital copies of movies heads into copyright discussions.  I do not support the use of these tools as methods for the purpose of distribution or resale of copyrighted materials, although some people can and will continue to do so.  My purpose here is to build a convenient digital library for personal use only, with material you already own.  Use these methods wisely and fairly.

So, once I had a solution for sharing video across my network (see Step 1: Roku), my next goal was to create my actual digital library.  DVDs and Blu-Rays are great, but they can’t be directly copied to a digital copy, at least not without using massive amounts of space.  The solution to this is “ripping” the disk, which is a process that not only copies the content, but also compresses/shrinks the data.  This does cause some quality loss, which is unavoidable, but with some quality tools, that can be minimized.  After ripping, using my own settings, most of my movies come out between 1.5 and 3.0 GB for a DVD, or 3 to 5 GB for a Blu-ray.  The difference is more due to the limits of the quality, I am ripping to 1280 resolution, which is a downgrade for a Blu-ray, but an upgrade for a DVD (so the DVD version dont actually reach the full 1280 resolution).  More typically, DVD are upscaled to 800-850 resolution, depending on the specific movie copy.

The actual ripping of the movie comes down to Handbrake, a freeware open source tool that is very popular these days.  I try to minimize the various settings I change, but the basic options are the 720p profile, with a couple of tweaks.  My custom profile works for both Blu-ray and DVD formats:

• Picture Tab
• Container – MP4 file, with Large File Size toggled on.
• Width – 1280 (Blu-Ray), 720 (DVD)
• Cropping – Automatic
• Anamorphic – Loose
• Video Filters
• All options Off
• Video
• Video Codec – H.264 (x264)
• Framerate – 23.976
• Quality – Constant Quality (RF:18) – this is acceptable quality for me, adjust as needed for better or worse quality
• Audio
• Two Audio Tracks
• English (AC3), AAC codec, Dolby Pro Logic II Mixdown, Auto Samplerate, 160 Bitrate, 0.0 DRC
• English (AC3), AC3 Passthru codec, AC3 Passthru Mixdown, Auto Samplerate, Auto Bitrate, 0.0 DRC
• Subtitles
• no real changes here, whatever comes in from the DVD/Blu-ray import is fine
• Chapters
• similarly, the chapter settings are imported by the DVD/Blu-ray, I include them just for completeness but don’t modify the settings
• Advanced
• no changes on this tab from the default 720p profile.

Once you have a profile configured (and you have tested and validated it), be sure to save it as a custom Profile preset.  Then the act of ripping multiple movies moves much faster.

Speaking of timing, for a typical DVD, my ripping speed is approximately 20 minutes.  For a Blu-ray, it is closer to one hour.  Most of my time unfortunately is tied up in just swapping disks, or making sure the next one is ready to go immediately.

Handbrake :  Handbrake open-source software, free as of 2/29/2012

Handbrake pretty much covers you if your library consists entirely of DVD movies.  However, if you are looking to rip Blu-Ray, then you have to deal with an extra layer of copy protection, placed on the disk by the manufacturer to prevent piracy, duplication, and distribution.  For this, my solution is AnyDVD HD, a program which clears the disk so that it can be played and viewed on computers using various video programs.  For example, with AnyDVD HD, I can use VLC to watch the movies (or copy the entire disk to harddrive, and view the file from there).

Unfortunately, for ripping Blu-ray copies, AnyDVD HD is pretty much a requirement.  Once installed, it just runs in the background, and each time to insert a blu-ray, it immediately goes to work and pre-processes the disk.  After a few seconds, the blu-ray opens normally in the software of your choice.

So other than the need to have AnyDVD HD running, for Blu-ray disks, the process is really the same.  Insert disk, select your custom profile in Handbrake, choose an output file, hit Start.

AnyDVD HD : AnyDVD HD software, 79 EUR for a two year license or 119 EUR for a lifetime license, as of 2/29/2012

These days, computer drive space is considered cheap, and more and more options for media are becoming digital.  Thru either digital downloads or copies of your movies, tv shows, and music, removing the disk and going to an all digital library is easier than ever.

It was specifically this goal I set out to accomplish at the end of 2011, with some spare XMas cash and a bit of technical know how.  My focus was to find a way to easily share all of my movie library across my computer network to any TV in the house.  Sadly, it wasnt quite a easy as “drag and drop”, though it turns out it isnt that much harder either.

Step 1: Roku

The first step for me at least was figuring out a way to actually display video files on my TV.  For several years now, I have used a Playstation 3 and its network and blu-ray capabilities, but been hampered either with relatively slow transfer speeds or having to find the disk when I want to watch a movie.  For the most part, I was happy with that, it just wasnt worth the extra effort.  But late in 2011, we started considering dropping Netflix and moving to Amazon Prime streaming video (thanks to the wife’s new Kindle Fire).  Unfortunately, Playstation doesn’t run an Amazon app.  My investigation led to several other limitations of the Playstation, primarily in the form of limited application options.  Don’t get me wrong, the Playstation is an excellent platform, and works very well.  It was just becoming a bit limiting for the options we wanted.

So, how to display video on a TV with multiple options for video source?  In steps Roku, a small, inexpensive little box that plugs into the TV with a simple HDMI cable, and to the network with wireless.  Depending on the model, it can transmit either 720p or 1080p video, though you are of course limited by your network bandwidth.  In our case, we opted for the Roku 2 XD model, not because I wanted 1080p video now, but because I wanted the potential option in the future.

Plug it in, configure your network, and setup your free user account, and suddenly you have a long list of new applications, including both Amazon Prime and Netflix.  There are of course many pay channels as well, but for my purposes, I was trying to cut costs, so I have ignored all of those.

Netflix streaming worked great, a few test movies had no issues at all, and if anything, the interface was as good if not better than on the Playstation.

Roku : Roku 2 XD, $79.99 as of 1/10/2012