Movie Collections + Kids = Media Center Idea?

[Cajungaltx]

Okay - I have a 12 year old, and a 2 year old.

The 2 year old watches the same movies, over and over and over. The dvd's get thrown in the dvd player, then tossed on top of the t.v. until we change it out to the other movie she wants.

The 12 year old - she's much better at it - she actually organized the movies into this cool holder I got - but it's a file folder kind of thing (drops in, hangs on tabs) and although it's cool, and takes up less space - it's annoying to flip through it to find the movie.

Tried the 'binder' book thing - same thing.

So - I'm curious if anyone has burned their dvd collections/VHS tapes to a hard drive to setup a media 'center' and then make it usable through their t.v.

Pro's/Cons?

I like the concept of being able to store the DVD's in the cabinet, so that they don't continue to get scratched up from use... just am not sure how user friendly it would be.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

depends... how are your TV's hooked up?
Are you looking to do a whole house solution?
You running CAT5 to them too for IPTV or are you running a centralized media connection cabinet or switch cabinet (normally buried in a closet somewhere)?
OR
are you only looking to do this to a single tv?

[Cajungaltx]

Just the living room t.v. - we don't have t.v. in any other rooms.
We have a Mitsubishi giant box t.v.... lol.

It's huge. For Christmas, we may be getting a LCD flat panel. *grin*

But it hooks up with component cables - I think.

[Peacock]

I have the sort of setup you are talking about...but I have a Xbox 360 hooked up to my TV, and Windows Vista Ultimate as my workstation, so my xbox works as my media extender connected to the TV. We watch movies on it, and you can download from the web on the xbox certain things. Not bad....

So you will need some sort of media device / extender that connects to your TV, and is networked to your computer if you decide to use your computer as the main storage device.

[groovyone]

One of my friends with destructive kids burns his DVDs and lets them do whatever with the copies.

Sounds like a good excues to get Blu-ray. They are more durable.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by groovyone

One of my friends with destructive kids burns his DVDs and lets them do whatever with the copies.

Sounds like a good excues to get Blu-ray. They are more durable.

I could do that - but it's not just my 12 year old - changing out dvd's for a 2 year old who really just wants 'background' noise while she plays is easier for ME if the dvd's are on top the t.v.... lol.

Cajungaltx added 5 Minutes and 31 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by Peacock

I have the sort of setup you are talking about...but I have a Xbox 360 hooked up to my TV, and Windows Vista Ultimate as my workstation, so my xbox works as my media extender connected to the TV. We watch movies on it, and you can download from the web on the xbox certain things. Not bad....

So you will need some sort of media device / extender that connects to your TV, and is networked to your computer if you decide to use your computer as the main storage device.

I have a spare laptop sitting on a shelf - could I potentially hook that up as the media device/extender - and then use it to access my work station for movies? Or even an external hard drive with the movies on it?

What programs are required?

[prncfarquad]

I have a win xp box connected via a VGA cable to my new LCD I just got. I have converted all of my movies to mp4 (cucusoft) and have them stored on that machine. I also have all of my itunes on it with play lists set up for when we entertain.

All audio runs through my stereo.

Now I will say this. converted movies good enough to play on a tv take up about 1 gig and they are not HD quality, the actual DVD is better. but for having them ready for my iPhone and playing them on TV it is just fine.

and I did this on a machine that was free and only running 512mb of ram. so it is not a super PC

[Cajungaltx]

Okay - I think I'll start burning them, and see how it works.

Originally Posted by prncfarquad

I have a win xp box connected via a VGA cable to my new LCD I just got. I have converted all of my movies to mp4 (cucusoft) and have them stored on that machine. I also have all of my itunes on it with play lists set up for when we entertain.

All audio runs through my stereo.

Now I will say this. converted movies good enough to play on a tv take up about 1 gig and they are not HD quality, the actual DVD is better. but for having them ready for my iPhone and playing them on TV it is just fine.

and I did this on a machine that was free and only running 512mb of ram. so it is not a super PC

[Flea77]

The best compressors for doing this are XVID or DIVX, either will get you 1.5-3.0GB per movie in pretty dang good quality. In theory, you could get about 300 movies or so on a 750GB hard drive. Of course, you need some way to back up all your hard work so you do not have to convert them again. Many companies make media extenders such as Dlink and Netgear which can pull files off a PC in another room and display them on the TV. Good software to manage your collections for free and share them to the extenders can be found online, such as Tversity.

On another note, you do realize that it is illegal to rip copyrighted DVDs right? They could (assuming they ever caught you) nail you for up to $200,000 and/or 5 years in prison for EACH copy, yes, even if you never share them or make a dime at it. Not to mention the whole "is this what you want to teach your kids" aspect.

Allan

[zeroendless]

I have a spare laptop sitting on a shelf - could I potentially hook that up as the media device/extender - and then use it to access my work station for movies? Or even an external hard drive with the movies on it?

What programs are required?

My setup used to be Elby apps to rip rented movies...but i have deleted multi-Terabytes of DVDs since then, ain't got the time to watch them anyway...

AnyDVD to rip DVD copy-protected code, then CloneDVD 2 to remove junks, previews clips then copy the full, non-compressed DVD movie into hard drive folder. For playback, VLC is free and can play movie via folder.

[toverman]

We have the same issues with DVDs (my kids are 6 and 2). We've lost a couple to breakage and scratches because they don't realize how fragile they are. But my solution is that we buy a movie once; when it's unusable it goes away FOREVER. :-)

[bobby71]

I've got my DVD collection ripped to several HD's and all are accessible via Windows 7 Media Center. It's quite slick, but was a pain in the neck to install. The coolest part about it all is seeing my 4-yr old grab the remote, change the input to the Media Center, click on "My Movies", then browse the DVD covers (childrens movies show up first, by default) and click on the movie she wants to watch. Within seconds the movie starts. I nearly shed a tear the first time I saw her do it on her own. ;)
I run an Extender in the bedroom, and it's been heck trying to stream movies to it. It's finally working though.
All our photos, home videos, music, recorded tv, and movies are accessible on our living room and bedroom TVs thru Windows Media Center. Really slick, but not for the faint of heart.

[knowimagination]

Western Digital has a new digital tv device that you hook to your computer, and then hook an external drive with your movies to that and it is supposed to have a really cool interface. Almost apple tv esque. Might be something to look into

[Lupe Talamantez]

Make duplicates. Let them play and/or destroy as many of those as they want. Keep the masters stored away.
Putting them on a hard drive introduces other possibilities that may turn out to be negative or positive.
Back when music CD's were popular with my teens, I learned that keeping the master intact was the important factor. Be it music or a movie, buying spindles of CD's is way cheaper than buying another master.
Though I don't think that inexpensive Blue Ray burners are yet available, I get my blank DVD and CD discs from http://www.supermediastore.com/
Good luck in solving your issue.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by Flea77

The best compressors for doing this are XVID or DIVX, either will get you 1.5-3.0GB per movie in pretty dang good quality. In theory, you could get about 300 movies or so on a 750GB hard drive. Of course, you need some way to back up all your hard work so you do not have to convert them again. Many companies make media extenders such as Dlink and Netgear which can pull files off a PC in another room and display them on the TV. Good software to manage your collections for free and share them to the extenders can be found online, such as Tversity.

On another note, you do realize that it is illegal to rip copyrighted DVDs right? They could (assuming they ever caught you) nail you for up to $200,000 and/or 5 years in prison for EACH copy, yes, even if you never share them or make a dime at it. Not to mention the whole "is this what you want to teach your kids" aspect.

Allan

My understanding is that fair use hasn't been tested in the courts, at least not as far as backing up your own purchased dvds. So the 'it's illegal' answer isn't perfectly clear cut.

I interpret fair use to include the right to make copies for one's own use. Of course, the folks that oversee that industry might disagree.

To me, it's like burning my cd's to my hard drive to put on my iphone. I paid for them, I own the music, if I want to put a compilation cd to listen to in my car of the 80's top hits... it's legal for me to do that. It's when I burn it, distribute it, or sell it that the fit hits the shan. ;-)

But as far as I'm aware, no one has been prosecuted or sued for backing up movies they own. Now - if you do the file share thing - that's an entirely DIFFERENT matter.