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Disc Rental Services in 2021 - What do you use?

I'm so addicted to buying DVDs and Blu-rays from Amazon, it's not funny. My daughter laughs at me and I say, "you won't be laughing when I die and you inherit this mess." She says she doesn't mine. I have a 5-bedroom house and I'm running out of room to store them!
Buy a bigger house, so you can store all of your DVDs and Blu-rays!!

:)
 
I hope you people don't mind me jumping in here, but I guess I have to start somewhere.....This old geezer is in the same boat as what's been said here, my DVD/BD collection is around 10K discs now and my AS collection is growing.

As I've been patiently backing up my discs with the other Red Fox software, I need to start thinking about:

1. Organizing this info in some type of data base - that can be shared with others.

2. Start figuring out how which type of NAS server / storage to use

3. Should I back up my discs as ISO's or MP4's?

4. Use what to stream it?

I'd really appreciate any advice and guidance, and leads to the right forum for this conversation.
As far as ISOs or MP4s, have you thought of MKV?

It's a container like MP4, but it can hold a lot more info than MP4s can. You can use stuff like CloneBD or MakeMKV to make an MKV, which can play on PowerDVD if you have it. Also, Windows 10, by default, can play MKVs natively by itself.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I wasn't trying to open a rabbit hole or anything, just looking for some guidance on how to move forward not that I have several 12TB discs full, half ISO's. As some of you shared, there are a lot of options out there, and I got burned out on info overload since I have no experience with any of this. I also don't have any one local who I can discuss this with, especially since they consider me to be their "go to tech guy". I may not have the background in this tech like you guys, but I'm not afraid to learn.
 
I really appreciate everyone's input! I wasn't trying to open a rabbit hole or anything. It's just that I've filled up several 12TB HDDs, half ISOs & MP4s from my disc collection. Now I have some with AS MP4s. And I gotta figure out how to put them to use now.
 
1. I just use an Excel spreadsheet. It has VBA scripts into to show cover art for the current line. I see a lot of people are using EMDB. I'm planning on looking into that.
2. I use an 8-bay QNAP. I use to LOVE it, but lately QNAP has been installing more and more crap you can't uninstall (I should never have upgraded the firmware). But all in all, it works well.
3. I have two sets of backups, the pristine rips and the transcoded MKVs. I don't do ISOs as I don't care about being able to recreate the disc, nor do I care about 3D, or the extra space a folder rip may take up. I just find folder rips easier, but I know many here disagree (which is fine).
4. I used to a WDTV, which I LOVED but it's getting long in the tooth. It doesn't handle h265, etc. I am currently using a Nvidia Shield Pro and Kodi (the guy who maintains the Amber skin was nice enough to make a WDTV-like view for me). I also have Plex on my NAS, so my daughter can watch stuff on Roku when she visits.

DrXenos, what to you mean in your #3 about your backups? What's the difference between a 'pristine rip' and a 'transcoded MKV'?

Right now, I have been backing up my discs as ISOs, to act as the backup to the disc. Then I would make MP4 rips of those (this way I also know the ISO is a good copy).

Then for playback I would connect a HDD to the OPPO in order to view the movie on my TV. I like this arrangement because I can use the OPPO remote to control playback functions. Which is a important consideration for me. Is that what the Roku provides?
 
DrXenos, what to you mean in your #3 about your backups? What's the difference between a 'pristine rip' and a 'transcoded MKV'?

Right now, I have been backing up my discs as ISOs, to act as the backup to the disc. Then I would make MP4 rips of those (this way I also know the ISO is a good copy).

Then for playback I would connect a HDD to the OPPO in order to view the movie on my TV. I like this arrangement because I can use the OPPO remote to control playback functions. Which is a important consideration for me. Is that what the Roku provides?

I mean when I rip a disc with AnyDVD, I keep those results as is. I have several reasons for this. It's convenient because sometimes I want to retranscode a disc and ripping can be time consuming. It backs up the disc for safekeeping especially for MODs, and frankly, I have some discs I don't think I could get a 2nd successful rip out of (e.g., a bad or finicky disc that only drive out of 4 was able to handle). After I rip a disc, it gets packed away in a box (except of big boxed sets, which go on a shelf). Keeping a backup, I don't have to go dig that disc out again, if I need to rerip it.

The 2nd set of backups are for everything on the NAS, such as the transcoded rips. Retranscoding everything because an issue with the NAS would be time consuming (I use RAID 6, which mitigates the risk, but RAID isn't a backup) This also backs up things that aren't on disc, like AnyStream downloads. It also backs up all my scripts. Each disc has its own script written in my own language. If I need to retranscode something, I can just grab the script and disc, and with very little effort, recreate all the work that went into transcoding in the first place (figuring out title numbers, desired tracks, merging titles, any special issues for a particular disc, etc). For people that just want the movie/show, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I love special features and I've found that they can sometimes be particularly nasty to get off the disc (I have certain disc where only one given tool out of a dozen can actually "see" a particular special feature). The scripts make it easy to document this effort.

As for the Roku, it's a media streamer. It's a great streamer, but it's not good with local content. It uses a hardware decoder, so doesn't support a lot of formats and can't be updated for new ones. It also doesn't support SAMBA. But it does support Plex. So, by running a Plex server on my NAS, anything with a Plex client like the Roku, can stream anything on the NAS. But for me, I like something with a nice remote with actual media buttons (not just play and stop, but fast forward, rewind, chapter skip, etc.). I've always preferred my WDTV, because it has a great remote. But I want to move to h265 someday, and the WDTV doesn't support it. So, I bought an Nvidia Shield Pro and a universal remote. It's decent and also supports the newer standards.
 
What you just said DrXenos is where I want to get to. I have experienced the same thing about ripping, especially the bonus features. And I am now at the point where they are just as important and the main feature! My plan is to have completely separate backup discs from the everyday working ones. After reading your post, that appears to be where I am at the moment. And thanks for the info about the Nvidia Shield Pro. That is why I was hooking up a working HDD to my OPPO, just so I could use the remote! But in order for it to work, everything (main feature & bonuses) had to be in MP4 format. Which is why I was wondering about ISO's. I was hoping that I could playback an ISO and use the remote for the feature & bonus items without having to create separate files for each.

Now, I have another question: I several posts about "transcoding" and "scripts". If I'm understanding things, the trancoding part is creating a MP4 or MKV, right? And what is a script and why is that important?
 
What you just said DrXenos is where I want to get to. I have experienced the same thing about ripping, especially the bonus features. And I am now at the point where they are just as important and the main feature! My plan is to have completely separate backup discs from the everyday working ones. After reading your post, that appears to be where I am at the moment. And thanks for the info about the Nvidia Shield Pro. That is why I was hooking up a working HDD to my OPPO, just so I could use the remote! But in order for it to work, everything (main feature & bonuses) had to be in MP4 format. Which is why I was wondering about ISO's. I was hoping that I could playback an ISO and use the remote for the feature & bonus items without having to create separate files for each.

Now, I have another question: I several posts about "transcoding" and "scripts". If I'm understanding things, the trancoding part is creating a MP4 or MKV, right? And what is a script and why is that important?

Transcoding simply means converting from one encoding to another. H264 and H265 are MUCH smaller than the encodings used for DVDs and Blu-ray, but can be of the same quality. Plus, transcoding can (emphasis intended!) fix issues such as interlacing and telecining (or to restore the proper frame rate, such as a movie filmed in 24 fps and released on a disc in 25 fps).

But you don't need to transcode, if you don't care about the size. There are tools such as MakeMKV, ffmpeg, and mkvmerge which can extract a title from a disc and put it in a container without transcoding.

Another advantage is simply that a lot of DVD and Blu-ray menus SUCK, and being able to just play what you want directly is nice. I HATE discs that make you sit through several seconds of silly animation before playing the movie (and forget about all the trailers and warnings...). I really HATE discs that try to make to play some silly game or solve some puzzle before you can watch the special features. Plus, there are the Easter eggs which are hard to find on purpose...
 
Now, I have another question: I several posts about "transcoding" and "scripts". If I'm understanding things, the trancoding part is creating a MP4 or MKV, right? And what is a script and why is that important?

As for scripting, many people use scripts (in some language or another) to make the laborious task of transcoding discs easier.

When I first starting to transcode my collection, I found that a lot of research went into figuring out the contents of a disc and how I wanted it transcoded. I wanted to preserved this information. As I said in a previous post, extracting the special features from some discs was a herculean task. I have discs where only DVD Shrink, or CloneDVD, or MakeMKV, etc., could "see" and extract the feature.

Sometimes I've found I want to re-transcoding something for various reasons (missing tracks, different options, remove visible scan lines, wrong title, etc.). Having to rerip and investigate a disc was a wait of time.

Plus, some discs need more care than just extract and transcode titles. Some examples:

1. The extended version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy have each movie split across two discs. My script will transcode both pieces and then merge them.
2. The Roswell TV Show has all the music changes (ugh, I hate that!). My scripts will extract each episode, remux them with the original audio, and then transcode.
3. The DVD of the Pelican Brief is a "flipper" (1/2 of the film is on each side of the disc). Like in #1, its script transcode and merge the halves.
4. I have a french version of Highlander 2 (yeah, it sucks, but I like complete collections) that is the only version (that I know of) with the original version of the film. It is a so-called "PAL" disc, which is sped up from the original frame rate by 4%. Its script will retranscode it, while fixing the frame rate (and readjust the audio pitch).
 
Transcoding simply means converting from one encoding to another. H264 and H265 are MUCH smaller than the encodings used for DVDs and Blu-ray, but can be of the same quality. Plus, transcoding can (emphasis intended!) fix issues such as interlacing and telecining (or to restore the proper frame rate, such as a movie filmed in 24 fps and released on a disc in 25 fps).

But you don't need to transcode, if you don't care about the size. There are tools such as MakeMKV, ffmpeg, and mkvmerge which can extract a title from a disc and put it in a container without transcoding.

Another advantage is simply that a lot of DVD and Blu-ray menus SUCK, and being able to just play what you want directly is nice. I HATE discs that make you sit through several seconds of silly animation before playing the movie (and forget about all the trailers and warnings...). I really HATE discs that try to make to play some silly game or solve some puzzle before you can watch the special features. Plus, there are the Easter eggs which are hard to find on purpose...



Your replies are really helping me and things are starting to clear up now about transcoding. With the quantity of discs that I have, it sounds like transcoding will save me a lot of money on physical storage for my working copies - right?

So far, here's what I understand:

1. First you rip the disc with ANYDVD (HD) and keep that as the "original".

2. Then you transcode a copy of that to create a H264 or H265 copy. What program(s) do you use for this process?

3. Then you convert that file to a MKV, MP4 for your working discs?
 
Your replies are really helping me and things are starting to clear up now about transcoding. With the quantity of discs that I have, it sounds like transcoding will save me a lot of money on physical storage for my working copies - right?

So far, here's what I understand:

1. First you rip the disc with ANYDVD (HD) and keep that as the "original".

2. Then you transcode a copy of that to create a H264 or H265 copy. What program(s) do you use for this process?

3. Then you convert that file to a MKV, MP4 for your working discs?

Thank you! And you're close. 2 & 3 are the same. The MP4 or MKV file is the end result of transcoding.

I use a bunch of tools, depending on what the disc needs. 99% of the time, it's just AnyDVD, Handbrake, and mkvmerge. I rip with AnyDVD and transcode with HandBrake. I always remux the result (if Blu-ray) with mkvmerge because my WDTV won't play PGS subtitles unless they are compressed. HandBrake won't do that, but simply remuxing with mkvmerge will.
 
Your replies are really helping me and things are starting to clear up now about transcoding. With the quantity of discs that I have, it sounds like transcoding will save me a lot of money on physical storage for my working copies - right?

So far, here's what I understand:

1. First you rip the disc with ANYDVD (HD) and keep that as the "original".

2. Then you transcode a copy of that to create a H264 or H265 copy. What program(s) do you use for this process?

3. Then you convert that file to a MKV, MP4 for your working discs?

I forget what DVD is encoded in but I am pretty sure Blu-Rays are encoded in 264 and UHD in 265. To use a program like handbrake is to reencode in one of those but you compress it or can to some degree or another depending on your settings and then of course it drop it into an MP4 or MKV container.

I use AnyDVD and handbrake together for my DVD and Blu-Ray collection. I used to shoot for around a 10mb bit-rate but I have found better quality is found with close to 20mb but I have been transcoding Blu-Ray to 265 when I do that. With my UHD discs however I have been copying them lossless with CloneBD since I am after the uber quality and reencoding those takes a long time.

I use MKV for most everything when I do anything to it.

And this not to say this is right or wrong what I am saying, it's just what I personally do.
 
Thank you! And you're close. 2 & 3 are the same. The MP4 or MKV file is the end result of transcoding.

I use a bunch of tools, depending on what the disc needs. 99% of the time, it's just AnyDVD, Handbrake, and mkvmerge. I rip with AnyDVD and transcode with HandBrake. I always remux the result (if Blu-ray) with mkvmerge because my WDTV won't play PGS subtitles unless they are compressed. HandBrake won't do that, but simply remuxing with mkvmerge will.


Whoa, it looks like I've been wondering in your shadow for a while now. I toyed with handbrake and mkv but did not really realize what they did or why I need them. Now, after chatting with you and the others today, a lot of things have fallen into place and are starting to make sense.

It looks like I've got to go and try this new knowledge out and I'll get back to all of you soon with an update and more questions!

Today has really been a good and blessed day.
 
I forget what DVD is encoded in but I am pretty sure Blu-Rays are encoded in 264 and UHD in 265. To use a program like handbrake is to reencode in one of those but you compress it or can to some degree or another depending on your settings and then of course it drop it into an MP4 or MKV container.

I use AnyDVD and handbrake together for my DVD and Blu-Ray collection. I used to shoot for around a 10mb bit-rate but I have found better quality is found with close to 20mb but I have been transcoding Blu-Ray to 265 when I do that. With my UHD discs however I have been copying them lossless with CloneBD since I am after the uber quality and reencoding those takes a long time.

I use MKV for most everything when I do anything to it.

And this not to say this is right or wrong what I am saying, it's just what I personally do.


And I'm not judging you DarkQuark, if it works for you - that's what counts. And I appreciate the extra titbits you just explained.

I have some experimenting to do so I feel comfortable using Handbrake and mkv. That sounds like a good way to while away the upcoming heat wave we are expecting later this week.
 
And I'm not judging you DarkQuark, if it works for you - that's what counts. And I appreciate the extra titbits you just explained.

I have some experimenting to do so I feel comfortable using Handbrake and mkv. That sounds like a good way to while away the upcoming heat wave we are expecting later this week.

Experimentation is required my friend. This stuff is half science and half art ;)
 
DVDs are MPEG-1 or 2. Blu-rays can be various formats like H.264, VC-1, or MPEG-2. Have actually have a couple blu-rays in MPEG-2. Yuck.

Dido. Back in the day, when BD first came out, a lot of stuff was just copied over onto a BD and a lot of people thought they had HD content because of that.
 
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