How Organized Are Your Movies? - Screenshots!

[Wheeler]

Cool to see others are into this stuff too- I've tried various methods/set-ups, and have it pretty stream lined now- takes the frustration out and makes building my collection enjoyable.

I rip and encode with handbrake on a mini (i7 imac hopefully soon) directly to a raid server- skips the step of having to copy files to server, and works perfectly. Handbrake then exports to MetaX, which then automatically adds the file to iTunes.

Thats it- 2 steps and I have a perfectly organized library accessible from appleTV's and via plex and air video apps on iOS devices.

I used to have a ton of mkv's and avi's and used Boxee on an old AppleTV, but it couldn't always handle the files and the setup wasn't as clean. I just utilized the queue in HB and metaX, and with due diligence converted everything to mp4 in no time. Now my library is clean, organized and gets along with all media devices.

MetaX tip- I used use the toggle button and would get the "cannot write chapters" error often, which would pause the tagging. Now I just check a few items on the main tab and it all goes smoothly. Pretty obvious but took me a while to figure out anyhow...

 

[gunthermic]

Cool to see others are into this stuff too- I've tried various methods/set-ups, and have it pretty stream lined now- takes the frustration out and makes building my collection enjoyable.

I rip and encode with handbrake on a mini (i7 imac hopefully soon) directly to a raid server- skips the step of having to copy files to server, and works perfectly. Handbrake then exports to MetaX, which then automatically adds the file to iTunes.

Thats it- 2 steps and I have a perfectly organized library accessible from appleTV's and via plex and air video apps on iOS devices.

I used to have a ton of mkv's and avi's and used Boxee on an old AppleTV, but it couldn't always handle the files and the setup wasn't as clean. I just utilized the queue in HB and metaX, and with due diligence converted everything to mp4 in no time. Now my library is clean, organized and gets along with all media devices.

MetaX tip- I used use the toggle button and would get the "cannot write chapters" error often, which would pause the tagging. Now I just check a few items on the main tab and it all goes smoothly. Pretty obvious but took me a while to figure out anyhow...

Pray tell how does HB export to MetaX? Oh I see that now inthe Mac Version. Hmm can this be accomplished via the CLI as well???

 

[ayzee]

Wow how do u do this, the blog link is no longer valid

Have renewed my domain now so link should work again. Guide on how to do the DVD covers is all there on my blog.

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!

For those using meta x: does it still have problems editing files over 2GB i.e HD content? That's why I switched to using subler, but have to manually enter all the meta data now.

 

[kultschar]

Have renewed my domain now so link should work again. Guide on how to do the DVD covers is all there on my blog.

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!

For those using meta x: does it still have problems editing files over 2GB i.e HD content? That's why I switched to using subler, but have to manually enter all the meta data now.

Awesome! Any tips for inserting my posters into the DVD layer in photoshop e.g. resizing etc and what you do to export / save the final image?

Im a bit of a novice to Photoshop and image editing. I have figured out how to trim the final DVD group image and export to PNG but not sure how to import my artwork and if I have to resize things!!!

I guess a blu ray case and CD case is also a possibiity

 

[TheCheapGeek]

I never ever buy from iTunes!
The iTunes artwork is great, if all of your movies are bought from iTunes.

I really prefer mirroring the tagging in iTunes exactly, that way all my content looks identical.

 

[From A Buick 8]

The guy who ripped those 400+ DVDs in such a small space of time, that is pretty impressive!

Was not too bad, my goal was to do ten a day. Now i have my TV show DVD's to do and although there are fewer of these they will be more of a challenge. Rip them, split out each episode and then encode.
I also want to include some of the special features (blooper reels mostly) for each of the show/seasons so all of that will take time. I am starting with the nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond

 

[ayzee]

I really prefer mirroring the tagging in iTunes exactly, that way all my content looks identical.

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

 

[ayzee]

Was not too bad, my goal was to do ten a day. Now i have my TV show DVD's to do and although there are fewer of these they will be more of a challenge. Rip them, split out each episode and then encode.
I also want to include some of the special features (blooper reels mostly) for each of the show/seasons so all of that will take time. I am starting with the nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond

Yes TV Shows are a pain, and take much more work than just 1 movie file. Not sure if meta x has a tagging database of tv shows, but that would be your best bet as doing it manually will take you forever...im speaking from experience!

 

[From A Buick 8]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice

 

[From A Buick 8]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice.
Getvideoartwork.com

 

[Omne666]

try this website for artwork, the ones they have look very nice.
Getvideoartwork.com

Yes, they have great artwork but limited, especially re TV shows. Hopefully if enough of us donate images as we can it'll become more complete.

 

[Omne666]

*jumps up and down* Ooohh!! Me too! I want one. But why stop short? I'd like mine to have 4 1GB drives.

Go Bigger! 4 x 1Tb?? I have 4 x 1.5Tb in my Drobo and one now has a red light....space is getting cramped. Over next 12 months I'll replace all with 2Tb drives.

And if that gets full, I really will need professional help with this hobby. Its way to addictive! Nearly 3000 tv episodes, 1500 movies, and 200Gb of Music. If the Drobo EVER fails me, you'll hear the gunshot closely followed by my body hitting the floor!!!

 

[Chase R]

Go Bigger! 4 x 1Tb?? I have 4 x 1.5Tb in my Drobo and one now has a red light....space is getting cramped. Over next 12 months I'll replace all with 2Tb drives.

And if that gets full, I really will need professional help with this hobby. Its way to addictive! Nearly 3000 tv episodes, 1500 movies, and 200Gb of Music. If the Drobo EVER fails me, you'll hear the gunshot closely followed by my body hitting the floor!!!

I would regularly check slickdeals.net for 2TB drives. Usually they have links to sellers offering them for around $70.

That's where I got mine!

And you don't have a backup of the Drobo? I would suggest using a RAID 1 setup so you always have a backup. Hard drives fail all the time. Although, it can get pretty pricey, because your using double the amount of hard drives for the same space. It might save you from that gunshot!!! lol

 

[dlegend]

Yes the iTunes content does look amazing as the resolutions are so high. It's just a problem when you have an obscure DVD that's not on iTunes, and the only artwork you can find is of really crappy small low quality resolution, they just dont look right together. Sort of the reason why I went with the DVD case option as it hides the imperfections of any low resolution artwork.

Got any pics? Where do you store it all?

 

[Omne666]

I would regularly check slickdeals.net for 2TB drives. Usually they have links to sellers offering them for around $70.

That's where I got mine!

And you don't have a backup of the Drobo? I would suggest using a RAID 1 setup so you always have a backup. Hard drives fail all the time. Although, it can get pretty pricey, because your using double the amount of hard drives for the same space. It might save you from that gunshot!!! lol

Actually the Drobo was bought for the very fact of its own protection. I can lose 2 of the drives (apparently) and still not lose any data. So the story from DR goes. I hope never to actually find out. I use to have 4 x 1Tb WD external drives, but all were standalone storage for the library. Got sick of the cables (especially power) and the fact that none gave me any data protection. Not unless I halved their capacity and ran them as raids.

I do have a large proportion (2Tb) of the library on a single WD Drive in another physical location (240km away), so worst case, I'll lose at best, about half my library. So maybe I'll just club myself in the head a few times with the gun butt instead.

 

[ayzee]

Got any pics? Where do you store it all?

For anybody wanting to use transparency in their iTunes artwork, just to let you know it is now finally working!



I have done a little write up on my experiences and uses of this

Above is one of my previous posts.
I store my entire iTunes library on a 2GB WD FireWire external HD. & I keep a 2nd 2TB ext HD at work for backup purposes!

 

[newagemac]

Hey that's pretty cool! You got any pics on how the transparent covers look on the Apple TV? Does it work there too?

 

[ayzee]

I dont own an ATV(yet), but the images work just fine in FrontRow which basically is the same interface as the original ATV.

 

[kultschar]

I dont own an ATV(yet), but the images work just fine in FrontRow which basically is the same interface as the original ATV.

Yeah they work fine in frontrow and coverflow however on the Apple TV interface there are problems. I will get some screenshots up to show my problem!!

 

[Ingster]

quick question, i'm currently starting to encode my dvd's using ripit and HB, i use the universal pre-set for encodes (so i can use it on my iphone, wife's ipod touch, ipad, mac and soon apple TV2) is this the right one to use or should i use another (plus don't go in too deep on changing rates etc i'm a complete noob at all this encoding lark! i like simple pre-sets )

 

[From A Buick 8]

quick question, i'm currently starting to encode my dvd's using ripit and HB, i use the universal pre-set for encodes (so i can use it on my iphone, wife's ipod touch, ipad, mac and soon apple TV2) is this the right one to use or should i use another (plus don't go in too deep on changing rates etc i'm a complete noob at all this encoding lark! i like simple pre-sets )

That should work fine. What TV set are you using to play the material through the ATV.

 

[Ingster]

Samsung 32" LCD TV 720p

 

[From A Buick 8]

Samsung 32" LCD TV 720p

Using the universal preset you sacrifice some quality for the versatility to play on all of those devices. With a 32" you should be fine.

The best preset for quality on the ATV would be the high profile and slide the RF to 19 (using one of the nightly builds of HB), but i do not think that will play on some of your other devices.

 

[Colster20]

I am currently ripping my DVD collection using Ripit and then converting using Handbreak, I have had issues with Metax and no longer want to use it. Iflicks seems to be getting good comments, but if I have all the movies in Itunes will iflicks still add the tags or do I have to delete them out of itunes add the tags and then recopy them back in.

 

[From A Buick 8]

I am currently ripping my DVD collection using Ripit and then converting using Handbreak, I have had issues with Metax and no longer want to use it. Iflicks seems to be getting good comments, but if I have all the movies in Itunes will iflicks still add the tags or do I have to delete them out of itunes add the tags and then recopy them back in.

I think iFlicks has a apple script that it adds to your iTunes menu for you to edit material allready in there.

I use Identify2 and it does not have a feature like that. I do like the program though, have had great luck with it.