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obtaining digital movies legally?

F

FortWorthMac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 29, 2008
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the parched earth of North Texas
So I'm falling in love with Plex. It's multi-platform, great interface, etc.

But I'm wondering something aloud and maybe I'm missing something here.

How does one legally obtain digital movies that Plex can play? iTunes movies are obviously out. I assume Google Play Movies are out as well for the same reason.

I can rip my old DVD's but that's going to be time consuming and they are "only" 720p.

So what I'm I missing? I hope it's something....

Thanks
 
Legally it's pretty much just ripping DVDs, and likely there are some independent movies out there that you can buy from producers with no DRM.
 
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mrkramer said:
Legally it's pretty much just ripping DVDs, and likely there are some independent movies out there that you can buy from producers with no DRM.
Click to expand...

Thanks. So I guess that I'm not missing something. That's a damn shame.
[doublepost=1453837282][/doublepost]And I guess that I'm going to have to buy me a ripper app. I thought Handbrake used to work but tried it last night and said that it doesn't rip copy-protected DVD's.

Looking at MacTheRipper
 
DVDs are not in 720p, they are in SD (which is 720 x 576 pixels in PAL and 720 x 480 pixels in NSTC if I remember correctly.
720p is short for 1280 x 720 pixels of progressive frames and it is HD, one version of it.

As for HandBrake, you have to have VLC Player installed to properly transcode the video DVD to MP4 files.

I once saw a guide on here on how to do this, but for the love of something I cannot remember the title and forum search is not really helping without that.
 
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Gwendolini said:
DVDs are not in 720p, they are in SD (which is 720 x 576 pixels in PAL and 720 x 480 pixels in NSTC if I remember correctly.
720p is short for 1280 x 720 pixels of progressive frames and it is HD, one version of it.

As for HandBrake, you have to have VLC Player installed to properly transcode the video DVD to MP4 files.

I once saw a guide on here on how to do this, but for the love of something I cannot remember the title and forum search is not really helping without that.
Click to expand...

480i is considered to be Standard Definition.
480p is considered to be Extended Definition.

Most DVD video is 480p. However, there are a few old 480i titles out there.
 
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MisterMe said:
480i is considered to be Standard Definition.
480p is considered to be Extended Definition.

Most DVD video is 480p. However, there are a few old 480i titles out there.
Click to expand...
Gwendolini said:
DVDs are not in 720p, they are in SD (which is 720 x 576 pixels in PAL and 720 x 480 pixels in NSTC if I remember correctly.
720p is short for 1280 x 720 pixels of progressive frames and it is HD, one version of it.

As for HandBrake, you have to have VLC Player installed to properly transcode the video DVD to MP4 files.

I once saw a guide on here on how to do this, but for the love of something I cannot remember the title and forum search is not really helping without that.
Click to expand...


Thank you! I had completely forgotten about having to have VLC installed for it to work.

Just got home, installed it, and my rip seems to be going great.

Regards
David
 
For personal use, many record Movies and TV shows off the air and load up their media server with them. They strip commercials (software apps) and sometime blur watermarks. If all you want is a collection of movie entertainment, it fills the bill. These are broadcast in HD (better video quality than DVD). You can also record Netflix and Prime for personal use but the legality may get fuzzy and you have to take the effort to work around DRM.

Just don't sell or distribute the recordings.
 
This seems ridiculous. If it is so hard to obtain legal digital copies of movies, doesn't that insinuate that 95% or more of all Plex users base their use on illegal digitsl copies of media?

There has to be an easy, simple, and legitimate way to get high quality, digital media besides iTunes and Google Play.
 
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Plex can also serve iTunes (movie) content - as long as the target client is an Apple device.

I used the (PlexConnect) hack for AppleTV versions 2/3 and now use the Plex app, for the latest ver 4.

My goal is to have all content consolidated and locally available, rather than use "any player".
 
[MOD NOTE]
Posts were removed, for bickering.

Please note if you make a statement of fact and you cannot back it up with source material your post will be removed.
 
Wondercow said:
I use MakeMKV; though, since you've been using Handbrake, it sounds like you want to compress your rips even further than they already are (gasp! :eek:) and MakeMKV won't do that. Otherwise (or in my case: thankfully!) it's a great program.
Click to expand...


No, wasn't really aware of the compression issue. If MakeMKV works well I'll certainly give it a try tomorrow. Thanks.
 
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You can rip them with MakeMKV and convert them with Handbrake. If the app keeps crashing, you can try the nightly builds of Handbrake: https://handbrake.fr/nightly.php

MakeMKV makes gigantic files ... which is unpleasant for DVD quality movies ... but is not something I mind at all when making lossless Blu-ray rips.
 
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FortWorthMac said:
No, wasn't really aware of the compression issue. If MakeMKV works well I'll certainly give it a try tomorrow. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Not a problem. MakeMKV is free while in beta, but the free registration code changes monthly. The new code is always posted in the forums. That being said, I purchased a licence many years ago because it's really good software and, as such, became indispensable for me. The files it produces are direct copies of what's on the disc, so a 3 GB file on the media becomes a 3 GB file on your hard drive.
 
MyopicPaideia said:
This seems ridiculous. If it is so hard to obtain legal digital copies of movies, doesn't that insinuate that 95% or more of all Plex users base their use on illegal digitsl copies of media?

There has to be an easy, simple, and legitimate way to get high quality, digital media besides iTunes and Google Play.
Click to expand...
How so? I have thousands of films and tv series all converted for use with my plex server. When I first set out it was daunting ripping disc after disc but a lot of googling and tinkering got me a workflow that's fairly minimal. Everything I have on my server I have the disc in storage for legal reasons.
 
Last edited:
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FortWorthMac said:
No, wasn't really aware of the compression issue. If MakeMKV works well I'll certainly give it a try tomorrow. Thanks.
Click to expand...

My process uses 3 programs, makemkv, handbrake and subler.

First, I play the movie on my DVD/bluray player. I am looking for the following info: run time, audio stream (almost always the first one), and if any subtitle streams are automatically are turned on.

Next, I go into makeMKV, find the correct movie title (it helps to know the runtime from above). I rip the movie, required audio, and all English subtitles.

Then I go to handbrake. I am using a custom setting, but it is basically just the Apple TV 3 preset, with quality 22 for DVD/ 24 for bluray and strict cropping. I go to the subtitle tab. If I discovered a particular subtitle must be on I choose that one to burn in. If I did not discover a subtitle in the first step, I choose forced subtitle search.

(As an aside, foreign subtitles can be done in 3 ways. First, they may be burned directly into the original video. Second, they can use a unique stream that is always on. Lastly, the subtitles are actually part of the other normal subtitle streams, but coded so that the DVD/bluray player turns them on and off as needed while watching the movie.).

After handbrake finishes (and checking to ensure any foreign subtitles have actually been burned in by handbrake) I use subler to open the file and search online databases for album art, descriptions, etc.

Once the metadata/DVD art is saved to the movie file, it is ready to import. I just use iTunes, as it fits for my needs with my Apple TV/iPad viewing.
 
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I use to buy loads of DVDs and rip them, but now I just purchase the iTunes or Ultraviolet codes for a couple of bucks from other people
 
Richdmoore said:
My process uses 3 programs, makemkv, handbrake and subler.

First, I play the movie on my DVD/bluray player. I am looking for the following info: run time, audio stream (almost always the first one), and if any subtitle streams are automatically are turned on.

Next, I go into makeMKV, find the correct movie title (it helps to know the runtime from above). I rip the movie, required audio, and all English subtitles.

Then I go to handbrake. I am using a custom setting, but it is basically just the Apple TV 3 preset, with quality 22 for DVD/ 24 for bluray and strict cropping. I go to the subtitle tab. If I discovered a particular subtitle must be on I choose that one to burn in. If I did not discover a subtitle in the first step, I choose forced subtitle search.

(As an aside, foreign subtitles can be done in 3 ways. First, they may be burned directly into the original video. Second, they can use a unique stream that is always on. Lastly, the subtitles are actually part of the other normal subtitle streams, but coded so that the DVD/bluray player turns them on and off as needed while watching the movie.).

After handbrake finishes (and checking to ensure any foreign subtitles have actually been burned in by handbrake) I use subler to open the file and search online databases for album art, descriptions, etc.

Once the metadata/DVD art is saved to the movie file, it is ready to import. I just use iTunes, as it fits for my needs with my Apple TV/iPad viewing.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I've done a couple of movies tonight using about 2/3 of the above method. Seems to be working pretty well.
 
Since you specifically said obtaining movies "legally" in the title, and nobody else has mentioned it, ripping your DVDs and Blu-Rays isn't really legal.

While it is legal to make back up copies of your media, it is illegal to break encryption to do so. Since it is pretty much impossible to find commercial DVDs/Blu-Rays without some kind of encryption that makes it impossible to back them up without breaking that encryption. Therefore backing up your DVDs and Blu-Rays isn't really legal. It's kind of a catch 22 that has been put in place.

Now the chances of the movie studios coming after you for making back-up copies of the movies you bought are pretty slim, as long as you aren't giving those rips out to other people or selling them. So it's really up to you if you want to do this or not.
 
Decrypting DVDs you purchased and storing raw video for your personal use is not illegal in most areas. Distribution and selling of the copies may be, but there are areas of the world where that is perfectly legal too. The movie distributers like to spread the FUD and intimidate users, but there is technically nothing illegal going on here.
 
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I was just about to reply something very similar. I was just going to add that jailbreaking one's iPhone was once called "illegal " as well.

I'm sure the MPAA would rather me do this than download them via torrents. Or other nefarious means.
 
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