What does everyone do with files along the ripping process?

[eawmp1]

Currently I use RipIt or MakeMkv to rip DVD/BluRay discs.
Then I encode with Handbrake ant tag with Identify.
Then I import into iTunes for streaming to Apple TV or loading onto iDevices for travel.

This leaves me with DVD media files from the rip, mp4, and copy in iTunes.

Needless to say, HD space is filling up fast. Would there ever be reason to save previous versions once rips finally into iTunes?

 

[gr8tfly]

Not really, unless you decide to change the transcoding format. At worse, you would need to run the disc through MakeMKV again - a bit time consuming, but otherwise not a big problem.

If iTunes copied it in to it's media folder, you wouldn't need the mp4/m4v any longer. Most of the time, I stream while at home, so I turn off the "copy" option in iTunes, and leave the mp4/m4v file on an external drive (iTunes > Preferences > Advanced). I like to have my music on the internal drive, so most of the time I leave the "copy" option enabled. This lets me control which media is kept internal vs. external while in the same iTunes Library.

DVD iTunes files were big enough, but I just bought an external Blu-ray and I like the idea of keeping them on a separate drive even more now. My first transcode was from a 2:10 Blu-ray (38 GB MKV) through HB, using ATV 3 preset and ending up with an almost 7 GB output file. I might try the Normal setting and compare them on the big screen. Normal runs at over 2x the FPS during conversion as the ATV 3 preset did (around 50-55 fps, though still looking at 1:00 - 1:30, rather than over 2:00 at roughly 25 fps)..

 

[Plutonius]

Currently I use RipIt or MakeMkv to rip DVD/BluRay discs.
Then I encode with Handbrake ant tag with Identify.
Then I import into iTunes for streaming to Apple TV or loading onto iDevices for travel.

This leaves me with DVD media files from the rip, mp4, and copy in iTunes.

Needless to say, HD space is filling up fast. Would there ever be reason to save previous versions once rips finally into iTunes?

Why not just run handbrake to rip your disc ?

 

[CTay]

I rip the file directly to mp4 which you should be able to do in Handbrake. Tag it in MetaX, then I dump it into a file that is located on my external drive. One file...just changing it along the way.

Uncheck the option in Itunes that says...make a copy when adding a file. Then simply add the itunes "LINK" to your library. This tells itunes to look in a certain place for the file ( like an external drive) instead of making a copy of said file. No need to have multiple files all over the place. Yes, storage is cheap enough now but as your library grows, you will need that space. Manually organizing everything works best for me. Just remember, when you go this route, once a file in linked to itunes... if you ever change it in any way (song title or move it from the file you stored it in) it will break the link and itunes will not know where that file went. You will then need to relocate the file within itunes before it will play again. Sounds like a lot, but its pretty simple.

 

[chickenwingfly]

Would there ever be reason to save previous versions once rips finally into iTunes?

Not really, they only waste your space.
Unless, you are concerned with your media damaging (discs scratching and so on) in the future. Only in this case you should keep the "1:1" copy of the DVD/BluRay, but then you will fill up space like there's no tomorrow.

You could keep the iTunes rips, but then unless you are positive you are completely happy with the quality, nothing says you won't change your mind in the long run and then when you want to encode to another format, bang! Your disc is scratched.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

My intermediates all go to the desktop, which is excluded from Time Machine so I'm also not filling up my backups. Once the final result is in iTunes, all files on the desktop get deleted.