Topic: How Should I Go About Making A Digital Movie Collection In Xbmc? (Read 288 times)

-89- · « **on:** February 23, 2007, 03:28:00 PM »

So, I'm wanting to convert my DVD collection into a digital movie collection so I can have a huge library accessible of movies on XBMC. Just, how should I go about this in terms of hard drive space? I'm not swapping out the hard drive I already have on my Xbox (Unless I found a cheap 750 GB drive or something), so should I get a like a USB hard drive and hook it up to my laptop and run it networked through that? Should I get a network storage device (I have a wireless router) and go via that? Also, should I keep it all in DIVX/XVID format for low file sizes, or should I go with WMV so both my 360 and Xbox can access the movies with little work in using TVersity or whatever it is?

0794 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2007, 06:36:00 PM »

Well, it is really whatever you want to do, but I will tell you how I run mine.

I rip/convert my DVDs using DVD Decrypter and AutoGK to XVID files. Then I usually ftp them to whatever xbox I plan to watch them on in my house and play them directly from that HD on that box. However, when I use XBMC on my primarily Linux xbox (with stock 10 GB HD), I will turn on another xbox in the house and stream from that one (auto detection works really well). Streaming is fine, but you get a faster response viewing the file from that HD. I don't use my 360 for any streaming since I have an original xbox in that room too. I looked into network storage devices (NAS) and never found a good unit because they were either (1) very poor in maintaining connections and poor speed or (2) very expensive.

Overall, I would recommend buying a 250-320 GB HD for under $80 from Newegg and store most of your movies on that xbox - with any that don't fit leaving on your laptop. That is plenty of room for files that you would actively be using on a regular basis.

-89- · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2007, 12:20:00 PM »

That's one of the big things I'm concerned with, speed. I don't want videos to start skipping if I had a NAS and ran a movie off of it. Also, I just recently heard that you can hook a NAS straight up into the Xbox and it will work, that true? If so, that sounds like a great alternative to replacing my 300 GB drive and loading the NAS with more games and movies. But, if the speed sucks, then there is no point.

NineT9mustang · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2007, 12:36:00 PM »

Yea the NAS option is the best alternative I think (Although you cannot play Games off of it of course), right now I have my xbox with a 750GB and I swap various HD's depending on what I want to watch... I used to have the Xtender II setup, but twice it shorted my motherboard and ruined my xbox so I gave up on that... but i've been meaning to get a NAS setup for a long time, just haven't had the time!

Some benefits of using a NAS are:

*Portability: It's practically an external Hard Drive, so the portability part is awesome (instead of wiring to computer/laptop, etc)... You can just bring your NAS to a friends house who has xbmc, and hook up your NAS to his xbox and access your entire collection...without ever needing to bring your xbox or additional HDD's
*Size (GB): You can use any size HDD you want...You can get NAS's that support 1,2,3, or 4+ Hard Drives, SATA & PATA well over 3TB.
*Wireless Support: There are some that support wireless, so if you have the wireless adapter for your xbox, you can leave your NAS in whatever room whiel your xbox access's it, or other xbox's
*Xbox AND PC: We all know you can't hook up an xbox HDD to a PC and play the files, with a NAS you can just hook it up to each one, together or seperatly!
*Longer filenames: I'm not positive on this one, but im pretty sure you won't be stuck with the limitations of FATX (I think!), so you can have the longer filenames and the other benefits... I could be wrong on this one though

I'm sure there are other great reasons for NAS, probably some bad things too... but to me the above is why I will be setting up a NAS soon

EDIT: Here are some links for some NAS's Ive been looking into:
D-Link: http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=509
This looks sexy, supports 2 HDD's (SATA)
NetGear: http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/Ne...rage/SC101.aspx
This looks good, supports 2 HDD's (PATA), its also cheap : ($80 at outpost.com)
D-Link: http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=377
This looks alright, supports 1 HDD, has 2 USB ports (Plug in 2 additional external HDDs), and also wireless!

So there are many options, these are my top 3 choices, either something sexy, cheap, or wireless... hard choice!

As far as divx, its up to you really, if you want your 360 accessing it too or not... me personally, I will always use divx cause everything I have is divx and would be frustrating converting everything everytime i get a video... Thats just me though, hopefully 360/PS3 will support divx soon, but i doubt it!

This post has been edited by NineT9mustang: Feb 24 2007, 08:43 PM

Xcursion · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2007, 02:48:00 PM »

I have all my movies stored on my computer and the xbox is networked to it. I never have skipping problems due to the network connection. You can have however many hard drives your tower can hold filled with your movies and you can easily add your computer to sources.xml and have file sharing enabled on your computer.

Exulus · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2007, 04:17:00 PM »

As above, rip movies using DVD decrypter (or DVDFab decrypter if you have problems, for example dvd decrupter doesnt like Hostel for some reason). Then use AutoGK, have settings to keep original audio for 5.1 material or use VBR for stereo.

I generally have it at 1.5GB for roughly an hour and a half movie but anything longer such as Pirates of the Carribean of Lord of the Rings can go up to 2GB and beyond. If you run AutoGK then after the first process finishes (takes a few mins) it'll give you an estimate of the quality. I try to aim for 70% or above for movies and 60% for TV programmes. Works well and you really dont notice any drop in quality at all.

Good luck! It takes about 2-3 hours total from DVD to XVID for me using my Athlon 3800+ while using my PC for general surfing and stuff at the same time!

rramoutar · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2007, 06:02:00 AM »

I use a NAS that's attached to my homenetwork as my XBOX is. I use the xvid format but I really wished XBOX supported ratdvd. More of a function for the mplayer developers to add I guess...

Exulus · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2007, 07:15:00 AM »

ratDVD functionality would be pretty sweet actually, i only came across it a month ago and its pretty decent!

rootyb · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2007, 11:02:00 AM »

I doubt RatDVD will make it in. I think a lot of "the scene" is miffed at that guy, 'cuz it's closed-source (and, I'm pretty sure they can't add it while it's closed-source). Plus, I don't think there's a huge demand for it. It's still pretty rare to see movies released in RatDVD. (I'm not hatin, just layin it out)

My setup runs like this:

I've got a 200gb HD in one of my xboxes for all of my games and emulators. In the corner, on my network, I've got a fileserver with... 600GB, I think in it. The server also runs Azureus for me, so it downloads any new torrents I want, plus I've got it setup to automatically download new episodes of the shows I watch. Then, since it's on the network, I can watch it from any computer in the house, or either of my xboxes (one in my room, one in the living room).

I wouldn't worry about skipping of videos over the network. I watch full ripped DVD's (in ISO) over the network, no problem. Long as you're running a wired connection, you should be fine. Wireless is a bit less solid, but I've still streamed stuff from my laptop (which is connected wirelessly) to my xbox.

This post has been edited by rootyb: Feb 25 2007, 07:03 PM

smokyjoe · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2007, 02:19:00 PM »

QUOTE(-89- @ Feb 25 2007, 06:20 AM)

I don't want videos to start skipping if I had a NAS and ran a movie off of it. Also, I just recently heard that you can hook a NAS straight up into the Xbox and it will work, that true?

You shouldnt have any problems with skipping on a NAS, but it does depend on your wireless signal. There shouldnt be any difference between a NAS and a pc when it comes to streaming. I stream over wireless from both a NAS and a PC, and have no problems.

As for plugging straight into an xbox, yes it will work in most cases. I have tried it with mine and it worked. You just have to plug it into the ethernet port, as long as the nas drive needs no proprietary software to run it (otherwise known as NDAS, like the SC101). But obviously you cant have a net connection and a NAS plugged in directly to the xbox.

QUOTE(NineT9mustang @ Feb 25 2007, 06:36 AM)

NetGear: http://www.netgear.c...rage/SC101.aspx
This looks good, supports 2 HDD's (PATA), its also cheap : ($80 at outpost.com)

The netgear SC101 requries proprietary software running on a PC, so the only way you could use it with xbmc is to have your pc turned on and the NAS mapped on your pc.

I use a Hotway Landrive enclosure. Was the cheapest solution I could find ($75 australian), and have had no troubles so far.

-89- · « **Reply #10 on:** February 25, 2007, 09:47:00 PM »

So, what's the cheapest and most effective way of getting a 1 Terabyte NAS going? Or at least 500GBs...for now.

NineT9mustang · « **Reply #11 on:** February 26, 2007, 07:31:00 AM »

smokyjoe! Hey thanks for informing us that the SC101 cannot connect directly to XBMC, wow that just saved me a lot of time, money & effort... Thats the NAS I was looking to get here real soon (Thinking you can just directly hook it up to the xbox), Well I'm glad you let me know

I'll go with the D-Link now

shabbs · « **Reply #12 on:** February 26, 2007, 08:49:00 AM »

I use a Linksys NSLU2 for my NAS solution at home. I have 4 USB drives plugged into it (using a USB hub plugged into one of the 2 USB ports on the NSLU2) for a total of approx 1.75 TB of NAS. For my DVDs, I use RipIt4Me/DVD Decrypter to rip entire DVDs and put them on the LAN. Never had any issues with playback via the XBOX over the LAN. Makes for a very nice NAS solution at home and easy access to my movies.

Cheers.

Funky_K · « **Reply #13 on:** February 26, 2007, 09:52:00 AM »

QUOTE(-89- @ Feb 25 2007, 10:47 PM)

So, what's the cheapest and most effective way of getting a 1 Terabyte NAS going? Or at least 500GBs...for now.

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10645

ubernewb · « **Reply #14 on:** February 26, 2007, 03:59:00 PM »

why ftp to xbox? it's great being able to watch movies off the hdd and all, but if you want to watch them somewhere else they have to be ftp'd over somewhere else.. unless xbmc now has the ability to stream video out? best of my knowledge (haven't updated in quite a while) this can't be done.

my personal setup consists of a media 'server' with about 1.6tb of storage in it. (spread across 5 hdd's) and i just load it up with movies.. dvd decrypter / autogk for me as well.. and i just stream thru-out the house using smb sharing. this way i can watch movies on my xbox, my computer, my roommates computer, my other roommates laptop, and the xbox that sits downstairs with the plasma. couldn't do all that with movies stored on the xbox itself.. at least not without having to copy files everywhere.. which, with a library of over 750 movies and hundreds upon hundreds of tv show episodes, would be an incredible pain in the ass.

i use my xbox hdd for things that are only useful to the xbox itself, like massive game storage.. no point having those anywhere else.

Author Topic: How Should I Go About Making A Digital Movie Collection In Xbmc? (Read 288 times)