Ripping your entire Anime disc collection to an HDD

[isamu]

After procrastinating for years, I finally caved in and ripped my entire Anime DVD collection consisting of around oh, I dunno...100 discs or so, to one colossal 3TB HDD. Felt good. Took about five days. Glad to finally have the my collection archived into one space, not to mention the convenience of not having to fiddle with discs anymore. Such a relief.

Have any of you guys done this? How many discs do you have and how big is your HDD?

[technoblue]

This has been on my to-do list for ages. I only have a single 1TB drive, though. How much free space do you have left over after processing 100 DVDs? I have a box of anime DVDs that are in a closet that I have been meaning to move onto my HTPC and this was a nice reminder to get started on that project.

[isamu]

This has been on my to-do list for ages. I only have a single 1TB drive, though. How much free space do you have left over after processing 100 DVDs? I have a box of anime DVDs that are in a closet that I have been meaning to move onto my HTPC and this was a nice reminder to get started on that project.

All I can say is DO IT! I still have 1.3TB left, and 1.3 is what everything came up to. So roughly half of the drive. Keep in mind, ALL my discs were ripped in raw, .iso format. I didn't want compression or to leave to out any extras/special features.

[isamu]

MAJOR UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!

After taking a closer look at my folder and giving a better glance at each show, I just realized that my initial estimate of "around 100 discs or" was way WAY off!!!!!! I have 43 shows that I've ripped. Each show contained on average about 6 discs. If you calculate 43 x 6, that comes up to around 258 discs!!!!!! That's not including shows with a bigger count like Dragon Ball, which has around 22 discs. So the count is more like 250!!!! And still only half the drive! WOW!!!!!

Edited September 6, 2013 by isamu

[Keith]

When I eventually find some ripping software, won't be a bad idea.

[Benson13]

I recently purged my music collection of songs I don't listen to and now have 30 GB of singles. That's down from about 750 GB.

Movies are a whole other story as I have 3 HDDs filled with movies.

Made a lot of sense to save space on deployments plus when you enter some countries they'll steal your movies in customs.

I also have the whole Macross series and Archer on my phone for ease of access for all my nerdery needs.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Benson13

[isamu]

Nice!

OK I just took a more thorough and critical look at my collection, based on the amount of discs my Slappa D2 DVD case can hold. The case can hold 240 discs, but there were 3 "pages" of non-anime discs I didn't rip. But, I also has the Robotech and Macross TV boxsets that are in their actual boxes, so I had to include those as well. So....what this means is the final....FINAL count is 226 discs altogether. That is a 100% accurate count. 226 discs that take up only half of a 3TB drive. Crazy!

[Benson13]

Another thing to consider is the file quality. I only rip them on the highest setting and wouldn't waste effort on small files due to space limitations on the HDD.

[nhyone]

I'm in the midst of doing a similar project. I'm transcoding the shows that I like to the 360p resolution (480x360 or 640x360).

The objective is to create small portable files.

The video looks great on my S3 (4.7") and acceptable on larger monitors. When scaled up, straight lines are either more blurred or jagged, but there is very little loss in actual details.

Take for example, Last Exile. 26 episodes in 1.9 GB, or 75 MB on average per episode.

I'm going to strip out the opening, closing and preview to save even more space!

[technoblue]

Okay, you guys talked me into it! I am using both AnyDVDHD and MakeMKV to rip one-to-one copies to my HDD. I also bought some plastic bins to store the DVDs after I'm done. Both pieces of softwawre compliment each other; however, MakeMKV is the only one of the two that is free for anyone wondering.

I'm also learning that I have more 4:3 non-anamorphic DVDs than I originally thought. I use XBMC for playback and it works very well with the .mkv files. At the moment I am working with a 1TB drive, but I think a larger drive or drive pair is in my future.

[derex3592]

I have a problem with getting the subtitles on Mospeada, Southern Cross, and Mac Plus to rip through handbrake and then into Itunes so I can watch my anime on my Ipad ...anybody else have problems with that?

[EXO]

I ripped or downloaded and then shelved all my physical media. Downloading is faster than ripping then shrinking. Depending how much I enjoy and feel like it needs a higher quality rip, I usually shrink a movie. Movies like Blade Runner, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Aliens are straight rips. The only Bluray I would buy now are Macross Full Sets. As long as it has the box art and extras. I get them more for the display factor but I've ripped those and added subs to most. Those disks will never again see the light of day.

[technoblue]

Yeah, downloads are convenient. I've done the same thing with a few of my favorite fansubs (buying the discs, storing them, and keeping the subs to watch on the computer). Streaming has also helped me save money and space on discs, but I'll still buy sets and shows that I like to watch multiple times in HD.

Ripping television shows can be a pain. I just spent the evening scratching my head while trying to figure out the chapters in Ergo Proxy. It turns out when one is creating .mkv files like I am, the mkvtoolnix package is a lifesaver. It will split .mkv files multiple ways, including by chapter. Anyway, this is another free utility and my use for it is straight forward. Even with these small obstacles, the process is so smooth, and I kind of wish I got into it sooner.

Edited September 10, 2013 by technoblue

[isamu]

Yeah, downloads are convenient. I've done the same thing with a few of my favorite fansubs (buying the discs, storing them, and keeping the subs to watch on the computer). Streaming has also helped me save money and space on discs, but I'll still buy sets and shows that I like to watch multiple times in HD.

Ripping television shows can be a pain. I just spent the evening scratching my head while trying to figure out the chapters in Ergo Proxy. It turns out when one is creating .mkv files like I am, the mkvtoolnix package is a lifesaver. It will split .mkv files multiple ways, including by chapter. Anyway, this is another free utility and my use for it is straight forward. Even with these small obstacles, the process is so smooth, and I kind of wish I got into it sooner.

I agree 100% that downloading is convenient.

Ripping television shows can be a pain. I just spent the evening scratching my head while trying to figure out the chapters in Ergo Proxy.

Dude...things like this are PRECISELY the reason why I decided not to use MKV Maker or whatever it's called. I started out with that was annoyed at how it splits your discs into chapters which are not named, and it doesn't even name the dvd it's ripping. That makes for a LOT unknowns and confusion. That's why I went with ripping my discs raw and in uncompressed .iso format using ImageBurn. Much more organized that way and it's actually much faster than ripping via MKV Maker. Yes, it might take up a bit more space but it's worth having your dvd collection sorted as actual "discs" on your Hard Drive rather than broken up files and chapters.

With that having been said, I have discovered that a few shows that I have owned for many years have been re-released and remastered either on dvd or bluray, such as Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. So I've decided to torrent those and will watch those versions instead. Can't wait to see how much better Bebop looks over the original Bandai dvd release from 1988.

[technoblue]

Dude...things like this are PRECISELY the reason why I decided not to use MKV Maker or whatever it's called. I started out with that was annoyed at how it splits your discs into chapters which are not named, and it doesn't even name the dvd it's ripping. That makes for a LOT unknowns and confusion. That's why I went with ripping my discs raw and in uncompressed .iso format using ImageBurn. Much more organized that way and it's actually much faster than ripping via MKV Maker. Yes, it might take up a bit more space but it's worth having your dvd collection sorted as actual "discs" on your Hard Drive rather than broken up files and chapters.

With that having been said, I have discovered that a few shows that I have owned for many years have been re-released and remastered either on dvd or bluray, such as Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. So I've decided to torrent those and will watch those versions instead. Can't wait to see how much better Bebop looks over the original Bandai dvd release from 1988.

LoL! I don't mind too much. I like learning this stuff. Also, I use a combination of XBMC and MPClassic Home Cinema to playback my files. Given that, I find that the .mkv format works all right, even though it takes an extra step. I noticed that MakeMKV has been good about saving its files in order so that my episodes are not playing back in some strange way. Then again, authoring may have more to do with this than the transcoding program.

Having a way to automate renaming the files would be neat feature, though.

I remember older DVDs didn't always have nice chapter breaks, so it ought to be fun when I run into television series with mad, bizarre authoring. The mkvtoolnix program is pretty snappy, but I won't deny that it is another step to something that could be a single push of a mouse or keyboard button. I tried Handbrake, but I couldn't warm up to it. At t he moment, I am not encoding any of my discs. Handbrake doesn't allow me to just use the .mkv format as a container, but MakeMKV will. I guess I don't mind having the potential for portability. That is, if 1.5GB+ files are ever considered portable.

Edited September 10, 2013 by technoblue

[nhyone]

I tried Handbrake, but I couldn't warm up to it. At t he moment, I am not encoding any of my discs. Handbrake doesn't allow me to just use the .mkv format as a container, but MakeMKV will.

HandBrake accepts a large variety of file formats and can emit MP4 or MKV, so how come it doesn't allow you to use MKV?

If you are into scripting, you can use mkvmerge, mkvextract and HandBrakeCLI to automate the conversion.

For example, you can put a bunch of files in one folder and they can be processed the same way: adding chapter stops, subs, adding/removing audio tracks, specifying encoding options and so on.

[technoblue]

HandBrake accepts a large variety of file formats and can emit MP4 or MKV, so how come it doesn't allow you to use MKV?

Hanbdbrake does create MKV files, although I haven't been happy with the quality of the output. Artifacts were most apparent in older television shows and movies which were already suffering from a low resolution source. I may take another look at the software later to better understand the settings; however, for now I am comfortable just using MKV as a container without reencoding the audio or video. DVD episodes do not take up a lot of space, as I noted, and I am keeping the files on a media server at the moment. I do not plan on carrying these around with me on a phone or a tablet just yet.

If I could get my head around the settings, I do really like the queue feature that Handbrake offers. It helps to save on time.

Edited September 11, 2013 by technoblue

[nhyone]

Hanbdbrake does create MKV files, although I haven't been happy with the quality of the output. Artifacts were most apparent in older television shows and movies which were already suffering from a low resolution source. I may take another look at the software later to better understand the settings; however, for now I am comfortable just using MKV as a container without reencoding the audio or video. DVD episodes do not take up a lot of space, as I noted, and I am keeping the files on a media server at the moment.

I see, so the problem is with the x264 settings.

For me, after some experimentation, I just use CRF 20 and the veryslow preset. So far, I don't need to make any other tweaks except to denoise if the source is grainy.

If I want it to be transparent to DVD, I lower the CRF to 15. But at this setting, the output file is about 70% of the original DVD size, so it may not be worth it.

[technoblue]

I see, so the problem is with the x264 settings.

For me, after some experimentation, I just use CRF 20 and the veryslow preset. So far, I don't need to make any other tweaks except to denoise if the source is grainy.

If I want it to be transparent to DVD, I lower the CRF to 15. But at this setting, the output file is about 70% of the original DVD size, so it may not be worth it.

Thank you! This is great information that I'll use to recheck my settings. I believe I missed something because Handbrake was outputting smaller files: about 20 or 25% of the original. I thought I was using the high profile preset to start, but that may not have been the case. It looks like this was more about user error from the newbie.

Cheers!