What to do with media
#1
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I'm searching for ideas.

I am about to hit the wall on how much data I can put on my NAS. Down to my last 40GB. Sad

My wife will kill me if I by another 2TB drive. That would be the third this year. So, for the sake of conversation, let's assume that isn't an option.

I currently have all my movies in their original formats(.VOB). Everything is nicely arranged in folders by name and year and sucking up an aproximate 4.5GB each. There in lies my problem. I have started converting them all to .MKV using handbrake and passing through all the audio which reduces the file sizes to about 1G. That is very nice, but the question I am struggling with, is do I or don't I delete the original files.

Not to sound like a hoarder, but I a large part of me doesn't wanna get rid of it. What happens if there is an error in a movie, I want to burn it to DVD...

Am I totally out of my mind? What do you guys do with your video collection? Huh

Is there a slick way of zip filing the .VOB structure so that I can keep it? My initial attempts at .zip with these files had 4% compression - not exactly a solution.

I appreciate your input.

TRP
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#2
You're pretty screwed. I was thinking maybe online storage, but that's really expensive for those file sizes.

I feel your pain though, I had a similar problem, but finally just started deleting movies that I didn't actually like. My music collection of 3k + albums is slowly turning to FLAC though, so I can't judge : (

Not sure why you're ripping DVD's atm, because you can get high quality from the net with very little hassle, but it'll definitely be hard to get rid of anything you've already ripped/ spent time on.
My best advice: Don't get too attached to it. I had a 2TB get dropped while I was away, and it was a mini holocaust. Everything you've got, is out there somewhere, and can be found again if you need it. It might not feel like you 'own' it if it's not on 'your' HDD, but that's a mindset that's probably going to change in the next few years.

You can try .rar + .7zip for compression, and see if that gets a bit better. I don't have experience archive compressing .VOB's though, so not sure what would be best. With that amount of files though, even 5-10% would be saving you a lot of space...

good luck
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#3
use handbrake to rip your movies from the VOB file to 700MB MKV files. you can keep all of your chapters and it even works good on multiple audio stream.

Only minor video size differences, and mostly because it crops the black bars. you can even have it keep your audio streams intact (haven't done this personally, I use AAC w/Pro Logic II to minimize audio size and maximize quality)
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#4
Just delete the whole bunch... You can always download it again, or watch it online. This is 2011, the year of the Cloud. You don't need to have all files locally stored.
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#5
xburchartz Wrote:Just delete the whole bunch... You can always download it again, or watch it online. This is 2011, the year of the Cloud. You don't need to have all files locally stored.

problem with your statement, most ISPs monitor how much you download (comcast says that 250GB is what an average user should use), and they throttle your connection if you go over their maximum they feel is appropriate.

Thus using cloud for movies (especially HD) is not really advised. Compressing my collection to a range of 700MB to 1400MB got me approx. 550 Movies (SD), and a range of 2GB to 4GB got me an additional approx. 57 Movies (HD).
Looking at TV Shows with similar encoding 75MB-100MB (SD 30 minute shows MKV) and 120MB-150MB (SD 1hr. shows MKV) I had approx. 87 Complete TV Programs. This is all on 1 Drive (2TB).

I had bought 2 2TB drives, the first was an experiment (to see how much it could hold before needing another drive). I gave you the stats of the first drive, and am still adding the current episodes of the shows that aren't complete that are on there (currently airing shows).

The best rule I can help you with is that if you want to maximize your storage you need to use compression (VOB is uncompressed). I recommend (these are Handbrake settings I use) using X264 for Video set to a target size of 700MB (if a 2-Disc Movie like Lord of the Rings you will need 2 files this size and name them siimilar, LotR1.Part 1 & LotR1.Part 2), and Audio set to AAC, Prologic II, Sample rate "Auto", and at a bitrate of 160. this will maximize the size/quality ratio.

Handbrake can rip from your already present VOB files.
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#6
Meanwhile start saving to build your next NAS DIY style.

I followed this basic template for the UnRAID 5-drive budget box, expandable to a 15-drive box or up to 28T of storage and the 5-drive box (up to 8t) components only set me back ~$380. The recommended mobo was no longer available, got something similar on a newegg open box sale, put in a little zippier 2 core AMD processor and 4 gigs of ram to provide some headroom for downloading apps, etc.

So far so good.
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#7
Since, posting this, I have bit the bullet so to speak and contunued (the lengthy) process of converting them all to .MKVs with audio pass-through; and, begrudgingly, deleted the originals. I wept a little, my wife called it therapy. I'm gonna go home from work tonight and throw away some of her make-up... You know, it's therapy.
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#8
a 2TB is really cheap nowadays so just man up and go buy one.
just explain to your wife its better than being addicted to gambling lol

I have a 2TB and its getting full but im just deleting all the movies i never watch (im actually shocked at how many movies i have downloaded but never watch or have intentions to watch). when the 3TB external drives drop below £100 im going to upgrade.
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