Divx and copying DVD's in general... What's the point?

[Wingznut]

Red Dawn said something that I've been thinking for a long time...

"As far as encoding goes, that's a load of BS. Not the fact that the Pee 4 encodes faster, the fact the encoding DIVX and SVCD is something most people would bother to do. Why, to get a crappy looking Movie that you've already seen? Hell if you are going to steal it you might as well download it of the net and let some other fool do all the work for you."

Seriously... why bother? You get a lower quality (video AND audio) product, for a significant amount of effort. Now I can understand wanting to download a movie that is still in the theatres. But why copy DVD's?

I'm not one who collects movies, because I'd never watch them multiple times.
Those of you who do, I pose the questions:

Do you really watch all of them enough to justify the cost/time/effort?
Or do you have several movies that you haven't had a chance to watch, and probably never will?

 

[Hammer]

For movies you want to see, but are too sh1tty to own.

 

[Red Dawn]

Maybe to justify spending all that money on a top of the line Pee 4. Besides that and encoding MP3's and playing Quake what other reason is there to spend that kind of money for a few FPS over an AMD 2100+ XP at half the price?

 

[Phokus]

<< For movies you want to see, but are too sh1tty to own. >>



That's my excuse. I only buy dvds that i really like. Divx is for movies i might watch once or twice in a lifetime.

 

[Red Dawn]

<< That's my excuse. I only buy dvds that i really like. Divx is for movies i might watch once or twice in a lifetime. >>

Wouldn't it be less of a hassle to go rent them?

 

[hoihtah]

i'd say... mostly 'cause i can... with p4 1.8a running at 2700mhz, it doesn't take as long.

but the other benefit of this is that i can keep all my movies on my htpc.
you can borrow a movie/dvd from a friend, and keep a copy in your htpc.

if you are asking about the whole point of keeping a copy...
consider it a hobby.

people collect stamps and posters... baseball cards for their pleasure.

 

[Wingznut]

If the movie is "too sh1tty to own", then what's the point of wasting 2 hours of your life on it?

I've seen enough "sh1tty" movies in my life. I am certainly not going through any cost or effort to see another.

 

[Ih8canada]

ppl are just too cheap i guess.

 

[Wingznut]

Well, if you are collecting for the sake of collecting something... Wouldn't it be wiser to collect something that might actually be worth your investment (or worth anything at all) someday? Or something that you are passionate about? I mean, how passionate can you be about a poor quality copy of a crappy movie that you'll never watch?

 

[Phokus]

<<

<< That's my excuse. I only buy dvds that i really like. Divx is for movies i might watch once or twice in a lifetime. >>

Wouldn't it be less of a hassle to go rent them? >>



Oh i don't rip em, i just download em

 

[poopaskoopa]

Look at meee!!! Look at meee!!! I can rip DVDZZZ!!! It made me seem l337 amongst my co-workers for like a minute. I do my movies mostly so I can watch movies at work. I'm such a slacker, I know... But yeah, downloading is the best. Double click and come back in a week, and voila!

 

[gopunk]

i made vcds from dvds.

1. i don't have time to watch dvds when i rent them. so i rent them, copy them, and watch them at my leisure.
2. occasionally i do watch them again
3. it takes about 5 minutes of my actual time and attention

 

[Wingznut]

Correct me if I am wrong...

But isn't the major advantage of DVD's, the high quality video and audio? By copying them to VCD, you've just thrown those out the window, right?

 

[Red Dawn]

hoihtah, how long does it take for you to encode an Average Movie with your Pee4 1.8 running @2.7ghz ?

 

[Hammer]

No effort or cost involved, the download sits in the background and if I do burn it to cd thats like 20 cents.



<< If the movie is "too sh1tty to own", then what's the point of wasting 2 hours of your life on it?

I've seen enough "sh1tty" movies in my life. I am certainly not going through any cost or effort to see another. >>

 

[iamwiz82]

the only things i burn to VCD are shows, such as jackass or the simpsons. Any movies i will buy. I have come to prefer jaw dropping picture and ear shattering sounds.

 

[Viper GTS]

Don't ask me, I don't see it either. I watch DVD's on my Wega when I want to watch movies at home.

I do have to admit, though, divx is an impressive video format. If I wanted to pirate movies I could be satisfied with the quality. But convenience is sitting on my couch watching my Wega, not on my office chair watching my PC.

Viper GTS

 

[Wingznut]

Do you still get 5.1 audio with Divx?

 

[Sir Fredrick]

I don't rip because finding software and customizing all the settings is too much of a pain to justify it, but if it were really simple I'd probably do it just for convenience. I have ripped all of my CDs to my computer because it's easier to find the songs I want to listen to than to dig through my CDs. It would be the same with ripped movies. Rather than having to hunt down my Return of the Killer Tomatoes DVD (which just arrived yesterday) I could just pull it up on my computer.

 

[deftron]

<< Do you still get 5.1 audio with Divx? >>



Nope...

I might copy Cd's to MP3..


but as far as DVD to DiVX or VCD or SVCD...nope.

The picture and sound quality on DVDS is far superior to that of the others...
Also you get nice features on DVD such as extras, making-of's, documentaries, and commentaries.

I think that DVD are well worth their price.. I own over 100
If a want to see a DVD that I dont want to own..I'll rent.

If its a movie still in theaters and I want to see it at home, I might download the SVCD if it's a DVD screener (LOTR was nice )
but if I enjoy it, then I'll still most likely buy the DVD.

 

[gopunk]

<< Correct me if I am wrong...

But isn't the major advantage of DVD's, the high quality video and audio? By copying them to VCD, you've just thrown those out the window, right? >>



i don't rent DVDs because they are DVDs... i rent them for the movies. i would have rented VHS but at the time, i was using netflix and a blockbuster deal, both of which were DVD only. i don't really have a preference for either format.

 

[FrogDog]

<< Do you still get 5.1 audio with Divx? >>

Nope but it doesn't much matter when you don't have a 5.1 audio setup. Not everyone does, and probably not the majority either.

Lots of people collect DVDs. Well, I'm too cheap/poor for that so I rent them instead and then encode and burn them. And frankly on a properly done divx the quality is more than suficient for me.

 

[Wingznut]

Well, I completely understand ripping audio CD's. I rip most of my CD's so that I can put my MP3 player on "shuffle", and listen to a variety of songs while at my PC. Besides, the quality lost is negligible (not that my non-audiophile ears can tell.)

 

[Wingznut]

I know plenty of people collect DVD's.. But my question is, do you really watch them often enough to justify the effort?

I mean, people listen to songs over and over, but do they really watch the same movie over and over?

I can't imagine watching even my most favorite movies more than a couple times in my life, let alone the crappy (e.g. majority) movies.

 

[BD2003]

Encoding a DivX requires almost no work anymore.

It takes about 3 minutes to set up everything, and then just let it sit overnight. Xmpeg rips, encodes video and audio, and it will even do 2-pass VBR on its own. Just pop the DVD in, select an audio track, set up the crop, and youre good to go.

Its not rocket science.

Combine that with netflix, and I can own any movie I want.

I'd use morpheus, but I cant on my campus, and you have little to no control over the quality of the movie. When I encode it myself, I'm guaranteed a near DVD quality rip. Hell, I even keep it anamorphic with AC3 for the better movies.