Some time I again, I wrote a column for TechHive on methods to lease or purchase DVDs with out Netflix’s now-dead DVD service. So it’s solely becoming to now write the alternative story, about learn how to declutter the optical media you now not need.
First, we’ll go over some methods to digitize any DVDs or CDs you wish to save, utilizing freely accessible software program. We’ll additionally cowl learn how to promote discs in bulk for a modest revenue.
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Why digitize?
In an age of streaming abundance, you won’t suppose digitizing bodily media is worth it. Allow me to supply just a few counterpoints:
- Not all bodily media is offered on streaming companies (or accessible on those you at present pay for). With a digital copy, you possibly can entry that content material on all of your units with none clunky optical drives.
- Digitizing lets you protect the content material’s unique high quality with out the additional compression that always comes with streaming.
- If you will have the time and inclination, running a personal media server is a enjoyable and rewarding interest, one that can allow you to entry all of your digitized content material from anyplace with none ongoing subscription charges.
Get a disc drive
LG
Unless your pc has an optical drive inbuilt, you’ll want an exterior participant to plug in over USB. For DVDs and CDs, I take advantage of an LG drive similar to this one, which I purchased on sale for $20, however Amazon has generic models at similar prices.
The state of affairs’s extra difficult should you’re ripping Blu-rays. Low-end Blu-ray drives start at around $60 however can’t play 4K discs in any respect. Ripping 4K Blu-rays requires specific hardware and third-party firmware to avoid copy safety, and doubtless isn’t well worth the bother except you’re absolutely dedicated to the endeavor.
Digitizing a CD
Jared Newman / Foundry
My go-to for digitizing CDs is a free program known as fre:ac, which is offered for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
After putting in fre.ac, simply insert a CD into your drive, open the app, and await the album data to load. (You can even click on the CD icon with a plus signal subsequent to it.) The software program robotically pulls in knowledge from CDDB, so it ought to pull in observe data for all however probably the most obscure albums.
You’ll have to offer album artwork by yourself, although. Download some from Google Images, then head to the “Tags” tab in fre:ac. Click “Album” beneath, choose “Add” beneath the “Cover Art” part, and choose the picture you downloaded.
Next, head to Options > General Settings > Output recordsdata. From right here you possibly can select the place to avoid wasting your audio recordsdata and customise folder and file names.
Jared Newman / Foundry
Once every part’s configured, you possibly can rip the album into a variety of codecs, which you’ll view by clicking the drop-down arrow subsequent to the ▶️ button within the prime toolbar. I counsel FLAC to protect the CD’s unique high quality, or both MP3 or AAC if you’d like a lot smaller recordsdata in alternate for a loss in high quality. Click the play button itself to begin ripping.
More instruments to take a look at: The fantastically named MusicBrainz Picard can robotically add album artwork and observe data primarily based on the audio file’s distinctive traits. I additionally like MP3Tag for tweaking observe data in bulk, but it surely’s solely free for Windows customers. The Mac model prices $20.
Digitizing DVDs
Jared Newman / Foundry
Ripping DVDs is a straightforward affair with a free program known as MakeMKV. With just some clicks, it could actually convert your discs to the MKV file format. (Just bear in mind that if the DVD is copy-protected, ripping it is probably illegal.)
To get began in MakeMKV, simply click on the large disc icon and await the app to scan your disc’s contents. On the following display screen, select the place to avoid wasting your recordsdata. Click the little inexperienced arrow icon beneath “Make MKV,” then sit again and wait.
You’ll find yourself with a number of MKV recordsdata relying on the variety of extras and deleted scenes included with the disc. Rename them in a approach that’s recognizable, then collect all of them right into a single folder. (If you’re including them to a Plex server, there’s a specific naming scheme to follow for bonus content material.)
Note MakeMKV can even rip Blu-ray discs. It technically requires a $60 license after 30 days, however free license keys are available as soon as per 30 days whereas the software program is in beta, because it has been since 2008.
Need smaller recordsdata? DVDs can simply eat up 5GB of space for storing when ripped through MakeMKV, so think about using Handbrake to compress them right down to a smaller dimension. The “Super HQ 480p” preset for DVDs ought to reduce issues in half with out a noticeable drop in high quality.
How to promote undesirable DVDs and Blu-rays
Jared Newman / Foundry
First, a disclaimer: If you simply ripped a replica of a CD or DVD for private use, you’re in all probability not allowed to show round and promote it whereas preserving the digital model for your self. For the needs of this information, I’m simply going to imagine you will have a separate stack of discs that you simply’d wish to do away with, even with out digitizing them first.
While you possibly can at all times search for an area file retailer to promote your CDs, or attempt to promote every part in bulk on eBay, the appropriately-named Decluttr is a a lot easier resolution.
Download Decluttr’s app for iOS or Android, and you may scan the barcodes for all of your CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. Decluttr pays money for each and offers a free UPS label (and even a number of labels, if want be) to ship them out. You solely want to offer the field by which to ship them.
Admittedly, this isn’t probably the most economical technique to offload previous discs. I scanned 28 CDs and one DVD into the app, and the gives for every disc ranged from $0.10 to $3, with a complete payout of $13.44. On a separate event, I scanned 37 for a meager $7.44.
But as motivation to lastly get a stack of CDs out of my workplace, it’s sufficient, and I take some consolation in understanding that Decluttr will attempt to find a new home for them. Now I’ll be looking out for dusty CD towers at associates’ and households’ homes to see if we will offload any extra.
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