Copying DVD to PC then Streaming to XBox

[200thhorseman]

Hi all,

I currently want to clean up my living room by copying all of my DVDs to a PC so that the actual physical disks can be stored elsewhere (probably the attic). My thought is that I will copy them to a PC that will act as a server, from which they will be streamed to my XBox 360. I am a complete newbie to this and was wondering what the legal ramifications of this are. I do not intend to copy and distribute the DVDs, nor do I want to download movies illegally from the net. I simply want to copy my DVDs to another media so that the actual physical disks can be put out of the way. Would this be classed as 'backing them up' and if so is this legal?

Assuming that this is all legal and above board, can anyone suggest or recommend any software that I can use to copy the DVDs and does anyone have any tips for the streaming side of things?

Any help would be gratefully received.

Regards,

Rob

[yoda313]

For you own use yes no problems.

I would recommend ripping to wmv and wma5.1 audio (if original discs in 5.1). That would assure 100% compatiblity with the xbox 360. You can do divx on the 360 but I can't say which versions work perfectly, and I'm not sure about ac3 encoded divx files. I think it should be ok but I haven't tested that on my xbox 360 in a long time so I can't say which versions do and dont' work.

If you have a windows media center pc it might make it a little nicer with a better interface since the 360 is a media center extender.

Oh and for video I would not recommend wireless streaming. Although the 360 does now have a wireless n adapter so if you have a wireless n router that may be fast enough to send video wirelessly without buffering issues.

If you want to rip to iso or mpeg2 you will need to use a streaming service that can transcode video on the fly. Something like tversity or ps3 media server (does work with 360).

[200thhorseman]

Hi Yoda,

Thank you for your reply. Can you recommend any software to actually do the ripping? Also you mention a Media Centre PC, but would a Windows Home Server do?

Thanks again,

Rob

[HARRYSPADGE]

Hi Yoda,

Thank you for your reply. Can you recommend any software to actually do the ripping? Also you mention a Media Centre PC, but would a Windows Home Server do?

Thanks again,

Rob

I use my Windows Home Server for storing my movies on and streaming to the XBOX.
The 360 will see the server and all you need to do is activate the shares for the Video, Movie and Photo folders in the server console.
I have been experimenting with DVDFAB and Handbrake to do my conversion's but I still haven't decided which method I will use full time.
You can download Handbrake for free from here but to get the full feature's of DVDFAB you will need to purchase the full package.
There are some good guide's on here which will give you a good starting point, just take a look in the GUIDE'S section.