Suggestions for MKV file storage

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by OliverB, Aug 26, 2016.

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  1. OliverB

    OliverB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    This is a tricky one... I have thousands of individual MKV files sourced almost exclusively from DVD/BluRay/HD media. They are currently stored across several older laptops, completely consuming all of the avail. hard drive space. That doesn't bother me as much as the bulky computers themselves. They are not very portable and I do not want to have to lug around 2-3 old heavy 17" laptops in order to access my media.

    Here's what I'm ideally looking for - and I'm not sure such a thing exists -

    I would like to find a compact storage drive or even a digital storage drive, where I can upload ALL of these files in HD (thousands of GB) and I would like to be able to organize them in folders or subfolders if possible, almost as if it were stored on a PC. These files are not all full-length films. Many are shorts, that I'd like to be able to group together in separate categories. I'd like to store everything in digital folders, so that I can keep my files organized. I'd like it to not cost an absolute fortune either.

    Now if the folder/subfolder thing is just not possible, I'd be open to other suggestions... I was thinking I could buy some external drives, but I'm now considering online server space.

    I would be accessing a lot of this content in remote areas, where internet connections may not be very strong, in case that's a factor. I'd like to be able to output directly to a TV or tablet.

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. OliverB

    OliverB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Another option would be to stream directly to my iPad which I could connect to a television via HDMI in order to watch content on my TV.

    I just need to organize files and be able to stream multiple files consecutively; ie. playback for collection of shorts without having to select each one; I'd like to be able to create something akin to a file folder with a seamless play-all type feature. I'm pretty sure I already have a 2TB Seagate Backup Plus external drive, but there's no way that I know of to organize my files. I'm also not entirely sure how to sync it to my iPad in order to output to a TV.
     
  3. semidetached

    semidetached Monkees Mixographist

    Location:
    Bucks County, PA
    Not sure that I am getting exactly what you are asking, but I have ripped my entire collection to MKV and I have it on a 2TB drive, connected to a WDLive, HDMI to my TV. All organized to my liking, and the HDLive will play all.

    I am sure that the iPad should be able to do something similar, but I'm not an Apple guy so I can't help you there.
     
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  4. Dan Kennedy

    Dan Kennedy Member

    For storage, I hear Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson advertising for the Drobo, it's like a RAID only better. And Drobo allows remote access.

    Drobo Store »

    As for a continuous play feature, would that be more of a function of the player you're using? Like, you could make different playlists, and then the playlists would point at the exact location of each file?
     
  5. Uther

    Uther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    You want a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device. Essentially just a single or multiple disk drive that exists only to store stuff. I have several. QNAP makes some good ones. I have a couple by Buffalo, as well. I also have a simple External Drive Dock (like this) that serves the same purpose. Just drop in a hard drive and move everything to it. Then map it to your main viewing PC as a drive.

    As Dan Kennedy said, queuing up stuff is more dependent on your player. You can make whatever playlists you desire, just as you do with music. You can also create a sleek, browsable front-end with something like Kodi or Plex.
     
  6. OliverB

    OliverB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Thanks for all the recommendations; I'll do some more research based on your responses tomorrow and post an update.

    To clarify what I had meant with regards to the continual play feature, I'll give you an idea of how I was previously accessing my media:

    I had a laptop with large storage capacity and folders organized for movies, music, photos, etc. I then sub-categorized everything by genre or theme. I was able to create separate desktops for specific purposes; for instance, I actually created holiday themed desktops with relevant media, films, images, and so forth. Similarly, I'd often create folders or even separate desktops for travel, again with media related to trips we were taking - talk about OCD!

    While lugging around a heavy duty laptop was not exactly convenient, the ability to right-click a folder and select "play all" was extremely useful. I could create movie playlists by sticking dozens of short films in a folder and then choosing to play them consecutively through various media players, without having to select each title. I could have a movie night and "screen" early silent film or comedy shorts or classic cartoons by simply "playing" a folder.

    I know this is surely an impossible task via storage device, but I'm hoping that one of the above suggestions will allow for similar functionality; the ability to not only store all of my media, but to organize it with subfolders and possibly even custom images (be it film art, album covers, folder icons, etc) so that I could achieve the same flexibility and creativity that was afforded on my laptop - only in a more convenient and portable format that would also make it easy to stream to televisions, especially when traveling, which is actually the focus of this project! I'm hoping to setup a digital media center that I can easily pack up and take on the go; that can handle lossless file formats like flac, mkv, etc. but that can be made *easily* compatible with traditional media devices like standard TVs, stereos, etc. I don't want to have to pull out extensive manuals and get on the horn with tech support every time I'm trying to connect to an output to stream a film, play an album, and so on.

    I hope that helps clarify my intentions and ultimate goal.

    Thanks again for all of the really helpful feedback and I'll be sure to respond to each post in more detail tomorrow, after I've had an opportunity to follow up on your suggestions.

    Cheers,
    Oliver
     
  7. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I store my MKV files on a Western Digital Passport portable drive. I have the 3TB model:
    https://www.amazon.com/Black-Passport-Ultra-Portable-External/dp/B01GKFQCAU

    They also make models with other capacities, both larger and smaller. They are all just slightly larger than a deck of cards. The 4TB model is a steal at $139, but is currently out of stock. The 3TB model is only $114 at present.

    I keep all of my files organized in folders on the drive, just like the OP stated. And I carry the drive around between my desktop computer and my Blu Ray player. Any device that can play video files from a USB port should accept this drive. The nice thing is that it just runs off of the power from the USB port on your computer or Blu Ray player, so there is no need to hook up to external power. I would recommend a small padded case for them, however, since they are not the kind of drive you want to be dropping or knocking around.

    They also make nice backup drives, if you want to store a backup of your data in an off-site location... like in a safe deposit box or your desk at work.
     
  8. OliverB

    OliverB Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Okay I have a few follow-up questions:

    It looks like some of the recommendations are really geared for home use, like NAS/QNAP and Drobo. They don't seem to be very portable, which I don't think I clarified in my initial post.

    I'm not entirely sure how WDLive works and I'm wondering if anyone can offer a really streamlined explanation? It appears to be similar to an Apple TV device that can stream from different digital sources. A lot of which are somewhat frivolous for my needs, as I'm not interested in Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or other digital channels. I really only need access to my own personal media, which I understand is also supported, of course. I wonder if someone could quickly expand on this option and explain how streaming content actually functions; how would I access mkv or flac files on a television, for instance? Is there some sort of internal processor that handles this?

    The portable drive mentioned above (Western Digital Passport) sounds quite convenient, but I have a few concerns. First and foremost, how would I transfer content from the drive to a TV set? I'm assuming I'd need some sort of pc/tablet device as a go-between. Could my iPad potentially work and how practical would that be to feed an external drive through a tablet connected to a TV via HDMI in terms of performance and speed? Would this be a reliable method? I'm guessing I wouldn't even require wifi connection for this option, right? Second, I currently have a Seagate Backup Slim drive (2TB) and I must admit that the subfolders cause a bit of a headache, as it often can't handle multiple folders with too much information. For instance, if I have a folder containing 5 or 6 subfolders, each with 2-3 subfolders of their own, I begin to run into transfer errors, indicating that file names are too long (or something along those lines) preventing me from moving files from my desktop or hard drive to the external device as it seems too complicated for the device to handle so many layers of content. I'm still able to dump my files onto the Seagate drive, only I have to basically drop them into the mother folders, which makes it difficult if not impossible to organize. I wonder if the Passport would experience similar setbacks; do you have any experience with this?
     
  9. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    ^ This.

    You will also want to have a redundant backup in cold storage in case one of your drives fails. Keep in mind that officially, "ripping" your DVD and Blu-ray collection is not legal in the United States.
     
  10. Uther

    Uther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    You're overthinking this a bit. An external hard drive (like the Passport) sounds like it would do what you want. You can organize the files on it in any manner you like. After all, it's just another hard drive to your computer, just as if it were installed inside. It uses the same Windows folder/file naming and nesting conventions as anything else you have on your PCs. Maximum file name and/or path length for Windows is 260 characters. If you like using really long filenames and then having subfolder after subfolder of those long filenames, I can see where you might run into a problem.

    Try to be concise with the names. Instead of "Citizen Kane [1941] [Starring Orson Welles; Directed by Orson Welles] [Black and White] [Great Movie - Top of AFI's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time List]" just put "Citizen Kane [1941]" or something similar. You can add any other info into a .txt file in the folder if you really want it kept with the movie.

    As for connecting directly to a TV, that's a little trickier. Some TVs will accept a USB hard drive as a source. Even more blu-ray players will. But not all will play .mkv files. See this video:

     
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  11. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    For WD Passport Drive, I have had no issues with multiple sub-folders. For example, I have backed up my entire Doctor Who DVD library on the drive. I created one master folder for the entire series, with seven sub-folders for each actor who played the lead role. Within those subfolders are more subfolders for each story. And within those subfolders, I usually have another subfolder for the DVD extras. So some files I play are contained within four layers of folders. I have never had an issue with file names being too long. But I try to keep the file names and folder names relatively short.

    I don't transfer the content to my TV. I plug the drive into my Blu Ray player, which has the software to play the files and send the signal to my TV. However, I have also directly connected my Passport to the TV in the past and it recognizes the hard drive and plays the files on the drive just like a computer would. When I did this test, I was using the more common MP4 format. I didn't test the MKV format. However, my TV is also relatively old... a 2009 Samsung. Newer TVs may have more options to play different file formats. My newer Oppo and Pioneer Blu Ray players do recognize the MKV format and play it back perfectly. It's conceivable that a new TV might be able to play MKV files, but do some research first. If nothing else, do a test with your Seagate drive. Put some MKV files on the drive and attempt to plug that drive into the USB port on your TV or Blu Ray player.

    I also agree with the advice to have two drives, with one serving as a backup. Hard drives can and do fail. If you drop a portable drive on a hard surface, there is no guarantee it will continue working. You don't want to be one drop away from losing your collection.
     
  12. Dan Kennedy

    Dan Kennedy Member

    Just to revisit the Drobo thing one more time, if you loaded all your videos onto a Drobo that would sit at home, you wouldn't have to worry about carrying a drive with you, because you could just stream off the Drobo from wherever...

    Home Media »

    Then, as Uther pointed out, you wouldn't have to worry about having to plug a drive into a device somewhere when you're on the road and maybe that device wouldn't be compatible with .mkvs. You could just then carry a tablet, and use some kind of a free player like VLC or something, and just stream everything over the internet from home to your tablet. And then perhaps even from your tablet then onto a TV where you are. I think it would save you some hassle. And I think the mkv format is already a pretty streaming-friendly format.

    And yes what Trashman said do a backup. Drobo has redundancy but you also want a backup offsite as well either to the cloud or to a second drive in a safe deposit box or something. I use Karen's Replicator to do all my backing up, it makes it very easy.
     
  13. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Yeah, I love these drives.
     
  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The 4TB Passports are small and are widely available from many vendors; I was able to get several from eBay fairly quickly, brand new. Be warned they're slow to copy files back and forth -- it took roughly 12 hours to get 4TB of material onto the drive (via USB3).

    I'm not a fan of MKV because I don't like the idea of altering Blu-ray or DVD content in any way. I have ways of copying the MT2S and VOB files over and playing them directly without any conversion or recompression. The original disc contents stay intact.
     
  15. Locutus67

    Locutus67 Forum Resident

    I agree with Uther's post. The vid looks the the same as my nearly 7 yo Samsung's & I have little issue playing nearly anything.
    I've reused older HD's including an IDE one in self powered enclosures for library purposes. My little LG BR player works well for this also. Each can play 95% of formats & it's not a big deal to swap the cable from one to the other. I also use a flash drive for newer stuff & just pop it in & I'm all set.

    I don't use the PC, although I can simply because I don't want the thing powered up just to send a vid 30 feet to the TV. If I had a cheap little PC I might do that but otherwise I put the baby to sleep when I'm not actually using it.
     
  16. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    MKV has nothing to do with conversion or recompression - it's just a container format, not a video format.
     
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  17. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    To the OP, sounds like you are pretty serious and you may want to just set up a HTPC (could be on a laptop) and run something like Kodi. Kodi is a player and a media browser. It gives you lots of flexibility as far as set up is concerned. For instance, you don't have to worry about how your files are stored on the hard drive(s). You can tag them from within the program and then access the tags. It doesn't care how they are stored in windows. Anyway, it may be an option, but its not for the faint of heart, it will take a lot of work to get it they way you want.
     
  18. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    I'm not sure I understand the objection to MKV files. How does it alter the content? Is it because you loose the menu structure of the actual disc?

    Personally I hate the disc menu structure, so I love MKV files. When I want to watch the movie it basically starts instantaneously, no BS.
     
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  19. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Where did MKV files come from, anyway? My PS3 won't play them, so they're useless to me. I just recently stumbled upon the format. That's all I needed, another format.
     
  20. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    The MKV file container has been around a long time. It coexisted with the older AVI format for some while, but eventually largely replaced it as it's a more flexible container spec. These days AVI files are considered legacy.

    I'm sure there are apps out there that can convert between MKV/AVI without touching the video/audio streams inside them (ie, no change in quality).
     
  21. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I use Handbrake to convert MKV into mpeg films (are they mpv or mp4, I forget). That's the format my playstation likes (is also plays avi, but annnoyingly not mac .mov!) It's not a big deal but it takes about 2 hours to to do a movie.
     
  22. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The problem with that is that this also re-compresses the files. Unless you play the original DVD VOB or Blu-ray TS/M2TS files directly, you're adding more compression artifacts -- kind of like making a Xerox copy of a Xerox copy. It's true that it's difficult to play these files unless you search around for specialized 3rd-party software that can play it, and neither Apple nor Microsoft officially supports it because they don't want to make it easy to copy commercial software releases.
     
  23. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    But if it takes 2hrs than you re-encoding the file video & audio, which means there will be some loss in quality as a result of the conversion. What I was suggesting was to just change containers (from AVI to MKV) while preserving the video/audio streams. This would take literally a second to do per file,
     
  24. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Wow, if I could change the container from MKV to AVI THAT would be great. I'll have to investigate
     
  25. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I use ffmpeg for all my video transcoding needs. Although I never needed to do a straight container swap without re-encoding before, I thought I'd give it a try. It worked - no problems. It took slightly longer than 1 sec, maybe around 10-15 secs for a 1.2GB video, which is basically the time it takes to do a file copy of the video and audio streams.

    ffmpeg is a powerful (free) tool, but it's not a simple drag-and-drop type thing. It's a command line based library, but once you download the ffmpeg.exe, all it takes is a single command line to convert any file (you can use a batch file to do multiple files).

    If you're interested in this, I can give you the right command for the conversion.
     
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