DVD Thinpak and other Slim Cases - Page 11

Hey Wade, just for your information I'm in Australia and I recently bought Babylon 5 series one. It came in the exact same kind of case that you ordered. Black case with two translucent 'pages'. It seems that Warner are reissuing all sets in this packaging (I think they're also producing digipacks for those who want them). Friends is another set you can buy in this style.

Anyway, I was wondering if you could PM me the contact details for the Australian distributor? I really want to convert my Buffy and Angel sets to this case format, as they retail in Amarays in slipcovers. You can imagine how much all the seasons take up when you've got six amarays per season! BTW, are the Buffy covers listed as being for 'six disc alpha cases' on dvdcoverart for the Aussie six-disc style cases? If not, could someone please link me to some covers?

Hope your bulk order starts speeding along .

BTW, could someone please clarify the comments below? The case that is described for U.S. Babylon 5 sounds like the six-dvd cases Wade ordered. Is this correct?

On page 9 Ric Easton said...:

Matt, I'll PM you the contact info when I get home from work in a few hours.

These are a lot thinner than the Alpha cases. I have made some inserts you might be interested in for Buffy, so I'll email you one to check out, and the rest if you're interested.



These are different. Think of a book with thin clear plastic pages (fused together along the left edge), all wrapped in a flexible plastic outer cover.

Great, I appreciate the info and covers .

I think I understand the difference between the 'Australian six-dvd case' and the U.S. Babylon 5 one. Where the Australian case has a few 'hinges' which are formed by the indivdual 'pages' snapping into holders on the case, the U.S. Babylon 5 has all pages 'stuck' together. Hmm, I think I'm going to try and find a pic.

In any case, why do you prefer the Australian six-dvd over the U.S. Bab 5? Ultimately they sound fairly similar to me (unless it doesn't have the two holders on the front and back insides of the case itself.

On the issue of booklets with the six-dvd case... personally I don't mind the lack of clips. The booklet, for Babylon 5 at least, can sit perfectly well on top of the disc attached to the inside back cover.

edit:
I just took off the cover to Babylon 5, and from the looks of it not only is the case I got simply similar to the ones Wade ordered, it appears to be identical. You're definitely getting quality from the guys who are selling them; the exact same cases Warner is using here at retail. FWIW, my case also had the '6' and recyclable logo on the spine.

Matt, YGPM

I think the main reason for preferring the Australian cases is being able to customize them. The US DS9 style cases can't really be altered or the graphics changed. I'm not sure if I've described them well enough, because they don't have clips or anything like that. I couldn't find a really good picture of them right now, but will try to find one. I personally also like the uniformity when using the Australian cases with other thin cases.

Matt,

Can you scan your B5 cover and send it to me? I want to convert my B5 sets from the digipak book to the slim 6, and am interested in what the art looks like.

I just got done converting Stargate SG-1 seasons 1-3 to slim 5 cases. Big, big, big space saver on my shelf! Now I just pray that Chris Elder continues with his custom art for Seasons 4+.

Assuming my wife hasn't swiped the digital camera I can take a picture of the babylon 5 packaging when I get home (I can also snap shots of the DS9 packaging if you want to see those too).

The B5 packaging is probably the absolute worse packaging I've seen in execution. The idea isn't too bad, but it just doesn't work. 4 seasons in, and every single season I've had to return packages to get one that didn't have scraped up floaters. (Actually, ironically the loose disc in my S4 set wasn't really scratched up, but 2 discs that weren't loose were). For me the main reason to change cases is that I just can't trust the cases the discs come in.

Andrea, I'll give scanning a go. The problem is the only scanner I have is part of a copier/fax combo unit... so the quality's not that great. I'll give it a go though; at the very least you should be able to see what it looks like. It's also hologramatic so that may cause some problems.

Gary, I'd appreciate those photos if it's not too much trouble . A photo of the insides and a photo of the spines next to a standard amaray would be fantastic .

Wade, YGM .

For those interested, here are some more photos of what I've been informed are called 'multipaks'.

Despite looking otherwise in the photos, from what I can tell the multipaks are the same height as amarays.

And despite the leaning of the amarays in the 'width comparison' shot (the end-to-end-one), the multipaks are slightly less wide than two amarays. Hope someone finds this useful.

BTW, Andrea, I'm working on getting those scans. Though I doubt they'll be of sufficient quality to actual print out and use, they'll give you an indication of the look. The hologram aspect will probably also cause problems...

EDIT:
anyone want to host the pics? I'm having difficulties. They're quite small...

OK, I've uploaded the photos here:

http://members.tripod.com/handywebspace/

Shame they didn't use that packaging over here. I'd have made fewer trips to the store to get intact sets.

This is actually re-issue packaging. I believe they were originally in standard digipacks (like X-Files, LOTR:EEs).

I just hate the fact that the packaging here has to have the rating symbol AND a huge description on the front. It would be better if it just had a symbol on the front and more detailed classification info on the back.

Thanks for the pics, Matt. In the future, if you need someone to host pictures for you, drop me a line.

REALLY??? Those are R1 packages???? I have to hit the stores (I'm glad now I haven't picked them up..)

Sorry to have given you that impression, but *so far* this packaging has only shown up in Australia with Babylon 5 and Friends.

Keep an eye on this thread, as Wade K has been ordering empty cases (which are identical to those in the photos) from Australia and he'd probably be happy to help you out if he makes a future order.

The 5's arrived today, and I expect the 6's to arrive tomorrow, so I should have everything sent out on Tuesday (fingers crossed). I'll be getting in touch with everyone on the group order sometime this weekend to verify addresses, etc. Following that, I'll be getting in contact with those of you who expressed interest in the extras I have to set something up.

ChadP2K, YGPM

All I can say is thank god! I have dvd's all over the floor. Thinner is better

PLMK if you have any excess 6's, things have finally improved and I could still use a few.

Thanks everybody!

I need shelf space bad. I am really intrigued by this.

I went to my local Wal-Mart and purchased the only two six-packs of clear thinpacks on the shelves. I looked at the pictures posted by Andrea and others and said, "Wow! They look great!" But, I cringe at the idea of cutting the original artwork. And, while I balk at the expense, the idea of getting back so much shelf space will probably make it worth it.

It's the artwork I worry about most. Inspired by Andrea's photo back on page five, I first converted by Fox/BestBuy Demo discs. My resolve further bolstered by my success, I went to the next smallest part of my collection--my music/concert DVDs. This was a little more difficult for me (emotionally) as I trimmed away at the coverart for Diana Krall, Keb Mo and James Taylor (among others). Well, all twelve of my thinpacks are full and I am pleased with the results.

However, I go look at my shelves full of movies and I get filled with doubts. I'm already sure that I won't even think about converting certain titles like my LOTR: EEs or my Ken Burns Baseball set. But, I look at certain titles--like my Fox Five-Stars (Die Hard UE, Speed, French Connection, et al), Forest Gump, Amelie, Fargo SE, Glory SE, T2 UE, and Indiana Jones set and I get all worried. And, all my Disney titles--especially the Treasures. Maybe I should leave them alone, too and just convert my standard Amaray case titles? Should I Have a mix of thinpacks and non-thinpacks? Or, should I swallow hard and go whole hog?

I'm not keen on the idea printing up my own coverart. I'm stingy about inkjet ink and am fussy about the quality. I've only got an HP DeskJet 932c. And I can't see how the artwork on a double-wide Amaray could possibly work in a thinpack.

Any help anyone? DVD Profiler tells me I'm at about 250 titles. I am ready to pull the trigger and order the single and double thinpacks I would need, but am filled with doubt. Thanks!

P.S. I've read through this whole thread front-to-back a couple of times and could've sworn there was a post where someone asked for photos and someone posted a link to a guy (whose name I think was Carl) who had posted a bunch of photos as he converted hundreds of DVDs in his collection. Was I dreaming this? Or was it posted in a separate thread?

Mike, just go to a self-serve color copier (legal sized paper) and photocopy your covers. Try not to get arrested on suspicion of bootlegging. Then cut those (and keep your original covers safe in a UniKeep binder). For converting wide sets to more narrow, you could also download some of the custom covers from dvdcoverart now, burn them to a CD-R, and take the CD-R to the self-serve computer area at a Kinkos, again without letting any of their thought-police notice what you are printing.

Mike,

I think I know how you feel. I was a little apprehensive about cutting up the original DVD art. So I have been taking the long road...

At first I worked on replacing my snappers. If there was a snapper conversion at DVD Cover Art, I downloaded it, if there wasn't I scanned my own. Then I would copy the front and back to a thinpak template, then I would work on the hardest part, the spine. Sometimes I could just squeeze it down, other times it took more work. I usually would get rir of any pic on the spine because it would be too small to see anyway.

After seeing how much shelf space I have gotten back, I moved onto my other DVDs. Basically, any single DVD that did not come in some kind of special packaging would be ripe for converting. Many scans were available at DVDCA so that saved time not having to scan and retouch everything.

I have probably converted about 80 DVDs to thinpaks with more to come. I also have converted many of my wide doubles to single width doubles, sometimes by actually trimming (gasp!) the edge of the paper.

I think my printer is even older than yours: An HP 722c but it still does a fine, if rather slow, job.

I do not have my thinpak coversions on my website because none of it is my original work. If its not from a studio, its another person's work at DVDCA and I just messed with the spine. For example, I've been using Nausicaa's Hitchcock covers and just made my own Hitchcock spine template, but they are certainly not my own work.

If you look back to
this post you can see I also have saved cosiderable space by using those "Super Slim Triples" that I''ve only been able to find on ebay.

Anyway, I have gained quite a bit of shelf space back with more to come. And that's good, because some of my custom cover designs for TV series are actually thicker than the studio releases, so I lose a little ground there!

OK, I've rambled long enough.

Ric

Hey Ric..

Just a thought here... I can agree with what you say about not making full thinpak conversions of what you did from DVDCA available... and getting thinkpak conversions up there is not the easiest thing in the world

MAYBE... (and if you can tap the folks at DVDCA with this idea...) MAYBE... start just having SPINE CONVERSIONS avaiable. Nothing but the SPINE (small file size) and people can either apply it to their own scans or apply it to a scan from DVDCA themselves... a minute or two of work in PaintShop and it's ready to print...

Rick,

Interesting idea, but I seriously don't think DVDCA would go for it. I think they like to have completed (ready for print) versions of all their stuff. After all, folks do have to pay for it, be it upload credits or a little cash.

They still do not have a whole lot of thinpak conversions on their site. It could be that each one needs to be requested specifically. I'll check into it in the near future.

I don't have all my conversions saved to file, but I still have about 40 or so. It's just that it will be kind of a hassle going back and finding who designed the original (if I was using a custom job) and giving the right person credit for it.

Ric

Andrea W, ChadP2K, GarySchrock---YGM

{SULU} Oh my! {/SULU}

I've just found a new UniKeep product that tempts me to go beyond ThinPak into the realm of the binder.

I've stayed away from binders because the ones everyone makes for DVDs are no good because they only have room for the "insert" (even though many DVDs don't even COME with inserts anymore!). Plus most of them look like they're for travel, what with all the leather and fabric and so on. Just not clean and modern enough for a shelf.

Most important, what I wanted was some kind of binder that had room for all the cover art, all of it. Well...

It appears that UniKeep has taken their UniKeep binder, which looks like a giant clear DVD case (except large enough for 8.5x11), and managed to cram in a 4-disc sheet into it. I ran out and bought a sample at the one store that carries it so far (MicroCenter) and it is fantastic!

The photo doesn't do it justice. These disc sheets have what feels like a black felt backing, with really stylish clear plastic flaps that are much nicer than those you find in CaseLogic CD binders. These are much more solid, nearly rigid, and the way they retrofitted them into the UniKeep binder size is incredible...we're talking they squeezed this in with less than a millimeter to spare.

You need to bear in mind the UniKeep binder in which these sheets go is the exact same perfectly cubical (well, not cubical, but like a flat cube) UniKeep binder you already know of (you may have seen them at Staples for instance), which fits Sheet Protectors.

Since they fit Sheet Protectors, this means that by adding a couple dollars worth of Sheet Protectors to the insides you can save all the artwork in the front in Sheet Protectors to flip through, and then you can have all these disc pages in the back. 48 DVDs in one inch of space, WITH all the cover art. This picture doesn't fo it justice.

http://www.microcenter.com/image.pht...317&sku=491068

Since the UniKeep View Case Binder has a wrap-around cover you could put art into it if you have one of those large printers (imagine the entire Star Trek series inside, and the Enterprise wrapping around the front spine and back, for example!), or, since it is transparent anyway, just let the first cover show through.

I put all my, um, "personal" DVDs into this (no, I didn't need a full 48!), and may do that for my music DVDs too. Not sure if I'll do it to the films... maybe I'll just do certain "Director Series"...

I'm going to get some of the half-inch UniKeep View Case Binders at Staples and then divvy up the pages (which again, are so far only at MicroCenter) into a few of them for that purpose.

BTW, if anyone wants to make custom covers for thw 48 disc (1") UniKeep cases, the size is 22" x 11", and the template is here, in Adobe Acrobat format. They also have Illustrator format on the website.

You'd need "C" or banner paper, not to mention a giant printer. I'm just using a label maker to identify the spines, myself. No huge printer here.

Just wanted to let everybody know I've found a new use for some of my incoming "slim" cases.... the NFL Playoffs!

I'm a big Carolina Panthers fan & have got all their playoff games, with local coverage on DVD's thus far.

The Wildcard game I didn't do any local coverage so it fits in a normal double thinpak with a custom insert I made (the same one I use for all my sports events, just has basic info on it).

I recorded 1 disc of postgame coverage for last week's St. Louis game, so that and the 2 disc game are going into a slim triple if the eBay person ever delivers.

This week's NFC Championship is going to finish out at 5 discs total, so it's going into one of Wade's slim 5 disc'ers.

It looks like the Super Bowl itself will get another five disc case, with local Pre & Post game coverage going in another.

Okay. I've taken the plunge.

I've got clear THINpak singles and doubles (not the accordion ones, thank you very much!) all on their way to me.

Deep breath.

Anyone happen to know what's the going price for a color copy at Kinkos is these days? I don't want this getting cost prohibitive.

Oh. And who do I call to post bail if the need arises? Ric, you're local......

Bail, Shmail!

Don't know what Kinko's charges I print them up myself. I do remember them giving me a problem with copyrighted material several years ago (I made custom Babylon 5 inserts for VHS cases), I don't know if they have relaxed their policies.

Ric

I'll tell the judge in Rensselaer County Court you said hello.

Will_B -> Great find!

I had a 1 month foray into thinpaks and in the end thay had no value for me... they shrink the collection by 50% but the additional work and still cluttered shelves and investment were not worth it.

Binders are absolutely the way to go, low investment, save over 95% space, and no need for media shelving (which, IMO, doesn't look good anywhere!). My only problems with binders are reorganizing and sheet stability. These UniKeep sheets are the answer!

If anyone needs the extra encouragement, go binder (you can even keep the cover art if you want - I don't).