Best Way To Store A Large DVD And Blu-Ray Collection (1 Viewer)

What's the best way to store a large DVD and Blu-Ray collection in the least amount of space? Keeping everything in their original cases isn't cutting it, especially since most studios don't have a clue about how to conserve space. (Why are studios still releasing DVDs in standard-size cases if they're not including a book inside? A slim case would be more appropriate.) I've been thinking aboout putting 1-2 disc sets in slim cases, and 3-6 disc sets in the standard size cases with one or two single or double sided pages inside and a disc on the front and/or back covers as seen here). These are the cases Paramount is using with some of their newest TV set releases (like Petticoat Junction Season 1) - assuming I can find a place that sells them.
With these cases I could retain most of the original artwork, but the big problem is that I'd have to cut everything up because they wouldn't fit in "as is" due to the larger spines in the original case liners. I don't really want to cut up the original liners, but I can't think of any other alternatives. Printing out new slim-size case art for all of my DVDs and Blu-Rays would waste a LOT of ink cartridges, and the quality wouldn't be good coming from an inkjet printer. I thought about disc binders, but I've never really cared for them, and I think it would be kinda annoying because I currently have my discs stored alphabetically separated by type (movies, tv, music, wrestling).
Does anyone have any suggestions? I've literally run out of room to store more DVDs and Blu-Rays, so this is a problem that I really need to address.

Paul, I realize you indicated that you do not prefer disc binders, but I've moved my entire collection of DVD and Blu-ray to binders and it has made a huge difference in space requirements. I tried slim cases and while it helped, it still took a lot of shelf space and boxes to hold everything. Went to binders and now everything is neatly arranged in one location. Resorting discs is a pain, but it helps if you have sheets that are removable. Good luck.

- Walter.

I originally purchased a 50 pack of standard size cases that hold 4 disks a piece for storing TV shows I capture that are not commercially available on DVD. What I ended up doing with many of them unexpectedly is exactly what you are talking about. I had many TV sets of 1 disk per standard case size. Where it seemed to make the most sense, I combined the disks into these new cases. Since the artwork is still the same size I used one out of every four to identify the new cases. You can get dual slim cases to replace your singular disk slim cases so again you can use the same art work. I put all the extra cases and art work no longer needed into boxes for storage (just in case I decide to sell some day). It is always a good idea to keep the cases and art work just in case you ever do want to part with any. From a used market standpoint the art work is very important. Even if it means storing them in the actic.

This by no means is going to compare with the binder approach but it opened up a couple of shelves for me which was all I needed to make new purchases.

Hey Paul:
HERE'S A THREAD (34 pages worth!) on that very subject. It contains a huge conversation on that subject. There are advocates for binders, slimcases (scan/shrink artwork vs. cut artwork to fit cases), and all sorts of other options.
I have long purchased slim cases and doubled the capacity of my shelves. I have also curtailed my purchases /img/vbsmilies/htf/biggrin.gif as a way to control my space issues. It is, admittedly, a time-consuming venture (as I suppose binders would be). It requires you to be a much more active participant with your collection.
Oh. There are also discussions in the thread on the use of software like DVD Profiler to help with the organization of big collections.
Hope some of that is a help.

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies.

Walter - I've actually never seen disc binders with removable pages. The few disc binders I have (which I don't use - they're sitting in a box) have the pages permenently inside the binder. I may have to look for the removable kind. Are the special-size binders with special-size pages, or are there disc pages for standard 8.5x11-type binders? Now you have me thinking about maybe going that route.

Mike - I have to check out that thread when I have a little more time. 34 pages is a heck of a lot to read right now

Originally Posted by spookcentral /forum/thread/294927/best-way-to-store-a-large-dvd-and-blu-ray-collection#post_3629369
Mike - I have to check out that thread when I have a little more time. 34 pages is a heck of a lot to read right now

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Paul: Don't be overwhelmed by the beast. You could probably skip the first ten pages or so of the thread. That's when the debates over the best way's to downsize really seem to take hold. And, as I've just been looking back over it, it's pretty light reading with lots of extraneous discussion about where to roder cases from, etc.
Many of the pix of people's handiwork seem to have made it in the recent software transition! /img/vbsmilies/htf/thumbsup.gif
Here's a couple of my shots (from page 17) showing how my slimmed-down cases look (back in 2004!):

Paul,

I've seen two types of removable page binders (at Fry's) in an 8.5x11 configuration with sleeves for four discs on each side of the page.

Type one is a standard three ring binder which I've used but don't really recommend because the pages can tear since there is so little material between the binder hole and the inside margin of the page and the binder tends to come open unexpectedly if too much pressure is applied to the pages while flipping them.

Type two is a Case Logic binder that has two large straps that hold the pages (with a slot in each page that provides much more surface area for the hole in the page and consequently no tearing) in place. You unlock the straps via a mechanism on the spine of the binder and the pages may be removed. Much better, IMHO.

Once again good luck with whatever solution you pursue.

- Walter...

One benefit to separating discs from case is that is halts thieves from stealing your collection. If a disc is missing then you know the thief is a Cineaste and not some crack addict who broke in.

Personally, I went with the 900 disc capacity DJ cases. The benefit of them is that the discs hang down and don't press against each other, causing scratches. I've got 3 full cases and am working on number 4. I only store single-sided discs in the sleeves, so any double-sided discs remain on the shelf. I also use DVD Profiler to record which case and sleeve number a particular disc gets stored in, so I have an easy reference. In this way, I'm never concerned about reshuffling disc order in storage, since the software does my organization for me. As for the packaging, I toss it. I realize for many people the plastic case and paper sleeve hold some sort of intrinsic value, but I'm only interested in the disc itself. That's what I paid the money for.

I am a huge fan of carousels. Something like this: You can maintain the software on your PC and track which disc is in which slot.

I through an admittedly expensive route and bought the DVD and hi-def sleeves from www.mmdesign.com. For my nearly 700 blu rays and 1000 DVDs. It allowed me to save all artwork and inserts from the cases with minimal folding (the only fold I made on the covers were along the lines they were already folded. In cases where there were single discs I was able to double up two DVDs or BDs per one sleeve. Each sleeve can actually hold three discs easily: two in inside pockets and one in the back between cover art and the back of the sleeve material. When I have the large 4 disc sets which often contain 2 discs I don't care about (i.e. 2 blu rays, one DVD and one Digital copy) I'll often put the two blu rays in the individual inside pockets and double up the DVD and Digital Copy disc in the back, so one sleeve will hold all four discs. Then I used DVD Profiler for iOS to catalog them. Yes it's a bit expensive: 25 BD sleeves cost $20 [keep in mind if you maximize usage you can get about 35 titles in 25 sleeves] but about once a year mmdesign has a 20% off sale and that's when I buy in bulk. Here's a couple of pictures. Here's what the sleeves look like on the bookshelf. They're not smashed up against each other in this picture, I've left room for growth, so they can be even more compact than this if needed. Here's what a "doubled up" sleeve looks like for Phantom and Phenomenon. Both cover art and inserts were fully retained and each being a single disc BD, each disc is in its own fully protected interior pocket.

Carlo:
Thanks for those awesome pix!
Why does the Phantom artwork look so much taller than the Phenomenon artwork?
And you keep your discs alphabetical--regardless of media or genre--to promote ease of finding them on the shelf using DVD Profiler?
I am intrigued. Your shelf reminds me of mine when DVDs ruled the day and I had downsized all my cases (including the snappers) into Thinpaks (see my picture in post #6 above).
And what are your exceptions? Crtiterions?

Hey Mike, The Phantom and Phenomenon inserts are identical in size. When I opened the sleeve it didn't lay flat on the bookshelf (the discs are under the Phantom side) so it's a trick of perspective you're seeing there. Kind of like how the shot Bilbo and Gandalf in LoTR. Yes I keep them in alpha w/ DVD profiler as my sorting guide. I didn't want to expend too much energy thinking about genre, especially when so many movies are cross-genre (is it a thriller? suspense? horror?). Exceptions: for Criterions I use the DVD sleeves from mmdesign, which are taller and accommodate the taller Criterion insert. Also makes them easy to find by eyesight because they're taller on the bookcase (as well they should be!). Other exceptions: unique boxes, steelcases, etc. as I see fit. I don't keep all my unique boxes but if I like it I will (i.e. LoTR, steelcase ET and Dark Knight Rises, Criterion integrated boxes/artwork like Dazed and Confused, Seven Samurai, WB's Citizen Kane, etc.) Oh - I do separate my DVDs and BDs. Just because they were that way on the shelf when they were in cases so I was too lazy to interfile them when I switched over to sleeves. Truth be told I have maybe watched 5 DVDs in the past year so I need to figure out what to do with my collection. I'll keep the unique ones (a little over half) which have no BD counterpart for sure, but for the 300-400 dupes I should probably bequeath those to my parents... Oh and one thing I did for my old DVD collection. I actually dissambled Warner's snap cases, removing all cardboard art from the plastic part that held the disc, and put that whole cardboard thing into the mmdesign sleeve. It all fit, but it did preclude me from doubling up. Yes I was obsessed. What's really cool now is that mmdesigns are available in Container Stores and I happen to live near one! I used to have to wait for the sale, and order in bulk because minimum shipping was expensive from mmdesign but the more you ordered, the price of shipping didn't go up as much for larger shipments. Now that I'm all caught up in transferring, about every 3-4 months I go to the Container Store and buy one 25 pack for $20 and that usually covers all my purchases during that time period.

Mike - here's a picture of a shelf full of "exceptions". HTWWW, Jaws, Indy, Hunger Games, are all examples of box sets preserved. You can see Criterion's High and Low in a taller DVD sleeve. and you'll not on the left some original slipcases that I've flattened (simply by flattening, no cutting, trimming, etc.) because they contained cool 3D lenticular art that I'm a sucker for (Hellboy and later Harry Potters are visible there). Note for Indy I've also kept the back label (which protrudes up at a weird angle) because that's where the UPC symbol is (which I need to scan into DVD profiler). I'd say overall space savings are about 4:1 for DVDs and 3:1 for BD (since BD cases were thinner than DVD cases). This includes keeping all art and inserts. If you don't need that stuff, and tossed out accompanying DVDs and Digital copies that were packaged with BDs, you'd realize even more space savings. But I think it's obvious by now that I'm a "completist/archivist". For my CDs, I also went with mmdesign's CD sleeves (which again, store all art, back and front, as well as inserts) and bought a couple of their CD cases/trunks to store them in. Since I've digitized my CD collection in iTunes, I keep them hidden away for archival use only, unlike my BDs which I keep handy. Hmm, maybe that's what I'll do with my DVDs, buy another couple of trunks and put them out of sight as well...

I took a similar route with storage sleeves, but couldn't justify the pricing + shipping of the ones from MM Design. Instead, I opted for the Atlantic Movie Sleeves, which I wrote about in another thread a couple years ago. At standard 14.99 pricing per 25 sleeves, it comes out to 60 cents each. I've generally been able to get them at 40 to 50 cents each though.
The local availability of the sleeves has been an ongoing issue. At first I could pick them up at a regional big box store, but then they stopped carrying them (though I managed to get the remaining ones on clearance). Then Target started to carry them, at a slightly lower price than Amazon. The sleeves also seemed to go through a minor redesign to better accommodate DVD cover art, but then local Targets also stopped carrying them (and once again, I bought up all they had left at clearance prices).
Finally, I went direct to the source and bought enough to keep me set for a long time (or I may be selling the surplus here – stay tuned!). The 25% off holiday coupon (which still is being advertised) was also a nice incentive. The sleeves are the slightly narrower version, which means DVDs require a fold that goes into the spine about 1/8", but that's a compromise I'm willing to make as my DVDs are ultimately not worth that much and some will eventually get upgraded to Blu-ray. For those releases I feel are especially rare, I just leave them in the keep case.
Obviously there are some releases that can't be put into sleeves – box sets, many TV shows, etc. I also leave alone any releases that have a slipcover, though if I'm looking to economize space even more, I will begin targeting those releases whose slipcovers are simply duplicates of the cover art inserts.
I know mixing sleeved and non-sleeved on the shelf creates a visual inconsistency that the more particular balk at. But I like the visual variety and the regular appearance of outward facing spines provides better references than a single alpha divider.

David Upton said:

I am a huge fan of carousels. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ziotek-Media-Carousel-Special-Edition/dp/B000G7WZQY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357664131&sr=8-2&keywords=media+carouselhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=hometheaterforum-20&l=ur2&o=1 You can maintain the software on your PC and track which disc is in which slot. 

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Now that's neat. I'm not sure if I'd go that route anytime soon. But mine is scattered in tons of cardboard boxes. It's a coincidence that I'm getting my "Vacation Mix" of flicks and TV shows on my shelf since I have one coming up in a week and a half. Pain in the butt! Not enough shelf space and I'm having to keep cardboard boxes near the shelves. If I want something not on the shelf...the "fun" begins. I'd love to have my stuff in a few of those things. I don't think id' want to relocate all my discs to smaller cases. My thought, organizing everything into good durable cardboard boxes with tops that come off. Organize by genre, date, ABC... if I want something I just find the right box and do a quick search. My full collection would be relatively easy to access. Of course, I have to make sure I have a house big enough to have a good movie/TV show storage area. I have that now luckily.

Yes as some have said, my solution is indeed an archival-type investment. I wanted to be able to preserve all of the cover art (including front and rear inserts for CDs) as well as booklets, etc. I wanted material that wouldn't harm the discs while in storage (I've had old paper and plastic sleeves positively scratch discs before but luckily they were burned CDs as opposed to factory pressed discs so I learned my lesson early on with regards to using cheap holders. If all you want to do is house just the discs in as small an area as possible, there are cheaper and easier solutions than mine.

Cameron - I've definitely weeded my collection of slipcases that are duplicative of the normal cover art. The only slipcases I keep, and have flattened as per my picture above, are ones that are exceptional in some way, such as having 3D lenticular art, or are fancifully embossed and are different from the normal cover art in some different and substantive way. And even then I flatten the slipcase and still discard the case, so I still end up saving space, but more like 2:1 savings instead of 3:1.

If you have no problem discarding cases (and maybe artwork also), Case Logic has a great sale going on: http://www.caselogic.com/en-US/US/Products/CD-DVD-Cases/CD-Albums/ENW_-_104_-_BLACK_-__-_104CapacityCDWallet I bought 25 of these at the sale price currently available, and have placed all of my DVD's and most of my Blu-rays into these. I created a new data base in my word processor indicating title, case letter, and number, using only two columns, and used Avery colored spots on the bottom corners of each case slot to identify them. The case itself I identify with spots also (A-B-D, etc.) taped to the outer spine. So, my database would say, for example, THIS ISLAND EARTH, D-012, which would be case D,slot 012. Finding any disc is very quick, and alphabetical order in the cases is not necessary, so adding new discs to the mix is simple. Your word processing database should allow you to sort by either case # or disc title. With this form of storage, I am using approx. 25% of the shelf space I had been using for SLIM CASES. which would amount to way less when compared to standard keep cases. Keep the artwork if you like, in a separated place. It is paper thin and can be stored without hogging your shelves.

We bought a house and converted the 6' X 15' utility closet into the video vault using 8 of the shelving units from when Borders went out of business. That's best way to store and adore a collection.