Free Movies!

[lisarea]

OK, so this website has all these public domain movies and such that you can just download:

Internet Moving Image Archive (http://www.archive.org/movies/movies.php)

They've got little movies, including Rick Prelinger's series of commercial, educational, and industrial films, which he used for his Our Secret Century project, if anyone but me cares. (I got four of the series many years ago. It roxxorz.) They also have new movies that the creators released under varying free-ish licenses, I think, plus whole public domain feature films. Night of the Living Dead, DOA, Reefer Madness, whole MOVIES. There is a whole lot of stuff on there I want to see.

So. You can download them and watch them on your computer.

Or. You can download them, then go to this page:

Burning (Super)VCDs (http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/vcdgearburnatonce.cfm)

for instructions on burning the movies to CD so you can watch them on your DVD player. The instructions on this page use only freeware.

So far, I think you have to download the MPEG-1 or 2 versions to write to VCD, although I'm trying to figure out how to do it with the MPEG-4 versions, because they're so much smaller. But I'm still working on that. The freeware stuff I'm using doesn't immediately recognize the MPEG-4 versions.

So anyways, you guys should go do this now. And if anyone figures out a quick, free, easy way to do that MPEG-4 thing, you should tell me about it.

[viscousmemories]

That's pretty awesome, thanks Lisa.

Did you really mean I can burn movies to CD to play in the DVD player though? I thought I had to burn DVD's for that.

[Godless Dave]

Did you really mean I can burn movies to CD to play in the DVD player though? I thought I had to burn DVD's for that.
It depends on your DVD player. Mine does not play VCDs, but when you're as rich as Lisarea you can afford a player with all those extra features.

[lisarea]

That's pretty awesome, thanks Lisa.

Did you really mean I can burn movies to CD to play in the DVD player though? I thought I had to burn DVD's for that.

Yep. Most DVD players will play VCDs. IIRC, it's actually like a backward compatibility thing, in that VCD is an older format than DVD, I think, so DVD players usually can play them. (I could be getting this wrong, but it's something like that.) There used to be a lot of Asian movies that were released on VCD only. I think most of them have been released on DVD now, probably, though. I seem to recall A Chinese Ghost Story* only being available on VCD, in fact, before I somehow got my hands on a really terrible VHS copy, for example.

VCDs don't hold as much, so most feature length films will span a couple of discs, but I just did Sex Madness last night, which fit on one, and DOA is only like 5% over. (I'm not done with that one yet, though. I've got that one in MPEG4, so I'm just messing around with it still.)

There's also another format, SVCD, that isn't quite as universal as VCD, but the quality is supposedly better. I'm going to mess around with that some, too, probably with this next movie. I guess SVCD is a relatively new format, developed by the Chinese government or something. For some inscrutable reason. (Ha ha! Get it? That was racist!)

Anyway, I'm just still figuring this stuff out now, but I thought I'd throw it out there now, in case anyone feels like 'splaining the stuff I don't understand yet.

*Which reminds me: Anyone who hasn't seen A Chinese Ghost Story has to go find it and watch it right this minute. I seriously can't imagine anyone not loving that movie.

[dave_a]

That's pretty awesome, thanks Lisa.

Did you really mean I can burn movies to CD to play in the DVD player though? I thought I had to burn DVD's for that.

The elcheapo DVD player I purchased not too long ago reads dvds and cds. As long at the media format is supported (mpeg1, 2 etc) it will work. It also plays those kodak picture CDs, music CDs and possibly some other stuff as well.

I can't speak for all DVD players of course, but like I said mine is an elcheapo unit, nothing high end.

[lisarea]

Did you really mean I can burn movies to CD to play in the DVD player though? I thought I had to burn DVD's for that.
It depends on your DVD player. Mine does not play VCDs, but when you're as rich as Lisarea you can afford a player with all those extra features.

Yeah, not everyone can be as impossibly wealthy as I, what with the $40 Apex 1200 or whatever that I stole offa my mom when it was too cheap and scuzzy for her to even bother transporting when she moved and all.

Remind me to regale you with tales of my impossibly glamorous stereo system someday, too. With my fucking QUADROPHONIC receiver that I bought when it was new and fabulous, and my previous $40 DVD player with the screwed up video, which is howcome it's now just for CDs now. When it works for that.

And my cardboard tiara.

[viscousmemories]

Well I knew that DVD players could play audio CD's, it just never occurred to me that I might be able to burn a video to an audio CD and play it in a DVD player. Wonders never cease. :)

[JoeP]

OK, so this website has all these public domain movies and such that you can just download:

Internet Moving Image Archive (http://www.archive.org/movies/movies.php)


Hmm (1). 11.5MB for 1m12s ... at 16.Kb/s ... 2 to 3 hours (a download to playing time ratio of over 100). 622MB for 1h35m17s...

Hmm (2).Popular Categories
1. Pornography
2. Sex education
3. Sex education
4. Sex education
5. Sexualities

[Adora]

Ohhh, I was wondering where I could get my hands on Rick's ephermerals. *hearts*

[Scotty]

I assume you mean converting MPEG-4 to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. I don't think there are many players out there that can play actual encoded MPEG-4, you must convert to MPEG-1 (VCD) or MPEG-2 (DVD) to get it to work when burning a VCD or DVD.

I can probably convert the MPEG-4 no problem, as I have all of the pro software for doing stuff like this (I gave up with the freeware stuff and just bought everything, at great expense, but I am very happy :) ).

I could probably make DVD or VCD images of those movies, then you can just take them and burn them with software like Nero Burning ROM or something like that....that is, if anybody really wants me to.

I haven't looked at the site yet.

-Scott

[lisarea]

I assume you mean converting MPEG-4 to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. I don't think there are many players out there that can play actual encoded MPEG-4, you must convert to MPEG-1 (VCD) or MPEG-2 (DVD) to get it to work when burning a VCD or DVD.

Oh, yeah. I assumed I'd have to convert it at some point. I'd be happy to find out I didn't, but yeah. It's just that the MPEG-4 versions are so much smaller, I'd rather download them and then convert. Not that I'm 100% sure that'd save me time. I actually just tried to convert one, which took like one or two fucktillion hours, and the audio track went missing after the first few seconds. Which I'd read might happen, but I was hoping some kind of computer fairy would make that not happen to me.

I don't even believe in computer fairies anymore, I don't think.


I can probably convert the MPEG-4 no problem, as I have all of the pro software for doing stuff like this (I gave up with the freeware stuff and just bought everything, at great expense, but I am very happy :) ).

You big showoff. I'll show you! I'll figure it out.

And, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, I'm not even bitter about all your fancy stuff or anything. Not me! I'm very happy with my freeware and my screaming, hanging hardware, and... and with this stick I found.

I can hit stuff with it, and I can scratch my back with it, and I can poke things, and it's my friend. Its name is Steve. So you can just stop trying to make me envious now, Mister!

[Scotty]

If it makes you feel any better, when I was converting "night of the living dead" MPEG-4, to MPEG-2 and I left for a few minutes, the machine crashed.

It hasn't done that since I got one of the CPU's replaced, soooo, you can poke me with that stick a few more times.

-Scott