REVOLUTIONIZE YOURSELF
Morflix (Self-hosting Streaming Service)
A couple things before I get started
1. I do not advocate for piracy. However, I'm not your mom.
2. This isn't a tutorial as much as it is an edu-tainment journal entry for my therapist.
3. I'm not by any stretch of the imagination done with this project. It probably will never be done. There will always be room for improvement and technology will always be getting better.
But with that out of the way, lets get into the nitty gritty!
First, find an old computer. I would always advocate for using what you already have, and not just buying things for the sake of buying things. If you don't have an old computer, then you can always try and find on used, online, or at a thrift store. Doesn't really matter what's on it now, as the whole purpose is to wipe it back to factory. Ideally, this old computer would also have a DVD/CD Rom drive. If not, then you might need to purchase one.
Then, take your old computer and restore it back to factory. This will take a couple hours, and that's normal. This whole thing took me a whole weekend to do.
Now that it's back to factory, then you will download Jellyfin. This is the main program that I use for self-hosting streaming. It's open-source, free, and if you know a little bit of coding, you can customize the programing to look like what ever you want. I also like the IMDB intregration, so all I have to do is find the movie file, put the name and the year, and it will pull the movie poster for me. One issue is that sometimes it will get certain movies mistaken for another.It caused a lot of confusion when suddenly Wolf of Wallstreet popped up in my library, only for me to figure out that it was actually Pink Floyd's The Wall, two WILDLY different movies.
The other program you'll need is Handbrake. This program will allow you to be able to rip DVDs to any video format you want. This is also where the DVD/CD drive will come in handy. Then you just pop in your favorite movie and rip it to the computer.
Now is my favorite part - finding and adding movie to my library. Now, is where you kinda have to understand intelletial property laws and copyright. I'm not going to go into all of it, because I am not a lawyer, and my understanding of the copyright laws are for the US. So they may not be aplicable to you. Good rule to keep in mind is just to make sure you own the movie. Don't rent it from the library, go on some weird site, or anything like that.
What I like to do is go to the thrift store or a secondhand shop and shop their collection of movies. There is one close to my house that has an AMAZING collection of movies and they aren't terribly expensive. I was able to get a rather rare horror movie for like $10, cheaper than I had found on eBay. Also! ebay is a great place for DVDs for cheap as well, and you don't have to leave the house if you don't want to.
And that's basically it! You now have a fully functional streaming service for your favorite things. As long as the computer is on, then you will have access to your movies at anytime!
But what if you want more? What if you run into issues with storing the movies? What if Jellyfin doesn't work on your old computer, and can only be used on your current laptop, which doesn't work for you because you have other things that you use that computer for? Then, you upgrade! As budget and time allows, you swap out different parts of the system, the computer, the SSD, until it's something that works with you and what you need.
Following this set-up, I have found some limitations that arenot deal-breakers, but things that I want to fix. First is that thing I said earlier: My old computer is too old to run Jellyfin. So I currently have my old comptuer rip my movies, transfer them to a USB SSD, and then use that on my current computer. It's kinda a pain, but I've made it work thus far.
My biggest headache is that I'm currently unable to just stream directly to my TV. I have a Samsung Smart TV< so the Netflix and Crunchy Roll apps are pre-downloaded. However, I was unable to download the Jellyfin App for ease of access. Last I looked, the current solution is to get a Roku Stick and connect that to the TV. Roku seems to have the Jellyfin App, so that should work for my needs. Again, this is something I will most likely buy second hand, as I have seen several at my local thrift store for a reasonable price.
My whole purpose with this project was to take back what I had previously given away to mega corperations. The entire point of streaming services was to have more options at a cheapre price than cable. Now, streaming has turned into cable. You want to watch that series? Sorry, it's only on Hulu. Or it was until last week, and now it's on Pluto TV. You want to watch your comfort show? Congrats! half the series is on one streaming service that costs $20 a month, and the other half is on Amazon Prime for $10 a month, plus ads!
What pulled the trigger for me was the Disney plus series Willow. I adored Willow as a kid, and was really looking forward to watching the series! However, life happens and I wasn't able to watch it when it came out. Two months after they released the first season, they pulled the whole series from the streaming service so now no one can watch it. As it pisses me off! I want to be able to watch it at my own pace, and not at the pace of the Disney shareholders.
So here it is! On the right I had a little check list for myself as to when I upgrade parts of my set up because this will be a project I can always tinker with. I could also have access to my Jellyfin through my phone too, if that's something I ever find I need to do. I haven't run into that need yet, but it's nice knowing that I have that option.
I haven't figured out how to end these things yet...
Bye!