It’s getting to where it seems kind of pointless to buy the actual disk if I want to own a movie, but if I’m going to invest in digital versions I’d rather find someplace where you can actually download the media, not stream it. Something like they have for computer games with Steam, or especially GOG.com, where I don’t even need their program to run the game, even though I use it because it does actually add convenience. Is there such a service?
I’ve used Amazon MP3 for that. You actually get the file downloaded (optionally, but an option I always take) for local storage.
Interesting factoid: if you buy an actual CD from Amazon, you’ll often* have the MP3 form put into your Amazon MP3 cloud account as well (available for download). In other words, they rip it for you.
*Not always. Depends on the rights they can negotiate with the publisher of the CD.
I don’t know of any legitimate source of DRM-free movie files for download. I doubt any exists.
If you can make do with a proprietary app that allows you to download a movie for later off-line viewing, Amazon allows it on Kindle Fire, Android and iOS, Google Play allows it on Android, and I believe iTunes allows it on iOS, OSX and Windows. Amazon used to allow it on Windows (using their Unbox software) but not anymore.
I recently bought a copy of Deadpool on DVD, which came with a code to “instantly stream and download”. It seems I have to link it to either iTunes or UltraViolet, the latter of which I’ve never heard of. But it seems to be a service from which you can download a copy of the movie, if you’ve bought a physical copy or bought the digital title from some other service. So, it sounds like what I want, only the actual purchasing is decentralized. They merely fulfill the download and stream rights you buy elsewhere. So, I’d have to buy physical discs, or I’d have to have accounts on several websites to shop around on. Sigh.
Amazon will allow you to download digital movies you have purchased. If you are a prime member, you can even download certain prime movies for free to watch offline.
But you can only download and view it on their Fire, Android or iOS app, right? Or is there now a way to download a DRM-free version that can be viewed using another software?
I’ve downloaded to my PC and to my Ipad. But you do not get a DRM free version to be shared with whoever you wish. And this is driven more by the studios that produce the movies than it is by Amazon. They don’t want you giving it away to all of your friends.
None of the major publisher are doing DRM-free movie downloads yet. GOG and Steam have some silly minor gaming-related documentaries available DRM-free, but not major motion pictures. If you want DRM-free videos and you’re American, you gotta break the law.
I watch my Amazon downloads on my TV. All of my recent cheap TVs have apps and the ones that don’t can get them through a a video game console or something similar.
I don’t know anything about DRM since it’s not relevant to my life.
I guess I could let someone login to my account to watch it, but I don’t know if they track/block that somehow.
So, I decided to try the digital download of Deadpool. Here’s the deal:
- You go to FoxRedeem.com and enter your name, email address and code
- There you have to pick a video distribution website at which you want to redeem it
- I didn’t want iTunes, because fuck that, so out of a number of choices I knew nothing about, I picked UltraViolet
- You can’t just create an account on UltraViolet directly, you have to create an account on one of the services that piggy-back their video distribution on UltraViolet
- I checked out Flixter and Vudu, and I picked Vudu because Flixter seemed to piggy-back on Vudu, which I remind you piggy-backs on UltraViolet.
- Once I created a Vudu account, it then gave me the credentials to create an UltraViolet account
- If I look at my library in UltraViolet, the movie is there, with a little Vudu icon, and if I try to watch it there, it sends me to Vudu.
- At Vudu’s site, it seems that I can watch it just like in Netflix, but if I want to download it, I have to install a Vudu client.
- The Vudu client allows me to pick the quality of the video. I have already downloaded it in HDX and the deleted it to see if it would then let me download it in SD. It did
- The reason I did this is that on the Vudu site, you pay for the specific quality you want to buy – $20 for HDX and HD, $15 for the SD version. But for buying the actual DVD I get access to all three levels of quality, and the DVD itself, for $15, the price of just the SD download.
- And, Vudu offers a service whereby you can insert a DVD you already own and it’ll see if it can offer you digital download rights for an upcharge – $2 for SD and $5 for HD. At least that’s the deal I was offered when I stuck in a copy of The Incredible Hulk I bought years back. This is another odd way in which mucking around with DVDs is rewarded in digital distribution.
So, I guess I’ll keep buying DVDs, because even my pre-viewed former Blockbuster copy of A Mighty Wind that I bought well before digital streaming entitles me to upgrade to digital HDX download for only $5. If I get a DVD for less than $10, I’m saving money over buying it directly as a digital download.
This is my strategy for video. I’m happy to do digital downloads for audio, and i’ve bought a bunch of digital albums through Amazon.
But for video, they just make it too complicated.
Take the movie you originally mentioned: Deadpool.
I can get the Bluray for under 20 bucks, and then, using free software, can rip and encode a beautiful 1080p MP4 file, with great multi-channel audio, that can stream from my NAS directly to my television.
And if something goes wrong with my computer, i can just rip the movie again later; i don’t run the risk that some studio will decide that they no longer want to stream it to me, or will refuse to let me download it again if my hard drive dies.
Yeah, it’s total bullshit how digital downloads cost more than the DVD+BluRay+Digital bundle. They’re preying on people who want instant gratification, I suppose. Silly as hell, but hey, they control all the licenses and there’s nobody fighting them.
It’s sad that we have to go through so much effort just to have a digital copy of a movie you bought. Ripping is also illegal in the US, for what it’s worth, though of course everyone does it.
How do you download Amazon video on a PC for offline viewing? I know it used to be possible using the Unbox software, but that’s not available anymore.
There are none, at least not in the US. You might have better luck in Russia 
What I ended up doing is just rip all my blu-rays and DVD’s into a NAS. Sonology has a great $250 one with built in mp5/mp4 hardware transcoding. Synolgy’s NAS’ have all sorts of server apps, including Plex.
You then just sign up with Plex which has apps for windows, OSX, ipad/iphone/android/xbox one/PS4.
I can pick up my phone at work right now and watch Aliens. I’ll do it!
Of course this means you still need to store the discs somewhere, plus ripping and transcoding (unless you want to spend a lot of money on a lot of hard drive space) takes time. My pretty small collection of 50 or so movies took a few months - though I wasn’t super dedicated and would take breaks form the process. 