those who condense DVDs/Blu-rays - where to buy cases?

[Jinzo Ningen]

I am finally getting around to condensing the physical size of my movie/TV show collection. I have stuff (like the Warner 4-disc Charlie Chan boxed collections) that are HUGE space-wasters. I can get 4 discs into an after market DVD case 1/4 the size, etc., etc. Anyhow, I bought some slim cases (5mm, 7mm and 9mm) many years ago but the quality wasn't so hot; (had a few in each case of them that tore or cracked just getting them unpacked), so my question is for anyone who has also done this... please recommend a vendor (website/brand/style/etc.) for QUALITY slim DVD cases? Many, many thanks!

[Shokara]

Two companies that I've had fairly good experience with when getting new DVD and Blu-ray cases for the same purpose as you're trying are US Plastic and Viva Elite. Here are their respective websites. You can also likely find their products from various third party retailers on Amazon.com.

[XvGojira]

I have a whole slew of links at home, in trying to find the largest multi-disc bluray cases in attempt to house the Godzilla series in as coherent manner as possible, but off the top of my head, I know I bought a few cases from Sleeve City.

http://www.sleevecityusa.com

[Jinzo Ningen]

Thanks for the info guys. I have a few links from my previous run through with this process, but those were boxes that were fairly fragile, especially the thin ones (7mm & 5mm). I have a ton of movies that have just been sitting, taking up way too much space in their original fat (14mm) boxes. A perfect exampls is the MAMMOTH box set for Space:1999. Something like 14 discs - each in it's own 14mm box inside a thick cardboard presentation outer case. I could literally put everything in 1 14-disc DVD case that's only 30mm thick, about a 90% reduction!

Another roadblock has been the software I use to make tweaked sleeveart to fit the slimmer cases. Recently, I replaced my aging computer with a new one that uses Windows 8.1 which is pretty nice; certainly processes waaay faster than the previous system. The software of choice I've been utilizing up until now to make my DVD cases is an ancient copy of Adobe PhotoDeluxe 3.0, which came with the first home computer I ever bought, way back in '98. Sadly however, this new system won't suport it so I am forced to chug through with photo software that's far more complex than what I really need - or want. Granted, PD 3.0 wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the newer Photoshop offerings, but it was perfect for allowing me to quickly and efficiently whip up replacement DVD artwork with custom, narrower spines - to fit the slim & super-slim boxes I was replacing the fat stock boxes with. Adobe's Photoshop Elements is slightly less cluttered than thier uber-complex Photoshop, and a little more streamlined, but still waaay too overcomplicated to just tinker with. I suppose I just need more seat time to get familiar with it? Oldfart syndrome, I guess. SIGH.

While I'm at it... any recommendations on websites with custom DVD box artwork and also... quick formatting programs for generating custom DVD artwork????

I most often try to keep the front & back stock art/info from the original boxes, but sometimes I like to customize, (2008's DVD art for "The Incredible Hulk" is a perfect example. I hated the DVD art but loved the theater poster so I made my own jacket art). I especially like to use original poster art for my DVD boxes with older, classic movies. Many pre-80's era movies have some truly awesome theater posters and lobbycard graphics that make for really sweet DVD covers, (Inframan springs to mind), and they are often lightyears better than the hideous, crappy looking photoshopped covers that a lot of companies use for DVD box art nowadays (the recent BenHur remastered deluxe Blu-ray for example). Anyways... it's late, I'm tired and apparently more or less just rambling now...

Thanks again for the weblinks gentlemen. I will check them out!

[XvGojira]

While it's not the easiest to navigate, this thread is what made me sign up to the site.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=100007

[The Shadow]

Have you tried Paint.NET? It's a free image editor, originally developed as a replacement for Microsoft Paint and would probably meet your needs as a replacement for Adobe PhotoDeluxe. I've used it off and on for a couple years now, works fine for my limited image editing needs.

I've not tinkered around with Windows 8 much, but I think that Microsoft may have given Paint an upgrade for the latest version. I don't recall for certain though so you'll want to open up Paint and check it out to see what's there now. And if you're interested in paid image editing software and don't want full blown Photoshop, then Adobe Photoshop Elements is well worth a look. I've used Photoshop Elements for several years now and it has always worked well too.

Here's the Wikipedia page for Paint.NET and a link to the official site if you want to check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET

Official Site: http://www.getpaint.net/

[Jinzo Ningen]

Thanks for the link, Shadow. I downloaded PAINT last night, checked it over but haven't really had any time to try aything with it yet. I have been doing fairly good working with Picture It! 7.0 and the most recent free version of AdobePhotoshop (2005, I think). Switching back & forth between these two I have cranked out a half dozen or so pretty nice covers. I condensed the PG & unrated editions of Swamp Thing ('82) into one nice 9mm thick double-disc case, using the gorgeous original theatrical painting. Found a way cool piece of promo artwork for the '79 Paramount flop ORCA, and got it to work nicely with the home video back sleeve the movie came with. Also did some work on Pulp Fiction's carboard packaging and a similar cardboard-for-plastic case art wrangling for Universal's Don Knott's franchise release. Lots more to go, but it's getting there.

Thanks for the suggestions & weblinks folks. When I get my Christmas break I think I'm really gonna get busy and try to reduce everything in my fairly sizable collection to fit into either 9mm or 7mm slimline cases. Now I just need to get some multi-disc cases for my TV show stuff and I'll be ready to go nuts. Thanks again.