How to share your old DVD videos on the Internet

While everyone does their part in trying to flatten the curve and keep COVID-19 at bay by practicing social distancing and self-isolation, maintaining some sense of normalcy can be challenging. That is why it is essential to keep and maintain your favorite activities and traditions going even if you need to make slight adjustments to maintain your safety. So if you usually have a day set aside with friends to indulge in movies, try changing it and watch the movies together on the Internet. 

Many people nowadays rely on video streaming subscriptions to access their favorite series or movies. However, if you still own a big collection of movies, home videos, and TV series saved up on DVDs, you can still share them with your friends on movie night. Here are some tips on how to make your movie night with friends memorable and fun.

1. Get ripping

You will need to start by changing the DVDs into digital files to make it easier for you to stream it into the viewing platform of your choice - you have to rip them from your discs. There are software tools available you can use to rip DVDs and save your copies on the cloud. This way, you not only save up on your local storage space, but you will be able to access your file library on various platforms as long as you have an internet connection. 

You can use many choices to store your files on the cloud using Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, or Amazon Drive. They will keep your DVD digital library secure and allow you to stream it on movie night with friends without any problems.

2. Discuss your movie night choices

The hardest part of any movie night is picking a movie everyone will enjoy. You may have different tastes from your friends. Some may enjoy action-packed movies while others may want to watch some drama; either way, find something that will appeal to everyone since you can't go through your entire DVD digital library collection in one night.

You can have a virtual meeting before the movie night, discuss with your friends, and choose a movie they've never seen, and everyone is likely to enjoy it. And if you can't settle on just one movie, you can schedule more movie nights to watch even more movies each week.

3. Set a time and date for movie night

After you eventually settle on which movie to watch, it's time to set a date and time for movie night. Please don't assume that since everyone has more freedom being stuck at home, they have more time. You don't know what your friends' quarantine schedule looks like. Set a date and time everyone is comfortable with. They can set reminders on their devices so that they don't forget.

It's also vital to ensure that everyone has devices that are compatible to stream the movies; you wouldn't want any of your friends to miss out on movie night. You can have the movie night scheduled on Skype or Zoom, so ensure you send out the links to join the meeting in time if you are using Zoom.  

Because you will be sharing your screen and watching the movie while still seeing each other's faces, you and your friends can have fun and interject with hilarious commentary making the movie night even more fun.

4. Theme it up

You can choose to wear costumes and spice up things for movie night. If it's a horror movie on Halloween night, you can all wear scary costumes and even have a contest to see whose costume was the scariest. Alternatively, if it's a drama or comedy, you can create costumes inspired by the movie characters.  

5. Don't forget the snacks.

A real movie night cannot be complete without snacks and drinks. Remind your friends to grab whichever goodies and snacks they like so that you don't have to keep pausing your movie for them to get refills. Make yourself some popcorns and other snacks you will need, and get ready to have your night of fun with friends. Plus, one of the advantages of having movie nights virtually is that you can have all the snacks and drinks to yourself.

Whether you watch a movie, you are excited to see or one you have never liked, the most important thing is that you get to spend quality time with your friends. Especially during these social distancing times, it's important to keep doing activities you all enjoy and love to do.