How do you organize your collection?

[DeusExMacarena]

Originally Posted by Ben_R

My Horror section has become the largest part of the collection, would anyone be able to suggest a few sub genres under the horror banner that I could use to make this part of the collection more condensed/specific.

Could split up "foreign" from US releases. Or split them up by the studio that released them.

[Luke Dodge748]

Originally Posted by BunyipPouch

Looking for advice.

So I've always had my collection organized alphabetically, horizontally on these cheap $20 Ikea shelves and it's been......fine. Cheap and it works. The shelves are okay, the back of the shelves really suck though, but it's $20 so whatever. It's like this:

[Show spoiler]

Now, I've heard recently that keeping discs horizontally is bad because of gravity eventually warping the discs (years down the road obviously). So, considering this, I've been wanting to move my movies vertically, not only because of the warping thing (might not even be true), but because after testing it it turns out that I would gain 14 more spots per individual level (that's 350 more movie spots overall!), which is awesome because I've been running out of room.

Now, here's my 'test run' to turning everything vertically, using lumber to make each shelf two-leveled.

At first glance, I love it. I think it looks amazing and better than the horizontal setup, it gives me 350 more spots overall, and I don't have to worry about the possible warping thing.

Here's the problem: price. It turns out lumber is stupidly expensive. Just this one test shelf, these 5 small pieces of lumber (23 inches long by 3.5 inches wide), cost me $13. PER INDIVIDUAL SHELF. That'd be like $350 just to buy the wood. I'd basically be paying $1 per movie for each new spot created, which is crazy. Just for loose lumber. I didn't expect that at all. I might as well buy new shelving from scratch.

Can anyone think of a different way or thing to use to do this? Feels like anything could be used to do this (instead of lumber), but I'm struggling to find what would fit the dimensions? Some kind of plastic, heavy cardboard even? Feels crazy to spend $400 freaking dollars just to move my movies vertically. Unless I'm missing something.

I think this room looks awesome. I'm not a fan of the horizontal bluray storage, but it looks nice and comfortable. It has a great atmosphere...

[BunyipPouch]

Originally Posted by Luke Dodge748

I think this room looks awesome. I'm not a fan of the horizontal bluray storage, but it looks nice and comfortable. It has a great atmosphere...

Thank you

I actually did recently find a cheap way to move everything vertically though, using double-levels. I think it's an improvement.

[edmonddantes]

I group them by label in any order. I use EMDB (the freeware) to locate every title so I dont have to go ordering things alphabetically, its incredibly quick, tidy, and efficient. Im always amazed at how people with large collections dont use any kind of software to organize them instead of the moronic alphabetical thing. If you dont know how to use EMDB or any other straight forward program, then use excel. You buy, you catalogue, you place anywhere, thats it.

[guizhang]

my order

VS (spine number) -> CC (spine number) -> Arrow (by title) -> all other Blus -> UHD

i have a separate section for box sets and film collections. and the really big boys like the bergman and fellini sets, i'll have on display on top of my shelves.

what i'm sorta conflicted about will be criterion UHDs. if they share the same spine number, i think i'd rather group them with my other criterion blus as opposed to the UHDs. not sure.

[meremortal]

Still poorly organized with most stuff in a combination of boxes, bins or in cabinets/drawers. Working on downsizing, but I'm a bit stubborn. Among all physical media types, I could probably do without around a thousand or so if I really tried hard enough to figure out what I really "need."

[Dark City Denizen]

I really had no idea there were so many variations for alphabetising. I was always taught - numbers before letters (so 1917 starts my collection, in front of The Abyss), & lettering exceptions only for sequels that are attached to an earlier film with a different letter (eg, The Lost World goes under ‘J’ with Jurassic Park, Days of Future Past is placed after First Class), etc.

[Nightman04]

This is the current order of my collection...

[Show spoiler]A24 4k Releases (they only fit on the top shelf. Currently only have Midsommer)
Criterion
Arrow
Live Action TV
Disney Classic (Hand drawn)
Disney Animation
Disney Pixar
Disney Classic Steelbooks
Disney Animation Studios Steelbooks
Disney Pixar Steelbooks
Disney Classic Live Action (Beauty & the Beast, Jungle Book, Aladdin, etc.)
G Kids
Anime
All other animation
Then the rest of the collection (#s then A-Z) All MCU, DCU, and XMEN movies are in order as well

[RustinCohle]

(Almost) three year later bump. I found myself asking this question tonight as I’m almost out of space on my 4K shelves, but not on my blu-ray shelves. It might be time to just put them all together.

[D00mM4r1n3]

I keep media formats separate, VHS/DVD/Blu-ray/UHD are all separate. Blu-ray are just tossed on shelves with some being grouped by genre or series (James Bond, for example.) UHD are alphabetical for now with a few series/collections grouped together but alphabetical still. VHS and DVD are in plastic tubs in the garage. I back everything up to a file server and watch them with Plex, so having things accessible or organized isn't a priority.

[Socko]

Originally Posted by RustinCohle

(Almost) three year later bump. I found myself asking this question tonight as I’m almost out of space on my 4K shelves, but not on my blu-ray shelves. It might be time to just put them all together.

I ran out of space all together.
I'm going to sell a lot of discs soon.

My order in the shelves is boxsets or big packaging first.
Then steelbooks (mixed BD and UHD) in alphabetical order and then amaray cases (mixed BD and UHD) in alphabetical order

[trekky76]

Almost ran out of space myself. I got space left until the end of the year and that's it. Will need to either move old blus to make place or sell off some releases I just don't care so much for.

[Bernardo A.]

TV DVDs
Cinema DVDs
TV Blu-rays/UHD
Cinema Blu-rays/UHD
Games #A-Z

All categories (except games) are organized by studio/year. I've never really gotten used to an A-Z order.

As for UHDs, I don't see the point in keeping then separate from other Blu-rays. It's an extension of Blu-ray format, after all. It isn't a new format.

[martinstraka8282]

I like #/A-Z and 4k's separate from the Blu's.

Then the TV shows and any box sets, nature, music, or 3D stuff separate.

Running out of space here too and always a hard call to decide to expand or just weed out some that I'm not crazy about.

[Majin Blu]

I keep the Blu-rays and UHDs together. I organize by Criterions, Steelbooks, Digibooks, and then everything else. Big boxes are at the top of my bookcases. I worry about running out of room sometimes, but I'm always taking stuff out and adding new titles in, my Library had a little revolving door.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by martinstraka8282

I like #/A-Z and 4k's separate from the Blu's.

Then the TV shows and any box sets, nature, music, or 3D stuff separate.

Running out of space here too and always a hard call to decide to expand or just weed out some that I'm not crazy about.

As much as I love "all 4K" collections (they're too pretty), it creates a bit of a logistical problem for me, cuz' some franchises haven't gone all 4K yet, so I would have to keep some films separate. It's tough having OCD.

[martinstraka8282]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

As much as I love "all 4K" collections (they're too pretty), it creates a bit of a logistical problem for me, cuz' some franchises haven't gone all 4K yet, so I would have to keep some films separate. It's tough having OCD.

Good point. That I can relate to for sure. At some point with cataloging, you end up having to make sacrifices somewhere I guess.

I have cover art for each of my movies saved as a photo album on my plex server, so I'm usually using that to choose anyways and am typically not standing there at the wall of movies.

[repulsed]

Originally Posted by BunyipPouch

Thank you

I actually did recently find a cheap way to move everything vertically though, using double-levels. I think it's an improvement.

Looks very nice!
What did you end up using for this? I have 3 shelves I am displaying this way but haven't figured out what's best to use without spending too much. I actually used cd's until I ran out of those. Thanks!

[BunyipPouch]

Originally Posted by repulsed

Looks very nice!
What did you end up using for this? I have 3 shelves I am displaying this way but haven't figured out what's best to use without spending too much. I actually used cd's until I ran out of those. Thanks!

Thank you

I used some wood I got from Home Depot and cut at home. It was pretty cheap but still decent quality. A bit more work than I wanted but it worked out.

[ClassicCraig]

I organize mine chronologically grouped by movies and television series, and watch the movies that way (I just ended 1958 tonight with The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad). That way I can experience them the way people did at the time. I'm thinking about incorporating my TV shows into the mix, but that's a big undertaking.