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Personal Movie Organizers - A quick rundown
nosh:
I've tried over 15 different movie database/organizer programs in the last four days in my quest for finding the best suited for my needs. I was surprised by the sheer number of programs available in this category.
I've narrowed down my choice to five six, no doubt there are other good programs in this category, some of which have been mentioned in this thread.
Four Five of the programs I've picked deserve a mention coz they're worth trying out once at the very least and may suit you best, depending on your requirements.
The fifth sixth, which I think is the winner, I've covered in a little more detail.
Special mentions in no particular order:
Ant Movie Catalog (Freeware)
http://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog
Open architecture, very flexible, support for scripts - tons of import scripts available.
Catvids (shareware $ 39.95 - fully functional trial available)
http://www.fnprg.com/catvids/
An overall well designed program with a strong set of features & a well designed & configurable interface. Really fast IMDB updates!
Movie Label 2008 (shareware $ 49.95 - fully functional trial available)
http://www.codeaero.com/movie-label/
Has the most features of any program in this category.
Definite overkill for those who don't want a very complex set of features + interface. Very likely overkill even for those who do want tons of features ;)
Office 2007 interface - the love it or hate it factor applies.
Eric's Movie Database [EMDB] (freeware) - [Nighted's review]
www.emdb.tk
The best looking program of the bunch - a few insignificant bugs but I never lost my data to it even after extensive use (adding 100+ movies).
Only supports IMDB for online importing, very quick.
Only imports thumbnail sized covers.
Lacking certain functionality that almost every other program in this category has.
A very good choice if you want to quickly catalog your movies without too much fuss into an attractive looking app.
Sole developer + No open architecture reg. plugins, read: if the development stops & the IMDB functionality breaks, you're screwed and will be forced to move your data to another organizer (which is possible thanks to .csv export functionality, but a pain all the same)
Movie Collector (shareware - Standard $24.95, Pro $39.95 - fully functional trial available)
http://www.collectorz.com/movie/
A full featured, polished app and a popular favorite (read the next few posts in this thread for more info)
My Pick!
Personal Video Database (freeware)
http://www.videodb.info/index.html
Personal Movie Organizers - A quick rundown
What's to like:
- Sole developer but open architecture - Has an SDK and plugin functionality, which means you won't be stranded even if the main app's developement stops.
- Fast IMDB import, includes every major field IF the user wants
- Three views, grid, normal (flat list at the side with detailed info on the right), and tree. The tree view lets you configure its nodes and sub-nodes, for example you could have a main node for year of release and a sub-node under that for country and a sub-node under that for genre and yet another sub-node for the first alphabet of the title. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the number of sub-nodes and there are 20 fields to pick from so you can see just how powerful a categorization you can have.
- The database includes a section for people, you can retrieve info for selected cast/crew from online sites, most other programs do not support this.
- Preview and import (approx dvd case sized) posters and covers from several sites.
- Imports from Excel - you can map the fields and the import order in the plug-in preferences, so the app can import data from pretty much any app that supports .csv export.
- Threaded app - you can work on something even while it's busy online, retrieving data.
- Support for adding custom genres - even whole new custom fields.
- Links to physical files, lets you play the movie from within the program as long as it's on HDD or the correct media is inserted. Intelligently disables the play option if the link is inactive.
- Customizable interface, every significant field can be shown or hidden. Fields like cast that can get rather large and occupy a lot of space can be configured to collapse inline. Layout colors can be customized.
- Statistics (bar graph views) based on several categories
- Amazing Ajax search :Thmbsup: : This is possibly one of the programs best features, there's a search box in the main window, and you can search not just titles but _anything_ - directors, cast, year, description, personal comments, rating, you name it and it's there! Just use the dropdown menu to select the field you want to search and start typing and it immediately narrows down the movies listed to match the criteria. This feature is simply fabulous and no other program comes close. If that's not enough, there's also an Advance Search which lets you specifying more than one field to further narrow down the results.
- The program is being actively developed and the author interacts in the support forums.
5 stars - a total winner! I'd recommend it even to people who haven't bothered archiving their movie collections yet.
Josh:
Right now, I am using Collectorz.com Movie collector. I've owned it for over 3 years now and have been very happy with it. However, I am contemplating swapping to DVD Profiler. It has far more features. The main difference is that DVD Profiler relies on a pre-built database of movies while collectorz relies on downloading from alternate sources (imdb, dvd empire, etc). Collectorz has just started a database of their own, however, it is not fully mature.
I suggest you try out both. DVD Profiler is really catching my eye now, however, collectorz products might suite your needs well as well. I cant complain about Collectorz, I just havent seen many new "jaw dropping" features added since v3.
KenR:
Interesting post Nosh. I'm curious why Movie Collector didn't make the grade. After getting the input of others, I tried it as well as some others and started using it.
Ken
TucknDar:
I use Movie Collector, too, and I'm very happy with it! At least after they added a few of my most wanted features (Multi-disc support and movie tagging). The database, as Josh said, is probably nowhere near what DVD Profiler has got, but it certainly grows all the time. Collectorz.com are also working on an online facility รก la Profiler, where you can show everyone your DVD collection.
My first dvd collection software, was DVD Collector which unfortunately was suddenly abandoned :( The latest beta was soo nice, and if development was started again, I'd switch in a second. :-*
nosh:
OK, lots of Movie Collector fans here! :)
I wish I could say for certain Ken, I've tried so many of these programs I'm a little hazy. I downloaded it right now and gave it another whirl and it does seem to be a very accomplished application. Perhaps I found it a bit slow and elaborate while fetching data the first time I tried it (I know I did, coz I started by trying every app listed in that thread) but after disabling a couple of online sources right now, the update procedure is quick and polished. You're obviously in capable hands. ;) I'll be running it side-by-side for a few days before I decide which way to go. Am updating my original post shortly.
The price difference aside, here's a couple of points (and some questions) to be considered while comparing the two apps:
Can I show a few significant details in the 'Images' view? One row per movie, starting with the thumbnail column and followed by other columns of my choosing? The pure images view along with the title is attractive but not as helpful. I may want to see the directors or ratings for several movies side-by side.
The multi-node layout of PVD can be a huge plus if you like to categorize movies that way. I'm guessing this isn't possible with MC.
MC is not far from the search as you type feature but there is a certain (albeit tiny) convenience + coolness factor about it esp. when you consider typos. I like the MC search too though, it's better than the other apps I tried. It also lets you search all fields simultaneously, which PVD doesn't let you do.
PVD has inline editing (in grid mode), just double click on any visible text field and it turns into an edit box.
Barcodes for DVDs (am not sure where PVD stands on this issue, I don't want to assume there's a plugin available) & TWAIN are obvious plus points in MC's favour. As is the fact that (I'm guessing) it's not developed by a sole developer.
PVD on the other hand has an SDK which is always a good thing. Once again, I'm not sure where MC stands on this issue.
Perhaps you guys can tell me a few genuinely useful things that MC can do that PVD can't.
In any case, this is one software category where there are lots of great apps to choose from. Here's to the movies! :Thmbsup:
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