Database software to manage my movie clips

[stallion2008]

Greetings folks;

I need a database software to manage my video clips. I am already using 'All My Movies' to manage my DVD collection.

But I need a database software which would allow me to catalog about 1000 clips that I have. I need to be able to 'tag' this clips and assign them different 'categories' or 'classes'.

I downloaded 'Videophile II'. at first it looked promising, but it keeps crashing on me. since I need this for a project at work, I need a stable software (Willing to pay for the software - so it does not have to be 'freeware')

I would appreciate any suggestions

[VideophileII]

Hi stallion,

Can you please report your problem at my forum and I will look into it for you....

[Moontrash]

ANT Movie Catalog

[jan5678]

Datacrow is also a good solution, but it is java based.

[dare2be]

I used to have software to manage my collection (back when my collection was just VHS tapes), it wasn't flexible enough to meet my changing needs, so I wrote something in MS Access with data entry forms, queries and macros, which was a bear to maintain/customize as well. I eventually went with a simple spreadsheet, one sheet for VHS, and another for DVDs. Easy to maintain, search and organize. If you don't need a front-end for other end-users to use, it's the most effective approach.

[stallion2008]

Thanks for all replies;

I tried the Datacrow, but it did not create any Thumbnails for the clips and it took forever to find my clips.

ANT Movie Catalog is a free version (much less features) of movie cataloging software (such as AllMyMovies or MovieCollector). I already have AllMyMovies, But as I said I am looking for a cataloging software for my video clips. I do not want to download any information about these clips from internet (Imdb or any other source).

going the way of creating a database in Excel is also an option, but I want to have the ability to see the Thumbnails and be able to play the clip from the database.

As I stated earlier VideophileII is the best one I have come across, but the problem is that when I try to add more than 100 clips it crashes constantly. I will keep trying though

Again thanks for all replies and I hope to hear some more suggestions

[VideophileII]

For the record, I tried to assist stallion2008 with his problem but he didn't appear to be interested unless I gave him assistance here, via PM. Furthermore, it is absurd to suggest that mine or any reasonably well-written program would crash because it couldn't handle a volume greater than 100 but, like I say, I did try to help. His problem was most likely due to some combination of codecs/filters that do not meet the recommendations for Videophile II but we will never know, of course, because of his reluctance to contribute anything to the furtherment of a program that he would have happily used for free...

In life there are givers and takers...

Just for the record. Peace out!

[stallion2008]

In answer to VideophileII, I have to say that I am not using his free program anymore. He is right, I didn't want to go on and troubleshoot his software. It might have been something I was doing wrong (in the software) or there was a conflict with another program I had installed. in any case I didn't want to go on trouble-shooting it any further. instead I am using MovieCollector 7, which is a great and stable program with wealth of options.

Thanks for all replies.

[VideophileII]

He is right, I didn't want to go on and troubleshoot his software.

The point is that all you had to do was politely say that to me. Instead, with sheer ignorance, you just ignored my PM's (and I know you read them!) once you realised that I wanted to do this at my forum (where it may have been of benefit to other users experiencing the same problem).

And it is that attitude of both selfishness and ignorance that I find deplorable...

[stallion2008]

Again with the insults.

Don't you think it would be better to work on your software (and troubleshoot it yourself), instead of wasting your time insulting people

[VideophileII]

Again, the whole point goes completely over your head....

And who's to say that there is even a need to trouble-shoot my program when there is no evidence that it caused your problem. You even point that out yourself!

It might have been something I was doing wrong (in the software) or there was a conflict with another program I had installed.

To summarise; YOU had a problem and all I did was try to help you, remember?


Fact: You were unwilling to be assisted at my forum, where others may have benefitted IF the problem was related to my progam. You were, however, more than happy to receive assistance on your terms: SELFISH.

Fact: You ignored my PM's when it would have been polite to just decline my offer of assistance: IGNORANT

If I'm insulting you, it's because you deserve it, pal. At the end of the day you created a thread asking for advice and then you treat the people that participate in it with disdain...

[budwzr]

Remember the movie "Office Space"? This is a perfect example of why a company needs someone as a go-between with the engineers and the customers.

To VideophileII: If you want beta testers, you've got to be sweet and tell them how great they are and pump their egos.

To Stallion2008: There's nothing else out there on the market, don't burn your bridges.

[davexnet]

There is a program called Movienizer; I'm using version 2.2 from 2009. It was the last free version.
It's pretty nice, it uses scripts to suck info out of IMDB as you add your movies.
It's up to version 4.x now, although 2.2 still works - presumably
until the scripts can no longer parse the web pages.

[budwzr]

Sony Vegas Pro has a built-in "Media Manager" database that does exactly what everyone wants, but Sony does not sell it as a standalone app, it's a plug-in. It does it all, Audio, Video, Stills, and MIDI, with unlimited ways to tag and categorize. Also plays the thumbnails right there in the same window.



VideophileII: You might want to download the free trial and see the way this thing operates, and maybe get some inspiration as far as schema. I'm sure this plug-in is leveraging the existing environment of Vegas, which is in reality a visual database itself.

[stallion2008]

first of all thanks to all purposeful replies.

Thanks budwzr, finally an intelligent post. As I mentioned before I am now using MovieCollector and it is a great program. I wasn't necessarily looking for a 'free' program. since I already had 'All My Movies' program (and it is also a good program). I was looking for some program to be able to tag and my clips and be able to view their thums and so on.
As far as 'VideophileII' goes, I have not (as of yet) insulted him. and he keeps insulting me. I do not know where the moderators are in this forum. I didn't think the purpose of this forum was to find programmers 'beta testers'.
So I didn't want to trouble-shoot his program, then what ....
he keeps insulting me instead of trying to work out the kinks out of his program. Again, as I said as of the 'free' programs goes, his program is adequate. But before marketing it to the world, it need a lot of work, and surly I do not have time to 'beta test' it for him.

[budwzr]

This scenario is very common. I was formerly a systems analyst, and trying to interact with the EndUsers is like trying to herd cats. Now that I work at home, my blood pressure has returned to normal.

[VideophileII]

To VideophileII: If you want beta testers, you've got to be sweet and tell them how great they are and pump their egos.

Hi budwzr

I'm not looking for beta testers. Was just trying to address an incorrect statement made by stallion that VPII crashes if you throw more than 100 files at it. And I attempted to do that by helping him identify his problem (the one he perceived that he had with the program - not the one he has with his persona).

Oh, and I'll take a look at Sony Vegas Pro. Though I doubt that it's fitering is as powerful as VPII's....

[budwzr]

I'll take a look at Sony Vegas Pro. Though I doubt that it's fitering is as powerful as VPII's....

It's only as powerful as the user applied tags.

It's easy to tag video, but music is a whole different animal. Tags like "jazzy", "sultry", "mellow", "uptempo" etc. mean different things to different people, and the genres keep mixing and growing.

[VideophileII]

I do not know where the moderators are in this forum. I didn't think the purpose of this forum was to find programmers 'beta testers'.

I have not once asked you to beta test my program. All I did was offer you help with it not working!! You know that so why are you lying in this thread? Here is your PM to me:

I am running windows 7 64 bit. I installed your software and when I add only few clips, it works fine. but when I go to my clips folder and try adding more than 100 files, it crashes.

Any suggestions

I would appreciate it.

My reply:

Please appreciate that other users may have the same problem that you have and for that reason I will not help anybody out on a private basis. Please post at my forum where other users may also benefit from the information and solution.

Thanks.

It was at this point that you ignored me, remember?

[VideophileII]

I'll take a look at Sony Vegas Pro. Though I doubt that it's fitering is as powerful as VPII's....

It's only as powerful as the user applied tags.

It's easy to tag video, but music is a whole different animal. Tags like "jazzy", "sultry", "mellow", "uptempo" etc. mean different things to different people, and the genres keep mixing and growing.

In VPII you can organise tags in hierarchies, create links from items in one hierarchy to those in another, and create synonyms. This allows the user to create views based on compound filters....

[VideophileII]

Oh, one final thing I should mention, if it benefits other viewers of this thread. Most of the programs mentioned here were designed to catalogue mainstream media (TV and Movies) and they all lever off of on-line databases for their meta-data.

Videophile II is not designed for that! Rather, it was intended to be used for everything else: i.e. anything that doesn't have pre-established meta-data (like your family videos, stuff you downloaded from YouTube et al, and that pr0n collection you've been growing since 1995)

[stallion2008]

Oh, one final thing I should mention, if it benefits other viewers of this thread. Most of the programs mentioned here were designed to catalogue mainstream media (TV and Movies) and they all lever off of on-line databases for their meta-data.

Videophile II is not designed for that! Rather, it was intended to be used for everything else: i.e. anything that doesn't have pre-established meta-data (like your family videos, stuff you downloaded from YouTube et al, and that pr0n collection you've been growing since 1995)

Yes, but most of the programs mentioned here (except yours) 'WORK'. they do not crash after adding 100 files ....

Also I never asked for your help in this forum. I just posted what had happened. it is you, who pm-ed me.
I would suggest you start working on your program.

As far as support in your forum goes here is an example of question and answer:


Question:
Hi, I was wondering how I can get Videophile to handle AVI files. I'm using version 1.3.0 and it won't show any thumbnails for this file type and when I try to create a poster image I get the message that "Videophile II cannot capture frames from this movie"

and your response:
This can happen when you have DirectVobSub on your system (a prog for managing subtitles).

Locate the file vsfilter.dll on your system

and then type the following at the Run prompt (Start Menu | Run):

rundll32 "C:\YOUR PATH\vsfilter.dll", DirectVobSub

The config box for DirectVoSub should pop-up and, if you go to the General tab, change the 'loading' setting to 'Do not load'. Do not worry, ffdshow can also handle subtitles if needed so you won't lose functionality...

Then see if the problem persists. Good luck...

Now you really expect every user of your program to go through all this steps, just to make the program work....

[budwzr]

In VPII you can organise tags in hierarchies, create links from items in one hierarchy to those in another, and create synonyms. This allows the user to create views based on compound filters....

My point is that any good media manager HAS to allow users to interact with tags in their own way, as THEY see fit. The problem with this, though, is most people don't understand the concept of a relational database and how powerful the filters can be, and fail to put in enough tags, or "tuples".

Conditional filtering is the backbone of data mining, and has been around since day one, yet even large organizations like Amazon and Netflix fail to deliver truly targeted feedback.

If I buy a camera at Amazon, the next time I log on they will show me more cameras, and if I just bought one, I'm not likely to buy another. However, if I buy an MP3, I WOULD be likely to buy another, yet they fail to deliver a Pandora-like offering.

One to many is the only join they seem to know, when many to many provides feedback both ways and grows the system.

I have an "AI" database schema in my brain that looks like concentric circles of mirrors, the inner mirrors are rough filters and the outer are finely detailed, It looks like those nesting russian dolls but in a globe shape.

Each mirror has a weighted "variable resistor" that passes, holds, or nullifies data, but I can't visualize the algorithms yet.

[VideophileII]

Yes, but most of the programs mentioned here (except yours) 'WORK'. they do not crash after adding 100 files ....

And because this is true on your machine it must be true on all others, yes? Idiot!

Also I never asked for your help in this forum. I just posted what had happened. it is you, who pm-ed me.

Err, no. I offered you help in this thread and you responded by PMing me! Liar!

As far as support in your forum goes here is an example of question and answer:
.....
Now you really expect every user of your program to go through all this steps, just to make the program work....

And you really believe that every user has that problem? All you've succeeded in doing is making yourself look even more stupid than I already believe you to be. Oh, and you've also demonstrated that when a user has a problem that they get adequate help from me! Gosh, you've really made me look bad, haven't you!?

And finally, my moron friend, if you read the pre-installation message you will see no mention of it working on Windows 7! (That's not to say that it won't, but I've never tested it on Win7...)

Does it give you an ID-10-T error message?

[VideophileII]

My point is that any good media manager HAS to allow users to interact with tags in their own way, as THEY see fit. The problem with this, though, is most people don't understand the concept of a relational database and how powerful the filters can be, and fail to put in enough tags, or "tuples".

Agree entirely. I'd really love to add the ability to export and import Tag hierarchies to VPII but it wouldn't work for the reasons that you mention. Every user perspective is different and the context into which one might import a hierarchy may not be the same as that which it was exported from (if you follow!)

[VideophileII]

I have an "AI" database schema in my brain that looks like concentric circles of mirrors, the inner mirrors are rough filters and the outer are finely detailed, It looks like those nesting russian dolls but in a globe shape.

Each mirror has a weighted "variable resistor" that passes, holds, or nullifies data, but I can't visualize the algorithms yet.

Sounds interesting. Got a real-world example so that I can better understand it, please?

[budwzr]

Hahaha, that's the problem, I can't "see" that part yet.

The idea is to improve prediction accuracy based on a mix of track record(actual) and feedback(review). In other words, what someone "thought" they would like, and whether they actually DID like it. The result would assign a numeric tag on that user (variable resistor) indicating whether the user themselves actually knew what they liked.

That tag would be on the first ring of mirrors, and the first ring has the fewest mirrors. So, the inner rings would analyze the user, and the outer rings would analyze the result set, so there you get a many-to-many relationship.

In that case, users can be matched to products, and products can be matched to users. Maybe they do this already, but it doesn't seem to be working well.

Anyway, music seems to be the hardest thing to index. The genres are splintering so fast that they need too many tags. And those tags are arcane, like "World, Downtempo, Lounge, House, Dubstep, Ragga", etc.

[VideophileII]

OK, kinda getting it now. Pondering....

[stallion2008]

Does this forum have a moderator??

Why are insulting morons who think they are programmers (VideophileII) allowed to post here.

This guy is nothing but a hack (VideophileII) and his software is nothing but a junk and he keeps insulting me.

He think by insulting me his software will miraculously start working.

He is nothing but insulting hack trying to pitch his junk.

People stay away from his 'so called' software and try many other better ones out there.

And I know since he is a child (or a grown man with IQ of a child) he will come out and say something stupid just to show he has to have the last word.

Go and watch your p0rn you moron. as you stated in your post, you designed this software to keep track of your p0rn anyway.

[VideophileII]

Normally a review is meant to be objective. This, however, represents a massive departure from your first impressions of the program. So what's changed? Oh yes, in the intervening period you have been exposed as an ungrateful person who has very bad manners and can't recognise when somebody is trying to help you. Somebody who is happy to take but has no desire to give anything back, not even common courtesy!

I'm perfectly happy for anybody to read your un-biased 'review' as I'm sure that, if they take the time to read the rest of this thread, they will know exactly where you are coming from!

Oh, and a little tip; when you review a program and say that it is 'junk', you should normally back it up with an explanation why. And if you want to slag off the author, then you should be able to back that up too. Otherwise you won't get taken seriously.

Just remember that this all began because of your ignorance and bad manners. Fetch the moderators if you want to...