This MacNews Category Review looks at video management software for Mac OS X. Products covered include Backstage, CatDV, Collectorz.com Movie Collector, Delicious Library, Drive-in, DVD Database X, DVD Sphere, fennel DVDManager, Filmshelf, Home Theater Database, iDive, Librarian Pro, MediaCue, The Movie Database, MoviePhile & MoviePhile Pro, MovieStar, QiPo and QPict.
Backstage
[url=http://centerstageproject.com/archive/downloads.php]Backstage[/url] is a movie organization tool for CenterStage that can be used to store information on all your computer based movie files, including in application lookup of Internet Movie Database information such as movie artwork and actors.
So what's CenterStage? Currently in alpha testing, it's a media center application that allows you to use the digital content stored on your Mac and play it in another nviroment such as your living room using any standard televison set.
CatDV
[url=http://www.squarebox.co.uk/]CatDV[/url] maintains a thumbnail catalog of video clips (and other media files) and where they're used across tapes and projects. It's fully compatible with any QuickTime-supported video format, but with its support for extracting and displaying DV metadata such as date and time of recording and exposure details CatDV is particularly aimed at users of the DV format and has a large number of import and export options and will share clip logging data with many of the most popular non-linear editing systems (NLEs).
Collectorz.com Movie Collector
[url=http://www.collectorz.com/]Collectorz.com Movie Collector[/url] lets you catalog your DVDs automatically. Just type the movie title or scan the DVD barcode to download all data from various sources on the internet (like IMDb, Amazon and our own Collectorz.com Movie Database), including title, director, genre, cast, crew and the cover image. You can browse your collection by title, year, genre, actors, etc. -- or use the Image View to view your cover images.
Delicious Library
[url=http://www.delicious-monster.com/]Delicious Library[/url] has "digital shelves" that act as a visual card-catalog of your books, movies, music and video games. A scan of a barcode is all the software needs to add an item to your digital shelves, downloading info from the Internet such as the author, release date, current value, description, and even a high-resolution picture of the cover.
Drive-in
[url=http://www.flip4mac.com/]Drive-in[/url] is an application that allows you to store your personal DVD movie library on your Mac.
DVD Database X
[url=http://www.valencio.com/]DVD Database X[/url] is a database program designed to help you keep track of any size DVD collection. Features include: online look-up from the Internet Movie Database Website (imdb.com) and Amazon; DVD label and jacket printing; automatic playing of unencrypted VIDEO_TS folders from your hard drive; and import and export from AppleWorks compatible text files.
DVD Sphere
[url=http://web.mac.com/spherecorner/shareware/Product_Overview.html]DVD Sphere[/url] is software for cataloging your movies.
fennel DVDManager
[url=http://fennelsoftware.com/]fennel DVDManager[/url] lets you retrieve and update your DVDs' details through online sites -- or add and edit them manually.
Filmshelf
[url=http://www.jonaprise.com/]Filmshelf[/url] is software that lets you record, organize and interact with all your movie collections. You can switch between a large set of predefined views and create and manage multiple libraries at the same time. Libraries are swappable between Mac, Windows and Linux systems.
Home Theater Database
[url=http://www.doetechnologies.com/]Home Theatre Database[/url] is a scalable database for the organization of the home theatre enthusiast's movie collection.
iDive
[url=http://www.aquafadas.com]iDive[/url] is a "digital video shoebox" for your DV tapes and now for all your QuickTime movies. You can use it to turn an assortment of disorganised video files on disk, tape or DVDs into an accessible catalog. A motion graphics module called 'Mosaic" allows you to create animations with your images and data in just a few clicks.
Librarian Pro
[url=http://www.koingosw.com/products/librarianpro.php]Librarian Pro[/url] is a home inventory system. You can add books, music, movies, hardware, software and games and can interface directly with Amazon to obtain item details. Librarian Pro lets you organize items into smart collections, and mark items as borrowed by users. You can export to a web gallery, your iPod or a CSV file, and also import from other programs.
MediaCue
[url=http://www.myallo.com/leptonic/]MediaCue[/url] lets you catalog and display movies, picture and sound files. You can also craete stand-alone kiosks to show 'em off.
The Movie Database
[url=http://www.mymacpro.com/]The Movie Database[/url] is stand-alone database program to keep track of your movie collection. Whether you collection is VHS, DVD, or another format, The Movie Database will help you keep track of all the movies you own and lend out. Features include: an automatic Internet connection to find info on directors, actors, and more; check-out, check-in tracking; and automated reminders for overdue items.
MoviePhile & MoviePhile Pro
[url=http://www.moviephile.com/]MoviePhile & MoviePhile Pro[/url] offer: a standalone database of movies; a facility for keeping track of your video collection; the ability to import and play back QuickTime movies; a reminder feature; and VHS label printing.
MovieStar
[url=http://amy.penguinpod.net/software.html]MovieStar[/url] lets you keep track of what's on what disc in your video collection. It'll even scan discs for you so you don't have to type anything in. MovieStar keeps an automatically saving database of what you have burned to disc and what spindle they are on. You can add movies by hand or in a batch by scanning the disc contents. Moviestar will also generate a report on what you've got in your library.
QiPo
[url=http://www.control-click.com/qipo/]QiPo[/url] lets you create previews of all your video files for reference and archiving purposes. You can preview remote video files from the Internet, create previews of video files for online posting, dynamically create HTML files for your previews and scan for a particular video file within your drives.
QPict
[url=http://www.qpict.net/]QPict[/url] is a media asset manager for all kinds of multimedia files including images, movies, fonts and sounds. QPict offers a very attractive and inexpensive way to view, organize, search and batch process media files. QPict supports standards such as ANPA, EXIF and XML.
For an in-depth round-up of Mac products, go to the [url=http://guide.apple.com/]Macintosh Products Guide[/url].