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Catalogue DVDs, CDs and videotapes in one go

Nick

Nick

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CD's and DVD'sThere are plenty of DVD and CD managers out there but there are few that allow you to organise DVDs, CDs, DivX files and even videotapes in one easy to browse and search database.

Since I’d rather have my video and audio collection all under one program, I quite liked Ant Movie Catalog despite the weird name (it’s got nothing to do with cataloguing movies about Ants of which I can think of only one anyway – Antz). There are several reasons why this database appeals.

Ant Movie Database

First of all, it’s completely free and the source code is open to modification by it’s users who are brought together by the program’s forum. Second is it’s simplicity – it’s not bloated in any way (which these kind of programs tend to have a habit of being) so searching and navigating through your collection either by format, genre, alphabetically or year is extremely easy and fast. Thirdly, it takes a lot of the hard work out of cataloging your collection because it imports information about your media from the internet using scripts. These include scripts for the IMDB, DVDFR (a French DVD website), Allocine /a French film site) and Culturalia (a Spanish multimedia site). In addition, it can store all information in two formats – either binary or XML – the latter makes it possible to export your collection to Excel and other database applications.

On the downside, if you do start adding lots of album and film covers to the database, it can start to slow down a bit but there is the option of linking to external pictures rather than importing them. You’re also supposed to be allowed to display various statistical data relating to your multimedia collection in graphical format although this seems limited to just pie charts. Nevertheless, it gives you a quick and easy read-out based on ratings, genre, date added etc.

Lightweight, easy to use and covering just about any conceivable media you might own, Ant Movie Catalog is an easy and free way to bring your entire collection together without messing about with multiple applications.

Nick

Nick

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