Media Asset Management Tools and FCP HD

[Dave Mac]

Hi,

As far as I know, the only sub-$1K application that’s truly good for this kind of thing is “CatDV Pro.” For more info, check it out at:

<https://www.squarebox.co.uk/catdv/>

It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s about the best one available currently. Another available, “pro-level” option is “DV Log X”:

<https://www.imagineproducts.com/DVLogX.htm>

We’ve found that DV Log X lacks many essential features for precision logging and tracking of media files. You may get a post from one of the DV Log X marketing people saying that the product equals, or exceeds, the capabilities of CatDV Pro, but that isn’t true in our experience.

Though CatDV Pro has been our hands-down choice, it’s not as good as it could be. Development of new versions is rather slow.

There are a few much simpler, and less feature-rich, applications that also do “media management” for video. They are targeted primarily at iMovie users (they lack a lot of the more pro features). However, with some encouragement and prodding, their developers may see the opportunity to create a “pro” version of their applications. The best of the non-pro apps are “iDive” and “Foottrack,” though neither are really suitable for day-to-day, pro-level media management.

-Dave

[Totti]

Hey Dave,

as far as my research comes along CatDV Pro seems to be it – or lets say has to be it. We’re now thinking of the server solution which then can be modified for our needs. Do you have more experiences working with CatDV which u like to share?

Thanx in advance
geetinx
totti

[Gary Brown]

DV Log-X was built to log only from FireWire devices rather than from media files. The idea was to eliminate the need for space consuming files on the logging station. It was also built with simplicity in mind, so that you can start logging immediately without the need to configure anything.

A newer app called HD Log has since been released for those that need the ability to log from QuickTime or MPEG media files (in the Silver edition). It has all of the features of DV Log-X plus more, and so it will work with FireWire devices as well as QuickTime DV files. The Silver edition also has a multi-file search function that will allow you to create a ‘virtual’ database.

DV Log-X is not being actively developed, but HD Log is, and so we are always optimizing and enhancing the current features as well as adding new ones. You can check it out at: https://www.imagineproducts.com/HDLog.htm

There is a demo at the bottom of both the DV Log-X and HD Log pages.

Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

– Gary

Imagine Products, Inc.
http://www.imagineproducts.com

[Dave Mac]

Hi,

Actually, here’s a really good thread from January, to which my brother responded. It should provide you with additional info about CatDV Pro and the other choices….

<https://www.creativecow.net/forum/view_thread.php?forumid=8&threadid=747455&p
ostid=110651320194381>

-Dave

[T.bcandac]

I saw iDive from Aquafadas (https://www.aquafadas.com/idive.html) in MacAddict last month. It’s great too and may be useful for you.

[Matthieu Kopp]

Hi,

We would, here at Aquafadas Software, be very interested if you could develop a little on what you think the main limitations of a tool like iDive are, for day-to-day pro-level media management.
As you mentionned in your post, we welcome suggestions and have future plans that would greatly benefit from feedback from pros like you.

Thanks

Matthieu

Aquafadas Software
Home of iDive, the digital video shoebox