Topic: MyMovies

[Touti]

I've been using MyMovies for a few days now and I really like it.  It integrates well with my computer/network setup at home since I already had a Windows Home Server and a HTPC running Windows 7 Ultimate and Media Center.

I plan on writing a full review of the 3 programs that they have (for Windows Media Center, Windows Home Server and the Collection Manamenent) in a few weeks when I feel I've learned enough to be able to talk about it in depth.  However at this point I can say that I'm gonna keep using it and I'm planning on adding storage to my Windows Home Server to rip some (most ?) of my collection and keep it on drives.  

I moved my HD-DVD player to the WHS and ripped all but 3 of my newly acquired "Red" movies.  That obviously freed the drive bay in my HTPC so I'm now planning on selling my Blu player to replace it with one in the computer.   All my movie watching would be done from Windows Media Center, that's what I've been doing for 5 days now with quite a few HD movies and it works to my satisfaction.  The only problem I had is that I couldn't playback a Red movie in the living (from the server's drive) while the server was ripping another one but the MM and WMC aren't to blame for that, my server isn't really a server, it's a cube that I was given and I'm really pushing it to the edge (more on this in a future post).

So why am I talking about it if i"m not ready to write a full review ?  Because as collectors we're all interested in those things and I though maybe some of you would like to know that it's being tested by one of us and that questions may be asked and discussions may take place.

Another reason is that I wanted to put a link to my MM Online Collection which, IMO looks way way way better than DVDP's online collection.

http://c.mymovies.dk/EricGagne


P.S: Just a note to our canadian members.  If you were thinking of jumping to blu-ray with a low priced player send me a PM, I'm sure I would have a good deal for you.

[MEJHarrison]

I'm very much looking forward to hearing more about this Eric.  My wife recently asked me how cool it would be to have our movies stored on a computer that could magically just stream them to the TV like Netflix does.

When I told her that wasn't a fantasy, she got very excited.  I'm not sure why, but sometimes when the train is leaving the station you just have to jump on and enjoy the ride!

Anyway, we probably won't take any serious steps until the summer at the very least, but it never hurts to soak up information ahead of time.

[Achim]

I couldn't find the Mac version...

(click to show/hide)

I know, neither does DVD Profiler, but if I switch I want it to be for that reason as well. I assume this is meant as a switch from DVD Profiler, right?

[Touti]

Achim,

MyMovies relies on Microsoft SQL 2005 Express which is automatically installed with the programs.  Because of that, I doubt that they will ever release a Mac version which would force them to rewrite completely for a different type of database and then maintain two completely different sets of programs that do the same thing.

Mark,

MyMovies works with a system of points that you can purchase or accumulate by contributing.  The availability of certain features depends on how many points you have but the programs themselves are free.  You need 2500 points to have all the features "unlocked" but if you want to try the program you can do so by registering for a trial which will give you 2500 points for 21 days.

[Achim]

MyMovies relies on Microsoft SQL 2005 Express which is automatically installed with the programs.  Because of that, I doubt that they will ever release a Mac version which would force them to rewrite completely for a different type of database and then maintain two completely different sets of programs that do the same thing.

I had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek (since I hoped but didn't really expect to find one).

[Touti]

I wanted to write a full review on MyMovies with screenshots of installation and all but my work and study schedule won't allow it for a while.  However, I mentioned it a few times today and someone asked me "what program is that" when I mentioned in a PM that I have an alternative to DVDP that suits my needs so I thought maybe I should talk about it although I can't write a formal review at this time.  So here it is.

I should probably start with a simple comparison between MM and DVDP.  The programs took a different approach.  DVDP allows to catalog your movie collection, they don't care about playback.  MM on the other hand is more oriented toward playback and a little less about cataloging although I feel this is only temporary.

MyMovies allows you to catalog your collection of movies, not your collection of discs.  What this means is that it doesn't matter whether you have the movie on a DVD/BR/HD-DVD disc or in a .ISO file or in a folder structure on a hard disk somewhere.  You tell MyMovies what movies you have and where they are.  This can be achieved in 3 different ways with a combination of any of 3 programs, one of which is required.

First and most important program is MyMovies Collection Management.  This is the program that you use to manage collection (in case you haven't figured it out with the name ).  Here's what it looks like.



In this program there is 5 ways to add a movie to your collection, by Barcode, By Disc ID, By Title, By Manual Typing, Upcoming.  Each method has a different screen with the corresponding fields.  Here's 2 examples of it.




Once you've entered your information the program will search their online database (which they call the WebService) and brings a list of all the matching titles with the localities.  You can use the preview button to check it out and then add it to your collection either as Offline or Online.  Offline is a movie that resides in a location outside of your PC/Network, typically a DVD, BR or HD-DVD.  Online is a movie that exists somewhere on a hard disk.

The Collection Management program has most of the fields that you find in DVDP except for the Personalization field.  Unfortunately there's no place where you can say where/when you bought it and for how much.  I've sent that to them as a request, I'm sure I wasn't the first one, and hopefully it will be part of a future release.

In the next post: The Client/Server approach.

[Touti]

Client/Server.

Unlike DVDP, MyMovies uses a real database engine. Not a set of ISAM files driven/used as if they were a database.  The big advantage of this is concurrent access.  You can have many users (copies of the program) on different computers working with the collection database simultanuously (however one spells that word ).  Another advantage is that you only have 1 copy of your collection no matter how many PC's you own.

The developers have opted for Microsoft SQL Server Express which is free.  It is installed automatically with MyMovies.  For the more savvy members, know that MyMovies uses it's own instance of SQL Server and they don't support installing it in your own server if you have one.  This limitation can't be easily overcome since the configuration screen only allows you to specify the server on the database is installed but not an instance.

So who's the server, who's the client and who does what ?  It's all up to you as you have 3 options.

1: MyMovies has program for Windows Home Server.  You can set it up there if you own such a server and this is where your database (collection) will reside.  The WHS program does much more than that but I'll talk about it later.

2: If you don't own a Windows Home Server you can install MyMovies Collection Management as the server on one of your PC's.  That machine have both the database (with SQL Server) and the Collection Management Program.

3: You install the Collection Management program as a client only machine in which case it will connect to the database on your WHS machine or the PC onto which you installed the collection management program as a server.

Here I have a Windows Home Server so I installed their WHS version on it where my database server and database file reside.  On my HTPC machine in the living room I installed the Collection Management program as a client only machine.

Next: MyMovies as an entertainment system.

[addicted2dvd]

I played around with MyMovies for a while... but overall decided I just didn't like it. Didn't like the look and feel of it. And (personal preference here) Don't like the info being from imdb. Not because it is god-awful bad... but because I prefer accurate to credits for my info. There was a couple things I liked... like being able to describe the extras better... but over-all it is just not for me.

[Kathy]

I'm downloading now to check it out. But, I don't think I could cope with entering almost 5,000 DVDs - too much work.

[Touti]

You can import from the DVDP profiler xml file

[Kathy]

You can import from the DVDP profiler xml file

How do I do that?

[addicted2dvd]

You can import from the DVDP profiler xml file

I realize that... but as I said... I don't like the look and feel of it either so....

[Touti]

You can import from the DVDP profiler xml file

How do I do that?

Export your collection from DVDP then in MM collection management choose File->Import->DVD Profiler XML (3x).  And with 5000 titles............a little prayer probably won't hurt

[RossRoy]

Export your collection from DVDP then in MM collection management choose File->Import->DVD Profiler XML (3x).  And with 5000 titles............a little prayer probably won't hurt

Do pray - because it takes forever even with just 3000 or so profiles.

[Kathy]

  Import??? Export??? Do I need a passport? XML file??? I think I'd better stick with DVDP!