Win a license for video catalog tool Frameline 47
If you're like me, your professional or personal efforts toward video organization nirvana have been less than fruitful over the years. With video files spread across multiple formats and multiple storage locations, keeping everything readily available and tagged for reuse is a giant pain. On the consumer level I've tried iDive, iView Multimedia (now Microsoft Expression Media), even plain old iPhoto, and I'm checking out FootTrack; moving up the ladder, there are high-end choices like Cumulus/Mediadex and Final Cut Server. Finding that midrange, prosumer & network-enabled video cataloging tool, with options for MPEG-7 metadata, dynamic clip creation and embedded Spotlight comments in files -- well, I'm still looking, but Frameline 47's new version 3 seems to come pretty close to what I want.
Frameline 47 is a $139 app that works both for an individual and as a networked tool, with Bonjour sharing and the ability to do the aforementioned Spotlight embeds, so your tags, comments and metadata travel with the files instead of with a master catalog; the full Workgroup edition is due at Macworld Expo, with additional capabilities for shared data. All your video files, on all your attached drives, in any QuickTime-readable format (plus WMV and more with Flip4Mac and Perian) can be scanned and thumbnailed into Frameline's search browser; once there, you can add annotations, identify clips for reuse, export your edited files, create webpage galleries, or pass along edit lists to Final Cut. There's a lot in Frameline to explore; probably more than I'll use for my personal projects, but if you have to wrangle a large collection of clips for your editorial work it's definitely worth a look.
You can download a 14-day trial from Frameline's site... but we've got a special offer for TUAW readers courtesy of Frameline: 10 licenses to give away, free of charge. Read on for details on how to enter and win.
P.S. Extra credit if you suss out why the app includes the number '47' in its name.
We'll award the 10 licenses to 10 randomly selected entrants who submit a comment below; let us know your biggest digital asset management hassle.
To enter the giveaway, please read and follow the rules below:
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter, leave a comment.
- The comment must be left before October 17, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter once.
- 10 winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Winners will receive a full license of Frameline 47 ($139): http://frameline.tv/
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Good luck!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Thomas said 8:13AM on 10-14-2008
Finding dupes (with different file names).
Consistent file names.
Consistent formats.
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Donald said 5:51PM on 10-16-2008
OOOH I hope its me, my videos are all out of control! And organization has never been fun by itself...
Adam said 8:15AM on 10-14-2008
What a huge hassle cataloging my videos. I have used iView and that just doesn't work so great. It does the job (sort of). This looks like a perfect option for just video not a software that indexes every file.
Look forward to testing it. Downloading now.
Thanks.
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Spencer said 8:16AM on 10-14-2008
This is my first time seeing this app, but looking at the previews it looks pretty sweet. Will definitely download the trial and give it a shot. :)
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Avinash said 8:18AM on 10-14-2008
Wow Looks good. This might just be the thing to organize my 600GB of personal videos captured in various formats :)
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Christopher said 8:28AM on 10-14-2008
the 47 have anything to do with the project involving the production of 47 artefacts in 4 days?
Adam Schoales said 8:17AM on 10-14-2008
I worked at a small local production company and the biggest hassle was trying to get the three editors to use a consistant file-naming method, and saving to the same locations.
I was super diligent, I had codes for each file name that included reel numbers, takes, and short descriptions. I also ensured everything was saved to its own special project folder (a la Logic -- something I really wish Apple would incorporate into FCP).
The other two editors would capture things all over the place (desktop, internal drives, external drives) and would call things everything from 1111111 to "golf thing".
when I would eventually step in on and finish off a project they had started it would take me practically a day just to figure out what I was supposed to be dealing with, organizing it all, and then making sure Final Cut was able to find it all...
(and that was just the video content! there was still audio/images to deal with - and they were even WORSE when it came to that).
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Josh said 8:18AM on 10-14-2008
Finding what I need...my files end up spread out all over the place.
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Ken said 8:58AM on 10-14-2008
Looks very interesting. Would very much like a tool that will let me keep my video files organized, as well as allow me to index my video tape files so I know what content is on what tape. Thanks for the information on this title.
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Samantha said 8:22AM on 10-14-2008
Would be interested in trying this out in order to keep track of our dv video rushes, especially the ones that we reuse from film to film. Have heard of http://paul.glagla.free.fr/cassettedv_en.htm and need to try this out. That also means re-encoding a lot of paper-indexed tapes from the past.
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Spencer said 8:23AM on 10-14-2008
Oh, and the 47 refers to the combination of mpeg 4 and mpeg 7. :)
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Michael Rose said 9:12AM on 10-14-2008
ding ding ding!
your prize -- the people's ovation and fame forever. Good luck in the drawing!
dcompo said 8:28AM on 10-14-2008
Robust networking and intuitive metadata management. Woo hoo!
MPEG-4 and MPEG-7 combined is often referred to as MPEG-47.
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Rob said 8:28AM on 10-14-2008
Biggest Video Cataloging Hassle: For personal video, I use the iTunes/Apple TV Combo... but they have inconsistencies in how they sort data. For example, iTunes sorts numbers before letters, so "16 Blocks" would appear before "Billy Madison." On the Apple TV, "Billy Madison" would appear first. Not a big deal with 2 movies, but with over 100... keeping dual versions for Apple TV and iPhone can grow tiresome too.
For professional video, the biggest issue is keeping multiple versions of a video organized. I work in a live production environment with a 3840x720 resolution display in the backdrop (three 1280x720 projectors with edge blending to make one seamless image). So, as I'm creating a video, there's often an original 1280x720 version, then a 4x3 letterboxed version for any SD screens we'll display it on, as well as a 3840x720 (we usually scale down to 1920x360) version to display across the video wall. Then add in a web version or two, and maybe a flash video version (depending on the video), and the list begins to grow.
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Perry said 8:31AM on 10-14-2008
I shoot for an adventure travel company and I'm WELL passed my organizational limit! I have tried iDive and like it but need something more professional with more flexibility in tagging.
RE: number 47: The number forty-seven occurs in nature with noticeably higher frequency than other natural numbers, that it is the quintessential random number.
OR
In Matt Reeves' movie Cloverfield (2008), the area where the tape is found is called Area 447. Also, when the main characters are looking for Beth McIntyre in her apartment, they pass apartment 47.
PLEEEEEEASE Let me WIIIIIN in NEEEEED this so bad!
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Brian said 8:35AM on 10-14-2008
I'm in... Now if it was the number 42 instead of 47....
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bebopredux said 8:39AM on 10-14-2008
My hassle is so may different video file types on 5 different external drives. I have the files organized in folders but, it's still time consuming.
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Donnie said 8:39AM on 10-14-2008
Duplicates and hard drive space!! Even with removing the dupes, hard drive space is still an issue.
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Drew said 4:59PM on 10-14-2008
the 4 and 7 are derived from the mpeg-4 and mpeg-7 standards Framelime 47 utilizes. Boooyah!
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Mark said 8:49AM on 10-14-2008
this would give me the motivation to finally go back and download all of those movies from tape that I never got to.
Looks like a good app...
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