Hello Everyone,

I think native, flexible media management is lacking in Avid. "Have you tried Media Tool?", you might ask. Here's my problem with Media Tool - it's not easy to use. For example:

1. An Assistant Editor finishes logging, then wants to transfer the project to an Editor. He'll bundle up the assets in one folder, grab the Avid project folder, and send them over to the Editor. Might be over the network (peer-to-peer) or through sneaker net.

2. An Editor finishes his project, and wants to do a backup. Same as before - he'll bundle up the assets, grab the Avid project, and store them on backup drives.

3. We produce events that require last-minute changes. Plus, there's on-location editing that requires gathering assets from multiple users. So bundling all the assets you need before traveling is critical. Hotel networks aren't built for large file transfers.

For years, the alternatives were MediaMover and MDV. MediaMover can do all the above, but MDV is the best I've ever used. It's simple, easy, and fast.

Here's the problem with MDV. (Problems, really.)

1. It's Windows only. There are ways of making it work in OS X, but you hate them all. How do I know? Because it keeps coming up.
2. It has limitations in Wine - neither bin sifting nor folder scanning works.
3. It's abandoned.

So what would it take to create a native OS X media management tool?

First, we need to know what we're working with, the data. Are there available file specs on:

1. Media Stream Managers (MSM's)
2. Projects
3. Bins
4. Metadata layout on individual MXF's

Is it just a matter of asking someone from Avid HQ? Do you know anybody?

It's clear we need something. But everyone's busy, you know... editing. Plus you're thinking, "What can I do? I'm not a programmer!" Well, I'm an anomaly. I do what you do, but I also have some development/IT chops. They just need some refreshing. And this project would be worth refreshing them.

So what do you think? Is it worth making the next MDV? Are there any others like me who would be interested in contributing? Do you have any contacts that could help point me in a direction?

Thanks!

Agreed.

All of that functionality, IMO, should be rolled into MC. It has been too long now.

Yes media management is embarrasing and the media tool has so many limitations I dread having to use it when teaching. On the PC side we can show MDV and how that fills some holes but onthe Mac side it's not good.

What I don't get is that's it's not even hard code to create. We're talking simple media management tools like copy move etc.

And while we're at it lets have the media location in bins show more than just the drive. Lets have the actual folder listed!

I think, don't quote me on this, the reason MDV was PC-only is because the media database is in Microsoft Access format. Microsoft includes Access libraries in Windows. So, a Windows program can read the mdb file pretty easily. But, Microsoft doesn't provide equivalint libraries to Apple for inclusion in OS X. Hence, on the Mac a program would have to license ($$) libraries for reading the mdb file.

On MacBooks it´s rather easy though as you usually store your media on external drives.

Macdrive, I use the Pro version, and MDV on PC and you can manage that external drive using MDV although it´s Mac formatted.

If you ask me what Avid should do is take a good look at it's transfer manager, which is free in combination with MC (but little people use it), MDV and Avid's latest attempts to implement background transcoding within MC...

The functionalities these bring have been asking for integration into a single media management, transcoding, rewrapping, media moving interface for years. And the company that has developed mediamanager (DMS) and now interplay with all its options must know how to do that and make it a key quality argument for people to choose MC.

@Job ter burg: I was explaining this to a developer buddy of mine, and first thing he said was, "Sounds like it should be built in to the application."

@Pat Horridge: so you're saying you show students how to use Media Tool and then hop to MDV?

@ck123: first thing I thought was. "MDB... this has to be Access." I tried importing it into LibreOffice Base, then Calc, one day, but ran out of time.

That friend of mine thought the same thing. So we started looking at it in a hex editor. You can see the MXF references and their associated project names in plain text. He said the periods indicate a flat, common-delimited file. I may be oversimplifying, but in theory, Windows vs. Mac isn't the issue. If it's a database, we just have to figure out what the fields are and how it stores asset info.

@Jeroen van Eekeres: I saw your post on Transfer Manager, and it makes sense. But it sounds like that's intended for Avid shared storage environments or as a stem for another media playback product, like GrassValley's stuff. I just want a better MDV native to OS X.

Sooo... are any Avid-ians reading this? Can you point a guy to the file specs?

Add me. I'm a user of Media Mover. Happy with it. But it or something simple like it should be bundled with Avid.

Count me in - AVID Media Management/Project Management/Archiving is a sad state of affairs.

This is free, and used to work really well. It's also abandoned, so I don't know if it still works or not; haven't had to use it in a year or so.

http://www.automaticduck.com/products/mc/

Chris

We use Automatic Duck Media Copy every day to prep for LTO backup ...

The cool thing about Media Copy is that you can move sequence, bins, or whole projects. It's pretty slick.

Chris

I had errors when trying Media Copy. I believe Wes is no longer updating is autoduck apps.

@RLR: If you're happy with Media Copy, that's cool! We tried it when we were in Mountain Lion. It proved unreliable and crash-prone.

Before completely going over to OS X, we had one WinXP station dedicated for MDV. That version – with MSM, bin, and media folder scanning – was the bee's knees. Simple, stable, fast. Even the 'Feb 10 2007' version under Wine is a better than Media Copy.

Here's the only background content I could find on MSM's:

1. A discussion on the purpose of the .pmr and .mdb database files used by Avid products to track media assets.
2. Preparing Op Atom MXF Media Files For Use in Avid Editing Workflows (Do a Find for Avid Media File and storage Folder Formats)
3. This excellent post from Wolfcrow's blog had a little blip under How to Import video Into Media Composer.

Here's what I know so far:

PMR = Persistent Media Record

MDB = Media Database

PMR's tell MC what media's online. Media Database has all the other information about your assets (AKA Media Objects or MOB's). So if you can cross-reference the two and build file paths, you copy or move whatever, wherever. (Makes sense to me, anyway.)

Now, how do you read a PMR or MDB...?

@ck123: I don't the MDB's an Access database. Could possibly be a pre-97 Access format, but I don't know. Tried opening it with this great helper app - MDB/ACCDB Viewer for Mac. No dice.