Just wanted to toss this out there and see if you guys had thoughts on which metadata manager was best for using the built-in movie library in Windows 7.

-I've tried both 7MC My Movie Finder v1.12 and Vista Media Center Movie Info, and while these are both close to what I'm looking for, I find them both lacking. 7MC My Movie Finder has iffy metadata and gets the metadata from a website that seems a little shady - plus, it calls up internet explorer x64, which continually prompts to download flash for ads (even though it can't). Vista Media Center Movie Info seems to get pretty good metadata, including cast & crew, but MPAA ratings are missing and it compresses the crap out of poster art.

-I'm aware of YAMMM, but I don't want to automate it, I like to have complete control.

-I've used MyMovies in the past, but I'm not crazy about the overhead and all the extra crap it installs. All I want is movie metadata.

So...any thoughts?

I like MyMovies for WHS. No install required on Media Center. Just have to redirect the DvdInfoCache folder to a hidden share on the WHS, where the metadata is stored. All the metadata is kept on the server and the WHS version seems pretty lightweight. There's a service running on the server that automatically monitors folders for new movies, but you can install the Collection Manager on any machine to manually manage the metadata.

BTW, here's a little guide I wrote for how to set it up.

http://cid-8111ff03f10d73e4.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/How%20to%20configure%20the%20Windows%207%20Movie%20Library%20to%20use%20My%20Movies%20for%20Windows%20Home%20Server.pdf

I use MetaBrowser (www.themetabrowser.com) installed on a single machine, although it's results are available on other machines in my network sharing the same media directory. It collects tv series and movie metadata, allows you to lock the metadata xml file so other programmes won't overwrite.

Fairly simple to set up and collect metadata, recommended as it just works. Use the previous version (not version 2) as it's free and seems much the same.

I did try MetaBrowser, but I can't remember what I didn't like about it. I think the UI was a little cluttered, and I wasn't getting the native WMC metadata for some reason.

I will say this for Vista Media Center Movie Info -- it saves the dvdid.xml files in the movie folder as well and has a quick import feature, if you're using multiple computers. No registry hacks necessary to point your metadata directories anywhere else.

I also tried Media Center Master. It ran incredibly slowly. Problem with x64 systems maybe? Anyway, it looked like it might give good metadata, but I just couldn't use it.

 You can also try MetaVideoEditor http://code.google.com/p/metavideoeditor/

You can use DVD library manager

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/p/48266/211911.aspx

 I wrote up a how to on my blog...

http://mc.anywherecool.com/Blog/post/An-easy-way-of-setting-up-the-Movie-Library.aspx

I found DVD library manager, very simple, easy to edit metadata, and pulls it's data from IMDB/Amazon, so you get good meta data, it even will pull down the art. It will work with any type of video DVD or blu-ray, etc. You also have fulll control on it, you can even edit the meta data it pulls down.

just my thoughts....

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I started using My Movies Collection Manager because it has WHS integration, but it doesn't exactly work the way I want it to, and it's kind of overkill if you're just using it for metadata. I may stick with it in the meantime, but I'll also try on Tip and DavidinCT's suggestions too.

tip:

 You can also try MetaVideoEditor http://code.google.com/p/metavideoeditor/

Okay, MetaVideoEditor is fantastic! Brilliant, and by far the best I've tried. Thanks for the tip, tip!

tip:

 You can also try MetaVideoEditor http://code.google.com/p/metavideoeditor/

TIp, it looks like you're possibly the primary developer for this software. It works great and I love it...for movies. TV shows and TVDB lookups appear to not be working in the current version (2.0.1.1).

Any developers out there? I believe this is open-source and hosted on codeplex, so if anyone has some free time to help develop it, I'd be happy simply because it's the best metadata editor I've found. It's a pretty brilliant, lightweight metadata editor that works really well, and I have no idea how to program anything.

I use none of this stuff. 

For each movie I rip, I simply download the appropriate "DVD ID" file from dvdxml.com, place it in the same directory as my rip, and make sure it has the same root name as the ripped movie file. The correct metadata shows up automagically in the Movies hub, no 3rd party plug-ins required.

It really takes very little time to download the appropriate file manually, and can be easily done while your movie is ripping.