Media Pro revival
Implemented
Hi,
This is not a real feature request, but I cannot find another way to have my saying. Well, MP is dead. Really? I think there is a way to make it alive. And better. It only takes good will! C1 will benefit from it, I am sure. MAKE MP an open source program. I am sure the OS community will rise to the opportunity. After months of trials, MP is still the best concept! C1, please be nice and show the world that money is not all that counts. I would buy the product and make OS, but I have no money for this.
Thank you,
Florin.
-
Dermot, I wonder if there is a legal way to prove in a court of law that what they did, whatever one may call it, caused real financial damage, while other similar products are simply counter productive. They don't want to develop? Fine. Sell it as it is. No? Make it a real part of C1. No either. Sad. Very sad.
1 -
Hey Simon
I checked out Extensis -their 'Portfolio' version costs £2400 to get it going and then a £440 per user per year. It's cataloguing software ffs! I would happily pay a high annual subscription for Media Pro because it is so valuable to me but that is a ridiculous price. The high initial cost is for set up and training.I don't need training in Media Pro or any cataloguing software that I've tried out in the last few years. I can't imagine why I would need it for Extensis portfolio.
not for me
0 -
Hey Florin
I feel the damage they've caused to my business every hour of the day. I fired up Capture One yesterday to see if I could figure out a way to use it - it is worse than Adobe Bridge.
latest Bridge is better I have to say but still falls way short of what we need.
D
1 -
Hi, it's me again. Well I'm at a big cataloging project 1999-2020 and for this project Media Pro is perfect. Many, many Terra Bytes to organise. I don’t know how many DAM software I have tested in the past and I have used all RAW software until they got killed. I’m happy Media Pro is still running (Mojave) and it's by far the fastest and best looking DAM I ever have. I only miss they never got smart folders function developed after so many years. I was hoping when the nice guys from Phase One acquired iView/Expression-MediaPro it would turn even more Pro, but like at the big players Adobe, Google and Apple technology was assimilated and the software was doomed to die. Quite sad.
Anyway, I also have also looked for alternatives, because of the M1. Extensis Portfolio is more a server software and nothing for me – and again these f… subscriptions. Photomechanic + is not ready for me yet, but could be something in the future.
So, I came up again with a little slim software which I’m using already for ages, rather for cataloging of all my offline media CDs, DVD and portable hard drives and now I have realised it’s a really good DAM software for any kind of media/data even with a GEO and XMP data editor – NeoFinder.
My hope is the P1 developer posse is watching us and change their mind or at least put all the good DAM functionality into C1 – I need a meta data healing brush;-)
2 -
I think there are at least two issues at play here.
(1) Whether it is a large or a small matter to redevelop Media Pro as a 64 bit app rather than a 32 bit one. I'm no software developer and I don't know.
(2) Whether there is a large enough user base (or potential user base) for Media Pro to make it worth while. I remember back when I was using Media Pro before they pulled it, that the forum for MP got a tiny number of threads compared with the forum for Capture One, which suggested to me (and again, I have no inside knowledge) that there were in fact not many users.
Ian
0 -
@Phrank Neofinder looks interesting.
Which license do you have for it? Wondering about the Auto-Updater and Databse Sync features.
Does it save “catalogs” or is always-on like Bridge?
0 -
Ian,
I am not a software person either, but I have some experience in software and I talked with an expert. Here you have the main points:
0. Where there is a will, there is a way.
1. There is no real need to go to 64 bit. Even in the event that the data is near the 32 bit limit a master file (an old feature request by MP user) will solve the limit problem. Besides, the 32 bit is so fast...
2. 32-64 transition is NOT complicated. Certainly not for a software company.
3. P1 is NOT a software company. This is clearly visible when one looks at their programs during the last 12 years, as I did. If needed I can explain my opinion in detail.
4. My model for a hardware company is Blackmagic. Their extraordinary program is USD300 and can produce anything one can dream about in video media, has a lot of true plugins, new versions are always better and richer. AND! There is a free version which is about 80% the paid version. Their support person, an example to be followed, spent time convincing me to use the free version. There, there is more then a will. There is a commitment.
5. If the size of the market is small follow in the steps of others: Open Office was once not open, Google purchased some excellent photo software (don't recall the name) and released it for free, etc. There are a lot of companies that release free versions and none has gone bankrupt.
6. Nikon is a hardware company and do upgrade their programs and distributes them for free.
Keep healthy.
Florin.
0 -
@Simon. As said I have it many years. Normal license is 40$ – compared to PM+ much more for the money. It’s just a one man show. You can easy get in touch with the programmer/owner and he is open for input. They/He is also offering a cross grade…
@Florin. Interesting infos. I’m using OBS Studio, it's free and I think it's the best for broadcasting. A DAM open source software would be great too – even DAM is a little bit less mainstream. There are man nerds out there;-) About Nikon, before I have switched to Aperture, I have used Nikon’s Capture NX1-2 plus the Nik-colour filters. Well, Google assimilated Nik Color Efex / Snapseed and let the development die after a little for free offer. Nikon is a camera company too. They have promoted their software (i guess developed by Nik) first as the none plus ultra and let it also die. Have fun for free with Capure NX-D…
@C1 please don’t kick me out – I almost feel like a troll;-)
0 -
We are also considering NeoFinder. It could use a bunch of improvements- ie instead of jpg they label these as preview.app files. Norbert Doerner CEO said because "Apples Finder uses to identify the file.
Also, also if I want to look at just the jpgs, I need to use media info panel. If I want to look at just the Nikon or canon raw files, I need to choose kind because Media info does not distinguish between a NEF or CR2 file… They seems are also labeling Documents or Design files as Image or photo files- ie afdesign?
Maybe we can work on the developer to make logical improvements?
0 -
@Christina I'm still testing. As far I know you can read/import any data. Like in MP you can set up which data you want to import. I think the developer is open for any input and impovements – now as he claims to be a DAM software – even offer migrate guides from MP to NeoFinder;-)
I just try to set it up as another DAM software to be prepared for the 64bit only future.
I wish I could do everything in C1…
0 -
Hello good and kind Photographers,
Following contributions and references here I installed and ran the abeMeda (the Windows version of NeoFinder).
It crashed repeatedly when run on monitor 2. After several attempts, by pure luck, I ran it on monitor 1. Some menu tasks did nothing at all. Click and... nothing. I do not know if there was anything in the catalog to to, but utter silence is not good practice. I tried in vain to find a keywords took. Crashed again. It crashed twice during import and once during exit with a write error of insufficient space (only 850 GB free!!!). After about one hour of work I gave up.
Simply put (life too short for long sentences), it is nowhere near MP. I was left with the impression of a graduation project, both in design and coding. Definitely not a replacement for MP (not that I can say others are much better).
I also must stress that I had a few emails exchanged with the author. Mine were answered practically a few seconds after I clicked SEND, and always nicely and politely.
I cannot free myself from the transcendental sensation that MP was a happy accident in vision, design and coding by some genius, cut short by some corporation commoners.
Painful, very painful.
0 -
@Florin, ijust checked "abeMeda" looks really 90s style. I'm a Mac, and never got any crashes… Sometimes I wish I would be on Windows and my software is compatible almost forever.
Well even the NeoFinder looks quite oldschool, almost like Canto Culumlus, my first DAM software. Media Pro and Capture One has a much nicer GUI.
If you are on Windows maybe ACDSee is something for you. They try to follow up (again) with LR and C1. I'm also testing now a Mac Version. But it looks like a typical Mac version of a Windows software company – less funcions, less pro. Like a mixture of Apple Photos and Adobe Bridge just without any EXIF and IPTC metadata – only a cool look like Media Pro. Not really a DAM software for Mac… More an alternative media browser, but you got a map. What I like, it's making icon previews from the folders content like automatic key images in Apple’s Aperture.
So nothing really like Media Pro so far:-(
0 -
I"ve been trying Neo finder for the last few days but have given up on it. Despite the developers claim that it is a much more powerful application than MediaPro I find it clunky and unwieldy and slow to use..not much better than Adobe Bridge. I reached out to company and got a very snarky reply about how bad Media Pro was and to be fair many of my problems was down to not being familiar with the software. But on a very basic simple level it is just not useful.
For example ...i asked if you could have separate windows for each catalogue and was told 'Lots of them. As many as you need. All there for you' except you can't. You have one main window showing all your categories (which they call 'albums') and a new window does not have this sidebar. Or if it has I can't find anyway to make it show up. So all your categories are mixed together. My reference folder and my texture folder and my family photos all in one grand catalogue with the categories in a giant alphabetically sorted list. Not useful.
Hitting command N does not create a new window it creates a new folder and a blank area in the main window which you can drop a folder of images in to. it does this very fast but Media Pro creates a new catalogue window which is way more useful.
Double clicking an image in the catalogue opens it in it's associated application- this is an option in Media Pro that I switch off in favour of having it 'switch views'. i rarely need to open an image in it's app because I'm usually dragging directly from Media pro in to p'shop or Modo or whatever. I can't find anywhere in their preference to change this.
And btw one of their complaints about MediaPro was that you are restricted to just a few thousand images. I have 13 000 images in my Texture folder... that's enough for me.
They are happy to help as long as it's agreeing how great their software is.
Been here before.
0 -
Dermost, I have about 70,000 and no complains either from me or from MP.
0 -
Back in the days when my Mac wasn’t that fast and my hard drives not so big, I have splitted all my jobs and databases by year. Media Pro often crashed – and still doing it, but to press "Command + S" is my only workaround.
Anyway, I'm fed up to open and close all my single calatogs / databases and started to merge all in one (which i backup regularly). For my actual book project I need to look through my whole archive and I use My Media Pro again to keep track of it. I’m using a Mac mini 2018 with 64MB RAM – not sure if the RAM helps much…
So far, my catalog contains more than 400.000 media files, mostly JPG and RAW files. In the moment the database is about 13GB – still rendering 640px thumbnails. Before I have worked only with 320x thumbnails, but that’s a little bit small on a 4k monitor.
Let's see if I can achieve this with Capture One 21 too… or need a Apple M1 chip…
0 -
please please bring back media pro.. i've been using since it was name iview, but it's still the best DAM for my usage. it's portability is the best, i can share only limited project. its lightweight in resources is no match.
0 -
Yes- please please please bring back Media Pro- from all of NatGeo!
0 -
Well I have been forced to upgrade to Big Sur, and Media Pro does not run on it. I can't understand. It is by far the best program to organize, search, make selections, copy selections into new folders, open images in another program for editing, batch rename, and enter keywords and descriptions etc. You can very quickly view any image full quality, compare it say for sharpness with others, zoom into every detail. The catalogs themselves take up a small amount of disk space - it is not necessary to import your whole image collection into the program, which would be absurd with my decades of hundreds of thousands of images.
There is nothing that comes close. Bring this product back, and let more people know how great it is!
Now, back to the stone age of photo organization.
0 -
I wish we could sign a petition for this, also for me best DAM software around, to keep on the developement or make it open source, but it seems like a niche software. Nobody really cares. My guess is, most of the photo journalists use now Photo Mechanic and/or Lightroom and not many of them are here in this forum…
p.s. I've tested Photo Mechanic Plus, but I prefer Media Pro’s GUI and workflow.
0 -
Jerry,
You do not understand. I think you do. But I'll spell it anyway. They do not give a damn about the users. Just remember the poor maintenance and the unwillingness to let it free.
They should learn (what a dreamer I am) from Blackmagic and Google (no, not about the free OpSys). But learning costs money and time.
I would keep a Windows system for MP.
0 -
Phrank,
A petition will not do any good. I wonder if some big photo enterprises (like Jerry's) can sue them for the damage in lost good workflow and cost of rebuilding another DAM.
0 -
I too miss MediaPro. I have searched through other DAM software without satisfaction. I have recently began to run on MacOS Monterey from Mavericks! My solution was to run Windows 11 under Parallel software which allows a version of Windows to run in a window of the Mac desktop. So I have access to iView MediaPro.
The only problem is my Windows edition of Media Pro is old and does not support ".mpcatalog" file extensions. Where can I download the latest copy of Media Pro for Windows? I can't find it anywhere on the P1 or C1 websites.
0 -
Hey Frank
Email me directly and I’ll send you a Dropbox link to an installer. I have made some ‘how to..’ videos to explain to art department coordinators and archivists how to use it. I still need it every day for my work and still have not found a successor. Dermot@dermotpower.com- btw I tried Parallels but found it too slow on my Mac. I run media pro on a PC networked to the Mac now . Windows 10 still runs 32 bit apps. Not a perfect solution but at least I have access to all my catalogues. Might be worth buying a second hand pc laptop just for media pro. It doesn’t need much power .0 -
Just for my sanity, can some, please, provide a rational reason for killing one of the best programs ever written? Additionally, without providing even a remote alternative. I cannot regard C1 respective tool an alternative. Not even an attempt.
0 -
> Florin Coter: ...provide a rational reason for killing one of the best programs
Killing off as in stopping sales and maintenance? It is not unique. Back in the day when Google acquired Nik Software Inc, they terminated Nikon's licenses agreement required for Nikon's Capture NX2 software. That killed off Capture NX2 (my copy still works).
I also processed images using a small but innovative payware application called LightZone (by company Lightcrafts Inc). It was pretty much a one man show, or at least one programmer show. The programmer disappeared over night. I suspect long hours and small if any salary may have lead to a financial pressure the programmer was not willing to take. A group of die hard LZ user wanted to take over the software, make it open source and create an open source community around it. The code owned by Lightcrafts Inc was not enough, LighZone depended on licensed third party software libraries. It turned out to be complicated to get licenses for use in an open source product. It took a couple of years to get it sorted. I don't know the details, but I believe they managed to change the code to work with alternative libraries. I reckon SFA can fill in the blanks. Anyway, open source LightZone is probably still available.
Sagelight was another innovative application (also payware). Users experienced the programmer disappear for long periods of time to finally "cut and run". Some users wanted to try the open source route, but it never materialized, as far as I know.
So, if you need just one rational reason, I believe software license obstacles may be one answer. A fierce competitor or an unfriendly party, may have acquired software Media Pro depends on, or perhaps the license fee went sky high.
1 -
Permanently deleted userI wonder if some big photo enterprises (like Jerry's) can sue them for the damage in lost good workflow and cost of rebuilding another DAM.
Have a look at the licence agreement.
Then stop asking silly questions.
Capture One is completely isolated in law from responsibility for any financial impact on users, of their business decisions: and you agreed to that when you signed up.
0 -
Permanently deleted user
Just for my sanity, can some, please, provide a rational reason for killing one of the best programs ever written?
It wasn't selling, and they weren't keeping it updated as a result - it was allowed to die on the vine, because there was no economic advantage in doing otherwise, especially given the clamour among users for DAM capabilities in Capture One.
Simple as that.
0 -
Keith R,
You can ask a lawyer about one's ability to sue anything. Any contract can be discussed in a Court of Law.
Then, I would like to ask about your credentials that enables you to decide that my question is silly. Life taught me that answers can be really silly. I am not sure I can say whose.
Simple as that.
0 -
After my spring cleaning and annotations project have been finished for my old Aperture, Lightroom and Media Pro archives. I just realised again, Media Pro is/was still the best software for Digital Asset Management – even without smart folders (a dream which never become true). I've tested the "new" PhotoMechanic +, but it's quite good for culling, but the Digital Asset Management is not mature yet, but I have hope;-) The only alternative for me in the moment is NeoFinder to have a overview of all my photos and media. I use it many years beside all the other DAM software, basically to make offline media catalogs. With more than 1 million of photos I don't dare to make a master catalog yet in Capture One Pro 22. If it's takes almost 1 hour just to rename 2800 photos on an internal SSD (really wonder why). There are some expensive DAM agency solutions, but I'm a one man show. Does anybody have found another alternative yet?
P.S. My only solution for the abandoned Media Pro is a maxed out Mac mini 2018, which still runs on OS 10.14.6 Mojave…
P.P.S. was even thinking to switch back to a the rental software Lightroom for Digital Asset Management only, but I don't like Adobe anymore;-)
0 -
We are testing Photo Supreme- and it seems very powerful- not as easy to use out of the box as Media Pro- but it will allow you to transfer your old Media Pro catalogs. We are also finding it pretty powerful, if the UI is a bit clunkier in general- ie the ingest take a little longer, creating new catalogs is a little more trouble but still easy to do, and the file types, and keywords etc, are on different tabs- but it is usable. Their tech support and staff have been stellar- helping us figure our how to do the "old way with media pro" in the new way of Photo Supreme. I'm sure as we get more used to the interface, the friction will disappear?
0
Post is closed for comments.
Comments
72 comments