Multiplex now supports Non-DVD media

by Milind Alvares
Friday March 20, 2009

Multiplex now supports Non-DVD media

by Milind Alvares on March 20, 2009

multiplex-updated I’ve loved Multiplex [Review] since the day I saw it, but couldn’t make good use of it because save for a Coldplay concert, Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Matrix, I have no movies on DVD. It’s all digital these days! All that gorgeous, free flowing, UI; the one that makes you want to lick your screen, gone to waste.

If you’ve read the interview, you will remember that David promised that non-DVD media would soon make it to the Multiplex app. I just got an email confirming that the feature is now live and active. Adding media (avi, mov, etc.) is as simple as dragging it in. You can then use the meta data finding utility to quickly catalog your media, including the album artwork downloaded from Amazon. Adding and cataloguing 10 movies took me not more than 3 minutes, and I blame it on my slow internet connection.

We’ve even set Multiplex up to track your other media as you move it around, rename it, etc. Once added to Multiplex, it will look and act just like DVD media, open in the appropriate application when you click “Play”, dim out if the drive it’s located on is detached, etc. All the goodies, tons more movies.

It’s $25 for a single license, which will go up to $35 once the app hits 1.0 status. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d highly recommend you go check out the trial.

Tagged as: david martorana, indy hall, mac, multiplex, Updates

Reader Comments

Aayush Arya March 20, 2009 at 8:51 am aayush.me: Does it support the Matroska Video (MKV) format?
Aayush Arya March 20, 2009 at 8:53 am aayush.me: The Download button is not working on their website. Weird!
Aayush Arya March 20, 2009 at 10:36 am aayush.me: But, obviously, a web design mistake is hardly enough to stop me from downloading something I want, so here is the actual download link for the application (legal trial version): http://buy.multiplexapp.com/download/2/trial/.

And it does recognise Matroska files. I still prefer Plex, even though this one has a better, more native interface. For one thing, Plex has a much better cataloguing system. For another, it is also a movie player and plays 1080p content smoothly, unlike QuickTime Player, which is what Multiplex uses. Furthermore, Multiplex doesn’t support anything apart from movies, not even television shows. And I presume it does not work with the Apple Remote.

This, I guess, is why Apple only releases software when it’s ready to use and fully-featured. I mean, once you’ve met disappointment is earlier versions, it’s difficult to convince yourself to return to an application when the final version is later launched.
Milind Alvares March 20, 2009 at 2:35 pm goobimama.blogspot.com: “This, I guess, is why Apple only releases software when it’s ready to use and fully-featured.”

Oh yeah sure. How are those Safari 4 tabs working out for you?

While I still haven’t checked out Plex (Phil is doing that with his new Mac mini, Multiplex is mainly used for cataloguing DVDs and more DVDs. Think of it like Delicious Library, but a really useful one. Still, not saying Mtpx is better than Plex as I haven’t checked out the latter.
David Martorana March 20, 2009 at 10:10 pm multiplexapp.com: @Aayush Arya - sorry about the broken website and thanks for posting the appropriate download link - we fixed that up good

As for Plex, well, we can start with the fact that Multiplex is 2.8 MB, while Plex is 108 MB. Plex is home-theater software, Multiplex is a movie cataloging solution. Our plans are for Multiplex to continue to concentrate heavily on DVD collections, and streaming those movies out to your existing components, like your PS3 and other DLNA/UPNP compatible devices.

Plex does look cool, but the way it would work is that Multiplex would stream to Plex, just like we are working on streaming to Boxee, etc.

Anyway, I hope you like it
Aayush Arya March 20, 2009 at 10:49 pm aayush.me: Well, I guess I was trying to put it to the wrong use then. It’s clearly not meant for the likes of me, who do not have even one DVD to catalogue. I actually really like Plex anyway, so it’s not like I want another application that does the same thing—I was just curious to check this one out.

That said, I have to say that it is very buggy. It takes an awful lot of time to become functional after having been launched and seems to attract a lot of spinning beach balls. Furthermore, there’s this annoying bug where if you’re filling in the movie details manually and tabbing to each form element serially, you get stuck on the release date one and cannot proceed to the MPAA rating field. In fact, there’s no alternative at that point but to force quit the application, which discards all your changes.

So yeah, it’s buggy and you might want to fix that. Gruber once wrote that you do not have the right to charge for software that’s clearly in beta and I completely agree. If I’d paid even $10 for this app, only to later find out about these flaws, well, I would’ve been mighty pissed.

That’s just honest and hopefully constructive criticism. I wish you guys luck in all your endeavours—you clearly have talent.
Chris Zehm March 20, 2009 at 11:44 pm: Hmm. I do have a lot of DVDs which I’d rather store on a monster hard drive and then watch on my AppleTV. Will buy it once I see how streaming works with Boxee on ATV.