TheRenamer was suggested as an alternative in the comments by Gbot. The application offers to rename tv shows and movies that are loaded into its interface. Even better is the fact that it does not solely rely on the filenames but pulls information from external tv and movie databases such as IMDB, the TVDB, TV.com or Epguides.

The software requires Adobe Flash for Internet Explorer. It will display an error message if Flash is not installed. This could be a problem for users who do not use Flash at all or only have it installed for other web browsers.

It is also necessary to run the application as an administrator, at least on first run, probably to have the rights to create some files on the system.

movie organizer

The interface looks flashy and first time users might have a hard time finding their way around. Movies and TV series are added by drag and drop. There is another option to automatically process a folder as well but this has to be configured in the settings.

TV episodes and movies are automatically processed after they have been added. The program queries the databases before it displays the show or movie name, old name and new name. The preview of the new names helps a lot, something that we missed in yesterday’s review of TV Show Renamer.

No option is on the other hand provided to change the settings or manipulate the filenames manually. Users who want to do that have to cancel the renaming and go back to the main menu to access the settings.

therenamer

Here it is possible to change the renaming format and the layout of the destination directory. The settings can also be used to select a specific folder to fetch all of the movies and tv shows and to specify a destination folder for the TV Shows archive, helpful to move files automatically after renaming.

rename tv

TheRenamer offers a handful of interesting options to further optimize the renaming. It is possible to configure it to automatically remove sample folders and files after the renaming operation, helpful if tv show samples or nfo files are downloaded with each show.

Another interesting option is the ability to force the program to use names for specific shows or movies. This can for instance be used to remove or translate names (e.g. Wan piisu One Piece to One Piece) or to use abbreviations (e.g. Star Trek The Next Generation to STNG).

TheRename is an interesting program, probably the most sophisticated TV and movie renamer currently available. The application has a few weak spots, mainly the Adobe Flash requirement and the user interface which could use a makeover.

The software is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows. Downloads are available at the developer’s website over at TheRenamer.com.

Some users who have downloaded the tv series rename them on their computer, especially if episodes of a show have been downloaded from multiple sources as this often means different naming conventions.

Renaming the filenames manually might be an option if a handful of tv shows are stored on the computer, it becomes a nuisance if the count passes a few dozen.

TV Show Renamer is a free program for the Windows operating system that can be used to rename tv shows automatically.

It works by adding TV episodes to the program, options are available to pick specific files or a folder. A handful of conversion options are available of which all are selected at the beginning.

They will for instance replace “.” with ” “, remove “-”, capitalize and remove crap that’s not part of the TV show’s name or season / episode.

rename tv series

Conversion options that are not needed can be unselected from the options.

It is furthermore possible to specify the season and episode format. The default format is 1×01 which can be changed to 0101, S01E01 or 1-1-2010.

A click on the Convert button renames the TV shows that have been added to the program.

TV Show Renamer has no preview option. It is however possible to undo changes. Satisfactory results can then be moved or copied to another location on the computer.

It may happen that the tv series filenames still contain words that are needed. Additional junk words can be added in the other options category. These words are then removed from the filenames automatically.

Another option provided by the program is the ability to add text that the program should always replace with other text. This can be helpful to rename abbreviations like WS to Widescreen for instance.

TV Show Renamer provides an interesting option for TV series downloaders to rename their downloaded shows automatically.

The program could use a preview function, preferably right in the main interface and automation to perform the renaming automatically.

The software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. Downloads are provided at the Codeplex program website. (via Freeware Genius)

Stream Transport is a new software program for the Windows operating system that can download tv shows from Hulu – and other online video services such as Youtube, Veoh or Dailymotion,

Stream Transport includes a basic web browser (most likely using the Internet Explorer engine) that can be used to open video portals like Hulu in its interface. It will automatically recognize a tv show stream when one is opened and played in the web browser. The streams that are discovered are displayed at the bottom of the interface.

All it takes to download one is to select a tv show from the listing and to click on the Download button afterwards. Each tv show that is found will be listed with its title, duration and video height and width to make the identification easier.

• Widely support for overwhelming online videos – The app is able to browse and download video clips from video hosting websites of HTTP, RTMP, RTMPT, RTMPE, RTMPTE protocol, and these cover overwhelming majority of websites such as Hulu, Veoh, Boxee, Joost, YouTube, Yahoo Video, CBS, etc.
• Capture URL automatically – The URL of any video clip that is playing will be auto-captured and listed out for your convenience, and you can download it with one click or just ignore it. There is no bother to add URL manually.
• Enrich your A/V collection – This FLV Downloader is capable of downloading almost any video and audio file you can play online so that you can turn numerous online video and audio into your own collection. The videos will be saved as FLV or MP4 format in your media library and a powerful player is inlaid for you to play them back freely.
• Considerate task manager and view log – The task manager lists detailed information of files such as name, size, progress, location etc and allows you to play, stop, delete and convert (full version) the FLV files downloaded. Auto shutdown is available as well. The view log makes it easier to manage your tasks.
• Supported video portals include – Hulu.com, Youtube.com, Google video, Myspace, Yahoo! video, CBS, MTV, Megavideo, Photobucket, Dailymotion, Veoh, Demand Five

Stream Transport is compatible with all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. The program can be downloaded from the developer’s website. (via Freeware Genius)

EMDb is closely tied to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) which can be used to search for and fill out most of the information about a movie. It takes only 15 seconds from entering a movie title to searching IDMb to adding the movie to the user’s collection.

It can take more depending on the information that the user wants to add or change before the movie gets added to the database. A hit on IMDb usually fills out many information about a movie like actors, plot, director, year, genre(s) and duration while other information that are source specific have to be filled out by the user himself.

Source specific meaning the medium the disk is on, for example DVD, CD, VHS or a computer video format.

All movies that are added are listed in one central database which can be sorted in various ways. A search function is available to search huge movie collections by using various parameters like genres, titles or actors. One interesting feature of the search is that all information that have been added are available in menus which means that a user could either enter the director manually or click on the name in the list.

The movie database comes with an export and print function and can also keep track of loaned movies easily. Eric’s Movie Database is fast and responsive. It might appeal to users who want to quickly organize their movie collection without the added noise that other applications in the category produce.

TV Series Papercraft concentrates on popular tv series like 24, Lost or Prison Break and delivers some interesting looking designs of popular characters of those series. If you look at the 24 category you find papercrafts for Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida, David Palmer and Mike Novik among others. Each tv series contains several character designs which can all be downloaded and printed without additional costs.

The site has a interesting vintage tv series category with stars from the past including Magnum, CJ from Baywatch, Michael Knight from Knight Rider and B.A. Baracus from the A-Team.

The process is always the same. The visitor picks a design he wants, clicks on the download button next to it which will display the design as a jpg image on the screen. That image has to be printed. Once it is printed the user has to cut it according to its plans and assemble it so that it resembles the tv star. A great addition to the Cubeecraft collection.

Much like the A-Team did in the good old days when they build some huge car to break out of their prison. It seems that someone wasted a lot of time to add a list of problems solved by MacGyver to Wikipedia. Every episode of the five seasons is mentioned in the list and it’s interesting and sometimes funny to read.

Stuff like “MacGyver builds a distraction by balancing pots and pans on a bag of ice that melts from heat produced by a toaster oven. He spreads vegetable oil in the ground to incapacitate some kidnappers” or “MacGyver starts out in Berlin, trying to escape with a microfilm containing government secrets. He takes the place of a dead person and is carried in a coffin towards a bridge, where he is dumped into the water by friends. Upon hitting the water, Mac hits a button and turns his coffin into a jet ski, riding away to safety” are precious, don’t you think..

Users will be able to access HBO on Broadband without charges if they have HBO On Demand and Time Warner’s Road Runner high speed online service in their homes. Shoes can be downloaded and watched on up to five computers running Windows Vista or Windows XP Service Pack 2 32-bit and Macs running Windows. Each movie minute roughly translates to 10 Megabytes of download which means that movies will have a size of 1.2 Gigabytes while tv shows one between 300 and 600 Megabytes.

A movie player developed in house has to be used to watch the movies and tv shows which seems to point at some sort of DRM in action. Shows will eventually expire and automatically be deleted from your computer when that happens.

Available for downloading this month will be select episodes from many of HBO’s original series, including the current (and final) season of “The Wire” and the debut season of “In Treatment,” plus “Rusell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam” and “Real Time with Bill Maher,” as well as past seasons of “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage,” “Six Feet Under,” “Big Love,” “Deadwood,” “Flight of the Conchords” and more. One HBO original series each month will have all episodes from all its seasons available on the service.

Click for larger image: HBO on Broadband Films offered for download each month will include most of the titles currently airing on HBO, plus many from their extensive library. Among the films available in January are “We Are Marshall,” “Norbit,” “Breach,” “Smokin’ Aces,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Superman Returns,” “The Last King of Scotland” and the documentary “Baghdad Hospital: Inside The Red Zone.”

Individual titles will be available on the service for 4 – 12 weeks, with episodes of HBO original series generally available for longer periods than theatrical films. When a title reaches its “expiration date,” it will automatically be deleted from your computer.

No link to the website is circulating yet. Users who would like to access the service and are not subscribed to HBO / Road Runner will be out of luck though because computers and users have to be registered to be able to access the service. via DVD Dossier.

A week ago I introduced peekvid.com which offered lots of tv series as streams on the internet. Today channelbreak.com emerged which seems to be using the same source that peekvid.com is using. Both are streaming videos that are hosted by guba.com. And guba.com is finally a usenet provider with a service to offer usenet content on their website.

The funny thing is that I´am not able to find out how they finance their service. There seems to be no paid service whatsoever. You have to register at guba.com but that registration seems to be free. I tested it out and was able to register without problems. There is no sign of a subscription fee, the faq and the terms of service do speak of fees for premium content for example but there is nothing like that inside at the moment.

I´am still very cautious about this service, my advise would be to forget about signing up at guba.com. It looks suspicious to me ..