Plex actually is a great place to ‘archive’ videos, IMO.
If it’s something like a theatre play only on YouTube, then I store it in my Films directory along with other feature films – making sure that the content gets added to the TMDb database (myself if necessary) so that tag metadata can be found when the video is added to my Plex (I often go the extra mile and add the content to IMDb too, for completeness).
But I also have a separate library of useful videos (i.e. non-commercial, a bit like home videos) of stuff that might be useful that I want to keep.
All videos regardless of which library they’re in can be watched/playlisted/reviewed for info, from any device Plex is available on. The storage is two separate dual-HDD 40TB SanDisk G-Raid2 boxes connected to my MacStudio (a main+ a backup, in case of a hardware failure) via 10m optical Thunderbolt 3 cable to a nearby cupboard (for silence, as they make noise!).
Also, for UK content from BBC and ITV (note: ITV content can be grabbed by finding it on the almost identical STV website instead of ITV directly! ;-), you can use Get iPlayer Automator (a long-standing Automator wrapper GUI app found on Github). Used that for years.
Some content on YouTube cannot be downloaded because, AFAICT, commercial uploader channels from many mainstream broadcasters seemingly get extra DRM or something that stops downloaders from working. So YMMV with any app or online download service you use.
It’s been there a while now, couple of years I’d say. iPhoto, can’t recall. It’s been a while since I’ve done much fiddling with photos. It’s become so frustrating, there’s little fun left for me.
I think I like the model of Nitro, it just looks at your Finder organization structure, and any adjustments made are saved in Finder right next to the original (I think it does generate thumbnails but not sure where those live). This seems fairly future proof but I really enjoyed Aperture and all its possibilities and tools, although it did tend to eat storage space even when referenced. Nitro’s tools are a bit complex to use but perhaps if I used it regularly I’d get the hang of it.
Fair point, it’s not unusual to work with Photos but Music is something more or less left untouched after adding to storage.
Quite likely. I haven’t investigated the Photos app on Mac enough to know more. I use it sparingly, much more on iPhone itself before loading onto the Mac.
Changes to metadata in Music will either update the library database, which is very lightweight compared to the size of the audio files. Or it will modify the ID3 tags in the music files themselves, which I suspect most people wouldn’t object to, unlike photo editing, where you always want to retain the original.
Of course, if you do something like convert an audio file to a new format, the new file will be placed in your Media folder. The original will remain unchanged, and will appear in the library alongside the new file.
Yes, not sure why ClipGrab is listed as “Intel Only” above: I’ve been using it on my M1 MacStudio since it was released in March 2022. [and recommending to all who need such an app]
I thought Retroactive did not work any longer for running (an old instance of) iTunes in Coverflow mode, but just wanted to say I discovered version 3 (as I looked through what Rosetta apps I was still running) and it worked (had to allow it in Privacy & Security etc), so listened to music in iTunes 7 coverflow on macOS 26.5.2 today! (Slightly worried about changing library there etc – be careful!)
Retroactive installs iTunes and is not needed after that assuming the process went well. However, I’m not sure what computer you’re using but on my M1 Air, iTunes 10.7 CoverFlow does not display the art properly but the other three modes work fine for displaying album covers etc. You stated you’re using iTunes 7. That is an older version so I’m surprised it runs on Tahoe so please give more details as CoverFlow has never displayed properly on Tahoe for myself as well as others who frequent the MacRumors forums.
Ah, wrote from memory – there is a 7 in the version, but indeed it is version 10.7 of iTunes. Some things in Settings doesn’t display well. I only had one album, so only saw the album cover in big coverflow view, but I add another one now to see if it looks as expected – It looks kind of okay I think and cannot see any difference from how it used to look:
That’s interesting but I don’t see any song titles which would normally be under the art since you’re not in full screen mode. I noticed you have a different language in your menus. I wonder if that’s making a difference. The pic below is the problem I have and others as well where the screen is being somewhat dissected as compared to before:
EDIT: I checked my Tahoe partition and I can have a full screen like you indicated by dragging the handle which is not exactly where it should be but then the song titles disappear.
This is the issue I reported on previously in another thread where I indicated that the 10.7 version still works well with the other three modes such as album view etc. but not the CoverFlow mode. Maybe the next OS will magically fix it but since Rosetta is on the way out, the only sure way is having an older OS like Sequoia where iTunes 10.7 still looks as it should.
Yes, I have tried in vain to get the list of songs to show below – I see the “handle” – the three bars that you should be able to drag up and down (which never worked for over a year in Apple Mail either …). I can only switch albums in coverflow by using the touch pad (or choosing another album in the side column). Maybe I have to search for the handle – the scroll bar is immovable too – actually tried to click elsewhere as I suspected it might be in the wrong place, but no go here … .
The handle is somewhere near the middle of the screen as I recall but that might be when you still have the songs listed. It’s near the middle but just move the mouse up and down slowly near the middle and towards the bottom until the pointer turns to a hand and then you can change the look but it will not be correct like the image I displayed previously.
Yes, just did not look high up enough … and I get the same as you – cannot get rid of the black field on the top … . So, yes, it works with some limitations… .
I created an Automator Quick Action that runs a yt-dlp script that I can use by right-clicking the selected URL in Safari’s URL field. I installed yt-dlp using Homebrew. The command as it currently exists downloads the movie into my Downloads folder with the default YouTube automatic subtitle track included. Sometimes changes to the environment render the script useless until I perform routine Homebrew updates or make minor edits. Anyway, I’m not enough of an expert in shell scripting that I would warn others to be hesitant.
I somewhat disagree with your app recommendations. jDownloader2 and yt-dlp are free and more capable (from what I learned from the commercial app descriptions on the web). Yes, the learning curve might be a little bit steeper but you are rewarded with a better tool at a far better price.
Photos doesn’t create a copy of the file (or modify the original) when you edit. It simply stores the details of what edit you made. A copy is only made if you export the file (in anything other than ‘export original’). I would say that adding files as references to the Photos library instead of copying them in is essentially as no-consequence as the equivalent in Music. With the same drawback that you can end up with an orphaned entry if you’re not careful.
