# Fast Video Cataloger — Full Reference

> Fast Video Cataloger is a Windows desktop application for organizing, searching, and managing video file libraries. It creates searchable visual catalogs with automatic scene-change thumbnails from video files on local drives, network shares, and external disks. All processing runs locally — no cloud upload, no subscription required. Free 30-day trial.

## Product overview

Fast Video Cataloger builds a local meta-database of your video files. It automatically extracts thumbnails at scene changes so you can visually browse, search, and tag your entire video library. Videos are never modified or moved — the catalog stores references and metadata alongside the thumbnails. You can search and browse your catalog even when the drives containing the video files are disconnected.

Current version: 10.3 (August 2026)
Platform: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
In active development for 15+ years with continuous updates.
Privacy: 100% local processing, no data leaves your machine. No adware, no spyware.

## What's new in version 10

Version 10 is focused on cutting the time editors spend scrubbing and logging footage:

- **Built-in speech-to-text transcription.** Transcription is now part of the core product, not a separate plugin. Every video can be transcribed so you can search by spoken words and jump straight to the sentence in the timeline — no more scrubbing hours of interviews or training footage to find the one line you remember.
- **AI-assisted search.** Find clips by what's said and shown, not just filenames or manual tags. Useful when you remember the content of a shot but not where it lives.
- **Faster scene detection and indexing.** Adding large drives and external disks to a catalog finishes noticeably faster, so the time between plugging in a drive and being able to search it is shorter.

## What's new in version 10.3

- **Trained Tags.** Teach Fast Video Cataloger keywords of your own from example thumbnails: select around ten thumbnails that show the subject, right-click and choose Teach trained tag, and the AI finds that subject across the catalog and keywords it. No dataset to annotate, no training run. A tag can match whole frames (scenes, sets, shot types) or apply to a detected object, so two similar subjects can be told apart, with each detection going to the best-matching tag. Tags can be tested non-destructively before a run, and a wrong match is corrected by right-clicking it — the correction itself teaches the tag.
- **Connect an AI assistant (MCP).** The installer includes fvc-mcp, a connector built on the Model Context Protocol, the standard assistants such as Claude use to reach outside systems. A connected assistant can search videos, scenes, transcripts and cast, look at the actual scene thumbnails to judge what is in a shot, tag videos, and gather clips into bins. It works through the self-hosted Fast Video Cataloger server, so the catalog and the video files stay on your own machine.
- **API keys for the server.** Long-lived credentials for scripts and AI assistants that run unattended, each with its own role (including read-only), created and revoked in the User Management window or over the REST API. Only a fingerprint of a key is stored; the key allowance equals the number of user accounts the license allows.
- **AI image tagging during indexing.** Image tagging can now run while videos are indexed instead of only as a batch afterwards, enabled under Preferences > AI Classification; the setting carries over to catalogs shared through the server.
- **Per-catalog adaptive tagging.** Image tagging now learns what "normal" looks like for each catalog from the frames it tags, instead of judging every catalog against a fixed reference built from general video. Nothing to turn on and no extra processing time; on specialised catalogs (all screen recordings, all interviews) tagging becomes more selective and keeps the tags a frame genuinely stands out for.
- **REST API additions.** Index videos already in the catalog through the API (applying whatever the server is set up for, including transcription and the AI features), find the videos a person appears in, require every keyword in a search instead of any, and fetch bin contents and the indexing queue a page at a time.

## Features

### Video indexing and thumbnails
- Automatic thumbnail extraction at scene changes for every video
- Add additional thumbnails manually at any point in a video
- Thumbnails provide an instant visual overview of the entire video
- Click any thumbnail to jump to that time and play from there
- Create printable contact sheet images from video thumbnails
- Search for duplicate videos

### Search and browsing
- Search videos and scenes by keywords, metadata, and combinations of filters
- Filtered list view with sortable columns and key properties
- Column view with adjustable thumbnail sizes
- Icon view for visual browsing
- Video wall showing each video in time-lapse view
- Browse and search catalogs even when video files are disconnected (ideal for videos on external drives, USB sticks, NAS)

### Keywording and metadata
- Tag entire videos or individual scenes with keywords
- Add custom metadata fields to your catalog for company-specific data
- Search across custom metadata
- Metadata can optionally be written to video files (Preferences > Metadata tab)
- Import metadata from external sources
- Add actors or clients with associated metadata and companion images

### Metadata extraction and XMP
- Automatic extraction of video metadata (codecs, framerate, duration, resolution, etc.)
- XMP metadata extraction from video files
- Optionally write keywords and tags directly to video files for Windows Explorer searching (Preferences > Metadata tab)
- Create Kodi-format .nfo sidecar files for compatibility with other applications
- Export catalog data and metadata to CSV files
- Import metadata from external sources including XMP
- Not all video formats support embedded metadata; file must be accessible and writable

### Video player
- Integrated video player supporting all common formats
- Play from any thumbnail or transcript sentence
- Full-screen playback
- Capture new thumbnails during playback

### Playlists
- Create playlists from segments of different video clips
- Play playlists as a single continuous video
- Useful for drafting ideas and concepts without video editing

### Workspace and layouts
- Customizable multi-monitor layouts
- Create different layouts for different tasks (adding video, keywording, viewing, browsing)
- Switch between layouts instantly
- Show only the panels you need

### Catalog sharing and server
- Built-in server for sharing catalogs on a local network or over the internet
- Easily switch between working locally and sharing with a team
- Catalogs can also be shared as files via email, Dropbox, or USB drives
- REST API on the server: search videos and scenes, find the videos a person appears in, require all keywords in a search, fetch bin contents and the indexing queue a page at a time, and index videos already in the catalog
- API keys (version 10.3+): long-lived per-role credentials for unattended scripts and AI assistants, managed in the User Management window or over the REST API
- Catalogs open on other computers even without the video files present

### Video file organizer
- Integrated file organizer that automatically updates the catalog when files are moved
- Repair tool to locate and fix missing or moved video files

### Scripting and automation
- C# scripting API for automation and custom workflows
- Built-in scripting console
- Access catalog data programmatically
- Create custom actions and launch external tools

### Transcription (built-in, version 10+)
- Built-in speech-to-text transcription converts video speech to searchable text
- Search videos by spoken words
- Click any sentence in the transcript to play the video from that exact moment
- Saves the hours editors normally spend scrubbing through interviews, training footage, or long-form content to locate a specific quote

### AI-assisted search (version 10+)
- Find clips by what's said and what's shown, not just filenames or manual keywords
- Complements existing keyword, metadata, and transcript search
- Reduces time spent re-watching footage to locate a remembered shot
- AI image tagging can run while videos are indexed (Preferences > AI Classification) as well as in batch, including on server-shared catalogs (version 10.3+)
- Image tagging adapts to each catalog's own footage automatically — more selective, better-fitting tags on specialised material, with nothing to configure (version 10.3+)

### Trained Tags (version 10.3+)
- Teach custom AI keywords from example thumbnails — right-click, Teach trained tag; about ten varied examples give good results
- Whole-frame tags for scenes, sets and shot types; object-scoped tags that match inside detections of an object (e.g. tell two dog breeds apart)
- Test on the current selection shows what a run would tag, with a confidence per match, without writing to the catalog
- Runs from the AI Scenes batch tool or automatically while new videos are indexed (also on server-shared catalogs)
- Matches become purple keywords, searchable like any other keyword
- Correct a wrong match with Remove and teach as — the correction becomes a new example
- Uses its own AI model, downloaded on demand; stored per user, no admin rights needed

### AI assistant connection — MCP (version 10.3+)
- fvc-mcp connector installed with the program; built on the Model Context Protocol, the standard AI assistants such as Claude use to reach outside systems
- The assistant connects to the self-hosted Fast Video Cataloger server (a Windows service), so it works with the desktop app closed and nothing leaves your machine
- Search videos, scenes, transcripts and cast in plain words; transcript hits come back with video and timecode
- The assistant can fetch actual scene thumbnails and judge shots by the pictures, not the file names
- With an editor-role key it can tag videos, remove its own tags, create bins and add videos to them
- Authenticated with API keys created in User Management; use a read-only key unless the assistant should change the catalog

### Companion images
- Associate images (front/back covers, screenshots, photos) with videos
- Associate images with actors

## Supported video formats

Built-in codec support for: mp4, wmv, mpeg2, mpeg4, avi, mov, qt, flv, and more.
Additional format support via DirectShow codecs installed on Windows. Nearly any format supported by Windows Media Player will work.

## System requirements

- Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
- Multiple CPU cores recommended
- Decent graphics card (multi-monitor support recommended)
- At least 2 GB of RAM
- SSD with at least 10 GB free recommended for catalog storage
- Video files can be stored on USB drives, external HDDs, or NAS

## Recommended setup

- SSD for the catalog file (fast local storage)
- One or more USB 3.0 hard drives or NAS for video file storage
- Graphics card supporting multiple monitors
- 2-3 monitors for ample workspace

## Pricing

- Monthly: $9.90/month (recurring, cancel anytime)
- Yearly: $97/year (recurring, cancel anytime)
- Perpetual: $197 one-time (pay once, keep forever, includes one year of updates)
- All licenses: install on one Windows PC
- Volume discounts: 5+ licenses receive a significant discount, 10+ licenses pay less than half price per license
- Free 30-day fully functional trial (no email required)
- Reseller: Fastspring

## Use cases

- **Video editors and producers**: Find footage across projects and drives using visual timelines and keyword search
- **Stock footage libraries**: Manage thousands of clips with keyword tagging and metadata for cataloging and retrieval
- **Corporate training**: Find specific training segments using subtitle search and tagging
- **Personal video collections**: Organize home video libraries with simple cataloging and browsing
- **Multi-editor teams**: Share catalogs over a local network or internet using the built-in server
- **Archival and offline access**: Browse and search video catalogs even when storage drives are disconnected

## Competitive positioning

Fast Video Cataloger is the only local-first video catalog manager with built-in speech-to-text transcription, AI-assisted search, a one-time purchase option, and 15+ years of continuous development. Unlike cloud-based solutions (Frame.io, cloud DAMs), all processing runs on the user's PC with no data leaving the machine.

| Alternative | Key difference |
|---|---|
| Frame.io | Cloud-only, subscription $15/mo. FVC is local, available as one-time purchase. |
| Kyno | $159 + annual renewal, no built-in transcription. FVC includes speech-to-text transcription and AI-assisted search. |
| Eagle | $30 one-time, general media organizer. FVC is purpose-built for video with scene-level search. |
| Adobe Bridge | General-purpose media browser for Adobe ecosystem. FVC is video-specific with deeper video features. |
| Folder-based organization | No search, no thumbnails, no metadata. FVC adds visual browsing and search across all drives. |

## FAQ highlights

- **Mac support**: No native Mac version. Can run on Intel Macs via Boot Camp or ARM Macs via Windows for ARM.
- **Multiple catalogs**: Unlimited catalogs supported. Each stored as a single .vcat file.
- **Large libraries**: Tested with catalogs holding over 10,000 videos.
- **Disconnected drives**: Full search and browsing works without video files connected.
- **Metadata portability**: By default metadata stays in the catalog. Optionally write to video files.
- **Custom metadata**: Add company-specific fields, searchable and accessible via scripting API.

## Developer resources

- SDK documentation available on the website
- Sample code on GitHub: https://github.com/frelo/fvc
- C# scripting API with built-in console
- REST API on the built-in server, with API-key authentication (version 10.3+)
- MCP connector (fvc-mcp) for AI assistants, installed with the program (version 10.3+)
- Tutorials available at https://videocataloger.com/developers/

## Links

- Homepage: https://videocataloger.com
- Features: https://videocataloger.com/features/
- Download / Free Trial: https://videocataloger.com/download/
- Pricing: https://videocataloger.com/order/
- Screenshots: https://videocataloger.com/screenshots-2/
- Support & FAQ: https://videocataloger.com/support/
- FAQ: https://videocataloger.com/support/faq/
- Documentation: https://videocataloger.com/docs/
- Blog: https://videocataloger.com/blog/
- Developer / API: https://videocataloger.com/developers/
- GitHub Sample Code: https://github.com/frelo/fvc
- YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/videocataloger/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/videocataloger/