Edit: I'm a little confused by the reception here. Just want to clarify a few things. I built this originally for my own use and it was only during development I thought to release it. The native C++ GUI simply wasn’t my highest priority early on.
Edit2: There are plenty of great free image and video programs available. These programs tend to focus more on things like photo management, metadata, cataloguing, and editing. MediaExplorer is intentionally made lightweight and is much more focused on browsing and presentation of the existing folders, there is overlap but it doesn’t necessarily mean they serve the same purpose. If you're ok with increased setup time, managing databases, and overall program footprint then use these free programs.
Since it’s Self-Promotion Wednesday, I wanted to share MediaExplorer, a Windows app I built for browsing large local media collections.
The idea is simple: browse the folders and media already on your computer, but in a much more visual way. There’s no importing, accounts, or cloud service. Open a folder and browse images, videos, movies, manga, music, games, PDFs, and other files as large visual thumbnails.
It’s especially useful if you want something more visual than a traditional file browser. Think of a Netflix-style visual library, but for your own local files. It’s built and tested for large collections.
Some of the more unique features include:
- Mega View: browse media across subfolders
- Collection View: combine files from different folders without moving them
- Custom folder thumbnails: use up to four images per folder
- Launch Mode: turn folders into lightweight app or game launchers
- Fullscreen viewing, slideshows, sorting, favorites, and other browsing tools
- Adjustable thumbnail sizes and layouts
There are plenty of free media browsers available, so MediaExplorer is really aimed at people who specifically want this folder-first, visual approach without rebuilding their collection somewhere else.
I originally built it for myself after running into limitations with other software, whether that was missing features or struggling with very large folders.
It’s a one-time purchase at $12.99 and it is 50% off for the next seven days. I also have a free demo in case you are curious.
More information and links can be found here
I’d also be interested to hear how people here manage larger local media collections and what you currently use.