Web site VCD Quality tracks videos distributed online and provides a wealth of information about each release—including a screenshot or two demonstrating the quality of the video and separate video and audio ratings. The site also links to the movie's IMDb page, lets you know what group released it, and informs you of the source media (e.g., DVD rip). If you download a fair share of movies online, you've probably been burned by a grainy, low quality download before. VCD Quality is there to help you avoid wasting those hours downloading a bum film. You can't actually download anything directly from VCD Quality, but if you've followed our beginner and intermediate guides to BitTorrent, you already know what you're doing.

We've all been there: you've downloaded an episode of your favourite TV show to watch on your commute or stream to your living room, but the file you downloaded isn't supported on the device you want to use it with. Once a significant obstacle to enjoying your media anywhere, this problem is easily solved by any number of free media converters. Keep reading for a closer look at the most powerful and easiest to use media converters.

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BigPond Movies has just released some research it commissioned to spruik its DVD-rental-by-mail service. It's obviously no surprise to find that 90% of DVD-by-post customers choose such a service because of the "value, longer loan periods and no late fees". The more interesting question is what reason the other 10% picked, something which the BigPond Movies team didn't disclose. My gutter mind immediately assumed that Joe Public perhaps didn't want Grandma Public seeing him pick up a few porn titles, but it turns out that BigPond doesn't rent adult flicks anyway. Having a wider selection of movies would doubtless be a good reason for rural viewers, though that has to be offset against the speed of the postal service in general. But let's throw it open to you. If you've ditched your local DVD store for a mailbox option, tell us why -- and if you aren't tempted, tell us why not.

Windows only: Free home movie organiser Eric's Movie Database (EMDb) is a fast and simple solution for those looking to keep tabs on their DVDs, VHS tapes, or other home movies. Using IMDb as its primary data gatherer, you simply type in the name of your film, confirm which flick it is, and you've got all the standard information filled out. There's a powerful seach function for truly substantial collections, and a button to track who you've got your flicks loaned out to. Mac users looking to organize more than just DVDs should try Delicious Library; for Windows users just looking to give their friends a list of what they've got, EMDb is probably the most time-efficient solution. Eric's Movie Database is a free download for Windows systems only.

As predicted here some time ago, Apple has officially made movies available in the iTunes store in Australia, with a claimed 700 titles. Purchasing movies to own costs between $9.99 and $24.99. Rentals cost between $3.99 and $5.99; you have to start watching the rental within 30 days, and then can watch it as many times as you want in a 48 hour period. iiNet subscribers can feel smug, since iTunes content doesn't count against their download quotas; movie enthusiasts on other ISPs might need to rein in their torrent activities. Do you fancy the idea of renting movies online, or do you still prefer physical DVDs? Let us know in the comments.

Movie editor Walter Murch (Cold Mountain, Jarhead, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being) discusses how he makes use of technology to organise the editing process in a new interview on the Filemaker site (requires Quicktime). Editing on Avid is pretty much par for the course these days, but Murch makes the point that keeping track of what shots you have to work with was a useful task for computers even in the non-digital-editing era. Despite the frequent plugs for Filemaker, it's a good general reminder that creativity doesn't happen in a productivity vacuum: being organised (and using the appropriate tools) is key to getting the best results.

All platforms (with the Java runtime): Free software MeD's Movie Manager is not as feature-rich as heavier-weight media managers like Griffith, but it still makes tracking your movie collection on your computer desktop easy. Catalog the movies you own, pull film info from IMDB or TV.com to fill in missing media information, and retrieve cover art. The program comes with multiple skins to customise its appearance, too. Two strong features include support for television series via the TV.com database and the ability to scan directories to retrieve movie file names, which saves you a lot of data entry hassle if you store movies in digital format. Here's a screenshot of MeD's in action.

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Window only: Free application Ant Movie Catalog manages your movie collection in a personal database. While not as immediately user friendly as other tools covered here, such as Griffith, Ant offers a thorough database that allows you to catalog not just standard fare such as titles, year of release and so forth but also detailed information about the actual media itself such as codecs, audio format, resolution, and so forth.

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Save a little time by fast-tracking through podcast intro chatter and cutting off movie credits in iTunes by using the custom Start and Stop times on your songs and videos. Macworld explains that you can right-click on the item in question, and choose Get Info. In the Options tab, check off Start Time or Stop Time to set it. (Use this same technique to create a perfectly timed interval training iTunes playlist for your next trip to the gym or the track.) If you convert the item to another file format, only the snippet will go into the new file.

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Got what you think is a sure-fire idea for a movie but don't know how to get it sold? Idea sharing forum Make'n Movies offers the ability to post your script concepts and have them critiqued and rated by others. While part of us can't help thinking this is just a series of copyright violations waiting to happen, if you're overflowing with script ideas, it might be worth a try. The site is free to use but requires registration. [Make'n Movies]