Digital Asset Mangement that scans existing folders

Question

I have a NAS that has a very large collection (30k+) of assets I have accumulated over the years via bundles, freebies, etc.

I'm looking for a DAM solution that can do the following things:

• Scan an existing folder structure and automatically add any images
• Search in image meta data
• Quick to add new large amounts of assets later
• Fast searching
• Inexpensive

Nice to have's:

• Free/open source
• Web based solution
• Font Support
• Multiple folder support
• Support for PSDs
• Support for video clips, audio clips, and (big stretch) website templates
• Support for brushes and PS actions (another big stretch)

Right now, Pixa is the closest thing to what I am looking for but unfortunately it is extremely slow in my environment. Also, and this could be my own fault, it doesn't seem to update when new assets are added to the folder structure.

I have played around with countless solutions but I'm sure there are some out there that I don't even know about so any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

The solution might even be a combination of several applications, I'm ok with that too.

Answer 1

I suggest using Alfresco+CmisSync.
Both are free & open source, with professional support available if needed.

Alfresco is a ECM/DAM server. It has a web UI which is very convenient:

• Search in image meta data
• Fast searching
• Web UI
• Generates thumbnails and web preview of a great number of file formats, in particular images formats, PSD, Premiere, etc
• Versioning/workflows/comments/likes/etc and other features that you might also be interested in

Alfresco stores files in its own database system which can not be used directly. I guess you will also want files to be available on your Windows/Mac/Linux filesystem. That's where CmisSync comes. CmisSync synchronizes Alfresco content to your local filesystem. When you add new files, they will be automatically uploaded to Alfresco, where they become searchable/previewable/etc.

Steps:

1. Install Alfresco
2. Create a "Site" in Alfresco
3. Install CmisSync, sync the site (empty for now)
4. Move all of your files to the synced site

The inconvenient with this solution is that it takes double the size of your files. To avoid this inconvenient, you can use Alfresco's WebDAV interface (in Windows Explorer/Finder/Nautilus) instead of CmisSync.

Disclaimer: I am the creator of CmisSync.