Digital Video solution advice

[Tunebug]

OK, I know someone out there will give me great advice on this, so don't let me down.

I have a problem to solve...my mother works in one of the State Park nature centers.  They have an auditorium with a bunch of VHS and DVD movies that they have available for visitors to watch.  They have some money to spend (I think in the $500 -$1000 range) that they were planning to spend on updating their collection, but they do not know what to buy.  I suggested they should spend the money instead on digitizing their current collection and replacing their dvd player and vcr with a computer.  She presented that to the group, and they like the idea.   So now, here is my question...what is the best way to do this?  

My experience is primarily mac, so my idea:  Buy a mac-mini, capture all of the video with imovie (which I am capable of doing).  Exporting it into a qood format either with quicktime pro or directly from imovie (I am not sure which way to go there), importing it into itunes, and using that to allow them to control and play their videos from.  

I don't really like the itunes solution for this though.  What else is out there for managing a video collection?  There are so many programs for managing photo collections, but not much for video.  I would like a tivo-like interface for them to use.  Ideally it would be something they could easily control from another pc if possible.   What would you guys do to solve this problem?  Let me know if you need any additional info...

Thanks in advance

[brewtownska]

Someone else will probably chime in with more specifics, but everything I've heard about Windows Media Center sounds like it would work for what you want.  My friend got rid of cable TV and built a HTPC that is simple enough for his wife to use to watch and record TV, all using their Harmony remote.  It's run using Windows Media Center (from a Vista Home Premium install).

[kevbeck122]

You could use an Apple TV as a front end and have another PC or Mac send it videos.  Otherwise if you would just use a Mac Mini.. you can use Front Row for the interface.  It's similar to the Apple TV interface.