DVD Cataloguing Software
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- Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 7:07 pm
DVD Cataloguing Software
DVD Profiler? DVDAF? DVDSpot?
Do most of you use more than one tool, since every tool seems to have its strengths and shortcomings?
I'm using IMDB My Movies to catalog my "movie collection", but, of course, it doesn't have any DVD info. So I have to use another tool for that.
Also, no tool I know of stores the director/cast/crew, etc. of those DVD bonus features, such as the bonus documentary on the Citizen Kane DVD. Considering the often huge amount of features on DVDs these days, there's whole lot of info not made available and searchable by these cataloguing software. Yes, I know a lot of the DVD features are useless EPK promo stuff, but there's often some important stuff too.
Also, no tool stores the name(s) of the audio commentator(s).
And DVDAF.com seems to be the only place that shows whether a DVD is discontinued.
Do most of you use more than one tool, since every tool seems to have its strengths and shortcomings?
I'm using IMDB My Movies to catalog my "movie collection", but, of course, it doesn't have any DVD info. So I have to use another tool for that.
Also, no tool I know of stores the director/cast/crew, etc. of those DVD bonus features, such as the bonus documentary on the Citizen Kane DVD. Considering the often huge amount of features on DVDs these days, there's whole lot of info not made available and searchable by these cataloguing software. Yes, I know a lot of the DVD features are useless EPK promo stuff, but there's often some important stuff too.
Also, no tool stores the name(s) of the audio commentator(s).
And DVDAF.com seems to be the only place that shows whether a DVD is discontinued.
Last edited by kevyip1 on Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- The Invunche
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:43 am
- Location: Denmark
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
If you use a Mac, I think Delicious Library is about the coolest thing in the world. I love the interface and the ability to add titles by holding the UPC in front of my iSight camera.
That being said, all I've done is play around with trial version. The full Monty costs $40, and while it's a fun tool to play with, I'm not sure I'd ever really use the thing in any practical way. I've got over 1,300 discs, and it would probably take a couple of days to input them all, even though they make it exceedingly easy. I rarely loan discs to friends and I'm pretty good at keeping track of what I've got, so I don't think I really need it.
That being said, all I've done is play around with trial version. The full Monty costs $40, and while it's a fun tool to play with, I'm not sure I'd ever really use the thing in any practical way. I've got over 1,300 discs, and it would probably take a couple of days to input them all, even though they make it exceedingly easy. I rarely loan discs to friends and I'm pretty good at keeping track of what I've got, so I don't think I really need it.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
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- Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 7:07 pm
Am I missing it, or does DVD Profiler offer no way to look up films that are in color or B/W (or both)???
But my biggest need is that the handling of DVD bonus features in DVD Profiler (and every cataloguing tool I know) needs to be improved. I want a tool that can search for everything about bonus documentaries/featurettes: title, cast, crew, year, running time, aspect ratio, etc. I want to be able to look up names of people who did audio commentaries as well. They basically have to turn DVD Profiler into another IMDB -- have it store every bit of info about every title -- and that's going to be hard, but that's seems to be the only way to accomplish my goal. Note that this is not some frivolous pursuit on my part; to me, this is an ESSENTIAL thing to have. Often I have to look for certain important bonus documentary and I only know who's in it but can't remember the title or which DVD it's on. And it's frustrating that DVD Profiler can't help me with that after the extraordinary amount of time I've spent entering data into it. I know that sometimes the bonus features are listed in the "Overview" section of the DVD profile -- SOMETIMES! But you just can't rely on it being available/complete/accurate all the time.
I started a thread about this at the forum of Invelos, maker of DVD Profiler.
But my biggest need is that the handling of DVD bonus features in DVD Profiler (and every cataloguing tool I know) needs to be improved. I want a tool that can search for everything about bonus documentaries/featurettes: title, cast, crew, year, running time, aspect ratio, etc. I want to be able to look up names of people who did audio commentaries as well. They basically have to turn DVD Profiler into another IMDB -- have it store every bit of info about every title -- and that's going to be hard, but that's seems to be the only way to accomplish my goal. Note that this is not some frivolous pursuit on my part; to me, this is an ESSENTIAL thing to have. Often I have to look for certain important bonus documentary and I only know who's in it but can't remember the title or which DVD it's on. And it's frustrating that DVD Profiler can't help me with that after the extraordinary amount of time I've spent entering data into it. I know that sometimes the bonus features are listed in the "Overview" section of the DVD profile -- SOMETIMES! But you just can't rely on it being available/complete/accurate all the time.
I started a thread about this at the forum of Invelos, maker of DVD Profiler.
- Nadsat
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:03 am
- Location: Sweden
- Contact:
Why don't try DVDpedia, a program that I highly recommendJeff wrote:If you use a Mac, I think Delicious Library is about the coolest thing in the world. I love the interface and the ability to add titles by holding the UPC in front of my iSight camera.
That being said, all I've done is play around with trial version. The full Monty costs $40, and while it's a fun tool to play with, I'm not sure I'd ever really use the thing in any practical way. I've got over 1,300 discs, and it would probably take a couple of days to input them all, even though they make it exceedingly easy. I rarely loan discs to friends and I'm pretty good at keeping track of what I've got, so I don't think I really need it.
- davebert
- Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 4:00 pm
- Location: NY
- Contact:
I use DVD Database X on the Mac, which is a simple, nifty and cheaper option than Delicious Library, especially since I don't have an iSight. It pulls the film info off IMDB and cover images/features off Amazon, which is a nice touch (if occasionally problematic). And of course, multiregion content can be entered using the IMDB film info, but the entry doesn't look as snazzy because Amazon doesn't have the info on it.
I agree that DVD database tools aren't always necessary, but it's nice for me, since I have a good selection of titles at my apartment here but the bulk of my former collection still at my parent's house, so it helps remind me what I have that I can theoretically retrieve if there's a sudden shift in interest.
I agree that DVD database tools aren't always necessary, but it's nice for me, since I have a good selection of titles at my apartment here but the bulk of my former collection still at my parent's house, so it helps remind me what I have that I can theoretically retrieve if there's a sudden shift in interest.
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
Same here. I would use Delicious Library if it were not for the fact that it grabs its info from Amazon and thus wouldn't include all my foreign discs and for the fact that I want something web based that I can look at or update on the go.The Invunche wrote:DVDAF, but I'm not a fan of the new layout.
- milk114
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:38 pm
- Location: Mar Vista, Los Angeles
- davebert
- Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 4:00 pm
- Location: NY
- Contact:
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
Someone tried to start that thread once and I put the kibosh on it in about 0.03 seconds. Putting a link to your collection in your profile seems sufficient exhibitionism to me. Then again, that was a long time ago and Chris may have a different opinion than this old crank.davebert wrote:Speaking of organizing the shelf, remember that old thread we had that was basically post-yer-collection porn? Or were we just mocking a CF.com thread... since I didn't embarrass myself with a post/picture, I honestly can't remember.
Last edited by Matt on Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- cdnchris
- Site Admin
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
- Location: Washington
- Contact:
No, not really. Link in profile works.Matt wrote:Someone tried to start that thread once and I put the kibosh on it in about 0.03 seconds. Putting a link to your collection in your profile seems sufficient exhibitionism to me. Then again, that was a long time ago and Chris may have a different opinion than this old crank.davebert wrote:Speaking of organizing the shelf, remember that old thread we had that was basically post-yer-collection porn? Or were we just mocking a CF.com thread... since I didn't embarrass myself with a post/picture, I honestly can't remember.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Ditto, but less exhaustive (I've just got Y and N columns for Extras and Commentary). I also add columns for 'parent sets' (in case I forget which box set a particular film is in, or if a significant film is hidden away on another disc, as with Mystery of the Wax Museum) and 'series' (so I can sort all MoCs, Criterions or JNWCs together if needs be, not that I've ever actually done this).davidhare wrote:MS Excel.
Director (by alpha); title (now attempting to reshuffle chronologically); year; source; additional features or box context; PQ (FAIR, OK, G, VG, HD); D for dub (if not original); other comments (incorrect ratios, alternate version etc...)
What do you mean by reshuffling your titles chronologically, David?
- Harold Gervais
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:09 pm
Third such system I've tried and DVD Spot is the hands down winner.
- malcolm1980
- Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:37 am
- Location: Manila, Philippines
- Contact:
I use DVD-AF: http://klaus-weasley.dvdaf.com/owned
- jt
- Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:47 am
- Location: zurich
I'd love to have the patience to go through my (title and language only) excel list and add all these details but unless I get stuck at home for a few weeks with a broken leg or something, I don't think I'll ever have the time.zedz wrote:Ditto, but less exhaustive (I've just got Y and N columns for Extras and Commentary). I also add columns for 'parent sets' (in case I forget which box set a particular film is in, or if a significant film is hidden away on another disc, as with Mystery of the Wax Museum) and 'series' (so I can sort all MoCs, Criterions or JNWCs together if needs be, not that I've ever actually done this).davidhare wrote:MS Excel.
Director (by alpha); title (now attempting to reshuffle chronologically); year; source; additional features or box context; PQ (FAIR, OK, G, VG, HD); D for dub (if not original); other comments (incorrect ratios, alternate version etc...)
What do you mean by reshuffling your titles chronologically, David?
I did add a method of marking films I've not watched since buying the dvd but when the number of crosses approached three-digits I felt a little funny and deleted the column...
- Scharphedin2
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 7:37 am
- Location: Denmark/Sweden
David, would this not work the same, if you simply entered all the info in a spreadsheet, and then, when and if you wanted to have a chronological ordered listing, simply use the "data sort" option?davidhare wrote:Zedz what I mean is, under each director, his or her films in chrono order, thus Hawks starting with Girl in Every Port 1928, next line Dawn Patrol 1930, etc, etc.
Funny to see that everyone is more or less taking the same kind of proprietary pleasure in maintaining these lists. I do too, and have the following fields:
Title -- if part of set, the set is included after the title in (), same goes for double features, and for shorts or docos. Titles shorter than 40 minutes are italisized.
Director
Production Year
BW or Color
Aspect Ratio
Duration
Format
Label
Region/Country
Detailed listing of extras
My default setting is to display titles by year, title, director, but I have on occasion used director, year, title.
The big job was to track down all the details on sets such as The Movies Begin, the Treasures from the Film Archives sets, the Edison set and the Unseen Cinema sets. This literally took days.
- Alyosha
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:50 am
- Location: Northern Sweden
A couple of summer's ago I built a webpage/database in PHP/MySQL - mostly for fun and to learn PHP.
Nowadays, when adding a film I simply enter the title, then the script connects to IMDb (this particular code was written by someone else and could be found for free over at sourceforge.net) and I get to choose the correct film and then it adds an entry in the database together with director, actors, year, genre etc. Most of this info could be browsed and searched for in the web interface.
Nowadays, when adding a film I simply enter the title, then the script connects to IMDb (this particular code was written by someone else and could be found for free over at sourceforge.net) and I get to choose the correct film and then it adds an entry in the database together with director, actors, year, genre etc. Most of this info could be browsed and searched for in the web interface.
- Matt
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm
It may or may not have the information you require, but you can always take advantage of the work of professional catalogers here. Do a search and click on the "Details" tab to get contents information. For example:Scharphedin2 wrote:The big job was to track down all the details on sets such as The Movies Begin, the Treasures from the Film Archives sets, the Edison set and the Unseen Cinema sets. This literally took days.
http://worldcat.org/oclc/62095746?tab=details
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- Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 7:07 pm
Right now I'm trying to remember a silent film DVD I own that has a Martin Scorsese introduction. It's so frustrating that none of the tools I've used can help me with that. Not to mention, I'm unable to search for any bonus features that Marty appears in. The problem is nearly all of these tools have a DISC-BASED database structure, and we really need one that uses a FILM-BASED structure, like IMDB, in order to be able catalog ALL CONTENT on one's DVD collection.
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OPENOFFICE.ORG is a free, full-featured office suite with word processing, spreadsheet, etc. No need to pay for Excel.