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Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog! - Page 2

post #31 of 55
1/24/08 at 12:54pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons
The real problem, I guess, is that they don't make money on it. That also implies that sales number aren't that interesting, except perhaps for PR purposes. It seems that only Warner made some profit on a few titles.

But more important: if this is true, where's the incentive to bring out many titles? Now the "war" seems to cool down, as many of us believe, we may see less new titles on HD, on a year's basis, for the next future.

You may even view Warner's decision to go exclusive as a means of inconspicuously cutting down on new releases for some more time.


Cees

Same thing happened w/ DVD -- and people do forget there was also DIVX in the early goings. Back then, there were rumors about what hardware installed base figures would be needed to convince Lucas and Spielberg to release their big films. No idea if the Bits archive actually goes that far back, but if it does, you'll find those rumors there. I seem to remember talk of the 1M mark being one figure and 3M being another. And there were petitions also for Lucas to release the original Star Wars Trilogy.

I suspect they will want similar benchmarks and market penetration before releasing the really big titles. And I suspect they will want to see the figures for *one* format, not some combined figure for both.

_Man_
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post #32 of 55
1/24/08 at 9:23pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong
Same thing happened w/ DVD -- and people do forget there was also DIVX in the early goings. Back then, there were rumors about what hardware installed base figures would be needed to convince Lucas and Spielberg to release their big films. No idea if the Bits archive actually goes that far back, but if it does, you'll find those rumors there. I seem to remember talk of the 1M mark being one figure and 3M being another. And there were petitions also for Lucas to release the original Star Wars Trilogy.

I suspect they will want similar benchmarks and market penetration before releasing the really big titles. And I suspect they will want to see the figures for *one* format, not some combined figure for both.

_Man_
I agree. It just seems the logic is flawed. Releases of titles would drive the software sales further than cheap players would. Wouldn't it? So, waiting for more people to have HDM in home seems contrary. Player wise, at least. I would be willing to bet if Lucas said tomorrow that he was releasing the Star Wars films on Bluray the players would fly off shelves. Along with the SW films. That's the power of that franchise and Speilberg sits on gold himself.
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post #33 of 55
1/24/08 at 10:09pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy evans
I agree. It just seems the logic is flawed. Releases of titles would drive the software sales further than cheap players would. Wouldn't it? So, waiting for more people to have HDM in home seems contrary. Player wise, at least. I would be willing to bet if Lucas said tomorrow that he was releasing the Star Wars films on Bluray the players would fly off shelves. Along with the SW films. That's the power of that franchise and Speilberg sits on gold himself.

I'm not so sure about that when it comes to HDM. If people are not interested enough to see lots of other movies in HD, why would a few big titles make quite *that* much difference? At least before w/ DVD, you can say few people owned good quality presentations of those films, but now, most everyone who cares already own them on DVD. And I'm actually not too sure the Star Wars franchise and most Spielberg films would actually draw the masses anymore than say Harry Potter, PotC, LotR (whenever that comes), et al. Afterall, many of those films did better than the Star Wars prequels at the boxoffice and are probably no less appealing to the masses (of this generation) than the original SW Trilogy.

And really, I guess Lucas and Spielberg probably don't want to appear like they're being used to sell a format. And if things don't work out, it can probably look embarrassing for them. The $$$ itself probably isn't as big a deal for them anyway. But yeah, I'm sure the studios would really love to use them to sell the format though...

_Man_
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post #34 of 55
1/24/08 at 10:44pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Man, I can't wait for the Star Trek movies on HD DVD!! The sooner the better! I'm really looking forward to hearing James. T. Kirk tell the crew "Everybody remember where we parked!" while viewing a gorgeous 1080p image!

Mark
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post #35 of 55
1/24/08 at 11:22pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong
I'm not so sure about that when it comes to HDM. If people are not interested enough to see lots of other movies in HD, why would a few big titles make quite *that* much difference? At least before w/ DVD, you can say few people owned good quality presentations of those films, but now, most everyone who cares already own them on DVD. And I'm actually not too sure the Star Wars franchise and most Spielberg films would actually draw the masses anymore than say Harry Potter, PotC, LotR (whenever that comes), et al. Afterall, many of those films did better than the Star Wars prequels at the boxoffice and are probably no less appealing to the masses (of this generation) than the original SW Trilogy.

And really, I guess Lucas and Spielberg probably don't want to appear like they're being used to sell a format. And if things don't work out, it can probably look embarrassing for them. The $$$ itself probably isn't as big a deal for them anyway. But yeah, I'm sure the studios would really love to use them to sell the format though...

_Man_
If it were any other big franchise, I'd say yes you are 100% right. However, this is Star Wars and has over 30 years and going of worldwide success in both collectible and film sales. Even though Harry Potter and Pirates of the Carribean are big now, what will happen later. Star Wars has proven itself to stand the test of time, so far. As far as Lucas or Speilberg pushing a format, you make a valid point.
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post #36 of 55
1/24/08 at 11:28pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Booth
Man, I can't wait for the Star Trek movies on HD DVD!! The sooner the better! I'm really looking forward to hearing James. T. Kirk tell the crew "Everybody remember where we parked!" while viewing a gorgeous 1080p image!

Mark
You and me both. The one that I want is ST:II. That's going to be glorious. Also ST:VI would be great in HD. After all these great sales of the TOS on HD DVD you would think these films would be out by this year and no later. You would think that anyway.
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post #37 of 55
1/25/08 at 12:22am

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Booth
Man, I can't wait for the Star Trek movies on HD DVD!!

I would love to see them in HD, but are there rumors that they´re coming or..?
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post #38 of 55
1/25/08 at 9:57am

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jari K
I would love to see them in HD, but are there rumors that they´re coming or..?


Didn't Paramount state sometime last year that they were working on these films for HD and that First Contact would probably be the first release? At least thats what I remember hearing.

Doug
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post #39 of 55
1/25/08 at 1:10pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy evans
You and me both. The one that I want is ST:II. That's going to be glorious. Also ST:VI would be great in HD. After all these great sales of the TOS on HD DVD you would think these films would be out by this year and no later. You would think that anyway.

Star Trek III The Search For Spock in HD=Happiness

When it happens, I'll be the first in line!
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post #40 of 55
1/25/08 at 2:43pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Booth

I double-checked a few of Chris' figures at IMDB. He is spot on! The Universal and Paramount catalogs are the biggest in the business! Wow!!

Mark

I don't think so. Here is how Warner advertises itself on every press release they issue: " Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment. " link: Warner Home Video

Anyways, I don't care how big Universal/Paramount's catalog is when ~85% of my current DVD collection is NON-Universal/Paramount. If their catalog is so big, then where are the titles on DVD? And if they haven't made it to DVD, do you really expect hardly any to be released on HDM??

edit: it's actually closer to 85%, but the point is the same
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post #41 of 55
1/25/08 at 2:53pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by WadeM
I don't think so. Here is how Warner advertises itself on every press release they issue: " Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment. " link: Warner Home Video

Anyways, I don't care how big Universal/Paramount's catalog is when 90+% of my current DVD collection is NON-Universal/Paramount. If their catalog is so big, then where are the titles on DVD? And if they haven't made it to DVD, do you really expect hardly any to be released on HDM??

I agree Wade, even if together they had the biggest catalog in the world, they dont release Jack! Looking at my DVD Profiler i see that of my almost 1000 DVDs i have more Warner than any other studio, by a long shot, then FOX, then Paramount. But my Paramount would be a bit high because of my Star Trek. I have 40 Volumes alone of the original TV series, then of course Next Gen, half the movies, and the Animated series. Now if anyone told me Universal has the biggest TV library in the world, i would say, i bet they do. As has been said before, in the 70s they were king of TV!
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post #42 of 55
1/25/08 at 4:13pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by RickER
I agree Wade, even if together they had the biggest catalog in the world, they dont release Jack! Looking at my DVD Profiler i see that of my almost 1000 DVDs i have more Warner than any other studio, by a long shot, then FOX, then Paramount. But my Paramount would be a bit high because of my Star Trek. I have 40 Volumes alone of the original TV series, then of course Next Gen, half the movies, and the Animated series. Now if anyone told me Universal has the biggest TV library in the world, i would say, i bet they do. As has been said before, in the 70s they were king of TV!


I would say that probably what makes up a huge chunk of Universal's library IS their made for TV content.

I was looking at my high def discs and most of the discs are from Warner (28), closely followed by Universal (22) then Paramount (15). I only have 6 Sony titles, 4 Disney titles and 1 Fox.

I couldn't even start to count my SD discs...wayyy to many, probably in excess of 4000.

Doug
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post #43 of 55
1/25/08 at 7:25pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

You should have used a program like DVD Profiler to keep track. ALthough with 4000, I wouldn't waste my time starting now. It'd take forever.
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post #44 of 55
1/26/08 at 12:32pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by nolesrule
You should have used a program like DVD Profiler to keep track. ALthough with 4000, I wouldn't waste my time starting now. It'd take forever.

I didn't know there was a program like DVD profiler!

Doug
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post #45 of 55
1/26/08 at 1:31pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by nolesrule
You should have used a program like DVD Profiler to keep track. ALthough with 4000, I wouldn't waste my time starting now. It'd take forever.

I used it for a while until a few years ago. The PC client app was waaaay too sluggish to use, and I eventually stopped bothering w/ it. Is the latest version still very sluggish? I don't think they still have my account (w/ collection) there anymore though...

_Man_
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post #46 of 55
1/26/08 at 1:41pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
I didn't know there was a program like DVD profiler!

Doug

Doug, with over 4000 DVDs, you need Profiler. It would come in handy if anything bad happened. It would only take you 2 weeks to add everything you have. Check it out! Now then, back to Paramount...

PS Man, its much faster, and a better program now than it was years ago.
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post #47 of 55
1/26/08 at 5:12pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

RickER makes a good point. The best part about it is you have a nice list compiled for the insurance company should you suffer losses. Of course, you might need a rider for the collection.

And yes, version 3 is much faster than version 2. And it's still worth more than the $30 price tag (although the trial is fully functional until you enter in 50 DVDs).
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post #48 of 55
1/26/08 at 7:23pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Very cool. I went to the website for DVD Profiler and it looks actually pretty useful. Thanks for the recommendation.

Doug
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post #49 of 55
1/27/08 at 3:38am

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Here's a useful tip for new Profiler users: you can enter a large collection very quickly using a barcode scanner.

Back on-topic, my own SD collection features:

20% Fox discs
5% Disney discs
10% Sony discs
14% MGM discs
11% Paramount discs
8% Universal discs
32% Warner discs

(Counting only the titles from these studios).
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post #50 of 55
1/27/08 at 4:24am

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Can DVDProfiler now import from another database (or text files)?
Years ago, when I tested a beta, it couldn't (and it didn't have the barcode reader support yet). My own database contained roughly 450 DVDs then, so I decided not to transport it. Now it contains 2800+ entries, so I would desperately need an import function to start using DVDProfiler.

My DVD collection has:
Warner: 423
Twentieth Century Fox: 232
MGM: 181
Columbia TriStar: 165
Buena Vista: 163
Paramount: 158
Universal: 155
Image: 134
BBC: 120
Acorn Media: 97
A&E: 84
Criterion: 60

(stopped at 60).

HD:
Warner: 56
Universal: 53
Paramount: 14
Buena Vista: 3
Sony Pictures: 3
Studio Canal: 3
Twentieth Century Fox: 3
DreamWorks: 2
Miramax: 2
NewLine: 2
The Weinstein Company: 2
BBC: 1
Colombia Pictures: 1
DVD International: 1
HBO: 1
Joe Kane Productions: 1
MagicPlay: 1
Magnolia Home Entertainment: 1
Warner Elektra-Atlantic: 1

(and 37 not yet completed entries.)


Cees
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post #51 of 55
1/27/08 at 8:30am

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cees Alons
Can DVDProfiler now import from another database (or text files)?
Years ago, when I tested a beta, it couldn't (and it didn't have the barcode reader support yet).

Profiler's a much more sophisticated and feature-packed program than it was a couple of years ago. The original developer split from the company that owned it, who had let it stagnate for a very long time, and practically re-wrote it from the ground up.

I've rolled with the changes, and don't use a lot of its functionality, so I shouldn't really comment on aspects of the program I'm not familiar with.

I believe you can export your data in a number of formats, but not import info' from another source.

I've never used the barcode reader function myself, but it has been a feature of the program for a very long time. The forum used to have a lot of info about using a particular type of reader - a cuecat (IIRC) - which could be picked up at no, or minimal, cost from one of the large US retailers.

I guess further discussion about the program should be directed to one of the existing Profiler threads in the SD part of the board.

Apologies for the off-topic post.
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post #52 of 55
1/27/08 at 12:46pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

One of the users wrote a plugin that can import from a list of UPCs/EANs, but won't add in any other details such as purchase price or place. So the answer is, yes, you can...if you can isolate the UPC list.

Although it really doesn't take all that long to add a title. Just do it a chunk at a time and it won't take you too long to get it donw. I would suggest downloading the program and giving it a shot up to the 50 DVD free trial limit (it'll allow you to keep going, but will disable certain program features after 50). See how long it takes you to do the entry. You might be surprised at how little effort it takes.
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post #53 of 55
1/27/08 at 2:53pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Worth a try, I guess. Thanks - and back OT!

Quote:
I guess further discussion about the program should be directed to one of the existing Profiler threads in the SD part of the board.

Apologies for the off-topic post.
Hey, that should be my lines!


Cees
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post #54 of 55
1/28/08 at 3:50pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

I guess I'll give DVD Profiler another try when I find time. It supports HDMs now too, correct?

_Man_
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post #55 of 55
1/28/08 at 5:52pm

Re: Universal & Paramount's HUGE Catalog!

Affirmative.
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