software to catalog your dvd collection: Which one do you use? (1 Viewer)

[marcus_h]

Hi,

Right now I have 676 entries for movies/tv shows in my lotus notes database which I had created back in the day. Obviously this software doesn't hold a candle to software written specifically for cataloging movies. So, which do you use?

The three I have looked at so far are Movie Collector, DVD Profiler, and ReaderwareVW.

Now, the thing is, I want to export my movie entries from my database to a file and have the new software add my movie entries from the text file. I also want all the data, cover scans, etc. to be viewable and searchable while off line from the net.

Movie Collector has given me the most success so far. The trial imports 50 movies from my text file and everything is downloaded localy, its also more money than DVD profiler and the website/tech support is more user friendly.

I can't reevaluate DVD profiler because it says my trial has ended...because I had looked at it before with little success. The support forums I read said it can't import from a external file, and I'm not sure if all the data is searchable/viewable without being connected to the net.

Readerware just plum doesn't like my text file in the 5 or 6 different text formats that I have tried to import from, so its looking like its out of the picture all together.

Does anyone have any other software that they use that does the two things that I need and have had luck with it?

Thanks,

Marc

 

[Jon Martin]

Hi,

I used DVD Profiler for a while. You could read and update it offline (I never did anything with posting it or anything, just used it offline).

It is a good program, but I gave up on it. It seemed kind of pointless to be entering in all the data, organizing them in a database when you had all the DVDs themselves right next to you that you could organize however you wanted.

 

[marcus_h]

I list them all alphabetically for the most part. The big use I would have for it is to do a search on a certain actor to see how many movies I own that that person happens to be in, or to sort them all by genre, etc. But, with 676 entries in my database as is, and wanting to input all this off line, because my internet connection at home is 56k only...it seems like a daunting task. Especially the way I've entered movies already, like the MGM double features...Haunted Palace / Tower of London. I'm running a test right now to see what Movie Collector will do when auto searching for that.

 

[Dave_P.]

Excel spreadsheet

 

[Porfirio]

I use DVD Profiler and Crunchy Media's DVD Collector, which by the way, handles box sets better than DVD Profiler.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Access dB

I enter the data I wanted to deal with in my own "browsing" program which is done in Visual Basic at this point. All my data entry is via Access.

 

[Harold Wazzu]

DVDprofiler will be my choice now and for as long as I catalog my dvds.

 

[AlexHL]

Anyone know of a good solution for Mac users? DVDprofiler unfortunately doesn't support Macintosh.

 

[KyleC]

I use a program called AV Cataloger.

 

[marcus_h]

Hi Dave P,

Well, crunchy media's DVD collector has gotten much much better since the last time I tried to use it a year ago. Some major improvements on my wish list have made it in. It can't do a batch process for finding movie information on-line for all the entries imported though...can it? Also, when it looks for information on-line, the three tests that I tried, there's no scans of images downloaded. Or do I need to set something manually to make sure it grabs image scans?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

DVD Profiler is my primary database, but I also use DVD Tracker (www.dvdtracker.com) which allows me access from any internet connection. They charge $10 a year, though. DVD Profiler doesn't have a set period for trial; there's a one-time $25 fee but they don't require you to upgrade (but it gets rid of pesky ads and allows high-resolution cover downloads).

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

DVD Profiler

 

[Scott Kimball]

DVDPedia (www.bruji.com/dvdpedia)
Readerware VW

I had been using Readerware VW, but found it a bit on the slow side - and the interface was decidedly un-mac-like. It is functional, though, and I used it for quite a while.

I switched to DVDPedia over the summer. It has a nice, iTunes-like interface, works with barcode readers (including unmodified CueCats), and downloads title data from Amazon.com and IMDB.com.

 

[MikeEckman]

Wow, I didnt know there were other programs out there that were even close to DVD Profiler. I saved that link to DVD Collector as it appears there is a utility to convert from Profiler to Collector. I will have to check it out at home! Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I also use an Excel spreadsheet. If I had the motivation to use a real database, I'd put something together in Access. I don't have much need for anything more than a simple list of what I've got that I can sort by the columns I've set up.

 

[Shaughan]

I use access. I also have it tied to IMDB. It grabs the title (which it munges to account for ,the at the end of some titles as well as some other exceptions) and the year, launches IE and goes to that title.

I use that a lot when I am entering new titles - just fill in the name/year and get the IMDB record with one click then copy paste the cast and fill in other info from there.

What I WANT is basically the same thing but with a barcode reader. Swipe the DVD package and have it grab the record info off the net and create a filled out record for me

The backend for the Access DB is SQL 2000 running on a server in my office and I use an ASP web front end in the media room to browse/search etc.

If anyone wanted a copy of that access DB standalone version I would be happy to provide it on my FTP site.

 

[marcus_h]

Ok, my original list had ReaderAV, movie collector, and DVD profiler. I have also looked at free programs like movie tracker and movie organizer.

DVDprofiler does not have an import from text file feature. Movie organizer is free, and it automatically searches the net and loads in covers, but the images are kinda small.

So far, in my humble opinion, movie collector is the best of the 5 that I have looked at so far. Only problem is they are in the Neatherlands, and although its only 25 bucks, I'm not sure I want my credit card information going out like that over the net, and the guy wants an extra 3 bucks to process a money order (rolls my eyes). Movie collector does an exhaustive internet search and has done the best at identifying movies and covers which the others haven't. Case and point, the Airport Terminal pack and other box sets easily identified from.

If crunchy media's movie collector (a) searched region 1 dvds and (b)downloaded cover art, it would be awsome. Then of course, they'd probably be charging for it as well.

 

[Jason Kirkpatri]

I'm the same as Dave_P; Excel.

 

[John Stone]

I also have a custom solution. I use a MySQL backend with PHP: http://www.twowiresthin.com/dvd/index.html

 

[Devin_C]

I found DVD Profiler's UI to be clunky and awkward, so I stopped using it after the 50 title mark.

I was using Guzzlefish until the site stopped getting updated; currently I'm trying www.dvdspot.com which has an import by UPC/Title function...