The ONE problem with DVD Profiler as I see it..... (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

You know, I love DVD PROFILER. It is a great
piece of software that has permitted me to
effortlessly catalog my entire DVD library.

This topic may have been discussed before -- I
don't usually look in on the DVD PROFILER threads
that get posted here -- but I noticed something
VERY disturbing today.

First off, I think it's great that people
actually contribute to the DVD database. Normally,
people simply copy the OVERVIEW description of
the DVD off the back of the box. That's the way
it should be.

But I noticed a disturbing trend when I told
DVD PROFILER to update my current IMAGES and
PROFILES....

The title was Staying Alive, the sequel
to Saturday Night Fever. Instead of a user
just copying the data off of the back of the DVD
box, he decided to upload this crap....


Now why on earth are we being subjected to badly
written opinions on a film rather than just the
overview?

Is this a trend with DVD PROFILER now? Are you guys
noticing that basic descriptions of the films are
being sabotaged by youngsters (or otherwise) that
want to write their own opinions?

Would love to hear your feedback on this.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hmmm, first I heard of this type of information being used by DVD Profiler.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Ron, I can't say that I've seen this before, at least not that I can recall...however, the fact that it happens really doesn't surprise me at all either.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

There is another problem with DVD Profiler.

Canadian fans take it upon themselves to replace the film's original title with its French title. Once, after an update, I discovered 2001: A Space Odyssey was no longer in my collection. It had been replaced by Deux Mille et Un.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

DVD Profiler treats Canada and Quebec as seperate areas for a reason. Sadly, many of the users don't pay attention. Canadian info/covers frequently show up in US profiles for the same reason. To answer Ronald's question, I see that occasionally, but it's pretty rare.

 

[Rolando]

Similar problem. After an update, the Flatliners cover was changed with the new UGLY cover. It's a photoshop, headshot rework instead of the theatrical poster used on the copy I have. What makes this change all the more stupid is that the original cover already featured all the actors prominently so why change it? AARRRGH! Sony...

 

[Christian Preischl]

I find that very rarely does the description in the DVD Profiler overview actually match the description on the back cover. It's even worse for R2 titles.

Chris

 

[Robert Anthony]

..I don't think that review is badly written at all. Complete, concise, and informative.

It's out of place on the site, however, no doubts there, but the review itself is pretty nicely written.

 

[WilliamG]

Not very long ago (probably 3 months) after updating my images, I noticed the one for Halloween looked like it had a very large autograph- HUGELY scrawled - across the cover. Why anyone would want to upload that for everyone to have in his/her collection is beyond me. Fortunately, someone came along and updated THAT back to the original cover some weeks later.

This is why I preview some of the updates and compare to what is currently in the database now instead of just blindly hitting "OK". Hey, if they don't need it, why do it?

 

[Harminder]

When there's a piece of software that has its database maintained by its users, there's bound to be flaws and fruitcake users. For the 99% that is not flawed and innocent contributors, we should be grateful. Not every title is going to be perfectly entered, but it is our job to make that right if it's not.

However, I thought the makers of DVD Profiler reviewed all contributions to the database? I guess not.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I really like the lock feature, it cuts down on some of these problems. I lock in each DVD by title so that when the profiles are updating there is not a change made to the titles. I believe you can do this for the coverart as well.



I agree that there is a lot more good than bad about profiler, and really considering that it is a user maintained data base things could really be a lot worse.

 

[John*P]

Eh, I could never be bothered with DVD Profiler. I keep all my DVD info on a regular text file on my comp, including DVDs I own, want, and want to rent. This includes movies, TV shows, music DVDs, etc. I obviously have carte blanche over the file, and can add little notes here and there, and categorize the DVDs however I like.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I use the lock feature on my high resolution images all the time. Once I have a quality cover image, I see no need to update it. Recently, I have also started to lock entire title profiles once I get a complete, satisfactory listing for a title. I've seen some titles switch back and forth between a feature such as sound format, almost as if two contributors are fighting over a feature.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Harminder's right. The problem is that it's a user-defined database. The Profiler guys said that they get about thousands of update submissions every week and without having the disc in front of them to check, crap like that review slip through into the database. It's not a change of policy. It's the simple principle: Garbage in, garbage out. That doesn't excuse some of the bizarre things that get in, like the US version of one of the Hitchcock films turning into the Finnish one a few weeks ago.

But what I've started doing is locking titles once I'm happy with where they are. I use as a rule of thumb that once the only change is turning the SRP from 14.95 to 14.99 or introducing errors that people just have too much time on their hands. There is the preview feature on updates that allows you to see what's been changed and reject it and/or lock the profile if you want.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

What bothers me about DVD Profiler is that some people feel the need to change the titles of the DVDs as they see fit.

The primary example is the Angel season sets. The DVD packaging clearly labels the title as Angel: Season x, but some people think the title should read Angel: The Complete x Season. Half of the Angel sets end up with the first naming convention, and the other half with the second. It seems to go back and forth every couple of weeks. Also, the sort title gets changed as well. If these are not consistent, then they aren't sorted properly in the list.

 

[ChrisMatson]

The nice thing, as others have mentioned, is that you can individually lock Title, Cover Images, Actors, Overview, Region, Audio Tracks & Subtitles, and Genres. You can also lock the entire DVD. You can also edit and customize the entire DVD to your liking.

I have locked all of my images with scans obtained from various internet sources (some searching usually pays off with high quality front and back scans) as well as some titles, overviews and entire DVDs.

 

[Dave Gilbert]

Marc,

If you go into the Options menu, there is a check box in the bottom right corner of the Defaults tab called "Private Sort Titles". Checking this will prevent sort titles from being downloaded, even if they are listed as updated in the change preview.

This is really handy for me, since I sort trilogies and the like with a numerical suffix (i.e.: Matrix Revisited = Matrix 1.5, Reloaded = Matrix 2, Revolutions = Matrix 3)

 

[TheLongshot]

Yeah, that seems to be a problem with a lot of series. Getting them consistant can take a long time, especially if multiple people are fixing them.

As for pictures, I always review the scans, to see if it is actually a better scan or not. Some I just have locked, because I like the scan, or the cover has changed (Vertigo comes to mind).

As for the above, that definitly isn't cool, but I wouldn't call it common. Stuff like that does come through occasionally, but for the most part, it is just the blurb on the back, as it should be.

Jason

 

[Daniel`D]

Where does everybody find their HQ scans at online? I try to update the front cover with one from websites like amazon.com but I know there has to be a better site and have the back scans too.

 

[Porfirio]

DVDEmpire has good scans of the front and back covers. The only problem is that the newer scans have a "copyright material" watermark. You can also find high quality scans at DVDPlanet.