Bryson Jones
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CatDV will allow you to view the P2 in it’s raw state, from there you can also add metadata using a CatDV function that lets you update the P2 metadata.
Theoretically, you could then import the P2 via AMA into Avid and the names and metadata would show up automatically with no additional software. Providing that Avid and Panasonic have their ducks sorted. Note that word “theoretically”. I’d test this with a demo copy and see but I assume it would work.
You can record the Archive ID manually in your catalog, no matter what software you use to back up. But you have to track this yourself, just like you do with a beta tape that has to be labeled. The Cache-A box will auto record the archive ID as you back up, but the old way works too. Treat the archive like a video tape.
The new widget would also be helpful, but if your shop doesn’t want to go to CatDV for anything other than archive (some avid shops do) I’d try updating the metadata and seeing if AMA will bring it in cleanly. Again, that’s Avid’s biz, not CatDV.
Please report back to the forum.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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You know I’ve been on “holiday” as you say. 😉
I’ll get to testing that with some of our vacation footage!
bryson
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Are you using Panasonic AVCHD?
I’ve done some shows with that and they have a pretty good transcoder that allows you to get AVC into MXF which makes for a much better master format. Then you get a pretty good automated workflow from there since CatDV is very friendly with P2.
bryson
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When this can all be done with the Worker, that will change lives!
Any plans for this feature soon?
Pick up the mov and thm, import, create prores and proxy and then we could archive the originals. That would rock.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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Let’s go you one better. CatDV Worker can move your files to a “country” folder based on filename or metadata. So if something gets dropped into a generic import folder and then you catalog and tag the asset, the Worker will see that metadata change and file the files into a folder by whatever you like.
Ex: I drop files from Ghana into your drop. CatDV imports them into a generic catalog called “11-29-2010” for instance. You then tag them as “ghana” and after that change is saved, the Worker takes all files tagged “ghana” and moved them to a folder for all the Ghana files.
If you have good naming structures, (which you should) you can have a drop that moves files by filename or enclosing folder name as well.
Ex: files in a folder named “Ghana_11_19_10” get put into the Ghana folder by default and you can even extract parts of the name and publish that into a field so that they get tagged “Ghana” in the database.
Once things are tagged, who cares what catalog they are in? You can pull queries based on any field and also filter results by any field.
That’s the basis of our “Long Live The Catalog – The Catalog Is Dead” statement. (yes, that gets swapped around a bit) Once you have metadata, the catalog dissolves as far as organization and “saved searches” and filtering replaces it.
Yahoo vs. Google… Google won. No matter how obsessively you keep your bookmarks I’ll bet it’s almost as easy, if not more so, to just “google” something.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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Hey, if y’all are recommending Atlanta to Oklahoma almost anyone could take this, that’s a long way! (
But I’m from Arkansas originally, so there may be “cultural” differences that prevent me from helping these guys. 😉
Jon Foster and Niche rock, by the way. Total pros. 😉
bryson
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I’d advise you to find a good dealer or integrator to work with on this. Speaking as an integrator of course. lol But that’s a pretty deep project you have there.
The short answers are that yes, you can import data, but that’s generally a custom job, unless you’re really handy with db stuff.
As far as interactions with the SQL under CatDV. It is my understanding that that is “unsupported” but that custom work can be done in some cases. Most of the sites I’ve seen have used CatDV as the import point and then passed off data to the other database and updated as necessary rather than have 2 systems sharing a database.
The simplest way to handle it it to create a CatDV setup that includes your existing fields, import the data and then link assets to the pre-created records as the media becomes available.
On jobs that I’ve been on like this we generally handle this by determining what you are trying to do and if CatDV will satisfy your needs. Then demonstrating with a small dataset to find an acceptable import layout and prove the concept before proceeding.
Rolf, do you care to speak officially on the MySQL stuff?
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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Long live the catalog – the catalog is dead.
Reversed a bit, but that’s the best way to put it, lol
Once you have a server and are using queries, the catalog structure dissolves just like your folder structure. It’s all just returned search results and the “browse” is done by “Grouping” and saved searches in CatDV, if at all.
I use the analogy, of the old days of Yahoo where we browsed by topic category to find a page, until that became useless as the web grew. Now Google makes our “categories” for us and sites are divided as they each choose to be.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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There are so many features missing from Bridge compared to CatDV that it strikes me as a little unfair to focus on that. CatDV comes from a production and media management background, less from the database side. That’s why it has so many media management features that others don’t, and also it’s likely why the db side might be a bit thinner than some, if that’s even true when you dig deeper.
As far as “manually adding” data. You can add items to pull downs in CatDV by cutting and pasting. So while 70,000 hierarchical items is a stretch, by using user fields to create the hierarchy, a good programmer could easily drop thousands of options into the database relatively quickly, making for literally millions of ways to chop your data. Several sites have fields that have “pull down lists” that go into the hundreds of options. (KD may have seen larger sets) They start typing and it fills in until you are there. It’s pretty easy to manage and again, “manual” entry can be quick if you have the existing dataset to bring in since hundreds of items can be brought in at a time.
(we see this a lot when importing tape library databases where the “TAPE ID” field might have thousands of entries that become options when adding a clip to the catalog.)
The even bigger thing is that the bulk edit feature in CatDV makes it less critical because if someone does make a mistake, you can go in and bulk edit every misspelled item in one quick swoop. Search, find, edit, done. Instead of having to do one record at a time like “most” traditional asset managers. That tends to make the “pre-entered” lists less critical.
Different apps for different things. If there was a perfect one it’d be too expensive for any of us. lol
bryson
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Also, when they do mess up, you can find by the misspelled words and then “bulk edit” them all to clear up mistakes.
It’s a nice way to “groom” your data from time to time.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
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