[Rolf Howarth]

Ok, here’s a lightning overview of using CatDV with the CatDV Server:

1. First, make sure the CatDV Server is running, then launch the CatDV Pro client and connect to the server (Server menu > Connect To Server, then enter the IP address of the server)
2. To create new catalogs, use the CatDV client and import files or folders, add log notes and keywords, then publish the catalog to save them to the server.
3. To open existing catalogs from the server, choose them from the Server > Browse Database window or using the Server tree in the tree navigator
4. To perform searches for specific clips, use the Server > Perform Query command
5. You can also set up smart folders (which are basically saved queries) or use automatic grouping, both via the Server section of the tree navigator.
6. To use proxies (aka. previews) you configure the client to tell it where the original media is and where the corresponding proxies. If CatDV can locate the original media you can play the movie on the Movie tab. If CatDV can locate the proxy it will appear on the Proxy tab (or Preview as it was called in CatDV 8). If neither are available, you can still see the thumbnails.
7. For more advanced workflows you can use the optional CatDV Worker Node product to automate importing of files via watch folders and building proxies, plus more besisdes (eg. moving files, sending emails, ftp’ing a file to an external server, etc.) based on clip status changes etc.
8. To know whether a file has been archived it depends on how your system is set up. In CatDV 9 you can use the CatDV Archiving Option to archive files to Cache-A or XenData or similar system (or use 3rd party archive integration from a company such as Atempo or Archiware). But you can also build your own manual system tuned to your particular needs, for example by defining a user-defined field to say where a clip has been archived to and then setting that field whenever you archive a file.

[Rolf Howarth]

Do you mean you’re looking for a thesaurus, or wondering how to import it into CatDV? You can paste a structured vocabulary or list of keywords into a pick list using the Paste button in the Pick Lists section of preferences. It’s one entry per line, with components separated by a / if it’s hierarchical, eg.

Animals/Domestic/Cat
Animals/Domestic/Dog
Animals/Livestock/Cow
…

[Rolf Howarth]

You may be seeing an issue with copying catalogs that we fixed about a year ago. Make sure you’re using the latest CatDV 9.0.6 client and also the latest CatDV Server. The current version, designed for CatDV 10 but will also work with CatDV 9, is available at:

https://www.squarebox.co.uk/download/CatDVServer6.7b7.dmg (Mac)
https://www.squarebox.co.uk/download/CatDVServer6.7b7.exe (PC)
https://www.squarebox.co.uk/download/CatDVServer6.7b7.zip (Other)

The 6.7 control panel also has a command in the Tools menu called Copy Archive Status which copies the archive status to other clips that refer to the same media file.

[Rolf Howarth]

Catalog “folders” are actually just part of the catalog name. If you have a catalog called “My Projects/Catalog1” you will see a folder in the tree called “My Projects” containing “Catalog1”. If you delete Catalog1 then the My Projects folder will also disappear (unless there are other catalogs in the same folder of course).

When you create a new empty folder it just sits in your tree as a placeholder, so you can drag catalogs there or create a new catalog in that folder. As soon as you refresh the tree it will disappear again though because empty folders don’t really exist as such.

[Rolf Howarth]

Checking whether a proxy is available or not is done by the client at run time so a server query would be no good (conceivably, different client machines could have different proxy directories available). You should be able to do a local search for whether Proxy File is blank or not though I’d have thought.

[Rolf Howarth]

If the destination folder is fixed you can hardcode that – you just need a variable for what actually varies from clip to clip, ie. the name of the xml file you are generating. (On the other hand, if you want the xml files in different folders depending on the clip then yes, you’d specify the folder by means of variables also.)

[Rolf Howarth]

This is down to how these fields are stored in the database. If you’re searching for a title Xyz, try searching instead for Metadata (Media) contains “Title = Xyz” (with spaces round the =).

[Rolf Howarth]

The file chooser by the XML export field is designed as a helper to let you choose roughly the correct folder or file but what you type in that field actually has any variables expanded, so you could enter something like /Users/rolf/Desktop/XML Files/${NM1}.xml if you wanted. And yes, you can export XML for any clip, not just movies.

[Rolf Howarth]

Can you provide more details on your ideal workflow? Which metadata fields are you hoping to export and how will you be setting them? What format do you want the XMP in, as a standalone XML file, embedded in a QT mov that you are exporting (by transcoding), updating the metadata in an existing movie, etc.? Currently CatDV is geared more towards reading metadata from media files rather than modifying those files but we may add more export capabilities in future.

Apologies for the delayed response, we’re seeing unprecedented levels of enquiries at the moment.

[Rolf Howarth]

It depends which version of CatDV you’re using, what metadata fields you want to set, and what format you’re exporting to. You can set basic metadata fields such as title, author or copyright if you export a flattened or reference movie.