How to organize Videos, Mags and Image Galleries

[Pnin]

This is half-question, half-survey, I suppose. I have all these DVDs, most of them are divx files of entire films, though some are clips. Although I almost always burn similar themes to the same disc, after a while it becomes more difficult to track down something specific (to upload to VEF, for instance). I guess the perfect catalog would allow for tagging for stars, studio, year, etc.

Any schemes out there? How do you keep track.

[AEKara]

Why not just list them in Excel? You could use a fresh tab for each DVD and even add info, screenshots etc. Then when you are looking for a particular scene hit Ctrl+F, change options to workbook and find what you want.

AEKara

[Paraque123]

For pictures I have no method.
For videos I use Antmovie Catalogue (AMC):
PROS:
* Its's free.
* It's multilanguage.
* Can import some information directly form the video file (length, codecs, bitrate,etc).
* Can import from internet (usings scripts) information like the cast, director and in some cases the cover of the films (the results depends on the site consulted: ie: iafd, excaliburfilm, etc.).
* You can do your own scripts (if you have enought knowledge, that is not the case of most use, including me).
* Can import the label or code given to each DVD by the burning program. So you must put the same code on the surface of DVD to correctly identify them. Eg: If you burn a disc as "XDF27" you should put at least this reference in the surface with other notes you want it "Ex: XDF27: classic loops)
CONS.
* Not all the films information is available on internet, but can be introduced manually.

Additionally, in order to have a quick glance of the film without open the videofile, I have screencaptures of them(made with mediaplayer classic, imagegrabber or anything other program).


For short clips, I gather similar ones and I put them on a DVD.
In the field corresponding to the name of the film I put a brief generic name (ex: Short Clips ### , where ### corresponds to a number) and in the field corresponding to observations I put a short description of each file (name, length, dimensions, codecs) made with mediainfo.

[grbyslzr]

I had the same problem, but discover Movie collector of Collectoz.com, it can be very useful ,and the trial version is enough,at least for me .

[AYHJA]

I am probably the most ridiculous collector you'll ever find...I even try to pass my methods on to the members here...

First off, there is no substitute for proper names...If I see a clip I like and want to keep, if it isn't named properly, I don't keep it...Simple...If there is a post full of great, but unnamed clips or images..? I keep going...To me, there is no greater hassle than trying to find a particular clip only to realize that you can't remember what you named it...

"Seka - Cocksucking" won't quite cut it with me..."Seka - F (Sc 2)" is more like it...

Secondly, you need a proper filing system...For me, there is a top level folder, content folders, and then the content...For example:

Seka
- 1981-04 [Cinema X]
- seka.com
- Swedish Erotica #242
- VEF

• p48 [Gfox]
• p121 [AYHJA]

- Video Clips

• Seka - SE242 - Afternoon Snacks.avi
• Seka - SE242 - Afternoon Snacks.jpg

This is an example of how I stack my folders...The girls name is always the top Level...The second level is usually the name of the content inside, or the place where I got it...If I am following a thread, I could probably replicate it post by post if need be...I HAVE to be able to source my content or its lost anyway...If you've ever downloaded a post of mine, you'll notice that I go through the trouble of keeping my system in tact for everyone...

When its time to archive, I move my content to an external as is, or most of the time, I use a program called 'Directory Lister' which produces lists like these:

http://ts1.tehserver.net/TexasToast_D12.html

I use HTML because its small, and easily searchable...I store all of my lists in a folder, indexed it, and now clips and content are a click away...I usually store my DVD's in chronological order in spindles, so the older the content, the further away on the shelf it is...

A proper file system is a MUST for me, and it should be fore you too...

[Jism Jim]

I use Visual CD

For me it's very useful. It can index discs, but folders too, create lists, export create tags for filenames and a lot of other fancy stuff. It can also search in MP3 tags and in ZIP/RAR/7zip content.

[Sid ney]

My filing system. Top level (name) directory contains a thumbnail face picture for quick ID.



So in acdsee, a folder view would look like this. The [r] prefix added since joining VEF!



I Don't use that programs' database functions.

[LostKevlar]

First, AYHJA and Sid ney, lol! You are indeed dedicated collectors!

Vintago porn is meant to be seen on a large screen. I've started making the switch from the computer to the TV. I retasked an older PC with the free MythTV Linux distro (www.mythtv.org) and hooked it up the the TV in the den. I do my downloading and sorting on the PC but most of my viewing is done using MythTV.

I sort by top level category (Retro, Retro Orgy, Swedish, etc.) and that's about it.

[dertyx]

As far as I'm concerned, there is no perfect classification scheme.
They all have their good and bad points.
The main thing I would suggest for anyone who becomes a
collector/librarian of their PC's data is to continually review and collate and Index the material as a whole. Never stop reviewing and collating and Indexing. After a while, you will find that your file system becomes very unique and eclectic and will only really make sense to you and nobody else. Sometimes you will prefer timestamp naming, for other things verbose naming will be what you want, and other times youll prefer code naming structure. Folder Levels and Importance Levels are your concern and nobody elses.
Create a "Cloud" of text strings (text files without an extension), name these text files with all the tags you need to identify your object folder, create a sub folder in your object folder and name it TAGS. place all your text strings in there.
Download a Desktop Search tool and allow it to index everything on your hard drive.
My favourite is Locate32.
I've got so much stuff in my computer yet I always find what I want, everytime !!

One Last Tip:
Learn how to make/script a Basic HTML page with hyperlinks.
It's not hard, and you won't regret it, trust me.

[jamesblond]

ThumbsPlus http://www.cerious.com/

ThumbsPlus is a highly customizable image database with thumbnails and batch editing. It makes it easy to catalog, organize, locate and maintain all of your graphics, multimedia and font files. It runs on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista.