Cataloging Tape Content at DVinfo.net

Daniel Kohl · January 6th, 2005, 09:33 AM

Hi all,

I just ran into a program on the Apple download web site that addresses a problem I have delayed dealing with, basically since I began shooting video, years ago.

I have amassed a fair amount of 60 min DV Tapes, lets say it's 50 hours worth of footage along side the hours of material I have generated for specific projects. I'm talking about footage of things I have shot because I thought I might be able to use them at some other time, for some project in the future. Things I thought were interesting or beautiful, without knowing how or for what I would have a use for them. 50 hours may not really be that much, compared to others probably, but still, it's enough to deter me from dealing with organizing and cataloging the contents of these 50 tapes which in some cases are very scantily labeled or have multiple shootings on them of long forgotten events.

This dilemma has actually led to a reduction in my spontaneous shootings. I guess I have realized that since I haven't used the spontaneous footage of the past, mostly because I don't know what is on which tape, or if I remember something, I don't know on which tape it is, there is no sense in filling more tapes with (high quality) but useless footage.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone else has a similar problem, but this program

"iDive" http://www.aquafadas.com/

Seems to offer a visual solution, by scanning tapes, and creating a kind of time-lapse thumbnail library of their content. The program seems to be geared toward amateur home video collections. But I see the potential for a "professional" DV Tape cataloging system there. I've actually already bought a license for the program and am scanning all my tapes.

I would still like to know if there is anything else out there like this? How do you other one-person-shows deal with managing the content in your tape libraries?

January 6th, 2005, 09:33 AM	#1
Daniel Kohl Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Frankfurt, Germany Posts: 571	Cataloging Tape Content Hi all, I just ran into a program on the Apple download web site that addresses a problem I have delayed dealing with, basically since I began shooting video, years ago. I have amassed a fair amount of 60 min DV Tapes, lets say it's 50 hours worth of footage along side the hours of material I have generated for specific projects. I'm talking about footage of things I have shot because I thought I might be able to use them at some other time, for some project in the future. Things I thought were interesting or beautiful, without knowing how or for what I would have a use for them. 50 hours may not really be that much, compared to others probably, but still, it's enough to deter me from dealing with organizing and cataloging the contents of these 50 tapes which in some cases are very scantily labeled or have multiple shootings on them of long forgotten events. This dilemma has actually led to a reduction in my spontaneous shootings. I guess I have realized that since I haven't used the spontaneous footage of the past, mostly because I don't know what is on which tape, or if I remember something, I don't know on which tape it is, there is no sense in filling more tapes with (high quality) but useless footage. Anyway, I don't know if anyone else has a similar problem, but this program "iDive" http://www.aquafadas.com/ Seems to offer a visual solution, by scanning tapes, and creating a kind of time-lapse thumbnail library of their content. The program seems to be geared toward amateur home video collections. But I see the potential for a "professional" DV Tape cataloging system there. I've actually already bought a license for the program and am scanning all my tapes. I would still like to know if there is anything else out there like this? How do you other one-person-shows deal with managing the content in your tape libraries? __________________ Daniel Kohl Frankenstein meets XL1