Dec 10
Indexing a CD or DVD, how do you do it?
2004 at 02.21 am posted by Veerle Pieters
It is amazing how much data of work we collect. Clients send CD’s full of stuff that we need for a particular job etc. You know the drill, websites, brochures, logos etc, gigabytes that no longer fit on a CD. As a company we need to store all that in such a way that it is easy traceable and quickly found.
We at Duoh store all that information on DVD and the content is managed by a Filemaker database. The problem is that you can fit a lot of files on a 4,7 GB DVD, so it’s a time consuming task to put all those file names manually into Filemaker. You could say that we can charge an amount of money to our clients for storing all that stuff but let’s face it that not an easy job. How does one count or how much money do you ask for let’s say 1GB storage? I personally would prefer an application that is capable of indexing a CD or DVD and keep the storage as a bonus to clients.
That’s where you readers come in. What kind of application or method are you using to index all that data?
We are searching for an application that has a clear UI and where you can drop a DVD or CD on to get it indexed. What’s also important is that it has to be easy to trace past work. We store all kinds of stuff on CD or DVD ranging from PowerPoint, Photoshop files, icons, QuickTime movies to software updates etc. So this app has to be able to index all that.
This is something that we all have to conquer so I am very interested in hearing how you deal with this. For us this application has to run on Mac OS X but if you know a great application that only works on Windows you can post it too.
24served
1
Tri-CATALOG
It may not have an UI as clear as you requested, but you shouldn’t overlook this one, it’s really the best to me !
Actually you don’t even have to drop a CD on it. Open Tri-Catalog. Insert your CD/DVD. In automatic scan mode, it will get indexed right away, which is pretty cool when you decide to index 50 cds in a row !
Oh and it can index pictures too ! (creating thumbnails).
2
As you said you like also software for Windows ...
I use WhereIsIt. It works really good and has several extensions for thumbnail creation and stuff like that.
3
Without any doubt I would recomend Disktraker. I also used Filemaker to index all my CD/DVD but now this software make the hard work for me.
4
Again you’ve put the finger on a problem that exists for a lot of designers/developers. I am very interested in the outcome of this discussion. - since I am struggling with the issue myself. Until now I have found CDFinder to be acceptable for indexing. I am still looking for something that is both functional and simple but looks good too - the mix that made the Mac platform famous really.
5
+1 for CDFinder. It’s not the most ‘pretty-Mac-like’, but is certainly ‘Mac-like’; it’s fast and functional, but could do with a graphical overhaul, as it looks a little dated.
6
Another vote for DiskTracker here. Fast, light-weight and accurate, indexes whatever filetype it comes across.
7
DiskTracker has a batch scan mode, too. And it has a rock-solid database format: I haven’t lost any data in it and I have indexes going back seven years, some with hundreds of CDs in ‘em.
It *is* a little ugly—it suffers from strangely aliased fonts and such caused by poor carbonization—but it really performs, so I forgive it.
8
I use Disktracker too. Don’t like the UI, but it’s the best catalog app available for the Mac, I think.
You could also create an AppleScript that does the index work and puts it into Filemaker database.
9
Anyone tried Catfinder? We use it in work. Fairly basic, but it’s functional and has an OSX native version now.
10
Maybe DWebPro can be useful in some cases, it’s a stand alone web server for cd/dvd, you can use server side scripts and a database like MySQL or MS Access, bye
11
Disktractor, could definatley use an OS X makeover. Perhaps Extensis Portfolio could do everything that you need. Use Portfolio to keyword, archive, bundle all your files together and then create the CD or DVD. Portfolio remembers what CD or DVD it was archived on and lets you know where to find it when you need it.
12
We had started with an excel file, simply tracking the job and client name by CD or DVD Archive. We usually copy everything onto the file servers for working with on the project. When we’re done those files go out onto a DVD archive with the rest of the creative and build files (depending if the job is web, print, or 3d/visual effects).
We had, for a short time, attempted to print out an archive CD insert documenting the contents of the cd, but we found it more or less useless when you have to dig through hundreds of CDs looking for the client.
So it’s more of “which client is on what disc” kind of archive we run. I’m going to check out DiscTracker next however. It seems to be pretty cool.
13
it’ll be interesting to see if anyone comes up with a good indexing app that makes use of Spotlight in Tiger next year. Any I’ve used so far rely on remembering filenames to find anything, and 6 months down the line, it’s not easy to remember.
14
Tri-CATALOG is my choice for media indexing apps. There is a Windows version as well, although that one is a bit behind (version 4 instead of version 5 for the Mac).
15
If you can wait till OS X 10.4 comes out, Spotlight may be able to help you some. You should just be able to pop a cd or dvd in, drag the contents to your harddrive somewhere in a client folder and then search for whatever file you may need.
16
This discussion is exactly what I have been researching lately. In addition to wanting to index my data, I also would like to find an application that will let me automatically make a CD jewel case list of the contents of the CD.
17
Like Ed Knittel mentioned above, maybe give Extensis Portfolio a try? I use Extensis’ Suitcase for a larg(ish) font collection and I think it does a good job. I haven’t tried Disktracker yet, but I think I will now… Some good tips from everyone here.
Thanks ;)
18
Artwork Systems has the software you need: on Mac, using MySQL on a dedicated server, indexing every single file on a cd or dvd (with extra info like pixels and colorspaces for images). Unfortunately it’s not cheap and only for rather huge business sites… ;-)
http://www.artwork-systems.com/products/mnemo/
19
Guess I’ll have some exploring to do ;-)
I’ll take a look at Tri-Catalog, DiskTracker, CatFinder, but especially Extensis Portfolio and Mnemo get my attention since these programs offer me much more. They are much more powerful, but are of course more expensive too. I actually have the Photo Imaging Suite of Extensis and was planning to use Portfolio, but I’m waiting for my free update. It look like Portfolio would be the perfect solution, since I already have this program, but I’m wondering if it also catalogues software files (dmg), fonts, StuffIt files etc. If so then this could be my solution. Does anybody know the answer to this? Since it is not clear on the website.
@bogyit, it seems like the program you’re referring to is more for putting a dynamic database driven website on a cd-rom. So it’s not a cataloging or a so called ‘digital assets management’ program.
@Frederick, Mnemo seems very powerful, but I don’t know the price. How much does it costs? And, very important, does it support every file type? We store dmg files, sit files, audio files, QuickTime, flash etc.
I can only conclude one thing, there is still an opportunity for software makers to fill the gap. Portfolio and Mnemo are powerful but expensive, while the other programs are much cheaper, but have far less features. Something in between would be great. Maybe Apple will fill the gap with an iSearch application which makes good use of Spotlight and fits perfectly in the iSuite.
20
Interesting . I hope I am not to eager here, but I own Portfolio. I wonder If anyone has any ideas how to succesfully setup this kind of functionality with Portfolio? If so I’d like to hear about it.
21
I saw DEVONthink come across 43folders. Might do some of the things you want:
http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/devonthink/overview.php
22
I have no idea but I just had a thought.
Use php/mysql/apache to build a custom site and make the interface as easy as you want it to be. I’m sure theres a way to make php recursively read the file system of the dvd to get the file names and directory structure and just dump everything into a database. U can check the mime type of the file with php to see what kind of file it is and insert that data too. Theoretically simple but actually writing it I dunno. But I wouldnt be surprised if someone already did it.
23
@Veerle yes I guess you’re right, I’ve tried :p bye.
24
Is there any Software(Windows) which also offers the opportunity to do plain text or pdf Search among the indexed CD´s and which can remember the CD Labels also?
thanks for any suggestion