Cataloging Software - any recommendations?

[neil wilkes]

Help!

I am trying to find a cataloging app that will handle the following:
1 - CD
2 - DVD-A
3 - DVD-V (music DVD)
4 - BluRay
5 - SACD
6 - Regular DVD (TV/Movies - but including part works)

Ideally it needs to do the lot, but I might consider splitting over a couple of apps.
Criteria:
Ideally, load disc or UPC number to identify.
Must be capable of splitting into sub collections in DVD (Movies & TV, Music titles etc)
NO ADWARE!!!!! I have looked at several CD tools, and they nearly all install bloody toolbars or adware with saying NO disabling installation.
Paid or freeware - I do not care
Must be able to save collections to a file or a spreadsheet for insurance - this is why I need it, really, as I need to get my collection insured. The woman in the flat upstairs has very, very dangerous electrics (no trip switches, just old-fashioned fuse wire) and refuses to let her landlord in to change it - how she gets away with this we have no idea. We are definitely nopt on talking terms as she is a nutjob OCD control freak who almost wrecked my entire studio by moving radiators around with no permission - and one leaked through ceiling right into my Midas & blew it apart. Thank the Gods I was (am) insured and the insurance company went after her as she tried to deny there had ever been a leak in the first place (long, boring story) and almost got punched in the mouth by Claire (my partner).

So the long & short is that I must get the collection catalogued and simply do not have the time to write a spreadsheet from scratch.
Please help - all suggestions will be looked at, and there will be a prize reward if anyone comes up with one that will do everything.

 

[cupboy]

Flat upstairs? Ugh. I'd sell it all and buy a house.

 

[fredblue]

Help!

I am trying to find a cataloging app that will handle the following:
1 - CD
2 - DVD-A
3 - DVD-V (music DVD)
4 - BluRay
5 - SACD
6 - Regular DVD (TV/Movies - but including part works)

Ideally it needs to do the lot, but I might consider splitting over a couple of apps.
Criteria:
Ideally, load disc or UPC number to identify.
Must be capable of splitting into sub collections in DVD (Movies & TV, Music titles etc)
NO ADWARE!!!!! I have looked at several CD tools, and they nearly all install bloody toolbars or adware with saying NO disabling installation.
Paid or freeware - I do not care
Must be able to save collections to a file or a spreadsheet for insurance - this is why I need it, really, as I need to get my collection insured. The woman in the flat upstairs has very, very dangerous electrics (no trip switches, just old-fashioned fuse wire) and refuses to let her landlord in to change it - how she gets away with this we have no idea. We are definitely nopt on talking terms as she is a nutjob OCD control freak who almost wrecked my entire studio by moving radiators around with no permission - and one leaked through ceiling right into my Midas & blew it apart. Thank the Gods I was (am) insured and the insurance company went after her as she tried to deny there had ever been a leak in the first place (long, boring story) and almost got punched in the mouth by Claire (my partner).

So the long & short is that I must get the collection catalogued and simply do not have the time to write a spreadsheet from scratch.
Please help - all suggestions will be looked at, and there will be a prize reward if anyone comes up with one that will do everything.

have you taken pix of everything you've got Neil? photo's with datestamp and some point of ID/reference are positive proof of ownership.

I've taken pix of just about everything and keep my sa-cd.net library upto date. It's a shame QQ doesn't have a similar resource for members' to collate their collections of DVDAs, SACDs, etc..

I wonder if your neighbours' electrics could be condemned (and she in turn forced to do something about it) if they are that unsafe..!?

 

[Q8]

http://www.onlinelistmaster.com

I have this but do not use it much yet. Eventually, I will use it to catalog my thousands of records. My gf uses it to catalog her records and likes it. It creates spreadsheets, I think you can also save stuff in a cloud if you want to. It also is multi-purpose.

Unfortunately, I do not think there is a barcode scanner in that app (not as important with records, considering a great deal are pre-80s)

 

[neil wilkes]

That looks like Smart Phone is required, and I do not have one (and never will either).
What I am looking for is something I can install to a local system, and catalogue either with UPC entry (which is HOPELESS for CD - more on why in a mo) or by putting disc in drive, or by manual entry if needs be.

UPC entry is clueless - I tried an app for this & got into trouble almost immediately as it seems there are many issues:
1 - CD/SACD/DualDisc often have the same codes. On more than one occasion I have bought what were supposed to be DualDisc or SACD via Amazon only to find out a regular CD turns up, and after talking to the seller we realised that they had entered the UPC number from the barcode and it gives incorrect info, or else gives a whacking great list of results.

Classic examples - Fleetwood Mac at the BBC. Bought what was supposed to be a DualDisc version with 5.1 mixes to get a 2CD package arrive. Bowie's 6-track "1966" CD gave me over 50 (count them) results, with things like the track count varying wildly as well, 2CD packages end up with just 1 CD getting added, or both discs listed as separate entries, Box Sets - hah. This is where it gets TOTALLY hopeless. Entered the UPC for the Layla box set, and it recognized 5 different versions - so I picked the "40th anniversary Ultimate Collectors yada etc" version and instead of listing all 4 CD, the DVD & the vinyls, it gave just CD1. The rest were missing completely. At that point, I gave up.

 

[neil wilkes]

Anyone? Please?
This is desperately needed - and nothing I have looked at works.

 

[DuncanS]

Hi,

I've been using "Music Collector Pro Edition" from Collectorz in the Netherlands, http://www.collectorz.com, for quite a few years. Only £29.95 for the Pro Ed. with regular updates, periodic maintaince at a reasonable cost, and there is now a cloud facility. I use it for insurance reasons and to stop me buying the same album twice! They also do other databases.

It can autoscan discs, you then initiate a search of the Collectorz database (which you can add to), it can handle Bar code inputs, Box Sets. Its pretty versatile, I have created Blu-Ray Audio, DVD-DTS Audio, formats to catalogue discs. I haven't managed to upload SACD/Blu-Ray Audio only disc data to their main database yet as it needs to scan the disc, but their helpdesk and support is good (so hopefully I'll overcome that hurdle). It stores the data with cover images, and can output as html, spreadsheet, or text formatted files.

All in all I couldn't do with out it. Hope that helps.

Duncan

 

[byrdman7]

I have used Album Tracker for 14 years and love it. I checked the website and the program is now FREE :>) http://www.ducksoftware.com/music-organizer.html

Anyone? Please?
This is desperately needed - and nothing I have looked at works.

 

[Four Rules]

I´ve been using Music Collector Pro for four years and am happy with my purchase. This (user adjustable) database can be suited to your personal taste/sorting/formats and even comes with optional barcode scanners, ridding you of the chore of hacking records manually into you system. An additional benefit is that you can export to an App for iPhones, quite useful when you browse markets and can`t remember if you have a specific album in your collection.
Cheers Charles

 

[Frantic]

First off, thanks to Neil for starting this thread.
I have been wanting to do this for years and now I will finally commit.
Music collector Pro and album tracker both seem like viable options.
Let's keep the options pouring in!

 

[mattB2]

Hi,

I've been using "Music Collector Pro Edition" from Collectorz in the Netherlands, http://www.collectorz.com, for quite a few years. Only £29.95 for the Pro Ed. with regular updates, periodic maintaince at a reasonable cost, and there is now a cloud facility. I use it for insurance reasons and to stop me buying the same album twice! They also do other databases.

It can autoscan discs, you then initiate a search of the Collectorz database (which you can add to), it can handle Bar code inputs, Box Sets. Its pretty versatile, I have created Blu-Ray Audio, DVD-DTS Audio, formats to catalogue discs. I haven't managed to upload SACD/Blu-Ray Audio only disc data to their main database yet as it needs to scan the disc, but their helpdesk and support is good (so hopefully I'll overcome that hurdle). It stores the data with cover images, and can output as html, spreadsheet, or text formatted files.

All in all I couldn't do with out it. Hope that helps.

Duncan

Here's another vote for the Collectorz programs. I use both the music and movie ones and they're both easy to use and quite flexible. Most CDs can be identified from their disc information or barcode or artist/title and usually the majority of pertinent information can be selected from the Collectorz database. The only slight hiccups I have experienced is that the CD side of DualDiscs doesn't scan in my computer and there is a grey area between music DVDs/Blu-rays (such as the recent Neil Young albums) and concert or documentary discs which could be classified as music or movies. In a lot of cases the "pure" music disc information also exists on CDs so it can still be added from the Collectorz music database but there is always the ability to add an item manually. I also like the flexibilty of being able to handle box sets as individual albums which can be linked together or as separate discs within a single record.

Not a cheap option but well worth the initial investment.

 

[neil wilkes]

I tried the collectorz app, and found it hopeless when it came to multiple editions of the same title as it seemed incapable of distinguishing between them.
Classic example is the 30th anniversary edition of Ziggy, where no matter what I did it would not see it as a 2CD set, adding CD2 as "30th anniversary, CD2" yet CD1 never was properly seen - it kept trying to tell me it was a different version. I accept that the barcodes may have been off, or the labels may screw up, but with several editions of the same title it falls over badly for me - the Velvet Underground 45th anniversary edition is another example, where the Boxed Set is seen only partly and gets very confused with the 2CD edition - too much manual editing for me, as if I need to constantly adjust things manually, I would rather create a simple spreadsheet by hand instead - which at the end of the day is what I was trying to avoid doing.

DVD/BD/Music DVD I have sorted out - there is a tool called "DVD Profiler" that seems to work just fine for these. It does not recognize SACD, DualDisc, DVDA or CD though.

Album Tracker is one I have not seen - thanks for the tip, and I will check this out.

Finally - the reason I need this is for insurance purposes more than anything else.