Hi guys,
I have been using DVDPedia for a few months and it is simply a fantastic product - thanks!!!
I searched the forum and couldn't find this suggestion, so please excuse me if I am doubling up.
One feature I would love to have in DVDPedia, is the ability to pull my "My Movies" ratings in from IMDB and apply it to movies in my collections. I have rated literally thousands of movies in IMDB and it would be a huge time saver to be able to apply those ratings to DVD's and Blurays that I have in my collections.
Also, one other thing that I have struggled with is the disparity between the "Starring" field and the "Credits" list. I could be using it incorrectly, but it seems to me that the actors in the "Starring" field should automatically be in the "Credits" list? Is there some way of adjusting the "Credits" list to have another field there (in addition to the Name and Role fields), even just a check box or something, to make a cast member a "Starring" cast member, rather than having two entries for the one actor?
Again, thanks for your terrific software and count me as a continuing supporter!
Glen
IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
Re: IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
Thank you for the kind words and the idea on the personal rating. Download the beta of the program and you will find the feature implemented. New searches will bring your personal rating and you can select the old movies and use "Get advance info-->IMDb" on them to update those with a my rating of no stars. (You have to be logged in to IMDb with Safari.) The ratings are rounded down.
The starring is the first 5 actors from the credits field. DVDpedia has a no overwriting data policy for all fields, so if you have previously set the starring from Amazon for example it will not match the first 5 in the credits as they tend to send only 3 actors. We used to have it directly tied to the credits to make it more consistent and would reflect any changes there; but that turned out to make the program less flexible. Most users found this free form better than a rigid setup. Although the check box idea is a new one and something we might experiment with it sounds a bit complex and might confuse.
The starring is the first 5 actors from the credits field. DVDpedia has a no overwriting data policy for all fields, so if you have previously set the starring from Amazon for example it will not match the first 5 in the credits as they tend to send only 3 actors. We used to have it directly tied to the credits to make it more consistent and would reflect any changes there; but that turned out to make the program less flexible. Most users found this free form better than a rigid setup. Although the check box idea is a new one and something we might experiment with it sounds a bit complex and might confuse.
Re: IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
Conor,
Thanks for your reply. I just downloaded the Beta and the ratings work like a charm! Thanks! That will save me a LOT of time!
Is there any way in the Beta for me to ONLY update the rating field? Or do I have to just update the whole entry again?
As for the credits and starring fields, I would appreciate you experimenting with check boxes as it would be very useful. There are a couple of minor things with it using the first 5 names in the Credits list. The first is that the way IMDB and DVD retailers list names in the credits is inconsistent - I have noticed that IMDB in particular sometimes have the main stars in the first few lines, but then other times the stars are scattered down through the credit lists (this is usually the case when the movie lists cast "in order of appearance" and then IMDB does the same). The second thing, is that if you move a name up or down in the credits list, it doesnt update the Starring list. I can't see a way of doing it manually, but if it were to update or there was a way to force it to update the starring field when you have made some adjustments, it may solve my issue, as I could just drag and drop into those 5 lines.
The other thing I was thinking, is giving the user an option in the Preferences for how they want to handle it. You could have a "Manual Input" option for those who like it the current way and a "Select From Credits" or something like that with the checkbox option that I suggested. Of course, not being a programmer, I am not sure how difficult that would be.
I appreciate you considering my suggestions on this.
Glen
Thanks for your reply. I just downloaded the Beta and the ratings work like a charm! Thanks! That will save me a LOT of time!
Is there any way in the Beta for me to ONLY update the rating field? Or do I have to just update the whole entry again?
As for the credits and starring fields, I would appreciate you experimenting with check boxes as it would be very useful. There are a couple of minor things with it using the first 5 names in the Credits list. The first is that the way IMDB and DVD retailers list names in the credits is inconsistent - I have noticed that IMDB in particular sometimes have the main stars in the first few lines, but then other times the stars are scattered down through the credit lists (this is usually the case when the movie lists cast "in order of appearance" and then IMDB does the same). The second thing, is that if you move a name up or down in the credits list, it doesnt update the Starring list. I can't see a way of doing it manually, but if it were to update or there was a way to force it to update the starring field when you have made some adjustments, it may solve my issue, as I could just drag and drop into those 5 lines.
The other thing I was thinking, is giving the user an option in the Preferences for how they want to handle it. You could have a "Manual Input" option for those who like it the current way and a "Select From Credits" or something like that with the checkbox option that I suggested. Of course, not being a programmer, I am not sure how difficult that would be.
I appreciate you considering my suggestions on this.
Glen
Re: IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
Just encountered my first serious problem with DVDpedia:
After adding about a half-dozen entries using this beta every search that reaches iMDB after first trying Amazon.com will soon cause it to hang with a beachball that requires a Force Quit. Unfortunately there's no way to download an earlier beta to check if the problem persists with it. I'll e-mail more details to support but wanted to also mention it here because it's the only way I know to explain which beta version it is.
After adding about a half-dozen entries using this beta every search that reaches iMDB after first trying Amazon.com will soon cause it to hang with a beachball that requires a Force Quit. Unfortunately there's no way to download an earlier beta to check if the problem persists with it. I'll e-mail more details to support but wanted to also mention it here because it's the only way I know to explain which beta version it is.
Re: IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
It will download all the information, but since all the other fields are already set it will not change any of the data as DVDpedia does not overwrite existing data. It will append to the credits list if your downloading a large number of credits and have removed some you can turn the extended credit download preference off for the update.Is there any way in the Beta for me to ONLY update the rating field? Or do I have to just update the whole entry again?
@SJK
Thank you for the heads up.
Re: IMDB Ratings transfer suggestion - DVDpedia
I've just mailed a process sample and other files.sjk wrote:I'll e-mail more details to support
Other people are reporting this bug; I'm switching that thread for future followups.