I have tried to use DVDPedia for the last day or so and so far I am totally unimpressed.
Just a couple of the issues that I have encountered:
- App store automatically installs the Dutch version, nowhere on your help pages can I find out which field is which, fields like "waardering" and "beoordeling" can have various meanings in English, I need to know where the IMDB rating is stored.
- IMDB doesn't work. You explain on your site how to use the supposedly bug-fixed IMDB add-in , but what am I to to with a phrase like : "Repeat the steps in a new Finder window for the Mac Store version of DVDpedia.app" , wouldn't it be much more helpful to explain where the app precisely is (I couldn't find it)
- When transferring my database (1800 movies) to DVDpedia from Collectorz I can only transfer the text, not the covers. Apart from having to guess where to put the IMDB rating, when I then try to import the covers I get nonsensical results (i.e. a cover for a completely different movie, with a title that does bear any resemblance to the title I'm trying to import), or, and this has happened 6 or 7 times sofar, DVDpedia stops responding but somehow keeps the MBP very busy as it get very hot (it's an i7 so I had never heard the fan before until I started using DVDpedia)
- When I add a new movie from scratch (with exactly the same title) it can mysteriously find the right information, but I'm stuffed if I'm going to do this for the several 100s of movies where DVDpedia cannot find the right information.
As I said: totally unimpressed, coming from the Windows world I had my share of crap software and I had not expected to run into the same issues straight away with Mac software.
DVDpedia freezes during update
Re: DVDpedia freezes during update
Sorry to hear you've been having issues with DVDpedia. The language choice is automatic when the program comes localized in the language of your computer. If you want to change this (temporarily) to English you could set 'English' as your computer language in System Preferences > International and restart the program.
We've recently updated our Collectorz importer (this is also part of version 4.6.6 that's in the waiting cue at the App Store) but you can still take advantage of that by downloading the beta version, importing your data and then deleting the beta afterwards (your data won't be affected by this since it is stored in a separate location).
To import your data from Collectorz into the beta, do an export in XML format and then drag that XML file over the DVDpedia icon in the dock. The fields will be assigned automatically and the cover images will be included. (Actually depending on the version of Collectorz you're running you might have to move the Collectorz "Images" folder into the same location as the XML file, i.e. if you export the XML file to the Desktop, move the "Images" folder also the Desktop.)
The IMDb search will be fixed with the coming 4.6.6 update. In the meantime, the program should have automatically be put into your Applications folder along with all your other applications. But otherwise you should also be able to access the application via your App Store app by going into the 'Purchased' tab and clicking on the DVDpedia app to find out its exact location.
When an entry has a title with very common words in it (e.g. "15 minutes" or "The Rock") then it's a better idea to use the little gear button in the Add/Edit window instead of the 'download cover art' or 'get advanced info' commands since those automatically download the first result returned. When using the gear button though and there is more than one result returned, the little drawer on the side of the window will pop out and let you select the correct result.
If it happens again that DVDpedia hangs during a search for you, could you please have a look at your console log, see if there are any messages from DVDpedia? You can access the console log via the application 'Console', located inside your Applications/Utilities. The newer messages are towards the end of the log.
We've recently updated our Collectorz importer (this is also part of version 4.6.6 that's in the waiting cue at the App Store) but you can still take advantage of that by downloading the beta version, importing your data and then deleting the beta afterwards (your data won't be affected by this since it is stored in a separate location).
To import your data from Collectorz into the beta, do an export in XML format and then drag that XML file over the DVDpedia icon in the dock. The fields will be assigned automatically and the cover images will be included. (Actually depending on the version of Collectorz you're running you might have to move the Collectorz "Images" folder into the same location as the XML file, i.e. if you export the XML file to the Desktop, move the "Images" folder also the Desktop.)
The IMDb search will be fixed with the coming 4.6.6 update. In the meantime, the program should have automatically be put into your Applications folder along with all your other applications. But otherwise you should also be able to access the application via your App Store app by going into the 'Purchased' tab and clicking on the DVDpedia app to find out its exact location.
When an entry has a title with very common words in it (e.g. "15 minutes" or "The Rock") then it's a better idea to use the little gear button in the Add/Edit window instead of the 'download cover art' or 'get advanced info' commands since those automatically download the first result returned. When using the gear button though and there is more than one result returned, the little drawer on the side of the window will pop out and let you select the correct result.
If it happens again that DVDpedia hangs during a search for you, could you please have a look at your console log, see if there are any messages from DVDpedia? You can access the console log via the application 'Console', located inside your Applications/Utilities. The newer messages are towards the end of the log.
Re: DVDpedia freezes during update
Thanks for your quick response, I can get to a functioning database in a slightly different way, see below.
I can run the beta 4.6.6 straight from the downloads folder.
The XML export will import allright although it doesn't pickup things like director, IMDB rating and cover art, but since IMDB works in 4.6.6. it can pick these up anyway, I've tried a batch of 150 and it didn't freeze sofar.
When I try to update individual movies it asks for a serial number which off course I don't have (bought in the app store) but I can batch update from IMDB by highlighting in the list, then close 4.6.6 and I can then access (and edit) the updated database from 4.6.5.
what does the little paperclip in the first column mean?
Finally: when DVDpedia help is open it doesn't allow switching between panes, need to close it before I can see for example this Safari-page. Also when DVDpedia 4.6.6. is busy getting data the only way to switch to it is to close all other panes.
But that is a small(er) niggle I agree.
I guess next is to see when 4.6.6 pops up in the app store as an update.
For now I'm good to go, thanks.
I can run the beta 4.6.6 straight from the downloads folder.
The XML export will import allright although it doesn't pickup things like director, IMDB rating and cover art, but since IMDB works in 4.6.6. it can pick these up anyway, I've tried a batch of 150 and it didn't freeze sofar.
When I try to update individual movies it asks for a serial number which off course I don't have (bought in the app store) but I can batch update from IMDB by highlighting in the list, then close 4.6.6 and I can then access (and edit) the updated database from 4.6.5.
what does the little paperclip in the first column mean?
Finally: when DVDpedia help is open it doesn't allow switching between panes, need to close it before I can see for example this Safari-page. Also when DVDpedia 4.6.6. is busy getting data the only way to switch to it is to close all other panes.
But that is a small(er) niggle I agree.
I guess next is to see when 4.6.6 pops up in the app store as an update.
For now I'm good to go, thanks.
Re: DVDpedia freezes during update
That means the entry has a linked attached to it. This could be anything from a URL to a text, image or movie file.what does the little paperclip in the first column mean?
That is how Help works for all applications. It is always the top-most window until you quit Help. (I agree that this is a bit annoying but it's an Apple thing.) Getting data usually takes a couple of seconds so switching to the program is usually not an issue. If you're doing a large update, as in your case, this obviously takes a little longer.when DVDpedia help is open it doesn't allow switching between panes, need to close it before I can see for example this Safari-page.