P2 Library Database?

Bachman

Active member
This may not be in the right forum as it's a general P2 question not just related to the 500.

We are currently trying to find a suitable database system for our P2 library. We have only been using P2 for 10 months but already have a significant amount of footage stored on multiple terabyte drives. We have tried using P2 CMS but this is very limited in that it can only store 100 clips which is pretty woeful. We would have around 1000 clips for one client alone.

Obviously this is a pretty fundamental issue. Whats the point of shooting tapeless and having metadata if you cant have it all on one searchable database.

It must be able to search within the metadata, so standard database solutions like Access wont work. I assume Sony would have a system for XDCAM.

Anyone got a solution?
 
It was pricey, but I love using the quantum 600a. I use it over my network to access my dlt backups. You can access your data by timecode or any metadata. As far as I know, this is the only tape backup system specifically made for video content with metadata. It's great using your browser to look for archived footage!
 
Extensis Portfolio will catalog the QT Reference files created by Raylight. Makes a nice thumbnail, and labels it with UserClipname (assuming you're creating that & using Raylight to name it).

Just tested.... lol... may even use it myself!
 
You could also use the Imagine Products Media Clip Library which will also make a proxy of the video to keep in the database so that your footage can go offline on the Quantum Drives. If on a PC there is a similar product called Pictron, and then from Focus Enhancements there is Proxys. This last is the most expensive.

The cool part of any of these programs is that they will pull the metadata that you have entered into your clips and keep that data as part of the searchable database.

Hope this helps,

Jan
 
Thanks Jan

One cool feature of P2CMS though is its ability to grap still frames from clips. This is a feature our clients want. Not sure if any of the others can do this.
 
Portfolio uses a user-definable frame when creating thumbnails (eg, frame 90). For stills, QT Pro, when launched from Portfolio, will export whatever you need.
 
Back
Top