Author Topic: Poster Linkage  (Read 6017 times)

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Offline jondak

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Poster Linkage
« on: November 11, 2010, 12:16:37 pm »
Example:
1 database
1 movie with 4 version in database  - 1 dvd
                                                - 1 dvdrip uncut version
                                                - 1 bluray
                                                - 1 1080p bluray rip unrated version
When you add the posters to the different versions of the movie the posters are the same for all the versions, but occupy more space in the database. It would be nice if we could link the posters between different records of the same movie so it there are only 1 record of the posters in the database.

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Poster Linkage
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2010, 01:05:50 pm »
I don't think there would be much demand for this. Most users don't collect multiple versions of the same movie. And most who do would probably want to use unique posters if available (and they usually are—in the form of DVD covers). Besides, why should there be any concern about the amount of space they occupy? Thousands of duplicate posters can be saved in the same space as one bluray rip. ;)

It would be more useful if media information could be saved separately from movie information. Then you would have one record per movie, each related to any number of independent media file records. But there doesn't seem to be much demand for that either. :-\

Offline jondak

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Re: Poster Linkage
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2010, 01:59:52 pm »
Well about collecting different versions of the same movie let's take 1 example: Lord of the Rings - dvd i have the extendend version of the movie, on bluray i only have the theatrical version.

Also on the space matter i'm not concern about size, only was concern about database integrity ( let's take a example in my case: The dark knight i have 2 versions 1 dvdrip and 1 bluray each with around 12 posters each, each poster being 1-2 mb jpegs - only that movie totaling 2*12*1.5mb = 36 mb)

Well, the linkage was only a suggestion, i have np with the size of my database atm ( 712 mb and 1444 movies).

Offline rick.ca

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Re: Poster Linkage
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2010, 09:42:35 pm »
Quote
Also on the space matter i'm not concern about size, only was concern about database integrity...

Yes, this is why I made the alternate suggestion. The most significant integrity issues arise because you're using multiple movie records to record different media versions. That means all the information that is supposed to be the same (e.g., most of the data that comes from IMDb) has to be kept in sync. With respect to that information, each of these movie records is a duplicate—which raises a whose set of other integrity issues (e.g., which movie records get updated when you download a person's filmography?). Ironically, posters are one of number of data elements that could be associated with either the movie (e.g., an official poster created by the producer for the initial promotion of the movie) or the media (e.g., the cover of a specific DVD release).

Just to illustrate the point... If your "thing" was to collect multiple versions of movies (and no series), then the best available solution would be to record multiple movie versions as series. All the information about the movie itself would be recorded in the main record. Any and all information unique to a particular version would be recorded in an episode record. Both record types could include appropriate posters. Information in the main movie records would be updated "normally"—without any integrity issues. Any information that comes from the media itself (e.g., media info scanned from the file(s), screenshots) would automatically go to the appropriate episode record. Although there are currently no plugins for downloading version-specific information (i.e., DVD editions), using a separate episode record makes a complete set of fields available to record whatever unique information is necessary. For example, a description of exactly what has been added to an extended version could be recorded in Description. A description or list of "additional features" on a DVD could be recorded in Comments.

It would probably be fairly easy to modify the program so it could handle multiple versions in this way. The main (only?) impediment now is that doing so messes up series. The is only so because a movie record with episodes attached to it is assumed to be a series. All that's required is the use of a record type field to distinguish movies from series. This record type could default to "series" when episodes are added (as it does now), but could be changed back to "movie." For such records, seasons would be suppressed (this can be done now for series with only one season), and it would be evident the child records are versions, not episodes.

Offline nostra

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Re: Poster Linkage
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2010, 10:51:10 pm »
Saving different sets of media information for a record is a nice Idea, but it needs the database to be restructured dramatically, so I can't implement it soon (aka in version 1).

I do not think someone will really need all the fields for such records with multiple version, so the episodes Idea does not really sound too interesting. I think it would be enough to implement separate media information with an additional field for saving such information as BD/DVD features.
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