DVDpedia: Cover source

[tobias]

Hello,

I am totally amazed by this software and i like to add all my movies. Right now i am experimenting so that i won't make any systematically errors, because i have a huge collection to add.

I want all infos being imported from IMDB.com, which is so far no problem (I deactivated all other sources). The problem is the cover image. I recognized that the cover image is sometimes a 3D-Shot of a DVD Box, which IMDB.com never uses. By browsing through some of the source-pages, I discovered that this cover is from Amazon.us.

Is there a way to specify the cover source?
By pressing right mouse button -> Load Cover (or similar, it is displayed in german) a cover is automatically loaded, but it is not from IMDB.com, as i would like it to be.

Where or how can i edit the default source for the cover image?

Thanks. Awesome Software btw

[Conor]

Excited that you are finding the software useful. IMDb includes the Amazon information on their page and the plug-in picks up the ASIN and uses that information to download the Amazon cover that is of higher resolution. The only way to strip that behavior is to modify the plug-in source and rebuild it. This requires the developer tools that came with Mac OS CD (Xcode) and a little programming knowledge. If you are interested you can find the source here and information on how to compile. Look for the function "amazonImageForAsin:" this is the one you want to comment out. Having your own plug-in is quite powerful as you can fill the custom fields and pick up other information from different sites.

[tobias]

Thank you so far, i will have a look at it.

What is besides that the best way to get 2D-Covers? The problem having this 3D Box Shots is that they look strange in cover flow and I want all cover shots to be in the same style. Amazon uses the 3D Shots too often so that replacing them manually would take a lot of time.

[Conor]

It's unfortunate that Amazon uses the 3D shot for some covers. Drag and drop is a quick way to replace a cover. You can also view web pages inside the program and right click on a cover and select the make cover for selected entry option. Install and try out this info view template, created by a user, that has a handy button for searching Google for the cover.

[noribori]

Another suggestion: don't use DVD Covers, use the original movie poster. If you compare both, you may be astonished about the huge differences. DVDs often use catchy photos or they reinvent a nostalgic looking cover which isn't authentic at all. If you use the original movie posters for DVDpedia you get a nice poster collection (instead of an Amazon Sales Catalog). It makes fun to see how the style of the posters changed over the decades. Many original posters are pieces of art and just as iconic and well-known as the movie itself.
At http://www.movieposterdb.com you can get most movie posters in a reasonable resolution for free (better resolution only if you contribute). Some investigation and googling may be required, because original posters and newer DVD covers are often mixed together.
Another good source is http://www.impawards.com, they have better resolution but fewer movies. IMDb has a poster section with links. And if you use Google Images, just type the name of the movie + "poster" and you may find some rare posters.
To add the poster to DVDpedia you can use drag and drop into the "Add window" or onto the field below the Collections column of the main window.

[kbarnes70]

Another suggestion: don't use DVD Covers, use the original movie poster. If you compare both, you may be astonished about the huge differences. DVDs often use catchy photos or they reinvent a nostalgic looking cover which isn't authentic at all. If you use the original movie posters for DVDpedia you get a nice poster collection (instead of an Amazon Sales Catalog). It makes fun to see how the style of the posters changed over the decades. Many original posters are pieces of art and just as iconic and well-known as the movie itself.
At http://www.movieposterdb.com you can get most movie posters in a reasonable resolution for free (better resolution only if you contribute). Some investigation and googling may be required, because original posters and newer DVD covers are often mixed together.
Another good source is http://www.impawards.com, they have better resolution but fewer movies. IMDb has a poster section with links. And if you use Google Images, just type the name of the movie + "poster" and you may find some rare posters.
To add the poster to DVDpedia you can use drag and drop into the "Add window" or onto the field below the Collections column of the main window.

Fantastic! It had never occurred to me before to use posters. Way nicer. And impawards.com is a terrific source to - thanks for that. I much prefer the original look that goes with the era when the movie was made - and some of them are true works of art. The standard sizes make for a much nicer display in cover flow and full screen too. Thanks for the idea. Keith.

[Ted L. Nancy]

I've gone the scanning route. (Scanning the cover of the DVD boxes for the movies that had bad pictures on Amazon.) For most DVDs, this works great. However, there are about 2-3 DVDs in my library in which I've had to settle for the stock 3D image because the unusual nature of the packaging makes a 2d image almost impossible. Also, for some, I've have to resort to Google Images because the box, for whatever reason (metallic, unusually shaped), doesn't scan well. Then there are even some that have required some fancy crop work in order to really make them look good for the fullsceen view.

(Star Trek shows are the WORST!)

I agree though that the 3D and other low-quality photos are a bummer.

I've considered the movie poster route, but this would mean I would have to change over 600 pictures. I am just unwilling to do that. It also doesn't help for TV show box sets.

I think a valuable addition to cataloging software like this would be some sort of central database where people could upload images they have. (I would gladly share my scanned DVD covers with anyone who needed them.) There could be two databases: One for DVD covers and the other for movie posters. There could also be a database for books and one for CDs (not unlike the iTunes cover art retrieval).

[kbarnes70]

I've considered the movie poster route, but this would mean I would have to change over 600 pictures. I am just unwilling to do that. It also doesn't help for TV show box sets.

I changed over 600 titles to poster images in a few hours. I opened Safari on the right side of the screen and DVDpedia on the left. Then I opened impawards.com in Safari and glanced at the titles in DVDpedia, then searched them in Safari and dragged them onto the image in the Collections sidebar. Each image only takes a few seconds if you do it this way. It''s quicker than scanning the DVD box. It's a neat solution and makes for a very attractive display as the posters are generally far more artistic than the DVD cover art. You're right about the TV Show box sets though - I don't have any so it's not an issue for me but I can see that it is for a lot of people - I guess there's another source for those somewhere? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Regards,

Keith

[tobias]

I've considered the movie poster route, but this would mean I would have to change over 600 pictures. I am just unwilling to do that. It also doesn't help for TV show box sets.

I changed over 600 titles to poster images in a few hours. I opened Safari on the right side of the screen and DVDpedia on the left. Then I opened impawards.com in Safari and glanced at the titles in DVDpedia, then searched them in Safari and dragged them onto the image in the Collections sidebar. Each image only takes a few seconds if you do it this way. It''s quicker than scanning the DVD box. It's a neat solution and makes for a very attractive display as the posters are generally far more artistic than the DVD cover art. You're right about the TV Show box sets though - I don't have any so it's not an issue for me but I can see that it is for a lot of people - I guess there's another source for those somewhere? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Regards,

Keith

I will do this as well. I think adding my collection will take just a few days, i'll do this in february, when i have holidays.
Thanks for all the tips on how to do this (and for the sources as well), because i don't want to do this twice, because i made a stupid mistake.

[kbarnes70]

Oh, if only I had a dollar for every time I've had to do something twice because I made a stupid mistake Good luck with it!

Keith

[MikeB]

I've noticed that the cover images from ImdB are getting worse (very low resolution or sometimes just the DVD box without an image!) so I started looking for posters almost from the beginning. The sites already listed are very good and are the ones I use too. I hope someday DVDpedia will offer cover source options in the search the way it offers information sources now.

[kbarnes70]

I've noticed that the cover images from ImdB are getting worse (very low resolution or sometimes just the DVD box without an image!) so I started looking for posters almost from the beginning. The sites already listed are very good and are the ones I use too. I hope someday DVDpedia will offer cover source options in the search the way it offers information sources now.

That would be good. One thing I have noticed: because I download large, high res images (I love the posters now I have started using them) DVDpedia sometimes struggles with them just a little. For example, in full screen mode, the sideways scrolling of the images isn't as smooth as it used to be - I guess it reads a bunch into memory and then another bunch and so on (although my iMac has 4 gig of RAM). Similarly, cover flow view isn't as smooth when scrolling either. It's no big deal and I prefer it this way to the smaller, low res images I used to use. Some of the posters are works of art in their own right and I like to see them in the higher res.

Best wishes, Keith

EDIT for clarification: In Cover Flow View, the scrolling IS smooth, once the cover images have loaded into memory. First time you scroll through after reloading the program the images take a little while to 'catch up' as you scroll throough. Once you've scrolled through though, they are smooth for futurte scrolling until you close down the program when it has to be repeated as above. No big deal and it's only if you have large hi-res images anyway, as I do. In full screen mode, the covers are always a little jerky when scrolling.

[Conor]

The Pedias can load a regular size cover without slow down, so there is no need for optimization. When dealing with a high resolution cover the file is bigger and loading it from disk does take a while and can be optimized. Creating thumbnails is a possibility but means that you might not get the full resolution in cover flow that you would wish. How big are the covers you are using? Also check the DPI, if you are using these covers only for the screen it should be 72. Try the following version that creates thumbnails in cover flow.

[kbarnes70]

The Pedias can load a regular size cover without slow down, so there is no need for optimization. When dealing with a high resolution cover the file is bigger and loading it from disk does take a while and can be optimized. Creating thumbnails is a possibility but means that you might not get the full resolution in cover flow that you would wish. How big are the covers you are using? Also check the DPI, if you are using these covers only for the screen it should be 72. Try the following version that creates thumbnails in cover flow.

Hi Conor,

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to look into this. I've tried the 'thumbnail' version but I have to say that I do prefer the higher res image files - they add a crispness that enhances the experience of using the program and it's worth, in my view at least, some small slowing down as the images load from disk. It isn't as if it is really clunky or anything and it's easily lived with. Especially when I click the image in the collections pane and it expands to almost fill the height of my glorious 20 inch iMac screen! I can read the type on the posters easily and this does add to the pleasure I get from your program. The covers I am using are almost all downloaded from movieposterdb.com where I have paid to be able to download the higher res images they have on offer. A typical image size would be something in the region of 2890 x 4277 but some are bigger than this and some smaller. I do of course realise that these are way over the top for the purpose but these lovely large images look superb in Cover Flow view if you hide the Info pane and view them full size. One problem is that there is a restricted choice of sizes on movieposterdb.com and sometimes the choice is between a size that is too big or a size that is too small, in which case I go for the 'big' option You make a good point re DPI - I just take them as they come and no doubt they are optimised for printing rather than on-screen viewing.

Conor, it's really not that big a deal, truly. I am grateful to you for looking at what can be done though. It's something that won't affect the vast majority of DVDpedia users I imagine and I can certainly live with a slight slowing down in image loading for the extra quality that I am gaining.

With kind regards,

Keith

[ebbs1982]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I too have gone the movie poster route and my collection now looks better that ever. Both impawards.com and movieposterdb.com are excellent sources. However, I occasionally need another source when I can't find a poster I like. At first I was just doing a google image search or browsing websites until I found what I wanted. But now I finally found a reliable third source:

moviegoods.com

It's a site that sells posters but when you click on a preview you get a giant image with fantastic resolution. Plus they have a very decent selection. Check it out.