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[mschneid]

I am helping an opera company with their collection of props, sets, etc.   I have a database of the photos of a lot of their material  in JRiver on my laptop and that works perfectly.    Google gives the 501c organization a lot of space on Google Drive.  What we need is a way for the Stage manager, Props, person, lighting person, set designer, costume designer etc etc  to see the pictures...   collect what they want into an album for the production  and then go make the show happen in the real world by going to the warehouse and pulling what they need.      Spent the night reading.... It does not seem possible to make jriver work with the pics stored on the google drive and my image database on jriver.    It does not seem that google drive  or google photos makes tagging a simple minded thing... (nor do I want to retag everything on google.)

Any thoughts on what else might work for us?

[JimH]

You could use MC as the server and give access to others.  You could read about this in the Media Network topic on our wiki.

[RoderickGI]

Is this a small opera company that you are helping on the cheap? Because what you really need is an Asset Management application for Theatres. Preferably a web- or cloud-based one that any authorised person could access. A quick Google will find some, such as what looks like a web-based and iOS (perhaps Android as well) Device based solution like that provided by Theatre Safe Australia. (I just Googled them. I don't have any affiliation.)

I've had a think about it, trying to work through the issues with using MC and making it available to everyone. It isn't worth it. It would be a bodge, and not a good one, for several reasons. Everyone would have to have a copy of MC on a PC they can access where they need to use the "database". Licences. Hardware. etc. While the images could be stored on Google Drive, you would need an App to allow Google Drive to appear as a drive letter in a PC, for updates to tags in the image files, or in the MC Library. There would be no file sharing capability on those files on Google Drive. Updates could clash. Each user would have to act as a Client to the MC Server. You would need a MC Server that was always available, not a laptop. The Server Library would have to be on that server. Hence, the image files might as well be. No need for Google Drive.

The above is just a bit of a brain dump, without knowing the actual requirements.

Maybe there is an App that can work with Google Photos to make tagging easy. But I agree, Google Photos isn't easy to use for tagging or viewing tags. In fact, it is very basic.


No, you really do need is an Asset Management application. Preferably one that suits Theatres. I know, it is probably overkilled for what you need. Hence my first question above. But there is bound to be something out there that is web-based and has Android and iOS Apps for mobile use on site.

i.e.
https://www.segbaysoftware.com/ Cloud version would be best. Not free.
This is old, but some ideas here: https://www.quora.com/Can-anyone-reccomend-a-simple-Saas-Cloud-based-Fixed-Asset-tracking-software-that-is-not-IT-focused 


The good news is, what you have built in MC with tagging would be a great resource for setting up an Asset Management system. 

[JimH]

Panel

[RoderickGI]

Panel

Not in its current state Jim. Maybe in the future.

For a start, you can't see or update all tags, or move a photo to a new album, using Panel.

There must be a simple, possibly free or very cheap, Asset Management system that could be used. Just a matter of finding it.

[mschneid]

Thanks Roderick...  simple and free is absolute requirement because the opera company is all volunteer, singers, orchestra and management.... they hire the tech staff for each show..  so the people who need the information  will change often.

I got to the same place...  What would be a simple asset management program that would read my jriver export.

My current solution is to tag everything.   then use the move  tool in jriver to collect the files into unique folders and then load that folder up to the google drive manually.    For most circumstances.... they can just flip through photos, ID their picks and then use a look up sheet for location.   Plan B... is ask me to query my database for what they want.

Well... any further great ideas would be appreciated...  Thanks Mark

[RoderickGI]

I think you could find what you are looking for.

Asset Panda kept coming up on my searches. It caters to Non-Profits, Churches, etc. You may not get it for free, but it may be real cheap.

Snipe-IT is free if you host it yourself, and Open Source. It seems to be aimed at the IT industry, as are many Asset Management systems, but it might work.

Asset Tiger is completely free and cloud based. They make their money by selling asset tags, but you may be able to use it without using tags. But there are some very cheap tags you could use for props, such as the cardboard ones which can be attached when in storage, and removed when in use. Worth a look. Also uses free Android and iOS Apps for access.

I found these just by Googling "simple free Asset Management Cloud". They may still all be too much, too complicated, but frankly, I don't think using MC will work beyond your laptop installation.


By the way, you can import Assets into most of these from Excel. So it would be easy to create a View in MC with the tags you want in the sequence required, select all your assets, copy and paste them into Excel, then import. Images may require a bit more work. That depends on how the software uses images. But I can see a working solution, and migration plan, coming together without too much trouble.