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[gsp]

I just downloaded and testing out the MC 11 trial.

One question ... is there a way to manage media not found on the Hard-Drive.
That is, is there some way to set up a library to manage the CD's I have so I can find music I have.

Thanks.

[glynor]

Yes.  MC supports files on removable media in exactly the same way it does "hard drive" based media.  Just import the files directly by pointing the Import Wizard at the Removable Drive, or drag/drop the actual files on the removable drive into one of the View Schemes on the Tree.

MC also supports a "Removable" field which automatically fills as "1" (meaning True rather than 0 which means false) when the file is on a removable disc.  This is convenient for filtering and searching for removable files.

I use it mainly to manage video files (TV shows and whatnot) that I have archived onto DVD-R.

[gsp]

Thanks  ... I'll give it a try.

[marko]

glynor, you actually import your offline media into your main library database?

don't you find that doing that queers some of your smartlist results etc? or do you just add a [removable]=0 to your rules?

my tree is now a shadow of it's default self, but if my memory serves me correctly, under the "advanced" tree node, there is a "cd and DVD" entry.
If you click on this, you will find that MC has catalogued every cd or dvd that it has ever seen in your drives into a seperate database.
I remember years ago feeding all my CD's into the drives one after the other just so that MC coud build this library for me to reference and work with. "which cd's have I not ripped yet?" "whose borrowed which discs?" kind of thing.

As these are seperate from the main library, I don't need to add exclusions for them in the main library.

My only gripe with the cd & dvd database is that it will insist on cataloguing every disc that it encounters, so periodically, I need to go through it and remove things like game and software installation discs that I've left in the drives. I could live with that if MC would then honour the "don't import previously removed items" setting, but it does not, so I find myself often removing the same disc several times. Overall though, it's a system I find works quite well.

It's just a viewscheme at the end of the day, right click on the cd & dvd entry and choose edit view scheme to see how it's made, then create one of your own starting from that base. You can achieve some useful things for working with your offline media this way.

-marko.

[glynor]

glynor, you actually import your offline media into your main library database?

don't you find that doing that queers some of your smartlist results etc? or do you just add a [removable]=0 to your rules?

I do actually, but as I said, mostly with my video files.  Typically when I compile an entire season of TV shows, or a handful of XviD'ed movies (recorded perfectly legally with my DVR App of course)  I burn them out onto DVD-R.  You can usually fit about 1 full season of shows, recorded in beautiful quality, on 1 DVD+R DL.

Anyway, I add these files to the library, and use MC to manage the discs.  I name and number each of them when I burn them, and then this shows up as the Volume tag in the files.  Under each Video-Related viewscheme I have a duplicate view scheme (easily created by drag-dropping the VS into itself on the tree and choosing Copy) called "Local Only" that adds [Removable]=0.  It shows up right under the regular view scheme (even in ones that are "Populated" right at the top where you want it) and works just like it's parent but filtering out the removables.  Works from Theater View too!

I generally keep that "search" in the Top Parent categories (eg. Audio, Imports) of my View Schemes where I don't want to see the Removable stuff.

I also use the Removable support to assist in cataloging and backing up my images.  I work in a "Multimedia" department at my job (graphic design, video, animation, A/V, and Photography) and I manage a large collection of photographs.  I also live up in Maine and a big part of our Photography needs involves taking pictures while outside playing (hiking, kayaking, and whatnot) so I'm encouraged to take a bunch of pictures all the time (yeah, I know, poor me).

Either way, I have about 60 GB of 5, 7, and 12 MP JPEGS in my online collection right now, and about 20-30k more archived on disc (not to mention all my audio and video personal stuff). It keeps them nicely organized, searchable, and tells me which disc they're on when I need them.  If only MC had an OSX client, a real Library server, and user management! (I'd have gotten my company to buy it for all us graphics grunts).