# Scenery/Props Database



## lighttechie5948 (Dec 26, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I am the production manager for a dance company on Long Island, NY. They currently use photo albums as an inventory reference for their scenery, costumes, and props. They have a photo of the items, with a post-it under it saying what the item is and what the quantity is. I want to put all these items into a database that can track and search all of them, and I want to be able to publish an interface to this database to our web server.

What's the best way to go? I did something similar last year with our gobos, except I made a table in HTML, uploaded .jpgs of the gobos, and wrote the whole web page in HTML. I really don't want to do it this way again! Something interactive on the web and easy to admin (from the web or from my macbook).


Thanks!

Joe


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## jstroming (Dec 26, 2010)

I would look into Adobe Bridge/Version Cue. I know there is a way to upload your gallery to an ftp, and since Bridge is an organizational photo software that allows for metadata and tagging, this could be right up your alley.


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## erichart (Dec 26, 2010)

I know a lot of prop masters use FileMaker Pro; it lets you include photographs and descriptions of all your props and creates a searchable database from it. I've never used it personally, so I'm not sure how easy it is to put it on the web.
We've recently begun putting our prop stock on Flickr. It lets us include descriptions, tags, and we can organize the photos into sets. It doesn't give us any interactivity, but otherwise it's a good solution for us.


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## kendal69 (Dec 26, 2010)

Two of the best are: 

Overview of Portfolio 8

photo management software | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

Lightroom might be a tad easier for posting on the web, but with Portfolio you can put in PDF files, and use multi search criteria - date, play colors, size, and any key word you can come up with. I use Portfolio every day I have 15,000 pictures of events and when I do a search under almost any key word and I get dozens of pictures that will work for me - some even I forgot.


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## Tex (Dec 26, 2010)

I would put it all in a MySQL database and access it with PHP. There's probably a PHP script out there that will do just what you want without any hacking.
Check Hot Scripts - The net's largest PHP, CGI, Perl, JavaScript and ASP script collection and resource web portal.


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## rhart (Dec 29, 2010)

Seems to me lots of folks want you to do it the hard way. Before you get into a life-consuming task, you might want to see if Google's Picassa might satisfy your needs. Thanks for airing your question here!


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## chausman (Dec 30, 2010)

( Hey, Welcome to ControlBooth!) That seems like a good suggestion. And it is free. Which is always a plus!


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## Tex (Dec 30, 2010)

rhart said:


> Seems to me lots of folks want you to do it the hard way. Before you get into a life-consuming task, you might want to see if Google's Picassa might satisfy your needs. Thanks for airing your question here!


Be aware that Picassa provides 1GB of storage. You'll want size your photos accordingly.
The reason I suggested MySQL/PHP is scalability. Like Picassa, my solution is also free.


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## Dionysus (Dec 30, 2010)

+1 for MySQL with PHP, or some other similar solution. You can rather easily construct a custom database with forms for Quantity, condition, etc.
The HTML is then spontaneously generated when you call up information.
So you can easily have a search function for instance.

It is very flexible, only takes some computer/programming knowledge. There are open source groups out here that would be glad to help you develop this, give you tips etc.
You may even find something already put together that would work.

You would then be able to log-in and change info from anywhere in the world.


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## rhart (Dec 31, 2010)

Tex said:


> Be aware that Picassa provides 1GB of storage. You'll want size your photos accordingly.
> The reason I suggested MySQL/PHP is scalability. Like Picassa, my solution is also free.



Tex, your point is well-taken. As a Facilities Manager, I retired about the time computers became an essential part of basic education. I was always busy keeping my head above water on day-to-day matters, I never had the luxury of learning new programs. Consequently, my moto has always been K-I-S-S.


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## Tex (Jan 2, 2011)

rhart said:


> Tex, your point is well-taken. As a Facilities Manager, I retired about the time computers became an essential part of basic education. I was always busy keeping my head above water on day-to-day matters, I never had the luxury of learning new programs. Consequently, my moto has always been K-I-S-S.


 I understand that! I got certified to teach HTML and programming for the web about 5 years ago, so I tend to go in that direction whenever anyone mentions a database. The PHP scripts that are out there now can be as simple as uploading a package to your webspace and pointing your browser to the installation page. Like many things, once you have enough information to get past the intimidation factor, it's really pretty easy.


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