How to Make a Movie Database

By Editorial Team

i movie reel image by Maria Bell from Fotolia.com

Many people probably have a collection of DVDs stacked on a shelf somewhere in their house, and have no idea of what titles they own, let alone the production details of the films. This is complicated even more if they have movie files sitting on their computer hard drive. A movie database is an excellent way to organize all of your movies into one place. This allows you the ability to search for movies you might have purchased years ago, but haven't watched yet, or keep track of a series you are collecting.

Step 1

Download a database program or movie cataloging program from the Internet. You can choose from dozens, such as AllMyMovies.com, Collectorz.com and Mbase2.com. Most of these programs work in a similar fashion. One such program is called the Personal Video Database, which is available as freeware and is used as an example in this article.

Step 2

Open the Personal Video Database program and create a new database. Click "New" on the file menu. A "Save As" window appears, prompting you to name and save the new database. Enter the name and destination of the database and then click "Save" to create it.

Step 3

Add a movie into the database by clicking "Add" at the top of the main window. Enter the movie name into the pop-up box and click "Save." You could also enter the movie disc into the computer's DVD drive and click "Add." You will be prompted whether you wish to add the data from the disc. Select "Yes" to extract the data. Note that this does not work for all DVDs.

Step 4

Import further movie details, such as actors, directors, awards, etc. Select the movie for which you wish to import details. After selecting the movie, click "Tools," then "Import" from the toolbar. A list of online movie sources appears, such as the International Movie Database and AllMovies, which you can use to download the movie's information. Highlight the one you wish to use, then click "Import."

Step 5

Edit or add to the imported information. Highlight the movie in the main window and press "Ctrl + E." An edit screen appears. Insert any new data into the field boxes that you would like to add. Click "Save" when you are finished.

Step 6

Search your database. After you enter all of your movie information into the database, you can then use it to search for your movie information. Start by clicking the "Search" icon on the upper right of the screen. Then, select any filters you wish to use, such as "viewed," "movie," "series" and "not owned." Next, type in any other information you wish to use for the search, then press "Enter" to begin the search.

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