Matthew Haber has yet again blessed us with another cool isadora/projection tool called the Projection Documentation Tool or ‘PDbase’ for use in your shows. It has a lot to offer – just read the key features below!
I have shamelessly (with permission!) taken this from his website as it explains it all perfectly well. Thanks Matthew!
PDbase-Production is the only publicly available database application for data and workflow management for live performance projection and video designers. PDbase keeps track of nearly 400 different pieces of information for a given project, supports complex multi-user access, and can generate and share over 30 different types of paperwork based on this information. PDbase is vastly more powerful than any other known database solution and is the result of nearly 18 months of development and testing. PDbase is uniquely just as suited for the record keeping needs of a single freelance designer working alone as it is for a large studio with numerous designers, editors, and other collaborators who all need data access. PDbase can also provide other departments on a production such as stage management and lighting with the information they need when they need it via a secure webpage, saving you and your team the time spent issuing daily paperwork updates. Ultimately PDbase is far too comprehensive to explain in a single page so I recommend you download the fully functional free version and try it out on a show after reading through the knowledge base.
Key Features:
Documents vital information for cues, still and moving content, media and font assets, editing workflows and software plugins, render queues and render nodes, production contact information, video shoots, work notes, and individual task lists for team members.
Generates a diverse range of paperwork and keeps track of changes made so you and your collaborators don’t have to.
Comprehensive access controls and versatile multi-user workflows insuring the biggest of teams have access to all of the information they need while maintaining data privacy and security.
Hundreds of separate procedures that invisibly validate your data to insure any errors are caught before they become a problem.
Handles the biggest of shows with support for hundreds of thousands of records.
Built in web interface allows anyone you authorize to access important information whenever they need it.
Powerful tools to help keep track of licensing and rights management for the media assets you use in your design.
Cues, content, etc are all closely interlinked just like they are in the real world.
All data can be imported from and exported to standard formats such as comma separated, tab separated, XML, Excel, etc.
PDbase streamlines communication between designers, assistants, editors, asset wranglers, researchers, and other production departments insuring that everyone knows what they need to know and does what they need to do.
PDbase can be run locally on a personal computer or hosted on a local or off-site server.
PDbase is being constantly updated with new and improved functionality.
PDbase-Production is built on FileMaker Pro 12. This permits massive flexibility in terms of easily adding new and custom functionality. This also takes advantage of FileMaker’s built in powerful and reliable Server functionality.
PDbase-Studio, a companion application for comprehensive record keeping at a business level (invoicing, CRM, time-tracking, etc) is under development and will integrate seamlessly with PDbase-Production once it is available.
PDbase-Rental, a companion application for rental shop and general equipment and resource tracking (asset scheduling, packing and shipping management, etc) is under development and will integrate seamlessly with PDbase-Production and PDbase-Studio once it is available.
Graham Thorne [skulpture] 