Before you jump into providing catalogs for your workgroup, it’s a good idea to become familiar with a few guidelines that will make your work with Cumulus as efficient and effective as possible.
Name a Catalog Manager
It’s best to assign one person in your workgroup to manage assets and Cumulus catalogs. Having one manager helps keep things consistent and provides your workgroup with a recognized source for asset and catalog information.
For the catalog manager to be able to effectively manage workgroup catalogs, this user has to log on to the Cumulus Server as the Cumulus Administrator. For details on acting as the Cumulus Administrator, see “The Cumulus Administrator” .
Develop an Effective File Naming Convention
Even though Cumulus makes it easy to keep track of assets with its thumbnail previews and wealth of search options, there is no substitute for a well planned filing system. There will be times that you must access files without the convenience of the Cumulus interface. For example, when writing scripts to enable Cumulus to automate the workflow, a consistent and predictable filing system can not only save many hours of script debugging, but it can also enable functionality that might not otherwise be possible.
How you name your files will depend on how you use them. A news agency may decide to name incoming news stories prefixed with the current date and affixed with the file type:
Using the date in this order lists the files chronologically when sorted alphabetically. It also makes it easier for Cumulus scripts to select files based on a date range.
A Web design group may choose to include an image’s file size in its name to make entering HTML size tags more convenient: MainPageBanner200x50.gif
Or, to use this manual as an example, file names for screen shots of menus and dialog boxes each begin with either “M_” or “W_” to identify the platform from which the images come. For example, the file name for the Mac OS File menu is: M_FileMenu.tif. Its Windows counterpart is called: W_FileMenu.tif
Using the two file name prefixes not only helps differentiate the files at a glance, but also helps to make the filing system more predictable. From this example, you can probably guess the file names of most images in this document. Consistency and predictability are key to developing a naming convention that will serve you and your workgroup well.
Develop an Effective Folder Naming Convention
Apply an equally clear naming convention to your folder (directory) structures. Cumulus can use your folder hierarchy to create categories when cataloging assets. It is a real time saver if your folder structure helps to identify your assets.
Some users may choose to store assets in folders based on file type rather than project name. A sound clip of audience applause, for example, may be used in many projects, but it will always be a sound clip. You can use Cumulus’ categories to associate assets with one or more projects.
Cross-Platform Catalog Use
Though the catalogs that Cumulus creates are completely cross-platform compatible, it is up to you to use a catalog file naming convention compatible with each platform which you plan to use for your catalogs.
Keep in mind that catalog names and catalog file names are two different things. For cross-platform purposes, you need only be concerned with catalog file names. (see “Renaming Catalogs” , for catalog naming information.)
Consult your operating system’s documentation for details on the range of characters that can be used. In the meantime, here are a few tips:
• Windows uses a backslash (\) to differentiate folder hierarchies. Mac OS users should avoid using this character in their catalog names. (The Mac OS uses a colon (:) to differentiate folder hierarchies, but this character is not allowed in files name on either platform, so it is of no real concern.)
• Windows file names can be up to 255 characters in length. Mac OS file names must be 31 characters or less.
Characters that are safe for use on all Cumulus platforms include all upper and lower case letters, all numbers, the hyphen (-), and the underscore ( _ ).
Multiple Catalogs & Servers
You may want to use separate servers for different departments within your organization. Although each server can manage one or more catalogs, you must have a separate copy of Cumulus for each server.
When evaluating your media management needs, consider the following questions:
• How many Clients will access the catalog?
• How many assets do you need to manage, today and in the future?
• Where will the cataloged assets be stored? Who should have access to the cataloged assets (for example, to modify them)?
• Does the media archive contain logically unrelated groups of assets?
• Do different groups of people use different groups of assets? Or do the documents themselves fall into multiple categories?