Thank you for using Marvin! We hope it not only saves you tons of time but also simplifies the visual effects and post-production processes. By design, Marvin is an unconventional "database" because it does not actually store anything. Its sole purpose is to ingest data from one application, translate it into something easier to work with, and then export it into a different format.
Marvin was built out of necessity to simplify and reduce errors turning over and tracking visual effects shots in both television and features, but it can also be used in many other editorial workflows. Marvin primarily works by identifying shot information based on the location of markers in an Avid sequence. With correctly placed and well-named markers, you can extract a lot of data from Avid that is essential to the VFX process.
Unfortunately, Avid does not make it easy to transfer that data into other applications such as Excel, FileMaker, or ShotGrid. That’s where Marvin comes to the rescue by importing various, difficult-to-read file formats such as ALE, XML, EDL, ALE, & FDX, and translating them into more user-friendly formats that are compatible with other programs. Hooray!
Please note that while Marvin does its best to correctly capture all essential information, it is not a replacement for common sense! Marvin is only as accurate as the data provided to it, so you should always visually inspect and simplify complicated sequences to reduce errors. It is not meant to be used blindly, so double-check that the results jive with your expectations.
If you need help, check out our online knowledge base or reach out to fellow users in our community. If you run into any problems, please report them using the bug icon in the upper-right corner of every page. Likewise, please suggest new features for future versions of Marvin to make it even more awesome. We would love to hear from you!