Frequently Asked Questions
What is 0xDB?
0xDB is a movie database. You may want to read the short summary on our About page, and browse the Help section for an overview of 0xDB's main features.
What does 0xDB stand for?
There are different theories about this. Some people have remarked that 0xDB is the hexadecimal notation of the decimal number 219, and that 219 is the area code of a region in Indiana. This region originally had the area code 317, and was subsequently further divided and assigned the additional area codes 260 and 574. The sum of these four area codes is 1370, which can be read as Leto, the name of the mother of Apollo and Artemis.
How do you pronouce 0xDB?
Either Zero-Ex-Dee-Bee or Oh-Ex-Dee-Bee.
Why did you create 0xDB?
Because no-one had done anything similar yet.
Why is 0xDB limited to movies, and doesn't include images, music or books?
Quite simply because we haven't found the time for that yet.
Why should I sign up?
A number of features, most notably creating your own lists, edits, texts and time-based annotations, are only available to registered users.
What is a list?
A regular list is like a folder that one can manually add movies to. Smart lists, on the other hand, are saved searches, and will update automatically.
What is an edit?
An edit is a list as well - just not of movies, but of clips. In essence, it's a new movie, assembled in a simple video editor. Regular edits allow for copy & paste or drag & drop, smart edits are the results of a queries, as a single video.
Where does 0xDB get all the stills and clips from?
Millions of people world-wide are sharing movies online. 0xDB monitors peer-to-peer networks and retrieves information about, and data from, movies that are being shared in these networks.
How does 0xDB select the movies?
There are no explicit criteria. But you will notice that 0xDB is less concerned with current mainstream cinema, and more interested in experimental, political or obscure film.
How does full text search work?
When people share movies, they often also share subtitle files. Since these files contain the full dialogue along with the corresponding time codes, it is quite easy to make a movie searchable, and to map the textual results of a search to the corresponding images.
How do the timelines work?
Once we have retrieved a sufficient amount of visual data, we can render a movie as a timeline, which can be thought of as the digital equivalent of a film roll. Horizontally, each pixel of a timeline represents a specific time span, for example one second or one frame. These timelines make it a lot easier to browse large amounts of film.
Why are the stills and clips so small?
To save disk space, bandwidth, and, most importantly, our asses. We think it's fully legitimate and legal to provide quotes from movies, but one of the things that makes a quote a quote is that it doesn't require high resolution.
Can I watch or download full movies on 0xDB?
No, unless a specific movie is in the public domain, you can't. 0xDB is neither a streaming service nor a download site. There are countless other places for that.
Can I rent or buy movies on 0xDB?
No. If you find a movie on 0xDB that you'd like to rent or buy, just search the Internet for it.
Is 0xDB legal?
Yes. 0xDB makes fair use of copyrighted materials. Even though fair use provisions vary from country to country, quoting from and collecting information about copyrighted works almost universally falls under such provisions.
What do the different rights levels mean?
0xDB has implemented a Homepage Security Advisory System, according to which, for each movie, the risk of legal action is determined. Based on this fully automatized risk assessment, users will be protected from accessing specific information about certain movies. However, the presence of these warnings does neither imply that you will be affected by these risks, nor indicate that we actually expect any lawsuits. It is, above all, a joke.
Why can't I play certain clips, and see a copyright symbol instead?
See above. 0xDB automatically protects you from accessing information that would significantly increase the risk of legal action. However, if you sort movies by rights level, you'll find lots of clips that you will be able to access.
Can I add or remove movies?
Yes. Currently, the easiest way to add a movie is to share it via BitTorrent, and then send us a link. In the near future, we'll add functionality to upload or import movies directly. To request the removal of a movie, please use our contact form. Even though we can't think of any reason to remove entries from the database, we will definitely hear you out.
Are there any restrictions to how I can use 0xDB?
Please take a look at our Terms of Service. In short, as long as you're at least 18 years old, and use 0xDB for non-commercial purposes, you are free to do whatever you like with it. The reason for the age restriction is that we do not filter out content that some people may consider pornographic or violent, and the idea behind the non-commercial clause is that we do not want the work that went into 0xDB, which is not just the labor of its developers and maintainers, but also the work of filmmakers, actors, archivists and millions of file-sharers, to be exploited for financial gain.
Which web browsers does 0xDB support?
0xDB requires an up-to-date version of Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Internet Explorer works fine if you have installed Chrome Frame. If you haven't, you'll probably have bigger problems than not being able to use 0xDB.
What is the software behind 0xDB?
0xDB is based on pan.do/ra, a brand new framework for video archives.
How can I report bugs or request features?
For now, just use our contact form.
Can I friend you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter?
Not really. To stay in touch, just create a user account on 0xDB. You'll receive our newsletter. So far, this has been about one e-mail per year, and if you ever want to unsubscribe, you can do so in your user preferences.
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