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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy Adding/Modifying metadata fields when logging clips

  • Adding/Modifying metadata fields when logging clips

    Posted by Adam Jansen on December 6, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    Greetings all –
    I am a PhD student at the University of British Columiba working with the School of Journalism and we have a challenge that only you all can help us with…

    Following the preservation guidelines laid out by the InterPARES research project (https://www.interpares.org), we want to add particular desscriptive metadata when logging a clip from raw footage via Final Cut Pro.

    Currently the default options are description, shot, scene, take, etc…

    Is there a way we can can modify or add default metadata fields to the log clip screen? If we click on the properties of the rendered clip afterwards, there is a whole slew of metadata options (which we would like to permenantly change the field names of)– but going through the Log Clip process would be quicker (and certain metadata fields would only need to be filled in once and left for the remainder of the session) than change the clips one at a time

    Alternatively, anyone know of a way to bulk update metadata on clips created though FCP?

    Thanks in advance for any help!

    Patrick Osterman replied 15 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Jeremy Garchow

    December 6, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    [Adam Jansen] “Is there a way we can can modify or add default metadata fields to the log clip screen?”

    Nope. You have to stick with the FCP column name as it’s how it works, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t add something like the appropriate interpares field name followed by a colon in the column.

    For example, under Master Column 1 in FCP , you could have “Interpares Field Name: This is totally kick booty.” Or whatever. I didn’t look at interpares, so I’m just guessing as to what you might need.

    [Adam Jansen] “d in once and left for the remainder of the session) than change the clips one at a time”

    As you have found out, the L&C metadata options are limited. After logging (or capture), you can go to the appropriate FCP column and type in what metadata you’d like under the column you’d like. You can then select the rest of the clips you’d like to add this data to, right click on the column, and choose the text you just entered from the drop down. The problem is, without the FCP project or an accompanying XML, most of the metadata will not travel with the footage. It stays within the FCP project/XML.

    Certain fields will travel, such as reel and tc.

    Jeremy

  • Adam Jansen

    December 6, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    Jeremy this concerns me “The problem is, without the FCP project or an accompanying XML, most of the metadata will not travel with the footage”

    What metadata does/doesn’t travel with the clip? The intention is to describe each clip/log/capture independently so that we can continue to re-use the footage in future classes for who knows what projects. We intend to load the described clips w/metadata into FCP Server, so students can find/search for clips to create their class projects. Is there a better way in the Server product to describe (give metadata) the individual clips outside of a particular project? What we need is ‘asset management’ at the clip level…

    Please forgive my ignorance, I am an archivist and learning video editing on the fly from the journalism students here, who don’t know much about the (soon to be installed) server product.

  • Jeremy Garchow

    December 6, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    [Adam Jansen] “We intend to load the described clips w/metadata into FCP Server, so students can find/search for clips to create their class projects. Is there a better way in the Server product to describe (give metadata) the individual clips outside of a particular project? What we need is ‘asset management’ at the clip level…”

    Well, if using FCP Server, then all the info is stored there. You can then choose to send the clips/info to an FCP project. Metadata support in QT files themselves is not supported very well, and I don’t know why as the frameworks seem to be there.

    As long as the students start the project with FCSvr, you will be ok.

    [Adam Jansen] “What metadata does/doesn’t travel with the clip? “

    Sorry, forgot this one. ClipName (which is file name), reel, and tc travel with the clip. As far as I know, other text data does not.

    Jeremy

  • Patrick Osterman

    December 13, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    This is a great thread that speaks to the heart of my project.

    I have producers that are acquiring small clips of sport performances. Essentially, I’d like the producer to send clips to me which contain the 20 different custom metadata tags that define the date, class, etc… of that performance.

    Further, that I could extract that metadata to populate a filtered search criteria once I’ve published those clips on the web.

    If in understand you correctly, in order to organize or manage those clips, that producer would need to acquire those clips on more than just a form of video tape. They would need to digitally acquire them, then add the specific metadata while somehow using FCPsvr… but even if that was possible (which you can comment on), the video clip wouldn’t contain more that a few elementary metadata tags (embedded within itself)

    Essentially, I need an XLS that ties directly to a video file name, then use that XLS to import into (possibly) FCP, which would link the XLS data to the video clip, correct?

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