Creating reusable metadata for video with ExifTool

Tutorial – ExifTool Video Metadata

Article from Issue 286/2024
Author(s):

Smart use of metadata will help you keep your video collection organized and easy to search.

Digital video plays a big part in the lives of many Linux users. A collection is only useful, however, when you can find what you need. You could catalog all your videos with a simple spreadsheet or a full-blown Linux-compatible media center platform, but these alternatives can be cumbersome and inflexible. A more future-proof solution that is valid for any kind of video format and is not tied to any particular application is to associate metadata with every video file.

Most Linux users are accustomed to working with metadata for photo images, but metadata can be a bit more complicated with video files. This article describes the most important metadata you might want to manage for your personal archives of video files. I'll also present some Linux-compatible tools for working with video metadata, and I'll show you my way for managing metadata based on simple shell scripts. If you're new to the topic of metadata, see the box entitled "What Is Metadata" for some basic information.

Video Metadata Categories

As far as video is concerned, I'm happy with dividing its metadata in three categories related to what one wants to do with videos: technical and management, indexing, and web discovery.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • ExifTool and jExifToolGUI

    ExifTool lets you modify and analyze metadata in multimedia files from the command line, but its comprehensive feature set results in a lengthy learning curve. Luckily, jExiftoolGUI offers an intuitive interface that makes using ExifTool easier, even for less experienced users.

  • Metadata Cleanup Tools

    Digital camera images often reveal personal information embedded in metadata. Several Linux tools let you remove unwanted metadata to help preserve your privacy.

  • Remove EXIF Metadata from Photos with exiftool
  • Workspace: ExifTool

    Understanding the full power of ExifTool can be daunting. We show how to put it to practical use.

  • XMP Toolkit

    With the Python XMP Toolkit, programmers can develop applications that store metadata in files.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News