Metadata

Preserve Metadata

The frame-based metadata of imported clips is now preserved and can be written to the OpenEXR file header of exported file sequences and published content.

This page highlights all the areas affected by this workflow, often referencing other pages in this online help.

Project Management

The metadata associated with imported clips is stored in their media cache and renders.

Warning: After converting a legacy project, or after copying content from a legacy project, the cache and renders for content that contains metadata must be regenerated.

Media Import

When importing clips in some media formats, all metadata attributes are available in the application, including frame-based metadata.

For more information, see the Media Import page in the Metadata chapter.

Pre-Processing Options

The Metadata menu of the Pre-Processing options allows modifications to the various metadata keys and values of the content. This metadata can also be connected to the Source Metadata Timeline FX for further modifications.

For more information, see the Clips page in the Metadata chapter.

Clip Node

Use the parameters of the Metadata menu of a Clip node to achieve many different workflows, including:

View the metadata keys included in the output socket of a clip.
Edit the name and/or values of metadata keys.
Add metadata keys.
Discard metadata keys so they are not included in the output of a channel.

Note: The metadata keys of clips imported using the Read File node cannot be modified.

For more information, see Clip Node Settings.

Open Clip

The version of the Open Clip specification has been updated to version 8. This version of the XML schema has been updated to allow studios to define metadata keys and values to be added, ignored, or modified on a per-feed basis. The metadata attributes are provided from the referenced media files to avoid unnecessary duplication of data.

The <metadataEdits> section allows the following:

<edits>
- Modify the name of a metadata key.
- Modify the value of a metadata key.
- Discard a metadata key.
<additions>
- Add metadata keys.

All the types of values supported in the Open Clip format are supported in <edits> and <additions>.

For more information, see the following pages in the Open Clip Reference:

Metadata Node and Source Metadata Timeline FX

Use the Metadata node or Timeline FX to view, add, or edit the metadata keys of a clip or node. Additionally, the Metadata node can be used to compare the metadata of two inputs and inject the metadata of one input into the other.

For more information, see Metadata.

Burn-In Metadata

Use the Input Metadata Keys layer in the Burn-In Metadata node or Timeline FX to burn the metadata keys contained in a clip or node onto a clip.

For more information, see Input Metadata Keys in the Burn-In Metadata documentation.

Animation Editor

Expressions

The value of a metadata key available from one of the inputs of a node or Timeline FX can be linked to a channel via an expression.

For more information, see the Animation Editor page in the Metadata chapter.

Output a Channel as a Metadata Key

The content of an animation channel can be output in a metadata key.

To output an animation channel as a metadata key:

Open the context menu of an animation channel.
Select Output Channel as Metadata Key.
- A blue checkmark icon appears next to the option inside the context menu.
- A "m" icon appears next to the channel inside the Animation view.
- A light grey dot appears on top of the Batch node or on the right of a node in Action, GMask Tracer, or Image in the Schematic views.

A metadata key with the channel's name and its animated value is output from the Batch node. In Action and GMask Tracer, the metadata keys are output from an output socket only if the object is part of that output.

To stop an animation channel from outputting a metadata key:

Open the context menu of an animation channel.
Select Output Channel as Metadata Key.

Filtering

To display only the animation channels outputting metadata, select the Metadata Output criterion inside the Animation Filter Criteria window, accessed by selecting Set Criteria... in the Filtering option drop-down.

Media Export

When exporting file sequences or publishing content as OpenEXR, the available metadata is written to the OpenEXR file header. Metadata is not written to other media formats like QuickTime, MP4, etc.

For more information, see the Media Export page in the Metadata chapter.

Render and Write File Nodes

Basic Metadata Propagation

The values in the Source Timecode, Record Timecode, Shot Name, and Tape parameters can be filled automatically with the information fetched from the clip connected to the Front input or the Metadata input by selecting Use Input Values in the Basic Metadata section of the Node Prefs menu.

For more information, see Batch page in the Metadata chapter.

Python API

Use functions and attributes in the Python API to get or set the metadata keys of a Source Metadata Timeline FX, a Clip node, a Metadata node, a Render node, or a Write File node.

For more information, see What's New in the Python API.

Archiving

Warning:

When archiving content with cached media (like Tools & Batch results, Timeline FX cache, etc.) or caching media during archiving, it is not possible to generate cached content with metadata due to a fixed-size limitation. It is recommended for long-term archives to externalise the clips for which metadata needs to be preserved using either Media Export or Sequence Publish. This limitation does not apply to imported content, since media restored from an archive references the original files. For this reason, the original media must be accessible so the metadata can be read.

As an alternative, use the flame_backup tool to back up and restore projects.