Creating reusable metadata for video with ExifTool
Tutorial – ExifTool Video Metadata
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.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
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.
News
-
Top Priorities for Open Source Pros Seeking a New Job
Professional fulfillment tops the list, according to LPI report.
-
Container-Based Fedora Hummingbird Designed for Agent-First Builders
Fedora Hummingbird brings the same approach to the host OS as it does to containers to level up security.
-
Linux kernel Developers Considering a Kill Switch
With the rise of Linux vulnerabilities, the kernel developers are now considering adding a component that could help temporarily mitigate against them… in the form of a kill switch.
-
Fedora 44 Now Gaming Ready
The latest version of Fedora has been released with gaming support.
-
Manjaro 26.1 Preview Unveils New Features
The latest Manjaro 26.1 preview has been released with new desktop versions, a new kernel, and more.
-
Microsoft Issues Warning About Linux Vulnerability
The company behind Windows has released information about a flaw that affects millions of Linux systems.
-
Is AI Coming to Your Ubuntu Desktop?
According to the VP of Engineering at Canonical, AI could soon be added to the Ubuntu desktop distribution.
-
Framework Laptop 13 Pro Competes with the Best
Framework has released what might be considered the MacBook of Linux devices.
-
The Latest CachyOS Features Supercharged Kernel
The latest release of CachyOS brings with it an enhanced version of the latest Linux kernel.
-
Kernel 7.0 Is a Bit More Rusty
Linux kernel 7.0 has been released for general availability, with Rust finally getting its due.