Video Metadata: What Is It and How Do I Manage It?

The US alone has 244.4 million dedicated video streamers. This means video creation is no longer a luxury reserved for big brands. It has become a marketing must.

To reach more viewers and engage with customers, you need video content.

But with the demand for video comes heavy libraries. And the dreadful, if not entirely impossible task of retrieving older files. Here is where video metadata may prove helpful.

In this guide, we will review what metadata is and how it can put ease in your digital asset management.

What is Video Metadata?

Before we get into what video metadata is, we have to understand metadata.

If you have read about metadata, then we are willing to bet you came across a definition suggesting that metadata is data about data. Though correct, this view is a bit limited.

We suggest looking at metadata as data that describes the main asset. This could be data attached to images, audio and video files, etc.

Think about it like a barcode on retail products or maybe even an ID. Metadata tells you the characteristics of files like their creation date or size.

So, video metadata is data that describes the characteristics of a video file. It doesn't reveal what is in the video but rather what the video is.

Types of Metadata

There are ten different types of metadata widely used in different industries. Here is our highlight of the three, most applicable to videos.

Administrative Video Metadata

Administrative metadata deals with information you would need to manage and preserve a video asset.

Attributes like the type of device or software used to create your digital asset, the person who created the file, and the date they did so, are all examples of administrative metadata. Here we can also talk about shutter speed value and frame rate.

Administrative metadata would also contain information about the party granted access to a video file and the duration for which they have such access. One quick example is licensing. A license will often reveal the person with permission to use the video file and the period they have to do so.

Descriptive Metadata

Descriptive metadata identifies assets by their descriptive attributes. Attributes like publication date and file type all come into play when it comes to descriptive metadata.

There are three ways to categorize descriptive metadata:

1. Biographical attributes: author, keywords, or even titles
2. Physical attributes: file type and dimension
3. Unique Identifiers: EIDR or entertainment identification registry.

Structural Metadata

Structural video metadata is about how a video asset is organized.

Consider the structure of your business videos. It could be that in the interest of apprehension, you have placed your videos in a particular order because it makes sense.

You decided a certain clip would play after another. This is the structure of your video asset. Much like the different chapters that form a book.

The type of data used to describe this organization is structural metadata.

The Benefits of Video Metadata

The bottom line is that video metadata is an asset to businesses, especially those bold enough to navigate the video creation world.

Improve Website SEO

Whether you are using free B-roll videos or producing content in-house, having videos on your website is a great way to engage your audience. In fact, Insivia reported that 75% of executives watch videos from brands on business websites.

But to achieve a favorable ranking, you will also need to engage search engines.

Search engines cannot indulge in video creations, therefor they depend on metadata to know what the video is. You can optimize your metadata by using relevant keywords. This way, when crawlers index your website, they will know what your video can offer users.

When it comes to hosting videos on your website, Swarmify SmartVideo is a seamless buffer-proof solution.

Content Documentation

Chances are, you have a brand image, voice, and personality you are trying to project to your audience. This can be communicated in your product videos.

You have heard that video content boosts customer trust. But to earn this trust, you will need a consistent voice in your content. This is where metadata comes in.

Video metadata can help you reproduce specific settings and environments to produce a similar look in your content. If you are shooting clips over several days that will be part of one complete video, then metadata can tell you about the shutter speed, lighting, or even the resolution of your first clip so you can recreate the same environment to capture your next clips.

Search Ease

Metadata also makes video content easier to find on your website. Say a user is looking for a "how-to" video of a specific product. They are likely to type out some keywords to find the video on your website. The descriptive metadata attached to that video file will make it discoverable to the user.

Content Storage

Much like with users researching content on your website, metadata will make it easy for you to find specific videos in your library. Scrolling through heaps of content is not a fun way to spend the weekend. But with metadata, you could use dates, names of creators or other forms of metadata to find the video you are looking for.

How to Edit Video Metadata

There are two approaches to editing metadata; you can use software or do it manually. The manual approach is easy and you can do it on your computer. Follow these steps (depending on your operating system):

Editing Metadata on Windows:

Step 1: Locate the file whose metadata you want to edit.

Step 2: Right-click on the selected video file and select properties.

Step 3: Under the general tab, edit some basic metadata to your preference.

Step 4: Under the details tab you can edit some advanced metadata.

Step 5: Click the OK button and you are done.

Editing Metadata on Mac:

Step 1: Select the video file you intend to edit.

Step 2: Right-click on the video file and select "Get info".

Step 3: Edit your metadata.

Uses of Metadata

Video metadata is a valuable video content strategy for any business. It will make your videos more discoverable, help you sort and order your files and make it easy for you to maintain a digital asset management system.

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Give us a try and see how we have made professional video hosting accessible to everyone.