Video file tagging
Video library | Video file tagging |
INCOMPLETE: This page or section is incomplete. Please add information or correct uncertain data which is marked with a ? |
Create Video Libraries |
1. The Basics |
2. Source Folder |
3. Movie Setup |
4a. TV Show Setup |
4b. Seasons Setup |
4c. Episodes Setup |
5. Music Videos Setup |
6. Add Source & Scrape |
7. Scraping Problems |
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This page describes an alternative way of adding video files to the library that is not dependent on file names or online scrapers. If you have already named and organized your files using Kodi's naming guidelines, then you can safely ignore this page and go to the next step.
Introduction
Kodi v18- Leia introduces support for Video File Tags using *.mkv and *.mp4 video files. They are similar in principle to the tags saved in Audio files that we are so familiar with, but only limited support is available at this time. This is a very sought after feature for many members.
Note, this is a specialised feature that has been requested by some users. This step is not required to add movies and TV Shows to the library. If you arrived at this page following the guide, you can safely move onto the next section.
mp4 tags are standardized, but only for a rather small subset of the the information kodi can use, see above.. (spiff)
TV Shows are not yet supported.
Why do I want this?
There are multiple reasons why one would want to use this feature: Media may already contain useful metadata (the reverse however is also true - many files contain "junk" metadata, hence why the feature defaults to off). It gives one more control over the metadata than scrapers do (as scrapers may misclassify media and pull the wrong data). It does away with the need to have .nfo files. Since metadata travels with the media file, there is no longer a need for potentially thousands of these smaller files and can make directory management even easier. Using ultra-high resolution Artwork/cover images that looks nicer on newer HD displays.(Pretty pictures!)
How does it change/differ to the old model?
Kodi has two options for metadata import: using an online scraper or using local information, traditionally in the form of .nfo files. local tag reading is bundled into the "Local Information" arm, as logically, metadata is still local (i.e not network-drawn) information. Thus, one can still use a combination of .nfo files and embedded information if they choose "Local Information" rather than to use a scraper.
It is important to note however that .nfo files will override embedded information. Not all of Kodi's NFO features are supported by embedded metadata yet, so many users may wish to still use the NFO method. (https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=326340.
Settings
The Kodi settings has the option to enable or disable the reading of video file tags. The default setting is disabled.
link to settings page here- Settings>Media Settings>Videos>Use video tags
This page assumes this setting has been enabled.
Folder & File Structure
The use of Video File Tags does not absolve you from using the correct Folder and File structure for Movies, TV Shows and Music Videos as detailed in the previous pages. Use the navbox above to locate and read those requirements.
Tagging
These pages are maintained by the community and should not be considered an endorsement or recommendation. * |
Note: User-friendly options for adding and editing embedded metadata may be lacking for your given platform. Be prepared for challenges when going down this path.
Windows
mp3tag is a Windows based metadata editor for many different files types, including MP4 (despite what it's name may suggest). While somewhat complex, it provides very fine-grained control over tagging, and is a worthwhile asset in any media management library.
MetaX is a user friendly tagging solution, However it is proprietary and paid ($10). It features much the same core features as MP3tag, but adds an online search functionality to grab metadata from providers such as iTunes, Amazon and others, as well as an autotag feature. This can be useful to people with enormous media collections where the time saved manually tagging justifies the price.
Mac
- MP4 tagging
- MetaZ is a free and open source metadata lookup and editor for Mac OS.
Linux
A note on iTunes
Apple, in their wisdom, have created a subset of tags that are strictly speaking only meant for use with iTunes. However, most tagging software can read and write these iTunes tags. These tags are also quite useful But will not work with Kodi. Tags include the ability to store Cast (actors), Screenwriter and Director information, as well as age restriction data such as MPAA ratings.
The important point to note here is that just because your tagging software allows you to add these does not mean they will be used. After all, they are unstandardized and were created by Apple solely for use with iTunes and iOS/macOS devices.
Core Tags
While there are an absolute myriad of tags that one can use, many, if not most of these are unnecessary for video files. Remember that MP4 tags have to have fields for everything - TV shows, movies, music videos and Music! We do not want to populate tags related to music (Such as Artist) in a movie file! As such here are some of the most critical tags for video (TV show and Movie) files.
Title
It seems that Kodi will not import a media file without a valid title in the metadata tag. This makes it the most critical tag of all.
Title also differs from Filename - I may have a file called Blade_Runner_2049_(2017)Withalotofexcessinformation.mp4, But the title value can simply be "Blade Runner 2049". Kodi will then display "Blade Runner 2049).
Description
This describes the movie/TV Show. A snippet from iTunes' description of Blade Runner 2049 is as follows: "Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos."
Descriptions thus actually describe the character or basic plot of a movie or TV Show. These will be displayed in Kodi when the file is selected.
Best practice at this point seems to be to mirror the Long Description and Short Description, as there does not seem to be any practical distinction between the two.
When using this tag with TV Shows, every episode can be individually described according to the plot of that particular episode.
Content Type
In MP4 there should be four choices: Music, Music Video, Movie and TV Show. The choice does not seem to matter at this point as Kodi can not distinguish files based on this tag, but rather relies on the manual setting when the directory was added. It might be useful to set this properly when tagging however, as a future change to allow Kodi to distinguish these tags may prove invaluable.
Cover/Picture
Probably the singular greatest benefit to tags is being able to set your own cover image. Don't like the standard cover? Use the collectors Edition or Digital Download cover.
TV Show Specific Tags
There are three more tags that should be filled in for TV Shows: Show, Season and Episode Number. At the moment these tags do not seem to be of any practical use in Kodi, but should nevertheless be filled out as this may change.
Supported Tags
are the tags in this table for both mkv and mp4?
Both MP4 and MKV tags are supported, although they use fundamentally different methods of encoding metadata.
Is it ok to remove the music related tags? Are they separated accurately?
I cannot find these video related tags in mp3tag
To get to all the juicy video file related tags in mp3tag, right click on your video file and select "Extended Tags". From here one can see all the tags currently in a file. Add new ones by clicking on the Add button, selecting a Field (what tag to edit" and entering a value. The most critical one in all cases is TITLE, as it seems Kodi will not add a media file if this core tag is missing (and there is no .nfo file).
This will also allow you to add the cover artwork.
What format is this- id3, APE, Generic, MP4, other?
MP4 files use "moov" atoms embedded within the file. These are the same ones used in AAC audio files (such as m4a).
IMDBURL/TMDBURL is this one tag or two separate tags?
Video File Tags | |||
---|---|---|---|
? | Tag | Type | Description |
-B | -podcast | NUM | Set the podcast flag |
-c | -comment | STR | Set a general comment |
-C | -copyright | STR | Set the copyright information |
-e | -encodedby | STR | Set the name of the person or company who encoded the file |
-E | -tool | STR | Set the software used for encoding |
-g | -genre | STR | Set the genre name |
-G | -grouping | STR | Set the grouping name |
-H | -hdvideo | NUM | Set the HD flag (1\0) |
-i | -type | STR | Set the Media Type(tvshow, movie, music, ...) |
-I | -contentid | NUM | Set the content ID |
-j | -genreid | NUM | Set the genre ID |
-l | -longdesc | STR | Set the long description |
-m | -description | STR | Set the short description |
-M | -episode | NUM | Set the episode number |
-n | -season | NUM | Set the season number |
-N | -network | STR | Set the TV network |
-o | -episodeid | STR | Set the TV episode ID |
-O | -category | STR | Set the category |
-p | -playlistid | NUM | Set the playlist ID |
-P | -picture | PTH | Set the picture as a .png |
-r | -remove | STR | Remove tags by code (e.g. "-r cs" removes the comment and song tags) |
-S | -show | STR | Set the TV show |
-X | -rating | STR | Set the Rating(none, clean, explicit) |
-y | -year | NUM | Set the release date |
-help | Display this help text and exit | ||
-version | Display version information and exit | ||
Music File Tags- TO BE REMOVED FROM LIST? or is it used for Music Videos? | |||
? | Tag | Type | Description |
-A | -album | STR | Set the album title |
-a | -artist | STR | Set the artist information |
-b | -tempo | NUM | Set the tempo (beats per minute) |
-d | -disk | NUM | Set the disk number |
-D | -disks | NUM | Set the number of disks |
-L | -lyrics | NUM | Set the lyrics |
-R | -albumartist | STR | Set the album artist |
-s | -song | STR | Set the song title |
-t | -track | NUM | Set the track number |
-T | -tracks | NUM | Set the number of tracks |
-w | -writer | STR | Set the composer information |
-z | -artistid | NUM | Set the artist ID |
-Z | -composerid | NUM | Set the composer ID |
- for mkv you can add an attachment named kodi-metadata. this is an an embedded .nfo file
- for mkv you can add an attachment named kodi-override-metadata. if combined with specifying IMDB/TMDB url, you get a url nfo. if alone, you get an override nfo
Artwork
For MKV you can have embedded thumbs. currently limited to:
- 'small_cover.png' or 'small_jover.jpg' for thumbnails (as specified on matroska.org)
- 'cover.png' or 'cover.jpg' for posters (as specified on matroska.org)
- 'fanart.png' or 'fanart.jpg' for fanart
MP4 artwork is supported.
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