As of 10.4.3, Spotlight indexes only a few QuickTime video annotations, which I use to add metadata to videos downloaded from Crooks and Liars and vlogs accessed through DTV. Relocating videos is easier when they have structured metadata that is indexed and searchable.
The below table does not include every annotation available and many of the generic metadata mappings are suggestions based on the descriptions of existing kMD mappings. The new QuickTime metadata format documentation explicitly names a few mappings; the rest are based on the syntax.
| Annotation | Indexed | Generic Metadata Mapping | New QuickTime Metadata Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title (Full Name) | Yes | kMDItemTitle | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDisplayName |
| Copyright | Yes | kMDItemCopyright | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyCopyright |
| Comment | Yes | kMDItemComment | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyComment |
| Author | Yes | kMDItemAuthors | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAuthor |
| Description | Yes | kMDItemDescription | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDescription |
| Keywords | No | kMDItemKeywords | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyKeywords |
| Producer | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyProducer | |
| URL Link | No | kMDItemWhereFroms | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyURLLink |
| Performers | No | kMDItemContributors | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyPerformers |
| Director | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDirector | |
| Writer | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyWriter | |
| Artist | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyArtist | |
| Album | No | kMDItemAlbum | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAlbum |
| Genre | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyGenre | |
| Composer | No | kMDItemComposer | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyComposer |
| Encoded By | No | kMDItemEncodingApplications | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyEncodedBy |
| Warning | No | kMDItemInstructions | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyWarning |
| Information | No | kMDItemRights | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyInformation |
| Software | No | kMDItemCreator | kQTMetaDataCommonKeySoftware |
| Make | No | kMDItemAcquisitionMake | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAcquisitionMake |
| Model | No | kMDItemAcquisitionModel | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAcquisitionModel |
| Original Source | No | kQTMetaDataCommonKeyOriginalSource |
A few related thoughts
- I believe Apple will release a real video manager sometime in the near future. iTunes is my preferred music manager, but it is a lousy video manager.
- A video manager that would handle television show episodes and feature films would need a more flexible metadata infrastructure than the old QuickTime annotation system, hence the extensible system introduced with QuickTime 7.
- Download distribution rights for all of Pixar’s feature films are probably part of Jobs’ negotiations with Disney. They’ve already been (more than) amortized, so why not sell them through the online video store for four or five dollars? Pixar, Apple, and Disney all get a cut and Apple gets some quality content to launch feature film sales.
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