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General

Media Center helps you manage, organize and view your files by maintaining a collection of properties on a per-file basis. Each file managed by Media Center belongs to a particular media type (eg. audio, video, image), and each media type has a predefined set of properties available and valid for use.

Examples of file properties are Artist, Album and Genre for audio files, Actor, Director, and Aspect Ratio for movies, and Width, Height and Focal Length for images.

Initially, a file's properties are imported when the file is imported, or created when the file is created by Media Center (eg. when ripping a CD or DVD). Typically, this data comes from a file's internal metadata (commonly referred to as tags), or is looked up from external databases. In addition, several library tools are available to assist in creating or modifying properties.

Media Center can also save a file's properties to the internal metadata within the physical file itself. These tags are then available for use by other programs that support the specific file types. The tags supported by a given file type are file type-specific, but there is often commonality or overlap in various media or file formats. Media Center helps manage this by automatically mapping essentially similar tags with different names into a standard set of properties.

In addition, Media Center allows creation of an almost limitless number of custom (or user) properties. This allows for managing information about files that is not predefined by Media Center or by a given format's standard tags. These custom properties may also be saved to a file's tags, should the format support user-defined or extensible tags.

Saving file properties to the physical file allows tags to be re-imported by Media Center, and used by other programs on a variety of systems. While typical metadata consumes a trivial amount of extra disk storage (relative to the file's size), larger metadata such as cover art, lyrics or extensive notes may be more noticeable, especially when files are exported to smaller devices such as handhelds. See Save File Properties in Disk Files for more information.

The table below shows the standard default properties available in Media Center. File properties are listed and managed under:

 Tools > Options... > Library & Folders > Manage Library Fields...

Note here that properties are called fields. This is primarily a technical and pedantic distinction. The terms properties, fields, and tags become synonymous in common language, but do nonetheless maintain distinct meanings. It might help to think of a spreadsheet, where column headers are fields, rows are files, and a row of individual cell values are the file's properties. If each row were saved to an external file, the row's cells would be called tags.

As briefly mentioned above, properties help manage and organize related files. They can also be searched. In all of these, either directly or indirectly, one or more library fields is used in the construction.

Field Specifications

In the following table of standard default fields, rows list the available fields, and columns indicate how the field is particularly defined and give a brief explanation and/or additional links or information regarding the field.

Each field:

  • Has a standard, unchangeable name
  • Has a display name and its plural version (not currently shown in table)
  • Is valid for the specified media/file types
    • Audio, Image, Video, Data, TV
  • Stores a particular type of data, or may be automatically calculated via expression
    • String, Integer, Decimal, Percentage, List, Date, Unknown
  • Has rules about its editability
    • Standard, Clear-only, Large, Not editable, File, 5 Star, Calculated, Editable, Calculated, Not editable
  • May have a list of acceptable values
  • May be stored in file tags (when possible)
  • May be searched when performing search queries, via the specified keyword(s) (not currently shown in table)
  • May or may not be relational (no default fields are currently relational)
  • May be hidden from normal view/usage (field names in italics)

(TBD: in the source code, fields are grouped by certain categories (eg. statistics). are these useful to show?)

Predefined Fields

 Field Media
Types
 S 
t
o
r
e
d
 S 
e
a
r
c
h
Description
 Access Rating  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Specifies the access rating when access control is in effect.

See also: Access Control

 Actors      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of a movie's actors.

 Album  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

The name of the album.

 Album Artist  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Designates the artist to use for compilation albums.

See also: Album Artist and Album Artist (Auto)

 Album Artist (auto)  A                Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Automatically calculated based on the contents of an album's Artist tracks.

Expression: AlbumArtist()

See also: Album Artist and Album Artist (Auto)

 Album Gain  A                Data Type: DecimalEdit Type: Clear-only

Automatically calculated gain for an album, based on Replay Gain.

See also: Album Gain

 Album Type  A                Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

Automatically calculated value indicating if the album has a single artist or multiple artists, and if the album is complete.

Expression: AlbumType()

See also: Multiple Artist Albums#Complete Albums

 Altitude    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Camera's GPS altitude when photo was taken.

See also: Photo Tagging

 Aperture    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Camera's aperture setting used to create the photo.

See also: Photo Tagging

 Artist  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Track artist, or movie's director.

See also: Album Artist and Album Artist (Auto), YADB

 Artist - Album (Year)  A                Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

Automatically calculated field used for album grouping.

Expression: Clean([Artist] - [Album] /([FormatDate([Date, 0), Year)/))

 Aspect Ratio      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Video aspect ratio.

 Audio Analysis Info  A                Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Automatically calculated data created and used by audio analysis engine.

See also: Audio Settings and Analysis, Analyze Audio

 Author        D          Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of a document's authors.

 Band  A           ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Designates a track's band.

 Bios  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Large

Musician or group biography. (Musicmatch)

 Bit Depth  A   V            Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Audio / video bit depth.

 Bitrate  A   V          ✓ Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Audio / video bitrate, in bits per second (bps).

 Bookmark  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Clear-only

Specifies the bookmark location for resumption of playback.

 BPM  A           ✓    Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Standard

Beats-per-minute, calculated automaticaly during audio analysis.

 Budget      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

A movie's reported budget.

 Camera    I            ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Camera EXIF tag.

See also: Photo Tagging

 Caption    I         ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

An image's caption.

 Catalog #  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard
      • TBD***
 Category Image Category    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable
      • TBD***
 Channels  A   V            Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Number of playback channels

 Cinematographer      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A movie's cinematographer.

 Comment  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

A general use comment field.

 Complete Album  A                Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Indicates if an album is a complete album.

See also: Multiple Artist Albums#Complete Albums

 Composer  A           ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

The composer of a piece or work, typically used with classical music.

 Compression  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

The compression type and scheme used for compressed audio/video.

 Conductor  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

The conductor of a piece or work, typically used with classical music.

 Copyright  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Media copyright information.

 Country  A I V D T        Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of countries relevant to the media.

 Credits      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of movie credits.

 Custom  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

General use custom field.

 Custom 1  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

General use custom field (may not exist).

 Custom 2  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

General use custom field (may not exist).

 Custom 3  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

General use custom field (may not exist).

 Date  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: DateEdit Type: Standard

General date of media.

 Date (filename friendly)  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

A version of Date that has been cleaned for use in filenames.

Expression: FormateDate(Filename)

 Date Created  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

A file's creation date/time as reported by the system.

 Date Imported  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

The date the media was imported into the MC / MJ database.

See also: [1]

 Date Modified  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

A file's modification date/time, as reported by the system.

 Date Recorded      V   T   ✓    Data Type: DateEdit Type: Standard

The date/time of a video recording.

 Day  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Day segment of Date.

Expression: FormatDate(Day)&DataType=[Number]

 Description  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Large

A general description of the media.

 Dimensions    I V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

Automatically calculated image/video dimensions.

Expression: Clean([Width] x [Height])

 Direction    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Camera's directional heading when photo was taken.

See also: Photo Tagging

 Director      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of a movie's directors.

 Disc #  A   V       ✓  ✓ Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Standard

The disc number, for multi-disc audio or video sets.

See also: Multidisc Albums

 Distributor      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

A semicolon-separated list of a movie's distrubutors.

 DLNA Server Info  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Internal information for the MC DLNA server.

 Duration  A   V            Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

The duration of an audio / video track.

 DVD Video Info      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Internal information used for a DVD.

 Edit Info    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Internal information used for image editting.

 Editor      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

The editor used to capture/create a video.

 Encoding Settings  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Episode      V   T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Episode URL  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Events  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Feed URL  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 File Size  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 File Type  A I V D T      ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Filename  A I V D T      ✓ Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: File

Description

 Filename (name)  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Description

Expression: FileName()

 Filename (path)  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Description

Expression: FilePath()&DataType[Path]

 Flash    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

See also: Photo Tagging

 Flickr Info    I V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Focal Length    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

See also: Photo Tagging

 FPS      V            Data Type: DecimalEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Genre  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Genre of media.

See also: YADB

 Get Cover Art Info  A   V D          Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Gross Revenue      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Grouping  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Height    I V            Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Image File  A   V       ✓    Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Instrument  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Intensity  A           ✓    Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Standard

Description
Values: 1;2;3;4;5

 ISO    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

See also: Photo Tagging

 Keywords  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Language  A I V D T        Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Last Played  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

 Last Skipped  A I V D T        Data Type: UnknownEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

 Latitude    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Library Server Info  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Library Server Key  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Library Server URL  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Longitude    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Lyricist  A   V       ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Lyrics  A   V       ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Large

Description

 Media Sub Type  A I V D T      ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description
Values: Adult;Audiobook;Home Video;Karaoke;Movie;Music Video;Other;Podcast;Radio;Remix;Short;Single;TV Show

 Media Type  A I V D T      ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description
Values: Audio;Image;Video;TV;Data;Playlist

 Mix Album  A           ✓    Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Month  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Month segment of Date.

Expression: FormatDate(Month)&DataType=[Month]

 Mood  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description (Musicmatch)

 MPAA Rating      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 MPAA Rating Description      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Music By      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Name  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Notes  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Large

Description

 Number Plays  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

See also: Changing the number of plays

 Orchestra  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Original Title  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Peak Level  A           ✓    Data Type: PercentageEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

 People  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Period  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Places  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Playback Channel Key          T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Playback Device          T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Playback Info  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Playback Range  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Defines the playback range for A-B repeat.

See also: [2]

 Preference  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description (Musicmatch)

 Prequel      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Producer  A I V D T        Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Protection Type  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Publisher  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Rating  A I V D T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: 5 Star

Description

 Read Only  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Recording Rule ID          T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Removable  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

Description

Expression: IsRemovable()

 Replay Gain  A           ✓    Data Type: DecimalEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

See also: Replay Gain, Album Gain

 Rotation    I              Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Sample Rate  A   V            Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Screenwriter      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Season      V   T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Sequel      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Series      V   T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Series Description      V   T   ✓  ✓ Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Shutter Speed    I              Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

See also: Photo Tagging

 Situation  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description (Musicmatch)

 Skip Count  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Clear-only

Description

 Soloists  A           ✓    Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Stack Conversion Type  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Stack Files  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Stack Tag  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Stack Top  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Stack View  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Album ID  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Album Popularity  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Amg Album Review  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Amg Artist Bio  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Artist ID  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Artist Popularity  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Asset Code  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Assosciated Video ID  A I V D T        Data Type: ListEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Available Asset  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Download Date  A I V D T        Data Type: DateEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Genre ID  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: License Count  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: License Reissue Count  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: MP3 Available  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: MusicNet File GUID  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: New Release  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Number of Tracks  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Playlist Description  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Playlist Guid  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Playlist Image  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Playlist Name  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Playlist Type  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Purchase Date  A I V D T        Data Type: DateEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Purchase Description  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Ranking  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Similar Artists  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Store Name  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Store Field: Track ID  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Studios      V            Data Type: ListEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Style  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Tag Line      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Tempo  A           ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description (Musicmatch)

 Text        D          Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Thumbnail Info  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Thumbnail Info (Local)  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Thumbnail Offset Large  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Thumbnail Offset Medium  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Thumbnail Offset Small  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Track #  A           ✓  ✓ Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Standard

Description

 TV Channel          T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 TV Channel Number          T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 TV Tuner Input Type          T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 TV XMLTV ID          T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 UPC  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Usage Reporting Info  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Use Bookmarking  A   V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description
Values: Default;Yes;No

 Video Standard      V            Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Volume Name  A I V D T        Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

Expression: FileVolume()

 Web Media Info  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Web Media Search  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Web Media URL  A I V D T   ✓    Data Type: StringEdit Type: Standard

Description

 Width    I V            Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Not editable

Description

 Year  A I V D T        Data Type: IntegerEdit Type: Calculated, Editable

Year segment of Date.

Expression: FormatDate(Year)&DataType=[Number]

See also: YADB

 Year - Album  A                Data Type: StringEdit Type: Calculated, Not editable

Description

Expression: Clean(FormatDate([Date, ], Year) - [Album])

Custom Fields

Custom fields may be added with the Add New Field button in the Tools > Options > Libraries & Folders > Manage Library Fields... dialog.

Tag Import Options

Media Center provides a few options for the importation of tags for some file types. These options are available via Plug-in Manager > Input for the given file type. Select the Configure button for a given type, if available.

For images and video, Media Center will fill in the Album field with the year of the image or video (if the album field is otherwise empty). This puts a reasonable value there when importing directly from a digital camera. (TBD - should this be moved? Is it comprehensive wrt other types/fields?)

Classical Music

The tagging of classical music is unfortunately more complex and standards are lax. See Tagging Classical Music.

Photos

For more comprehensive information on tagging photos, see Photo Tagging.

More


For more information on tag/metadata specifications for file formats, refer to the following external websites:

  • mp3: [3]
  • Vorbis/FLAC: [4]
  • exif: ...
  • jpg: ...
  • ...