Video metadata
Video metadata is the descriptive and technical information attached to a video, such as its title, description, tags, duration, resolution, codec, creation date and captions. Some metadata is added by people, some is read from the file, and some is generated by AI. Metadata makes videos searchable, sortable and easy to manage.
Why it matters
Metadata is what makes a video library usable. It powers search, recommendations, ad targeting, rights checks and SEO. Poor or missing metadata means good videos stay hidden, and tagging thousands of videos by hand is slow and expensive. Tagging a back catalog moves from editors to the FastPix API, which returns chapters, summaries and named entities for each video.
How it works
- Technical metadata, such as duration, resolution and codec, is read from the video file.
- People add descriptive metadata, such as titles, descriptions, tags and categories.
- AI tools can add more by transcribing speech and detecting topics, people and places.
- The metadata is stored with the video in a CMS or database and used by search and apps.
What are the types of video metadata?
Video metadata usually falls into three types: descriptive, technical and administrative. Descriptive metadata explains what the video is about, such as title and tags. Technical metadata describes the file, such as codec and resolution. Administrative metadata covers rights, owners and dates.
How do I see a video's metadata?
You can see basic video metadata in your computer's file properties, such as Get Info on a Mac or Properties on Windows. For full technical detail, tools like FFprobe or MediaInfo list the codec, bitrate, frame rate and every stream in the file. Descriptive metadata, such as tags, usually lives in your CMS or video platform.
Where it's used
OTT services, news publishers and video platforms use metadata such as titles, tags, cast and ratings to power search, recommendations and catalogs, often adding it automatically with AI.
Where it usually goes wrong, and how FastPix handles it
Most libraries have thin metadata: a title and maybe a few tags. Writing detailed descriptions, chapters and tags by hand for thousands of videos rarely happens.
Title, series and content type travel with every view in FastPix Video Data, plus up to ten custom dimensions. Search, recommendations and reports can then run on metadata no one had time to write.
By the numbers
- Google's video structured data requires three properties: name, thumbnailUrl and uploadDate. (Video structured data (Google Search Central))
