Add MacOS metadata to files

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Problem

MacOS is capable of exposing some movie-related metadata, but it can’t read the kind Subler adds inside the file. This is a flaw within Finder IMHO, but I don’t expect it will change anytime soon.

Proposed Solution

Add some metadata fields to the file so that MacOS can index that information.

Current Example

Note: I will use an example movie file Movies/Aloha (2015. 1080p).mp4 throughout this issue. This example file has already been processed by Subler and has all the complete and correct metadata.

To view the metadata available to MacOS, which it can display in finder and index with spotlight, run mdls from the command line and see the following result:

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$ mdls Aloha\ \(2015.\ 1080p\).mp4

_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions      = "Aloha (2015. 1080p).mp4"
kMDItemAudioBitRate                    = 93
kMDItemAudioChannelCount               = 2
kMDItemCodecs                          = (
    "H.264",
    AAC
)
kMDItemContentCreationDate             = 2015-09-21 18:13:04 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking     = 2015-09-21 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate         = 2016-07-20 11:54:48 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate_Ranking = 2016-07-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentType                     = "public.mpeg-4"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                 = (
    "public.mpeg-4",
    "public.movie",
    "public.audiovisual-content",
    "public.data",
    "public.item",
    "public.content"
)
kMDItemDateAdded                       = 2018-07-10 12:24:08 +0000
kMDItemDateAdded_Ranking               = 2018-07-10 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                     = "Aloha (2015. 1080p).mp4"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier              = 0
kMDItemDurationSeconds                 = 6278.335
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate             = 2016-07-20 11:54:48 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                  = 2015-09-21 18:13:04 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                   = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                   = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                 = 0
kMDItemFSInvisible                     = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden             = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery                  = 0
kMDItemFSLabel                         = 0
kMDItemFSName                          = "Aloha (2015. 1080p).mp4"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                     = 1763543816
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                  = 99
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                   = 501
kMDItemFSSize                          = 1763543816
kMDItemFSTypeCode                      = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking         = 2016-07-20 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemKind                            = "MPEG-4 movie"
kMDItemLogicalSize                     = 1763543816
kMDItemMediaTypes                      = (
    Video,
    Sound
)
kMDItemPhysicalSize                    = 1763549184
kMDItemPixelHeight                     = 1040
kMDItemPixelWidth                      = 1920
kMDItemStreamable                      = 0
kMDItemTotalBitRate                    = 2242
kMDItemVideoBitRate                    = 2149

And you can see that this corresponds with what appears in Finder’s preview pane (left). The values added by Subler are on the right.

Proposed Metadata Mapping

Metadata can be added to the file using Apple’s Core Spotlight framework. While it is possible to create custom attributes, the framework provides several default attributes for media (linked below) that only need to have mapped values set. Those defaults would likely be sufficient for most users. Here is my proposed mapping:

Subler “Annotation” Meta Key	Core Spotlight Meta Key	Example Value
Release Date \| Copyright (Year only)	Copyright : String? A list of companies or organizations that created the content.	String: 2015
Studio	Organizations : [String]? A list of companies or organizations that created the content.	Array: Columbia Pictures, Vinyl Films, Regency Enterprises, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), RatPac Entertainment, LStar Capital
Cast	Performers : [String]? A list of performers in the media.	Array: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, Danny McBride, Danielle Rose Russell, Edi Gathegi, Jaeden Lieberher, Michael Chernus, Sugar Lyn Beard, Elizabeth Marvel, Ivana Miličević, Kelly Oxford
Producers && Executive Producers (Except the first EP value)	Contributors : [String]? A list of people, organizations, or services that made contributions to the media content.	Array: ~~Eli Bush~~, Ilona Herzberg, Ben Waisbren + Array: Cameron Crowe, Scott Rudin
Executive Producers (First EP only)	Producer : String? The producer of the content	Eli Bush
Genre (First value only)	Genre : String?	Adventure
Director	Director : String?	Cameron Crowe
Description	contentDescription : String?	A celebrated military contractor returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs and re-connects with a long-ago love while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog assigned to him.
Media Kind	Content Type : String?	Movies: kUTTypeMovie TV Shows: kUTTypeAudiovisualContent
Name	Title : String?	Aloha
Composer (First value only)	Composer : String?	Jon Thor

While this mapping is far from perfect (mostly due to representing arrays as strings), it would be a huge improvement over the current options for finding and sorting media within Finder.

Misc

While it is a bit old, at one point OpenMeta was the library often used for handling metadata. I don’t know if the code there is still relevant or useful.

A better maintained project that might also be helpful is MetaZ, although I’ve never used it, so I can’t comment on how good or bad it is.

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Problem

Proposed Solution

Current Example

Proposed Metadata Mapping

Misc

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