Is there any way that Vista Media Center, or Windows 7 Media Center could add metadata to a video file in whatever format, perhaps through some file wrapper or a database, so that I can sort the file in Windows and in the Media Center, like I already do with mp3s?



James

*bump*

Most video containers (avi for instance) don't hold any usable metadata. WTV & DVR-MS do; but, the VMC interface still doesn't allow for it. Which leaves you two options... 1) Third party apps like Video Browser or MyMovies -or- 2) Arrange your videos on your PC in a sorted folder structure that meets your needs. Example in your My Videos folder create sub folders. I have "Home Videos", "Movies", & "TV Shows" and in my "Movies" it's broken down by MPAA rating. THEN, each movie has it's own folder. So, I end up with "My Videos\Movies\Rated G\Cars\Cars.avi" as an example.

A 3rd option which will give you 'some' amount of sorting would be to enable the DVD Library in the registry, convert all your videos to proper DVD structured VIDEO_TS folders & then you can have them all in your DVD Library. Though, this is a real pain if you've already spent the time to rip them from DVD to AVI/MKV!

With support for outputting my MKVs to WTV files, I'd really love to explore the option of creating/editing the metadata in my newly generated WTV files so I can move away from a mixture of 3rd party solutions and more cleanly organize my online movie collection. While WTV does support metadata -- obviously -- I haven't seen a program that can easily edit it. Anyone? UPDATE: Sorry, after some more looking (a website wasn't coming back -- DNS problem) that looked like it had the answer... looks like DVRMS metadata editor will do nicely.

Ummm, .. this seems to be a DVR-MS file metadata editor written over 4 years ago before .WTV files.  Does it work with the newer .wtv files, or did (or do) you have to convert them back to .dvr-ms first?

Update:  well, I answered my own question by trying the editor on some .wtv files.  To my surprise, it seems to work just fine on them with no noticeable side-effects.  However, unless you need to get to some really obscure metadata fields, many of them can be edited directly in the windows file browser (usually the bottom preview/details pane area, and sometimes the properties dialog box).

 

heres a powershell script that pulls metadata from wtv files and renames them using it, so when you   use mce buddy to convert to avi or mp4, you can have meaningfull filenames.

/code

## metaname.ps1 ##
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile("C:\Toub.MediaCenter.Dvrms.dll")
$source="e:\recorded tv"
$target="e:\recorded tv"
foreach ($file in gci "$source\*.wtv") {
    $wtv = New-Object Toub.Mediacenter.Dvrms.Metadata.DvrmsMetadataEditor($file)
    $attrlist = $wtv.GetAttributes()
    $t = $attrlist["Title"].value -replace(":","-")
    $s = $attrlist["WM/SubTitle"].value -replace(":","-")
    $d = $attrlist["WM/SubTitleDescription"].value -replace(":","-")
    write-host "$file"
    write-host "$t-$s-$d.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-$d.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s.wtv"
   
}

 

/code

if you want to copy instead of move/rename, change the move to a copy.its there twice in case the description makes the filename too long and the first move fails. if the first move succeeds, the second fails, so dont worry about it.

just edit the source and target vars. and then make a task with "powershell c:\metaname.ps1" (assuming you put it in c:\

the dll you get from the dvrms toolbox site.

 

 /code

## metaname.ps1 ##
# get the Toub.MediaCenter.Dvrms.dll from the dvrms toolkit site and save in in c:\
# if you save it somewhere else, change the path below
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile("C:\Toub.MediaCenter.Dvrms.dll")

# set the vars below to fit your situation
$source="e:\recorded tv"
$target="e:\recorded tv"

# this loop gets the Title, Subtitle, and Description from each wtv file and renames it
foreach ($file in gci "$source\*.wtv") {
    $wtv = New-Object Toub.Mediacenter.Dvrms.Metadata.DvrmsMetadataEditor($file)
    $attrlist = $wtv.GetAttributes()

# you can add or remove other metadata as you see fit
    $t = $attrlist["Title"].value -replace(":","-")
    $s = $attrlist["WM/SubTitle"].value -replace(":","-")
    $d = $attrlist["WM/SubTitleDescription"].value -replace(":","-")

# the multiple moves below handle cases of duplicates and long descriptions, only one will actually work.
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-$d.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-$d-2.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-$d-3.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-2.wtv"
    move "$file" "$target\$t-$s-3.wtv"
}

 

/code

this is a little clearer

make powershell run in remotesigned mode by typing "powershell Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned" at the start bar

you may have to run powershell as administrator to the above command to work

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

TheOsburnFamil

Most video containers (avi for instance) don't hold any usable metadata.

 

That is not true. AVI certainly can hold at least two types of metadata: "native" INFO LIST and XMP. abcavi Tag Editor supports the first and Metadata Touch supports both.

Dugso

TheOsburnFamil

Most video containers (avi for instance) don't hold any usable metadata.

 

That is not true. AVI certainly can hold at least two types of metadata: "native" INFO LIST and XMP. abcavi Tag Editor supports the first and Metadata Touch supports both.

Dugso, I was referring to usable metadata for sorting purpose as it related to the OP.  Virtually anything can hold metadata--it's just using it that it becomes problematic.  Sorry for the confusion.