While using various applications on set to record and document clip metadata (script or VFX notes), combining the created metadata afterward is handy. ShotHub allows importing metadata entries from a generic CSV file into a Silverstack cloud project based on the metadata.
Most applications offer an option to export a CSV with collected metadata. They can be easily adapted to the CSV template that can be used to import additional metadata into the Silverstack cloud project. Values should be separated by “,” and “;”. A sample CSV file can be downloaded within ShotHub or here: sample-metadata.csv
Here is is the list of importable metadata fields (sorted by Silvertack metadata groups):
| Metadata Field | Group | Description | Sample |
| Camera | Slate Info | Camera index letter or number | A |
| Season | Slate Info | Season | S8 |
| Episode | Slate Info | Episode | E13 |
| Scene | Slate Info | Scene | 3B |
| Shot | Slate Info | Shot | 1 |
| Take | Slate Info | Take | 2 |
| Int/Ext | Slate Info | Interior/Exterior | Outside |
| Day/Night | Slate Info | Day/Night | Early Day |
| Caption | User/QC Info | Caption | Happy Birthday |
| Flag/Circled | User/QC Info | Flag/Circled | X |
| Comment | User/QC Info | Comment or Notes | Cup visible |
| Shot Descriptors | User/QC Info | Shot Descriptors | Table close |
| Reel/Tape | User/QC Info | Reel/Tape | A003R2VJ |
| Custom 1 | User/QC Info | Custom 1 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | script note |
| Custom 2 | User/QC Info | Custom 2 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | vfx shot |
| Custom 3 | User/QC Info | Custom 3 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | lens heigth |
| Custom 4 | User/QC Info | Custom 4 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | additional info |
| Custom 5 | User/QC Info | Custom 5 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | qc info |
| Custom 6 | User/QC Info | Custom 6 (customizable in Silverstack desktop application) | custom note |
| EI/ISO (clip) | User/QC Info | Exposure Index, ISO, or ASA value from clip | 800 |
| WB (clip) | Exposure Info | White Balance or Whitepoint | 3200 or 3200 K |
| Tint (clip) | Exposure Info | Tint | 0 |
| Shutter | Exposure Info | Shutter | 1/50s |
| ND Filter | Exposure Info | ND Filter | 3.0 |
| Distance to Object | Exposure Info | Distance to Object/Subject | 9 or 9m |
| Camera Orientation | Lens Info | Camera Orientation | close |
| Lens Model | Lens Info | Lens Model | Prime |
| Focal Length | Lens Info | Focal Length | 200 |
| T-Stop | Lens Info | T-Stop | 5.6 7/10 |
| F-Stop | Lens Info | F-Stop | 1.8 |
| Focus Distance | Lens Info | Focus Distance | 10.0 |
| Lens Filter | Lens Info | Lens Filter | none |
| Director | Production | Director | Jane Doe |
| Production | Production | Production | So-and-so |
| Producer | Production | Producer | Alice |
| Cinematographer | Production | Cinematographer | Bob |
| Camera Assistant | Production | Camera Assistant | Chris |
| Camera Assistant (2nd) | Production | Camera Assistant (2nd) | Doug |
| DIT | Production | DIT | Peter |
| Data Manager | Production | Data Manager | James |
| Script Supervisor | Production | Script Supervisor | Harriet |
| Sound Mixer | Production | Sound Mixer | Kate |
| Shooting Day | Production | Shooting Day | 1 or Day01 |
| Crew Unit | Production | Crew Unit | 2 |
| Location | Production | Location | Los Angeles |
| Actors | Production | Actors | Tom, Dick and Harry |
| Copyright Information | Production | Copyright Information | Pomfort |
Import Metadata from a CSV file
The following steps are necessary to import metadata entries from a CSV file into a Silverstack cloud project:
- Open a Silverstack cloud project and select a bin or folder in the folder outline on the left containing the clips that should get additional metadata. Then open the dropdown menu in the upper right corner of the table view to choose “Import from Livegrade project…”
- Now you can upload a CSV file with the corresponding metadata (or download the sample file to adapt your CSV file if necessary).
- In the next step, you can choose which metadata is the criteria to match the metadata from the shots in the Livegrade project to the clips in the Silverstack clip library. You can choose between different matching criteria:
- Match by Episode, Scene, Shot, Take: This criterion will match the metadata entries by the episode, scene, shot and take metadata values. The metadata entry will match with a clip if the metadata for the episode, scene, shot, or take is equal.
- Match by Clip Name: This criterion matches the metadata entries by Clip Name. The Clip Name of the shot in the Livegrade cloud project should be equal to the Clip Name in the Silverstack cloud project.Depending on the matching criteria, the table shows you the matches so that you can select which clip metadata should be updated or select one clip in case there are multiple matches.
- Continue to see a preview of all clips and their metadata fields that will be updated depending on your selection:
- (1) Import: You can deselect certain metadata categories you do not want to be imported. The tooltip of the label shows the concrete metadata fields included within each category.
- Slate Info: Camera, Season, Episode, Scene, Shot, Take, Reel Name, Int/Ext, Day/Night,
- User/QC Info: Flag, Rating, Comment, Caption, Custom 1-6, Shot Descriptors
- Exposure Info: EI/ISO (ASA), White Balance, Tint, ND Filter, Distance to Object
- Lens Info: Lens Model, Focal Length, T-Stop, Focus Distance, Filter
- Production: Shooting Day, Crew Unit, Location, Director, Production, Producer, Cinematographer, Camera Assistant, Camera Assistant (2nd), DIT, Data Manager, Script Supervisor, Sound Mixer, Actors, Copyright Information
- (2) Insert / Update Behavior: Insert if empty only fills metadata in the Silverstack cloud project if it is not set and prevents metadata from being overwritten. Overwrite forces the metadata from the imported metadata entry to be written in the respective Silverstack metadata field.
- (3) Show Clips filter buttons: Filter the preview table
- Unchanged – show only clips that are not changed by the import
- Conflicts – show only clips with metadata that is overwritten by import
- Changes – show clips with metadata that is overwritten by import or that get additional metadata
- All – show all clips that were matched in the previous wizard step
- (4) Original button: Toggle display of values in the table to show value after/before import
- (5) State indicator:
- Grey – no changes to the metadata of this clip
- Red – metadata in this clip is overwritten
- Blue – new metadata is added to this clip (but no metadata overwritten)
- White – original metadata is displayed
- (6) Preview of metadata fields after import:
- Grey – value not changed
- Red – original value is overwritten
- Blue – value is added (no original value)
- (1) Import: You can deselect certain metadata categories you do not want to be imported. The tooltip of the label shows the concrete metadata fields included within each category.
Changes to the Import Options and the Insert/Update Behaviour (on the left side) are displayed instantly in the preview table.
- With “Finish,” your selection will be applied, and the metadata fields of the matched clips will be updated according to the settings in the preview table. You can immediately see the updated metadata information in the Silverstack cloud project.
NOTE: Updating the metadata of clips in a Silverstack cloud project will also affect the metadata in the connected Silverstack project as the metadata is “synced” so that all connected Silverstack desktop applications. That way, updating metadata is possible via a web browser without accessing the desktop application. For more information about the option to sync the clip library across multiple instances, go to Sync Clip Library.
To learn how to import metadata from a Livegrade cloud project into the Silverstack project, please refer to this article: Import Metadata from Livegrade Project.