MKV Tagging/Video Manager...GUI [Archive]

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nasair

11th November 2012, 05:31

I've looked all over and tried a few different solutions. What I want is a GUI based video tagger...specifically the more formats the better but MKV, MP4, and AVI are very important. I'd like something that I could also search after I've added tags to my videos so I can find them again, and it would be preferred that the data is written to the files directly. I know windows has some of this functionality but it is a slow process when you want to add lots of different tags for lots of videos. I want to add people's names to home videos and some extra information...think Picasa, or Shotwell, or Adobe Bridge but for videos. Putting the tags and information in the file name would both be slow and not useful as some names would become too long to make transfers and such easy. I've determined that if the program won't save the data to the file, which is preferred, than it is very important that the program can recognize if a file has moved or renamed. If it doesn't I'll lose tag data, which would be a waste of time.

Some examples of programs I've tried that do let me edit tags in at least some formats but either won't let me save the data to the file or search tags are:
avidemux and mkvmerg. mkvtomp4

I don't mind if it is Linux or Windows based as I use both.
I'd like if someone could offer something they've actually used and not just a link, but I'll take what I can get.

jfcarbel

21st September 2013, 08:25

These are top options I have found over years of research. Order ranked higher if support MP4 and MKV and if can pull metadata from sources like tmdb, etc.

1) MetaX (http://www.danhinsley.com/metax/metax.html) (MP4, MKV and others) - Not free, 10 USD

2) Mp3tag (https://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html) (MP4, MKV - added in v2.85, but Matroska covers not yet supported)

3) MKV & MP4 Video Manager (https://www.3delite.hu/Object%20Pascal%20Developer%20Resources/VideoManager.html) (MP4, MKV) - Not free, 25 EURO

4) chapterEditor (https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=169984) (MKV only)

5) MKVBuddy (http://htpc-tools.de/en/mkv-buddy-en/) (MKV only)

6) JMkvpropedit (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=163753) (MKV only. Also does not support searching any online sources to auto fill. You must manually enter all the data)

7) Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate (http://www.wondershare.com/convert-video-audio/add-metadata-to-mkv.html) (MKV, MP4)
Searches online sources for data. I have not looked at this program personally so I cannot vouch for its reliability but perhaps someone else can comment on that.

With MKVTagger there are plugins in Media Portal 2 that support the tags it writes to the video files and I assume this works with its search function (i.e. find all movies with Genre of Drama)
Kodi (https://kodi.wiki/view/Video_file_tagging) also looks to now support tags in video file metadata.

And this is a good article on the topic (http://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre/adding-movie-information-metadata-to-mp4-m4v/) as well.

MetaX looks to be the best to support all formats, but its not free, but for a measly $10 its a deal for what it can do. But options 2-4 are also good and worth exploring to see what works best.
Mp3tag developer seems quite active and working on new MKV features, hopefully covers are supported soon as I believe its on the TODO list.

iTag (http://www.itagsoftware.com/index.php) - Is an interesting tagging app but looks to only support MP4 and only the keyword metadata but does allow searches on your machine for files with these keywords.

karenstevens

7th October 2013, 10:23

Thanks jfcarbel! It was helpful!

low t (http://become-the-alpha-male.com/blog/do-you-have-these-low-testosterone-symptoms/)

jfcarbel

8th October 2013, 01:48

tabbles (http://tabbles.net/) is also another interesting choice, but I don't think its been updated recently. And as I mention below, I would not be surprised to see a feature like this added to the OS possibly in the next release.

It should be noted that Apple's recent OS release has added tagging into the OS file system that works with its built in search tools. Why it is taking Microsoft so long to have done that as well is beyond me. Perhaps as always Microsoft will follow others lead and add it. I have not heard what might be coming in Windows 9 since 8.1 was just so recently released and with Ballmer leaving I not sure they know what they are doing next.

I think MkvToMp4 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=163050) is a really nice tagging program for video and author seems dedicated to keep updating it. What is really needed is an OS level tool in Windows that indexes file metadata and keeps track when files are moved and provides search tools on that metadata.

nasair

11th November 2013, 16:30

nasair

17th July 2014, 17:35

I forgot I posted this, because I was actually searching for a better way to view MKV tags, such as MP3 tags are seen in itunes or most mp3 managers. I was hoping to find some program that lets you view MKV tags, and search them...any ideas?

And an update > MetaX (MP4, MKV and others) is great, and MKVTagger (MKV only) works well when dealing with MKV only files.

SeeMoreDigital

17th July 2014, 18:16

And an update > MetaX (MP4, MKV and others) is great, and MKVTagger (MKV only) works well when dealing with MKV only files.I don't think so...

MetaX is only $9.95! Download it today and try it out. Unregistered versions can tag up to 5 files, after that you'll need to register. Use the Buy Now button to get your username and registration code.

nasair

17th July 2014, 20:00

I don't think so...

Care to explain your opinion beyond it costs money? I want to know what I'm missing.
Also, do you know any media managers like rhythmbox, itunes, etc...that can read MKV tags and search them? I'm having a problem finding one. I would prefer it writes tags too but as I mentioned I've found two solutions for that.

jfcarbel

18th July 2014, 07:29

This is an interesting approach TagSpaces (http://www.tagspaces.org/)in which your tags are just part of filename. Thus any file type can be tagged and moving files is not an issue and the tags are thus portable. Searching is nothing more then using windows search.

nasair

18th July 2014, 18:17

Tagspaces is very interesting. Thank you for suggesting it. I like all of the cross platform support. I also like that it is open source.
The add-ons for Firefox and Chrome don't work well in Linux but I used their Ubuntu based Linux install in Mint without a problem.
Only note I would make to anyone that tries the program is make sure to set your Tag Delimiter and Prefix for the tag container before adding any tags (under Experimental Options). If you set it after sometimes it won't update files names if you had a perivious setting for those.
I like it a lot...I'm just thinking about how many tags I might actually use for some files because of character limits.
Although NTFS or FAT32 file systems can support filenames up to 255 characters (Linux can do more and I believe more recent Windows can as well, i.e. Windows Vista and up) but some programs or clients can have probelms with character length. I know 255 might seem like a lot but that includes the directory/path. I have run into a problem with some of my MP3's filename legnth (mostly audio books) being an issue when trying to copy them to a Windows drive. What happens is I have to put it on C and then later I can move it to the correct directory.
I think for now I'm going to give this a longer test to see if it will fit my needs. Thank you jfcarbel for the suggestion.

jfcarbel

30th April 2015, 18:59

nasair

30th April 2015, 19:43

Added a #4 tool to my original post above. Anyone have any experience using Wondershare? I will try to look at it this weekend.

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate (http://www.wondershare.com/convert-video-audio/add-metadata-to-mkv.html) (MKV, MP4)
Searches online sources for data. I have not looked at this program personally so I cannot vouch for its reliability but perhaps someone else can comment on that.

I also added an article link to Tweaking4All (http://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre/adding-movie-information-metadata-to-mp4-m4v/) that indicates that VLC's media tab also supports add/edit metadata.

For your #2 you should put MKVBuddy as MKVTagger isn't supported anymore (http://htpc-tools.de/en/mkv-buddy-en/) But this still wouldn't really help me with my family/personal video collection, as I don't need anything for Movies or TV shows and I need to be able to search the tags, but I don't want one program I'm locked into, ie Adobe Bridge or the like, because I want it to be cross platform and at least potentially cross program.

I haven't tried Wondershare, but look forward to your feedback.

jfcarbel

30th April 2015, 20:55

Thanks I will make the edits.

Are you still using tagSpaces? Seems to fit your need.

nasair

30th April 2015, 21:10

Thanks I will make the edits.

Are you still using tagSpaces? Seems to fit your need.

No, Tag space was little clunky [slow (might be fixed by now)], but I tried for a few weeks but found I didn't like the interface and it had the same drawback of adobe bridge...I'd be SOL if they stopped development or (in the case of bridge) I didn't want to keep paying for new versions. The last point wasn't as big of a deal since I believe in supporting developers.

jfcarbel

25th June 2015, 23:20

SeeMoreDigital

26th June 2015, 11:21

Perhaps we can continue to ask developer to support MKV. He added MP4 support so maybe there is hope.What a great idea ;)

nasair

26th June 2015, 16:36

I have been using MP4 quite a bit lately versus MKV. So thought as footnote here that Mp3tag supports MP4 video tagging (http://forums.mp3tag.de/index.php?showtopic=8669)and even has imdb script (http://forums.mp3tag.de/index.php?showtopic=10513) to pull in attribute values.

Perhaps we can continue to ask developer to support MKV. He added MP4 support so maybe there is hope.

Wow, didn't know about the IMDB script. I use MP3Tag a lot for my music collection. Maybe I'll just convert everything to MP4! Thanks for the tip. I'd been using DigiKam which writes tags to a lot of stuff, and for what it doesn't you can have it export an xml file (I think there is also an option to export it another way too but can't remember) with your tags as a backup. I also like DigiKam because it is completely cross-platform and open source, and free!
https://www.digikam.org

I emailed the creator of MP3Tag to ask if he planned to add MKV support at any point as well. I'll let you know if he (assuming from the name) responds.

Chetwood

27th June 2015, 06:22

My reason to stick with MKV is DTS-MA and PGS subs. No dice in MP4s.

hello_hello

27th June 2015, 17:31

I emailed the creator of MP3Tag to ask if he planned to add MKV support at any point as well. I'll let you know if he (assuming from the name) responds.

Foobar2000 seems to tag MKV and MKA files successfully, although I've not used it much for that myself so I can't tell you what it will or won't do.

There's also a component for foobar2000 called TagBox (http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_tagbox) I've been meaning to play with for a while. It's fairly configurable and looks promising.
TagBox might look something like this running in the foobar2000 GUI, or you can right click on files in a playlist and open TagBox in it's own window.

http://s8.postimg.org/ng7zv2erp/Tag_Box.gif

Or maybe one of the other tagging components (such as Masstagger (http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=Foobar2000:Components_0.9/foo_masstag)) might be better. I haven't played with it either..... yet.
http://www.foobar2000.org/components/tag/tagging

SeeMoreDigital

27th June 2015, 20:05

I emailed the creator of MP3Tag to ask if he planned to add MKV support at any point as well. I'll let you know if he (assuming from the name) responds.Nice one ;)

jfcarbel

7th February 2018, 11:46

2017-10-25
Mp3tag v2.85 — This version adds support for Matroska (MKA/MKV) and improves handling of multi-track files.

Also looks like MKV Buddy is turning into Media-Buddy (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/mkv-buddy-tool-to-help-handling-of-videos.127297/page-13#post-1236268) by developer and will support much more.

Also noticed that ffmpeg includes a tool called ffprobe (https://ffmpeg.org/ffprobe.html) which can dump all the metadata.

I am going to look at these 2 again and compare to MetaX. Comments welcome. I will also update the list in my original post above.

hubblec4

7th February 2018, 16:49

Hi jfcarbel

My chapterEditor has a Matroska Tags editor with full Matroska specs support on board.

Wakaku

29th December 2018, 10:23

Hello. For my many, many Matroska videos (MKV), I use the following below. Though Matroska I believe has two unique metadata: the quite limited HEADER tags and the apparently unlimited embeddable XML tags.

1. JMkvpropedit (uses MKVToolNix's mkvpropedit.exe CLI, and latest v1.4.3 requires JRE up to v10.0.1)

To BATCH add/edit Matroska HEADER tags (not embedded XML tags). Can also embed attachments. Very handy, time saver. Note though, JMkvpropedit is more useful to "add" Header tags. To delete existing Header tags, it's more useful to use MKVToolNix GUI's Header Editor (see below).

2. Mp3tag

To BATCH add/edit/delete Matroska embedded XML tags (not HEADER tags). Conveniently, it would also include XML tags connected to the Chapters if the video has such. Thus no need to create an external XML file from scratch anymore. So far Mp3tag can not yet embed or remove existing Matroska covers, but it can display them. Very handy, time saver.

3. chapterEditor

To further add/edit/delete and make corrections to those embedded XML tags (not Header tags). Can also handle Chapters. Best tool to connect or correct the UID's of the XML tags and the Chapters. Just very, very powerful.

4. MKVToolNix GUI's Header Editor

To individually add/edit/delete/embed or make corrections to covers, attachments, and Header tags (not XML tags). Can also handle Chapters. Best tool to connect the UID's of the XML tags (which were added/edited by Mp3tag/chapterEditor earlier) to the multiple embedded covers for example. Very powerful.

I also recommend to re-mux the Matroska (MKV) files using MKVToolNix after editing their tags/covers/attachments (especially Header tags) with JMkvpropedit (since it relies on MKVToolNix's mkvpropedit.exe) and especially MKVToolNix GUI's Header Editor.

For example, the embedded XML tags and covers would not be shown by MediaInfo anymore, and sometimes Avidemux would have difficulty seeking with such edited MKV files. But after re-muxing with MKVToolNix, such issues are gone.

jfcarbel

7th January 2019, 10:05

Thanks all for keeping me updated on developments in this area and new options.

Wakaku, great detailed post. What is Matroska HEADER vs XML tags as not sure I follow and Matroska spec is kind of confusing to try and understand fully.

Also discovered MKV & MP4 Video Manager (https://www.3delite.hu/Object%20Pascal%20Developer%20Resources/VideoManager.html) (MP4, MKV) - Not free, 25 EURO. I will need to start giving this one some tests and also looking at chapterEditor.
For those using chapterEditor does it cover most of the features of MetaX from perspective of MKV? I am pretty much using MKV primarily now.

Updated my original post in the begin of thread. Happy 2019!

jfcarbel

7th January 2019, 10:07

Hi jfcarbel

My chapterEditor has a Matroska Tags editor with full Matroska specs support on board.

I will definitely start giving this a look. When was this introduced? I guess I missed it as tagging option due to nature of the name.

Any big plans for 2019 for the tool you are planning in terms of tagging?

hubblec4

7th January 2019, 22:53

Full Matroska Tags editor is implemented since rev1.xx. In the old cE(0.51) has also a Matroska Tags editor but not with full Matroska support.
chapterEditor is more than a chapter editor and "MatroskaWorkbench" could now be a better name.

Yes, more tagging features are planed.

Edit:
Matroska HEADER
I guess Wakaku means the Matroska SegmentInfo section which have some elements to use for tagging.
This elements can be inserted/changed by mkvpropedit (or any other software which uses mkvpropedit).

Mosu provided 3 sections of Matroska as external xml files. SegmentInfo, Chapters and Tags.
With editing SegmentInfo you can change certain elements like the Title of an mkv.
On my TODO list is also a SegmentInfo editor like Tags/Chapters editors but with a very low priority, because I don't need it for tagging. For me is the SegmentInfo interesting because of processing for Matroska menu.

Wakaku

8th January 2019, 14:37

Long post!

I am pretty much using MKV primarily now.

IMHO Matroska (especially MKV) is the best container we have today. You'll eventually discover yourself just how flexible and powerful it is as you use it more and more, just like me. For example by just a mere tag/metadata (though unofficial) you could losslessly auto-rotate your video during playback just like MP4, though only via media players which recognize it, so far namely: MPC-HC (the very first one, the originator), MPC-BE (second), and PotPlayer (third).

In my experience it is also the most... most durable? For example after quite the few times I lost my hard disks due to hardware failure, the corrupted AVI's and WMV's I recovered were unplayable by my favorite players, but the MKV counterparts were still. Even if those MKV's got cut short, beginning part, midway, or ending part, mostly are still playable.

What is Matroska HEADER vs XML tags as not sure I follow and Matroska spec is kind of confusing to try and understand fully.

Well I must first admit that I am just a Matroska User as well, so I might be inaccurate. I can't remember if I was the one who called them Header tags, maybe I got it from someone else or from other sites, but I do call them Header tags myself especially because in the MKVToolNix package, such tags can be edited by MKVToolNix GUI's Header Editor (the Header editor tab).

I assume the metadata that you could put and edit in the Header Editor are the Header tags. For example: Title, Date, Name, Language, cover.jpg, attachments, etc. Also doable via the inluded CLI's. JMkvpropedit (batch capability) primarily can add or replace exisiting Header tags, but can't display them in its own GUI. MKVToolNix can display any existing ones and edit too, but no batch handling.

The XML tags are actual XML text files which could be embedded into an MKV (or MKA). If I understood Mr. Hubblec4 correctly, are converted when embedded. Quite far back, I used to create XML files from scratch using a text editor then embed them into my MKV's using MKVToolNix (GUI or the CLI). So far MKVToolNix itself cannot view or edit them like an editor, it can only embed the XML files. So best to do so graphically via Mp3tag (batch capability, even recursive) and chapterEditor (powerful, especially for advanced needs).

In the Matroska website, there are many suggested XML tags to use (as Standard tags), but you can also use your own as many as they could be unlike the Header tags above earlier. For example I use LOCATION to put the venue/location of the event. Of course most importantly, ROTATE, which could be used on the video track to losslessly auto-rotate it during playback (eg. 90, 180, 270 degrees). If the time comes that you would want this simple rotation tag, I'll post it, though I think I already posted it in chapterEditor's Doom9 thread. And so IMO, the XML tags are virtually limitless.

I think just this Dec. 2018, Mr. Hubblec4 suggested to the Matroska people about formal Matroska rotation, thus approriate Header equivalents are/were considered.

For those using chapterEditor does it cover most of the features of MetaX from perspective of MKV?

Sadly, I don't use MetaX. Via Google Search, it was one the few taggers suggested a few years ago when Mp3tag had no support for Matroska yet, and I can't remember if chapterEditor already existed back as well. Thus back then I use MKVToolNix to embed my external XML files created form text editors. IIRC, I downloaded MetaX to try it back then but it was crippleware?

Squeezing my memory, I think Mp3tag is the closest to MetaX. But only if MetaX handles XML tags just like Mp3tag. Don't know if MetaX has batch capability though. But when it comes to advanced XML tag editing and more, then chapterEditor is the one. Sooner or later you'll want more, and chapterEditor is the best candidate.

That's why when it comes to XML tags, I first use Mp3tag to batch tag my numerous MKV's, then use chapterEditor for further editing not possible from other XML taggers.

SO I RECOMMEND, that you copy an MKV file as test/dummy file, then tag it with Mp3tag. Mp3tag is so far the safest of all the Matroska XML taggers I used, as so far I never encountered any Matroska tag corruption or actual MKV video file corruption, and it has undo capability as well. If you haven't used this editor before, then just tag the MKV with the default offerings of Mp3tag. After you got accustomed to Mp3tag, you could customize the app for more potential tagging not initialy offered out of the box.

After you are done with Mp3tag, open that same MKV into chapterEditor's Matroska Tools (Matroska Tags), and you'll see the difference of their capabilities. They're both very powerful in their own right.

NOW for the Header tags, try first with MKVToolNix GUI's very own Header Editor. Then sooner you'll want batch capability, and JMkvpropedit is the one.

Happy 2019!

Happy New Year to you too my friend (and to everyone as well). :)

Wakaku

8th January 2019, 15:07

Also in my experience, so far Mp3tag is one of only two taggers that can put Emojis as metadata. For XML tags, Mp3tag can read any existing and write new emojis. Mp3tag cannot display it though. It displays it as empty boxes, though I think choosing a different Windows font is a workaround.

For the Header tag counterpart, MKVToolNix's Header Editor can put Emojis too, but I can't remember if it can read existing ones. After saving, the emoji display is changed to black diamond with a white questionmark in the center though. Mojibake? But if you remux that same MKV using MKVToolNix, the emojis are lost.

To verify that the emojis are really saved in the MKV, use MediaInfo via its HTML View. Other views would not be able to display the emojis.

hubblec4

8th January 2019, 17:03

...
The XML tags are actual XML text files which could be embedded into an MKV (or MKA). If I understood Mr. Hubblec4 correctly, are converted when embedded.
...

The xml file itself is not embedded to an mkv. Mkvmerge reads the xml file an set all elements and values directly into an mkv.

For example: all times in an xml file are expressed with HH:MM:SS.ns but this time-string can't be used in an mkv.

Wakaku

8th January 2019, 18:03

The xml file itself is not embedded to an mkv. Mkvmerge reads the xml file an set all elements and values directly into an mkv.

For example: all times in an xml file are expressed with HH:MM:SS.ns but this time-string can't be used in an mkv.

Well, it was the easiest to explain from a User like me to someone quite new to Matroska user-tagging like him. You most probably still understood me no matter how inaccurate the terms I used, and I hope he understood me as well. I wouldn't be able to understand nor explain it myself if I instead researched scientifically as possible, so I relied on my own plain User experience. :D

hubblec4

10th January 2019, 03:59

@ Wakaku

It seams that ExoPlayer (https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer) has implemented native rotation support for mkv files with the ProjectionPoseRoll element.