How do you bulk update the "Tape Name" metadata values in all clips with different values?

[Richard21809118rypc]

Hello. I'm using Premiere Pro v14.9. I need to update all the clips in a project so that the "Tape Name" metadata is filled in. Each clip needs to have a different value for Tape Name.

Selecting all the clips and opening up the Metadata view and filling in Tape Name there results in all clips having the same Tape Name which is no good. There will be many clips, so doing them one by one isn't an option.

If I leave the Tape Name values blank, export an Avid Log Exchange file, update the Tape Name values in the .ALE and then use the .ALE to "Update Metadata" back in Premiere I was expecting the Tape Name values to fill in, but they remain blank.

Is Tape Name not updateable via "Update Metadata" from an .ALE? How do you bulk update the Tape Name value in that case? Many thanks!

[combat films]

Can't believe no one has ever asked this question again. Using Tapename for clips can save hours trying to relink footage after renaming since the tapename stays consistent. 

[R Neil Haugen]

So the files you're working with all have a file-specific tape name, and you want that to appear in Premiere Pro's metadata lists?

[combat films]

Thanks for the reply. They don't currently have a file-specific tape name. I want to duplicate the filename to the tapename field to help with relinking issues. Filenames occassionally get changed throughout the edit and having automatic relinking using tapenames rather than filenames can cut the relinking time down. It isn't failsafe but it can add an extra step of security when dealing with naming changes throughout the post-production phase. 

I have tested this proceedure using exiftool to copy the filename to the tapename field. However, this is only useful if that footage hasn't been imported into Premiere previously. The file metadata doesn't get updated after import even if taken offline and then relinked. 

Also, the media browser inside the footage relinking window doesn't show the Tape Name field. I tried changing the view in the media browser to include Tape Name info but it's not showing up in the relink media browser. (Screenshots showing what I mean by this)

[MyerPj]

Google AI suggested this below for: premiere pro bulk add metadata app

PP works similar to Bridge, so I left that out. Interesting comment about Prelude. I may try to dig out a last version of prelude and give it a try, otherwise, I'd look for 3rd party apps.

• Adobe Bridge:

  • Adobe Bridge is a powerful media browser that allows you to manage and add metadata to files even before importing them into Premiere Pro.
  • Select one or multiple files in Bridge.
  • Access the File Info panel (or similar metadata editing features) and enter the desired metadata. This metadata is embedded directly into the source files (XMP metadata).
• Adobe Prelude:

  • Adobe Prelude is designed for ingest and logging workflows, offering advanced features for adding custom metadata during the ingest process.
  • You can batch ingest files and apply custom metadata presets, including location, media type, and more.
  • Prelude also allows for partial ingest and transcoding while adding metadata.

[combat films]

I use Bridge extensively for metadata but for a task like bulk editing I haven't found an easy solution and scripting in bridge has been challenging.

Will look into Prelude.

So far the best tool I have found is exiftool but there were some limitations because Adobe has their own XLM metadata and IPTC fields ontop of the default data fieldnames. This caused some frustrations because there wasn't any documentation online on how to edit these (what they are called). If I can figure out how to show the Tapename field inside the relink media browser window in PP then I can figure out the bulk Tape Name editing exiftool script.  

[R Neil Haugen]

Once Premiere loads a file's metadata, it doesn't normally update it. So I don't think changing that for files already loaded won't change what Pr shows or sees.

[combat films]

Right. But if I change the filename in File Explorer/Finder it unlinks the file and I have to manually find it. If the tape name was imported with the metadata I could easily go through the relink window and click on the correctly renamed file to relink it. 

It's not a necessary thing at all but rather something to help with the relinking process when working with large projects where footage gets renamed mid edit. 

[PaulMurphy]

When using Clip > Update Metadata, Premiere Pro uses the Tape Name field and the filename as a unique identifier to determine which clip to update in the project. Because of this, changing the Tape Name via ALE is not possible.

However, you can use other metadata fields for relinking purposes. Fields such as Description, Scene, Shot, and Log Note are supported in the Link Media window and have corresponding columns in ALE files.

For a complete list of corresponding ALE column names and metadata mapping, refer to this Adobe guide: Long Form and Episodic Best Practices.

Also important to note: if you're exporting an ALE from Premiere Pro with the intention of re-importing it with updates, ensure that every clip has a value in the Tape Name column before export. Without it, Premiere won't be able to match and update the clip using Update Metadata.