Reduce costs
Lower bandwidth and storage expenses without compromising quality.
Analyze source video
Qencode inspects the original file to extract format, codec, resolution, duration, and frame-level data.
Video Metadata
Extract and manage comprehensive video metadata during transcoding for cataloging and personalization.
Overview
What It Is
Video Metadata captures technical specifications, frame-level data, and content attributes from your videos during transcoding. Qencode analyzes the source to extract codec information, aspect ratios, color spaces, frame rates, keyframe positions, and other data critical for playback optimization, content management, and ad targeting. Metadata is delivered alongside transcoded outputs for immediate catalog integration.
Coming Soon
Process
How It Works
Process during transcode
Metadata extraction happens in parallel with encoding, adding no latency overhead.Enrich with AI
Optional scene detection, object recognition, and content classification run on keyframes.Structure metadata
Technical data is organized into standard formats (FFprobe JSON, custom schemas).Deliver with outputs
Metadata is returned via webhook and stored alongside encoded files for instant access.
Overview
Why Video Metadata
Save time
Automate complex processing that would take hours manually.
Scale effortlessly
Handle thousands of videos with the same API call.
Integrate in minutes
Simple REST API with comprehensive SDKs and documentation.
Use Cases
Who Uses Video Metadata
Media & Entertainment
ScenarioA film studio distributes a feature across platforms (Netflix, theatrical, broadcast) requiring different metadata formats and frame-accurate edit lists for each distribution channel.
Metadata extraction provides frame-accurate keyframe maps and duration data, enabling automated platform-specific package creation and reducing manual QC by 70%.
Ad Tech
ScenarioAn ad insertion platform needs to identify optimal placement points (scene cuts, silent moments) for mid-roll ads without manual inspection of 10,000 videos.
Automated scene and silence detection in metadata enables programmatic ad insertion, improving CPM by 25% and viewer experience.
VOD Platforms
ScenarioA streaming service ingests content from multiple studios with inconsistent technical specs. Playback teams need to verify bitrate, resolution, and codec compliance before publication.
Metadata output includes technical validation report, automatically flagging non-compliant encodes before they reach customers, reducing playback failures to under 0.01%.
Tutorial
How to Use Video Metadata
Watch a quick walkthrough showing how to configure and use Video Metadata through the Qencode dashboard and API.
Tutorial Video Coming Soon
For Developers
Technical Reference
| API Method | POST /v1/start_encode2 with output: "metadata" after creating a task. |
| Key Parameters | source, output: "metadata", optional metadata_version. Use metadata_version to keep the response structure stable for automated workflows. |
| Supported Input Formats | Any video format — MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, HLS, WebM, and 200+ others |
| Output Metadata Format | JSON file with source video metadata. |
| Extracted Data | Format details, tags, stream count, filename, bitrate, duration, file size, video/audio streams, codec, resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, sample rate, channels, language tags, and stream disposition data. |
| Access Method | After the job completes, Qencode provides a URL to the generated JSON metadata file. |
| SDK Support | Metadata can also be requested through Qencode SDK helpers, including Python and PHP examples in the documentation. |
Request Example
Produces Metadata output JSON
{
"query": {
"source": "https://your-storage.com/source.mov",
"format": [
{
"output": "metadata",
"metadata_version": "4.1.5"
}
]
}
}
Copy this payload and use it with your API key to test Video Metadata on your own video.
View Video Metadata TutorialPricing
What It Costs
Included with Transcoding
Metadata output is available for all Qencode users. It is included with standard transcoding, with no separate feature fee for generating media metadata.
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