Mesmerizing Metadata Powerups

Bulk Import All Your Custom Metadata

Despite the long-term benefits and cost-savings of centralizing content in a cloud-based platform, the migration process of terabytes of data from multiple locations can seem daunting for any operation. Ci is here to help you check one of the most critical components in the migration of media content off your list: metadata retention.

While a standard Ci Company Network account enables tagging custom metadata on files individually, we are thrilled to announce that we now support bulk importing and editing of metadata to automate this process for our enterprise-level customers. Whether you have files in Ci already or are thinking about bringing your files to us, you can add metadata to those files in one fell swoop.

The process is as easy as getting in touch with our Customer Success team who will provide you with a simple Ci import spreadsheet. Simply fill it out, return it to us and in the blink of an eye, your metadata is applied and your assets become immediately searchable.

PRO-TIP: If you have multiple values for a metadata field you can separate those by using the pipe | character. For example: “New York | Los Angeles”

Search for Custom Metadata

As users increase their usage of Ci and their library grows, the ability to easily and quickly search for files becomes critical to operations. Need to find some b-roll from a recent shoot to put a new promo together? Or maybe you want to find an interview with a political figure from 5 years ago for an upcoming news story. Ci’s expanded search capabilities make finding that needle in your proverbial haystack easier than ever. Now you can search for values in specific metadata fields, enabling you to refine your search until you find the perfect file.

This powerful search function reinforces the importance of capturing as much metadata as possible on your files. To run a metadata search, click the Search magnifying glass on the top left and then click the Metadata Search icon on the right side of the search header. As you type the metadata field, Ci begins to auto-suggest metadata fields for you. Select the metadata field and enter the value that you’d like to search. Repeat for as many key/values as you like and then hit return.

PRO-TIP: More of a keyboard cowboy? For an easy shortcut, skip the clicks and just type “/metadata” in the search bar to get into custom metadata search mode.

Download Metadata Snapshots

Need to do some analytics on your library? Or maybe you want to enrich another system with the metadata in Ci. Now you can get all of your metadata out of Ci in a simple spreadsheet for easy viewing and filtering. To request a metadata snapshot report, contact our Customer Success team. The exported spreadsheet can also be used to update your existing metadata in bulk. Simply return the updated spreadsheet to our Customer Success team and they’ll import it back to Ci for instant updates.

Custom metadata features are only available for Team Workspaces, Company Network and Enterprise Network customers. Upgrade your Ci Workspace account today to add these powerful features to your account or contact our Customer Success team for a demo and more information.

Send File Elements in a MediaBox

Got to send a social media-ready proxy to your marketing agency? Before you start creating a new proxy for social media channels, did you know that Ci automatically generates elements like smaller preview files for you to use? When you upload a file to Ci, we automatically transcode at least three preview proxies, three thumbnails, and various other technical elements – and you can request your own custom proxies to be created. While File Elements have always been downloadable in Workspace, you can now ship these elements in a MediaBox with just one click without shipping the original source file.

To send File Elements in a MediaBox, simply check the box labeled “Allow Preview Elements download.” To send custom File Elements with Mediaboxes, be sure to check the box labeled “Allow download of any Custom Elements” when you set up your Mediabox.

Did You Know?
In addition to the standard Ci file proxies generated during upload and the additional premium Ci proxies available to Team Workspace customers, Ci can transcode custom file proxies to meet your needs. Whether you need a proxy for a specific audio channel configuration or a transcode a 2K resolution thumbnail, imagine how much shorter turnaround times can get if these files are generated automatically! Contact our Customer Support team for details.

Custom Proxy Generation Comes to Ci API

For years, Ci has offered the generation of custom preview proxies for Ci Company Network customers. We’ve now enabled this highly requested feature to Ci API so now our API customers can automate too!

Learn about the powerful functions you can do using our Ci API here.

If you’re interested in using Ci API to integrate, contact our Customer Support team to sign up for a developer key or learn more.

Yoshie Fujita
Marketing Communications Specialist for Ci (pronounced “see”) at Sony Electronics.