User Manual

Using Metadata Variables
If you’re an enthusiastic user of clip metadata (and you should be), you can use “metadata
variables” that you can add into supported text fields that let you reference other metadata for
that clip. For example, you could add the combination of variables and text seen in the following
screenshot. Variables, once they’ve been entered, are represented as graphical tags shown
with a background, while regular text characters that you enter appear before and after
these tags.
Variables and text characters entered to create
a display name based on a clip’s metadata
As a result, that clip would display “12_A_3” as its name if scene “12,” shot “A,” and take “3”
were its metadata. When you do this, you can freely mix metadata variables with other
characters (the underscore, as in the example above) to help format the metadata to make it
even more readable.
Be aware that, for clips where a referenced metadata field is empty, no characters appear for
that corresponding metadata variable’s tag wherever it happens to be used.
Where Variables Can Be Used
Metadata variables are extremely flexible, and can be used to procedurally add metadata to
several functions in DaVinci Resolve. Here’s a partial list of where you can use variables.
 Clip names: You can use variables in the Clip Name column of the Media Pool in List
view, or in the Clip Name field of the Clip Attributes window’s Name panel, to use each
clip’s metadata to generate a more readable and useful display name.
 Other metadata fields in the Metadata Editor: You can use variables to reference
metadata in other fields.
 Automatic labeling of stills in the Gallery: You can choose an option from the
Colorgroup in the General Options panel of the Project Settings to “Automatically label
Gallery stills” in the Gallery, and you can use variables to do so.
 Custom text in the Data Burn palette: You can use variables to automatically populate
metadata in different combinations as a window burn.
 The Filename field of the Render Settings in the Deliver page: Using variables,
you can automatically set the name of rendered clips to follow any metadata that’s
associated with a timeline or individual clip. This is especially useful when you want to
generate specific file names when rendering individual source clips.
How to Edit Metadata Variables
Every single item of metadata that’s available in the Metadata Editor can be used as a variable,
and several other clip and timeline properties such as the version name of a clip’s grade, a clip’s
EDL event number, and that clip’s timeline index number can be also referenced via variables.
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