Sample Workflows
Workflow #1: Editing Existing Metadata
Objective: Review existing embedded metadata in a set of audio files and make adjustments.
- Under the Options toolbar menu, make sure that 'Skip files with no .wav extension' is enabled.
- Open a set of files in BWF MetaEdit, either through dragging each file into the BWF MetaEdit window or selecting the Open Directory option.
- Review the open files and the 'Log of Errors' for any technical errors that may have occurred while BWF MetaEdit read the files.
- Under the Rules toolbar menu enable the Validation Sets that you would like your metadata to comply with.
- In the Core View, review any existing metadata that does not comply with the selected validation rules. It will appear in red.
- Make any desired changes or additions to the embedded metadata in the Core View. For instance, inconsistencies in the use of Originator could be fixed by right-clicking on an accurate value and selecting 'Fill All Open Files with this Value'.
- Optionally, export the entire Core Document as a CSV file in order to open it in an external spreadsheet application for further edits. Then import the saved CSV document back into BWF MetaEdit.
- Under the File Menu, select 'Save Modified Files'.
- Review the Log of Operations and Errors for any problems that may have occurred during the save operation.
Workflow #2: Inserting Metadata From an External Source
Objective: Take metadata from an external resource and embed that data into a set of audio files.
- Starting with an existing spreadsheet of metadata, map each column to a BEXT or LIST-INFO value.
- Add a primary row to the spreadsheet that contains an allowable BEXT or LIST-INFO value that corresponds to the data in that column. For instance a column of values listing file identifiers may be header with a column title of 'OriginatorReference'.
- Ensure that the spreadsheet contains a column called 'FileName' that contains a full filepath to the audio file that that particular row describes.
- Save the spreadsheet as a CSV.
- Import the CSV into BWF MetaEdit.
- Review the open files and the 'Log of Errors' for any technical errors that may have occurred while BWF MetaEdit read the CSV.
- Under the Rules toolbar menu enable the Validation Sets that you would like your metadata to comply with.
- In the Core View, review any existing metadata that does not comply with the selected validation rules. It will appear in red.
- Make any desired changes or additions to the embedded metadata in the Core View. For instance, inconsistencies in the use of Originator could be fixed by right-clicking on an accurate value and selecting 'Fill All Open Files with this Value'.
- Under the File Menu, select 'Save Modified Files'.
- Review the Log of Operations and Errors for any problems that may have occurred during the save operation.
Workflow #3: Editing Existing Metadata in a Spreadsheet Editor and Importing It Back
Objective: Export metadata from a set of audio files, modify it in a spreadsheet editor, and embed it back into the audio files.
- Open a set of files in BWF MetaEdit and click Core Document (One global CSV file)... in the Export menu to save the metadata.
- Import the generated CSV document into the spreadsheet application, ensuring the following import settings are set:
- File type: CSV document
- Encoding: Your metadata charset (usually ASCII or UTF-8)
- Separator: Comma (",")
- Text identifier: Double-quote ("")
- Do not merge consecutive blank columns.
Also, ensure all fields are treated as text fields to prevent the spreadsheet editor from changing the format of the imported data.
- Review the imported data consistency.
- Edit the necessary fields.
- Save the spreadsheet as a CSV.
- Import the CSV into BWF MetaEdit.
- Review the open files and the 'Log of Errors' for any technical errors that may have occurred while BWF MetaEdit read the CSV.
- Under the File menu, select 'Save Modified Files'.
- Review the Log of Operations and Errors for any issues that may have occurred during the save operation.