How to Preserve Metadata in Kdenlive Export

When exporting a finalized video from Kdenlive, preserving essential metadata—such as title, author, copyright, and description—is crucial for maintaining intellectual property and file organization. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step process on how to configure Kdenlive’s project settings and render options to ensure your metadata is successfully embedded into your final output file.

Step 1: Set Up Metadata in Project Settings

Before rendering your video, you must define the metadata within your Kdenlive project.

  1. Open your project in Kdenlive.
  2. Go to the top menu and select Project > Project Settings.
  3. In the Project Settings window, click on the Metadata tab.
  4. Fill in the standard fields, such as Title, Author, Copyright, and Year.
  5. If you need custom fields, click the Add button to create new metadata keys.
  6. Click Apply and then OK to save the changes.

Step 2: Choose a Compatible File Format

Metadata support varies depending on the video container you choose during export. * MP4 and MOV: Excellent support for standard metadata like Title, Artist, and Copyright. * MKV: Supports highly customizable and extensive metadata tags. * WebM: Supports basic metadata, but is more limited than MP4 or MKV.

Ensure your chosen export format aligns with your metadata requirements.

Step 3: Configure the Render Settings

Once your project metadata is set, you can proceed to the export stage. Kdenlive uses FFmpeg as its backend, which automatically maps project metadata to the output container’s standard tags.

  1. Click the Render button in the toolbar (or press Ctrl + Enter).
  2. Select your preferred rendering profile (e.g., MP4/H.264).
  3. In the Render widget, look at the options at the bottom. Ensure that no custom scripts or parameters are overriding the default FFmpeg metadata mapping. Kdenlive passes the metadata automatically to the FFmpeg export command.
  4. Choose your output file destination and click Render to File.

Step 4: Verify the Exported Metadata

After the rendering process is complete, it is best practice to verify that the metadata was successfully preserved.