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Media ComposerLibraries and Tagging
Tag files to turn them into assets in a library to make them quick and easy to find without navigating folder structures.
Libraries are our first step towards a “Media Asset Management” (MAM) system. When you tag a file, it becomes an asset in the database we’ve added to each space. This database acts as a “Library” for your assets.
The new Libraries interface in the web app is a purpose-built user interface that makes it quick and easy to find the assets that have the properties you are looking for. Like books in a library, assets are tagged with labels that describe their contents. By selecting tags from the left sidebar, the viewport is filtered to show only the assets that share all of these labels.
What is a Library?
Libraries in creative.space are databases for each of your spaces that allow you to store and manage custom metadata tags. By tagging files with descriptive categorized labels, libraries allow you to filter and locate specific assets quickly, simplifying your search in a vast digital landscape.
Accessing Libraries
To access Libraries, simply log in to the creative.space web app and navigate to the Libraries section from the main menu.
With libraries, we've introduced the new Client user role. When a Client logs into the web app, the only page they have access to is libraries. Other than that, they only have the ability to change their password. This is perfect for those times when you need to offer clients secure view, inspect, and download capability without granting access to the broader filesystem.
Preparing a Library - Creating Categories
Before you can start creating tags, there needs to be at least one category in the library for that space.
Categories are custom metadata properties and tags are the actual metadata value. For example, “Resolution” would be a category and “4K”, “UHD”, or “3840x2160” would be possible tags.
By organizing tags within these specific contexts, multiple tags can share the same name. For example, the tag “01” can exist in the context of a “Scene”, “Shot”, and “Take”. Each of these would be a category, with a tag named “01” inside of it. Without this layer of context, these tags would be meaningless. As a result every tag MUST have a category.
If you don’t want to deal with categories, just create one called “General” and put all of your tags within it.
It is best to build out the categories, tags, and sections as much as you can up front to build the framework through which users will apply tags.
Organizing Categories with Sections
Sections group categories visually and allow you to collapse groups of categories and navigate quicker. As the Libraries sidebar fills up, this becomes increasingly helpful.
The name of a section provides the context in which these categories are being grouped. For example, one section may be for categories related to technical metadata, like resolution and frame rate, while another is for narrative or production categories, like “Scene”, “Shot”, “Take” and “Shoot Day”.
With the combination of tag categories and sections, libraries aim to offer a refined asset browsing experience. Whether you're organizing assets or searching for specifics, this structure ensures clarity and efficiency.
The Intuitive Power of Color
In Libraries, color-coded tags leverage the natural visual cues of color to enable swift identification of assets. This isn't just about aesthetics—it's about speeding up processes and adding layers of meaning without lengthy descriptions and unwieldy hierarchies.
Colors provide a visual shorthand, helping discern categories and context at a glance. Within a category like ”Location”, color distinctions can indicate sub-groupings: states, cities, or more specific descriptors such as "Beach" and "Sunny". It's an instant hint about tag relationships.
Moreover, color's power stretches across categories. Tags in ”Camera” like “RED KOMODO X” and those in “Capture Format” like “R3D” might share a hue, immediately signaling their combined relevance. It’s a visual bridge, linking tags across categories to convey shared context.
Consistent color schemes can also indicate an asset's stage in the production pipeline, making workflow smoother. And since humans recall visuals better than text, colored tags improve asset recall. Plus, the flexibility to update tag colors means our system can adapt to evolving projects, always reflecting the most current workflow.
You have complete freedom to use color coding in whichever way makes sense for your team and use case. It’s easy to change tag colors, so you can experiment and figure your strategy out over time.
Applying Tags: Turning Files into Assets
Inside Spaces, you'll see all your files and directories. To start tagging, first select the file, multiple files, or even an entire folder. After selecting, click the Tag action. This will bring up the ‘Tagging’ card where all your tags are displayed, organized by color. If you're trying to find a specific tag, use the built-in search field to quickly filter the options.
If the tag you are searching for doesn’t exist, you can create it here. The only extra step is to select a category for it. This is why it's important to create these categories first.
Select the tags you want, and they'll instantly attach to your files. Once tagged, your files in Spaces will show colored dots, giving a quick visual representation of the tags attached to each file.
With just a few clicks, your files have been transformed into organized assets, making them easier to identify and categorize.
Navigating the Terrain: Libraries and Spaces
Transitioning between Libraries and Spaces is a quick and intuitive experience.
If a Space is selected, switching to Libraries will maintain that same selection.
Tagged files in Spaces are identifiable by colored dots, offering quick context. A single click on these dots propels you directly to the associated Library, with the tag in focus.
When you're within Libraries? Each file acts as a bridge back to Spaces, making navigation intuitive and efficient. Just right click on the asset and select the Go to File action.
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