MKV Tag Editor

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

I have looked here and the net and have found nothing ...

Q1: Is there a MKV Tag Editor? Kind of like AVI Tag Editor application? A dummy-proof GUI!

I have a MKV File that File Name and the Name displayed when the MKV file is viewed Do Not match!

Q2: How can I change the Name displayed when viewing the MKV file to Match the MKV File name? Which is btw correct.

Thanks,

G!

[Baldrick]

Can't you change some names with mkvmergegui? Included in mkvtoolnix.

[gonwk]

Hi Baldrick,

Thanks for your reply. May be I haven't looked close enough ... but I can't see anything in MKVMergeGUI ... that does a Simple Name Change ... you know like in AVITag Editors ...

Appreciate your Help as usual!

G!

[ma-fia]

I know this thread is kinda old, but I was searching for this same thing, and came up with nothing. And then (as it happens a lot with me), I stumbled upon a quick fix. If I understood the question right, the question was how to change the name displayed when you first launch the .mkv file. If so, here's the fix:

In MkvMerge (aka MkvToolnix or whatever you call it) you can fix that.
Open file (add) --> go to the tab "Global", there under "File/Segment title:" type whatever you want.
Remux.

[gonwk]

Hi ma-fia,

Appreciate posting your findings. I should have known better to second guess Baldrick, if he says it is there ... then it must be there!

Thanks again for your step-by-step Solution post.

G!

[akovia]

Looking for the same thing w/o remuxing. It is easy enough for single titles using the tool supplied with MKVToolNix called mkvpropedit.

It's very quick and allows you to edit most any property, but is command line driven and cumbersome for me at least. What I am looking for is a front-end to this tool that would allow batch processing so you could format an entire series of files in one go. An MP3TagEdit for Matroska if you will. Then you could set up filters and regex to extrapolate titles from the file names and even set auto numbering sequences for episodes and seasons, etc.

Unfortunately I don't have the skill-set to accomplish this task myself, but hope someone will in the future. It would really benefit the format to have an extensive yet easy to use tag editor. Until then I'll just be a hunt & peck CLI monkey. =P Still better than remuxing everything.

[toby9999]

Looking for the same thing w/o remuxing. It is easy enough for single titles using the tool supplied with MKVToolNix called mkvpropedit.

It's very quick and allows you to edit most any property, but is command line driven and cumbersome for me at least. What I am looking for is a front-end to this tool that would allow batch processing so you could format an entire series of files in one go. An MP3TagEdit for Matroska if you will. Then you could set up filters and regex to extrapolate titles from the file names and even set auto numbering sequences for episodes and seasons, etc.

Unfortunately I don't have the skill-set to accomplish this task myself, but hope someone will in the future. It would really benefit the format to have an extensive yet easy to use tag editor. Until then I'll just be a hunt & peck CLI monkey. =P Still better than remuxing everything.

Get mkvtoolnix (http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/).

Launch "mkvmerge GUI" from the Start menu. Open Header Editor from the File menu (or ctrl-e). Open your mkv file in the header editor and you can view/edit most if not all tags directly. Don't forget to do a save on the file after editing.

To view and save the tag info to a text file from a GUI, use "mkvinfo GUI" from the Start menu.

To view and save the tag info to a text file from a command line, use mkvinfo.exe (located with all the other tools eg "c:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix").

Example of viewing tags:
c:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix\mkvinfo.exe myfile.mkv

Example of saving tag listing to a text file:
c:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix\mkvinfo.exe -r c:\outputfile.txt myfile.mkv

To edit the tags from a command line, use "mkvpropedit.exe" (located in the same directory with all the other tools). You could use mkvpropedit to bulk-edit your tags across a bunch of files by writing a windows batch file to loop over the files and call mkvpropedit on each file. Note: mkvpropedit does NOT read the existing tags, instead use mkvinfo for reading the tags.

Documentation:
mkvpropedit: http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/doc/mkvpropedit.html
mkvinfo: http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/doc/mkvinfo.html

I haven't written any batch files yet so I can't share anything. But hopefully this info will help anyone trying to view and edit the tags/properties in their mkv files.

If anyone writes any batch files or scripts, please share here

Update:
My bad ... what I was describing above was NOT tags ... they are in fact called "fields" or "properties" from the file/track headers. This is still useful if you want to say, set the default audio track to be played or even disable a track (without having to delete it).

For tag viewing/editing, I found this useful posting ...

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/326119-%5BSOLVED%5D-How-to-tag-an-mkv-mka-file

[akovia]

Thanks for the descriptive reply Toby.

I ended up researching even further after posting here and ended up discovering how to edit "Tags" with MKVToolNix as well. It is much easier than using mkvpropedit for me at least and is my preferred method until something else comes along.

I did consider the possibility of scripting, (bash in my case as I'm using ubuntu) but I think it would be beyond my abilities for the functionality I'm looking for. I did make a plea to the developer of mkvpropedit to consider developing a GUI for his tool, but he replied that is is not interested in GUI programming.

Last comments at end of the page

I also made pleas to the developers of mp3Tag, and PuddleTag. The best tagging programs out there for Windows and Linux respectively. Only the developer of PuddleTag responded saying he would consider it for the future. All that's left to do is make a plea to the community to show support for this functionality by letting the developers know that there is a real need out there.

If anyone wants to help with this, you can show you support by making a post in the following threads at
MP3TAG
and or
PuddleTag

I feel the Matroska format will eventually give way to mp4 if someone doesn't address "Tagging". Managing large media collections is nearly impossible otherwise. I for one like Matroska and don't look forward to the prospect of converting all my video media to mp4.

[akovia]

Woot!

Looks like someone took the plunge and made a cross-platform batch mkv property editor GUI!. I haven't had time to put it through its paces yet, but it seems promising. It has support for auto numbering episodes which will save me an absurd amount of time. I'll try to post again after I've properly interrogated it, but I think it will be fine.

JMkvpropedit

[Offsprung]

This is a viscous circle.
Yet another GUI?
Read one article that said to use VLC media info. Changes are not permanent.
Even d/l the ALL-WIN shell-ext from matroska themselves and no go.
Such a little thing, why so difficult?
I can even edit tags in an AVI.
Even MP4 is tough to find.
And it looks like google is turning spam as promised, sends you to all these BS d/l sites of unrelated and non-existant software and of course they are ones google won't let you block
Always found the answer here, never had to have an account before.

[stehow]

If you want a quick way of batch processing all MKV files in a directory, setting the MKV title to the filename, then install mkvtoolnix and then create a batch script such as:

echo ***** Starting MKVtitle *****
for %%m in (*.mkv) do (
echo Changing %%m Title to "%%~nm"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix\mkvpropedit" "%%m" -e info -s title="%%~nm"
echo -----
)
echo ***** Finished *****

[akovia]

I gave up on a GUI myself as it was still too cumbersome.

Here's a script I made for the unix crowd. I have it set as a custom action in Thunar so I can r-click a single or multiple mkvs and apply it. Never looked back after doing it this way.

#!/bin/bash
#
#Script to set MKV Title Property based on filename
#


#Close stdin - avoid accidental keypresses causing problems
exec 0>&-

# Find MKV files
for file in "$@";
do
  find "$file" -type f -not -name ".*" | grep .mkv$ | while read file
  do
    fileProper=$(readlink -f "$file") # full path of file
    pathNoExt=${fileProper%.*} # full path minus extension
    mkvname=`echo "$fileProper" | sed 's/^\/.*\/\(.*\)\ \[.*\.mkv/\1/'`
    echo "$mkvname"
    mkvpropedit "$fileProper" -s title="$mkvname"
  done
done

[matsp888]

Hello.

I have written a simple Matroska tag editor in Perl, that I use with my own video and audio files. Hopefully someone else will have use for it. There is no fancy user interface, it simply launches a text editor. It works well for me, though.

MkTags at SourceForge

Mats

[ndjamena]

THE MATROSKA TAGGING SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK.

Anyone who's added tags into their files either hasn't read the actual specs properly or are deliberately ignoring the "inconsistencies".

Mosu himself doesn't know how they work and he helped write the bloody things.

You might as well just add as much info as you can to the "segment title", you're not actually achieving anything by doing anything else other than annoying me and anyone else who'd like the bloody things fixed.

[matsp888]

THE MATROSKA TAGGING SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK.

Anyone who's added tags into their files either hasn't read the actual specs properly or are deliberately ignoring the "inconsistencies".

Mosu himself doesn't know how they work and he helped write the bloody things.

You might as well just add as much info as you can to the "segment title", you're not actually achieving anything by doing anything else other than annoying me and anyone else who'd like the bloody things fixed.

I'm achieving a lot. I have tagged all my video and audio Matroska files, and I happen to know how it works, even if the specs are utterly foggy, misleading and outright erroneous in places.

[ndjamena]

And yet they are the specs. How prey tell do you know better than them?

[matsp888]

And yet they are the specs. How prey tell do you know better than them?

I'm not saying I'm 100% clear on all the ins and outs, since they are more complicated than, say, ID3v2 or Vorbis comments. Still, I think I know the gist of it. Are you telling me the people who wrote the specs know nada about them? Sounds peculiar to me

[matsp888]

And yet they are the specs. How prey tell do you know better than them?

I'm not saying I'm 100% clear on all the ins and outs, since they are more complicated than, say, ID3v2 or Vorbis comments. Still, I think I know the gist of it. Are you telling me the people who wrote the specs know nada about them? Sounds peculiar to me

That other people, like the FFmpeg ones, insist on putting totally non-spec-compliant tags in Matroska files is another issue...

[ndjamena]

I AM saying that the people who wrote the specs know nada about them.

When they created the specs, the tagging system wasn't a priority, so they didn't put much thought into it...

It sucks. It really, really, sucks. But that's the way it is.

[matsp888]

I AM saying that the people who wrote the specs know nada about them.

When they created the specs, the tagging system wasn't a priority, so they didn't put much thought into it...

It sucks. It really, really, sucks. But that's the way it is.

Well, yeah, that's obvious that they didn't put much thought into it, I agree with you there. Anyway, that won't stop me from tagging my own files. They are for personal use only. The little editor that I wrote is not much more than a simplification of the ugly XML that mkvextract spits out, so it's pretty open-ended in that respect. Not much of hard-coding in it.

[ndjamena]

I'm OK with that, just make sure everyone knows that's what you're doing. And don't expect any programs to support your Tags (some of the developers have already tried interpreting the tags and know it's a load of crap, but others may think you actually know what you're talking about.)

(You've reminded me about that damn tagging system again, and now my head hurts. GRRRRR!!!)

Hey,

That does indeed look like a design flaw. The tags are the way they are because back when they were specified only two people (Steve Lhomme and myself) were working on the specs, and tags were something we neither focused on nor something we were particularly interested in.

As with a lot of OpenSource projects the parts that are most interesting to the ones who work on it are the ones that are implemented the best. So if you are interested in making them sane and more useful then I would be happy to work on that with you.

Kind regards,
Mosu

I would too, if I could drag my head out of the abyss. My worst fear at the moment is that someone else will take the initiative instead and screw the thing up forever... (which is actually highly likely.)

[matsp888]

I'm OK with that, just make sure everyone knows that's what you're doing. And don't expect any programs to support your Tags (some of the developers have already tried interpreting the tags and know it's a load of crap, but others may think you actually know what you're talking about.)

(You've reminded me about that damn tagging system again, and now my head hurts. GRRRRR!!!)

Hey,

That does indeed look like a design flaw. The tags are the way they are because back when they were specified only two people (Steve Lhomme and myself) were working on the specs, and tags were something we neither focused on nor something we were particularly interested in.

As with a lot of OpenSource projects the parts that are most interesting to the ones who work on it are the ones that are implemented the best. So if you are interested in making them sane and more useful then I would be happy to work on that with you.

Kind regards,
Mosu

I would too, if I could drag my head out of the abyss. My worst fear at the moment is that someone else will take the initiative instead and screw the thing up forever... (which is actually highly likely.)

There are many things in the specs that are quite logical and easy to grasp, like the hierarchy of levels, and the fact that a TITLE tag has a different meaning depending on the target type value, e.g. if it's inside a <Tag> with target type value 50 (ALBUM/MOVIE) or 30 (TRACK). Other things are not so obvious. The specs clearly are in need of clarification, that's for sure. I wouldn't say they are a load of crap, but they need some polishing.

P.S. To me tagging is essential, but it seems that's not the case for Moritz and the rest of the gang... pity.

Mats

[matsp888]

I'm OK with that, just make sure everyone knows that's what you're doing. And don't expect any programs to support your Tags (some of the developers have already tried interpreting the tags and know it's a load of crap, but others may think you actually know what you're talking about.)

(You've reminded me about that damn tagging system again, and now my head hurts. GRRRRR!!!)

Hey,

That does indeed look like a design flaw. The tags are the way they are because back when they were specified only two people (Steve Lhomme and myself) were working on the specs, and tags were something we neither focused on nor something we were particularly interested in.

As with a lot of OpenSource projects the parts that are most interesting to the ones who work on it are the ones that are implemented the best. So if you are interested in making them sane and more useful then I would be happy to work on that with you.

Kind regards,
Mosu

I would too, if I could drag my head out of the abyss. My worst fear at the moment is that someone else will take the initiative instead and screw the thing up forever... (which is actually highly likely.)

There are many things in the specs that are quite logical and easy to grasp, like the hierarchy of levels, and the fact that a TITLE tag has a different meaning depending on the target type value, e.g. if it's inside a <Tag> with target type value 50 (ALBUM/MOVIE) or 30 (TRACK). Other things are not so obvious. The specs clearly are in need of clarification, that's for sure. I wouldn't say they are a load of crap, but they need some polishing.

P.S. To me tagging is essential, but it seems that's not the case for Moritz and the rest of the gang... pity.

Mats

Finally, Moritz and Steve put enough thought into it in order to understand *most* of it, at least in my book, even if there are some things that aren't that well thought out.

[matsp888]

I AM saying that the people who wrote the specs know nada about them.

When they created the specs, the tagging system wasn't a priority, so they didn't put much thought into it...

It sucks. It really, really, sucks. But that's the way it is.

Just because you give me one example of an inconsistency, it doesn't mean that the authors know NADA about the whole specs. That's just rubbish.

[MrZippy]

If you want a quick way of batch processing all MKV files in a directory, setting the MKV title to the filename, then install mkvtoolnix and then create a batch script such as:

echo ***** Starting MKVtitle *****
for %%m in (*.mkv) do (
echo Changing %%m Title to "%%~nm"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix\mkvpropedit" "%%m" -e info -s title="%%~nm"
echo -----
)
echo ***** Finished *****

I use the above in a windows box, and it works resonably well. I'm very rusty when it comes to scripting.. anyone know how I could make this be recursive? (IE run in directory root, and all sub-directories?)

[ndjamena]

for /r %%m in (*.mkv) do (...


matsp888 is determined to make sense of something that doesn't. It's not just one thing wrong with the tagging system, the more you look at it the more you realise it's impossible to know what any of the tags are actually doing. And it's not just the tagging system, it's most of the Matroska specs. Matroska is only useful if you don't push the boundaries, but with the tagging system you can't help it.

Keep looking and you'll see eventually.

If in doubt, it's not hard to find Mosu's email address. I wasted two years on it before the ball dropped. I should have listened to the head developer of VLC when he told me it was moronic, or the hints of utter confusion I got from the developer of MetaX... and I REALLY should have realised something was wrong when Mosu asked ME how to add track statistics tags to the files. (hint: YOU CAN'T, but they're there anyway.)

[matsp888]

for /r %%m in (*.mkv) do (...


matsp888 is determined to make sense of something that doesn't. It's not just one thing wrong with the tagging system, the more you look at it the more you realise it's impossible to know what any of the tags are actually doing. And it's not just the tagging system, it's most of the Matroska specs. Matroska is only useful if you don't push the boundaries, but with the tagging system you can't help it.

Keep looking and you'll see eventually.

If in doubt, it's not hard to find Mosu's email address. I wasted two years on it before the ball dropped. I should have listened to the head developer of VLC when he told me it was moronic, or the hints of utter confusion I got from the developer of MetaX... and I REALLY should have realised something was wrong when Mosu asked ME how to add track statistics tags to the files. (hint: YOU CAN'T, but they're there anyway.)

I have talked to him alright. I don't know where you get your negative opinions from. Just take a look at my editor, and see if it's useful to you. That's all I can say. If the specs aren't clear enough to you, tough luck. Use some other container format then. I'm sure you would be able to find faults with any specifications. I can, but it doesn't stop me from using them. Oh by the way, while you're at it, why don't you tell the WebM developers how utterly useless the Matroska format is. They will be pleased to hear that.

One more thing: The so called "track statistics tags" in Matroska are more of a nuisance than anything else to me. I always disable them. To each his own

[ndjamena]

You're missing the point and seem to think this is some kind of bitching session.

I already had a way of adding tags to my files, I doubt you're doing anything I wasn't before I stopped.

Mosu used to tell me my tags were fine too and that's why I'm so generally so pissed off now.

Your tags ARE fine, if you can write a program that can write the tags and write another program that can read them then obviously they're working, but per the Matroska specs there is no right way of adding tags to files because the specs themselves are critically broken.

The FFMPEG tags are fine too, all they're doing is trying to preserve metadata from other containers, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that.

However, the way most programs are currently trying to interpret tags are a hindrance to any future development of the format. I don't see much progress happening, though, so it may be a moot point.

(it's a petty point, but WebM actually stripped a lot of the Matroska capabilities from their files and removed most of the problems in the process. [Which is what you're doing really.])

[matsp888]

You're missing the point and seem to think this is some kind of bitching session.

I already had a way of adding tags to my files, I doubt you're doing anything I wasn't before I stopped.

Mosu used to tell me my tags were fine too and that's why I'm so generally so pissed off now.

Your tags ARE fine, if you can write a program that can write the tags and write another program that can read them then obviously they're working, but per the Matroska specs there is no right way of adding tags to files because the specs themselves are critically broken.

The FFMPEG tags are fine too, all they're doing is trying to preserve metadata from other containers, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that.

However, the way most programs are currently trying to interpret tags are a hindrance to any future development of the format. I don't see much progress happening, though, so it may be a moot point.

(it's a petty point, but WebM actually stripped a lot of the Matroska capabilities from their files and removed most of the problems in the process. [Which is what you're doing really.])

FFmpeg's tags are NOT fine at all. They are completely out of specs. And why other applications don't treat the tags correctly is not my problem. The specs are not "critically broken", once again, but the interpretations are. This is my final word. Cheers.

[electronicsguy]

If you want a quick way of batch processing all MKV files in a directory, setting the MKV title to the filename, then install mkvtoolnix and then create a batch script such as:

echo ***** Starting MKVtitle *****
for %%m in (*.mkv) do (
echo Changing %%m Title to "%%~nm"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\MKVToolNix\mkvpropedit" "%%m" -e info -s title="%%~nm"
echo -----
)
echo ***** Finished *****

Thanks for this! I was looking exactly for something like this and stumbled upon this forum. Your script makes it so simple.