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Video Metadata Reader

Choose a clip and this page reads, on your computer, its codec, frame size, frame rate, duration, file size, audio tracks and any title, description and keywords embedded in it as XMP. Then it says what each agency does with them: Adobe Stock and Pond5 read embedded XMP from an MP4 (measured in September 2026); Shutterstock and Getty Images do not.

Choose a clip or drop it here. It never leaves your computer: the page reads only the part of the file that describes the clip, and sends nothing anywhere.

Which agencies read the metadata inside a video file?

Two of the four. We tested each one on a live contributor account with an MP4 carrying an XMP title and keywords written by ExifTool. Adobe Stock applied the embedded title and keywords, in the order written, to 12 clips that went into review with no CSV at all (2026-09-07). Pond5 filled the title, the description and all 49 keywords from the file, in order (2026-09-11); the date it filled was the file’s export time from the container, not the shoot date, and the country and the audio flag still need its CSV.

Shutterstock showed an empty description and 0 of 50 keywords once a tagged clip had finished processing (2026-09-11). Getty’s ESP read no title and showed "Add 5 - 50 keywords: 0" (2026-09-08). For those two, metadata goes in through the portal’s form or its CSV import, whatever the file holds.

Where does the XMP sit in an MP4 or a MOV?

In a different place in each. ExifTool writes it into a top-level box of its own in an MP4, and inside the movie header (moov, then udta, then XMP_) in a MOV (measured with ExifTool 13.55 on 2026-10-29). The reader looks in both places, so it finds the packet whichever tool wrote it there.

It reads only the small blocks that describe the clip, never the pictures: usually a few kilobytes of a file that can weigh several gigabytes. The tests above were made on MP4 files; whether Adobe and Pond5 read XMP from a MOV has not been measured, and the reader says so for a MOV rather than guess.

Why do embedded keywords disappear?

Most often because the file was rewritten after they were added. ffmpeg drops the XMP block on any remux, even with -c copy -map_metadata 0 (measured again with ffmpeg 8.1 on 2026-10-29). A conversion, a trim or an export after tagging leaves a clean file with no keywords in it.

The other causes are in the tags themselves. A bare -Keywords= in ExifTool lands in XMP-pdf:Keywords, a field the agencies do not use; the list must go in XMP-dc:Subject, one entry per keyword. Joined into one string with commas, the list becomes a single keyword. Reading the file you are about to upload, after its last export, shows which case you are in.

Which codecs do the agencies take?

The reader names the codec from the file’s own sample description: H.264, HEVC (H.265), each ProRes flavor, and others. Adobe Stock takes H.264 or ProRes in a MOV, MP4 or MPG. Shutterstock takes H.264, ProRes and HEVC, and advises against HEVC. Pond5 takes H.264, HEVC, ProRes and DNxHD. Getty publishes no codec list in the sources we read. The Stock Video Spec Checker runs every rule on the same file, frame rate and frame size included.

Quick tips

  • Read the exact file you will upload, after the last export or conversion: any remux afterwards strips the XMP.
  • If Adobe Stock or Pond5 should read it, deliver an MP4: that is the container both reads were measured on.
  • For Shutterstock and Getty, keep the CSV or the form: nothing in the file reaches them.

Limits

What this tool cannot check

  • MP4 and MOV only (and the rest of that family, such as M4V). MKV, AVI, MXF, MPG and MTS files are named and not read.
  • It shows the XMP fields the agencies use, dc:title, dc:description and dc:subject. Other tags, such as QuickTime’s own Keys, are not shown.
  • What each agency does with the file comes from one test per agency on a live account, on the date shown, with MP4 files. An agency can change how it reads files without notice.
  • It does not check whether the title or the keywords fit each agency’s rules: the Title Checker and the Keyword Cleaner do that.

Frequently asked questions

Adobe applies the title and keywords from the file’s XMP-dc fields. If they are missing, read the uploaded file here: there may be no XMP at all (a later export or ffmpeg remux removes it), the keywords may sit in another tag such as XMP-pdf:Keywords, or they may be joined into one string.

No. Measured on 2026-09-11: a clip carrying an XMP title, description and keywords showed an empty description and 0 of 50 keywords in Shutterstock’s panel once processing ended. Use the portal or its CSV import.

No. Measured in Getty’s ESP on 2026-09-08: a tagged clip arrived with no title and the counter at "Add 5 - 50 keywords: 0". Use ESP’s form or its Apply from CSV.

Yes. Measured on 2026-09-11: Pond5 filled the title, the description and all 49 keywords from the file’s XMP, in order. A CSV applied afterwards replaces the keyword list rather than adding to it, and the country, the shoot date and the audio flag still need the CSV.

Choose the file above. The reader takes the codec from the file’s sample description, for example avc1 for H.264, hvc1 for HEVC or apch for ProRes 422 HQ, and names it. The file is read on your computer and not uploaded.

MP4 is the tested choice. Adobe Stock and Pond5 were measured reading XMP from MP4 files. ExifTool writes XMP into both containers, in different places, but whether those two agencies read it from a MOV has not been measured.

No. The browser reads a few kilobytes of the file on your computer: the box headers, the movie header and the XMP block. Nothing is sent, and the only analytics event says that the tool was used, without the file, its name or its contents.

Sources

  1. Measured on a live Adobe Stock contributor account, 2026-09-07: 12 clips in review carrying the embedded title and keywords, in order, no CSV applied
  2. Measured on a live Adobe Stock contributor account, 2026-10-02: a web upload with no title or keywords stayed in New with its submission box disabled
  3. Measured on a live Pond5 contributor account, 2026-09-11: title, description and 49 keywords read from the file’s XMP
  4. Measured on a live Shutterstock contributor account, 2026-09-11: empty description and 0/50 keywords after an XMP-tagged upload
  5. Measured in Getty ESP on a live contributor account, 2026-09-08: no title read, "Add 5 - 50 keywords: 0" after an XMP-tagged upload
  6. Measured 2026-10-29: where ExifTool 13.55 writes XMP in an MP4 (top-level uuid box) and a MOV (moov/udta/XMP_), and ffmpeg 8.1 dropping it on a -c copy -map_metadata 0 remux

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