Metadata Variables

We also provide metadata variables for more advanced use of our Basic and Extended Metadata.
This feature allows you to use metadata fields from your input files to automate workflows. You can easily reference any field by using { curly brackets } and typing the field name, such as {title}, {artist}, {album}, {track}, and more.

To get started, take a look at our Formatting Examples and the Table of all Variables to see all the available options.

Whether you are using the Auphonic Web Service or our API, metadata variables can be applied whenever metadata values are set. They are particularly helpful when working with Presets, Batch Productions, or Watch Folders!

For instance, consider the left column of the following table as input ending up in the metadata as shown in the right column:

Field

Input

Output

Album

MyPodcast

MyPodcast

Track

25

25

Title

Episode No. {track} of {album}!

Episode No. 25 of MyPodcast!

Warning

Please mind that fields can not refer to each other in cycles (e.g., if {title} refers to {album}, {album} may not refer to {title}). While the input form will not show any errors, the metadata will most likely not be correct and the production will generate a warning.

All Metadata Variables

The following variables are available:

Variable

Referring to Field

{input_filename}

Full filename of the input file in a singletrack production

{input_basename}

Basename of the input file in a singletrack production (inputfile.wav becomes inputfile)

{title}

Title

{artist}

Artist

{album}

Album

{track}

Track

{genre}

Genre

{year}

Year

{subtitle}

Subtitle

{publisher}

Publisher

{url}

URL

{license}

License (Copyright)

{license_url}

License URL

{summary}

Summary (Description)

{output_basename}

Output File Basename

{production_created_at}

Time and date of production creation (default format: YYYY-MM-DD).
For more formatting options please see: example 3

{production_modified_at}

Time and date of production modification (default format: YYYY-MM-DD).
For more formatting options please see: example 3

List Variable

Referring to Field

{input_filename.N}

Full filenames of the input file of N-th track in a multitrack production

{input_basename.N}

Basenames of the input file of N-th track in a multitrack production (inputfile.wav becomes inputfile)

{tags.N}

N-th Element in Tags

{chapters.N.title}

Title of N-th Chapter

{chapters.N.url}

URL of N-th Chapter

{chapters.N.image}

Image file name of N-th Chapter

{chapters.N.start}

Start time of N-th Chapter

{outputfiles.N.format}

Format of N-th Output File

{outputfiles.N.bitrate}

Bitrate of N-th Output File

{outputfiles.N.suffix}

Suffix of N-th Output File

{outputfiles.N.ending}

Format ending of N-th Output File

Formatting Examples

1. Generating Output File Basenames

With metadata variables you can automatically generate your output file basename based on the input filename and podcast metadata, like album, track, and title.
If you have, for example, a podcast preset with the album name “The Placeholder Podcast”, you can automatically name your episode title like your input filename. By combining the metadata variables “album” name and your generated episode “title” with any text patterns, like “denoised” in this case, you can create your individual output file basename:

Field

Input

Output

Album

The Placeholder Podcast

The Placeholder Podcast

Title

{input_filename}

interview_jane_doe.wav

Output File Basename

{album}-{title}-denoised

The Placeholder Podcast-interview_jane_doe.wav-denoised

The next example shows how you can create truly unique output file basenames with timestamps. Here, a track number is, together with the input file basename, added up as episode title. So, your unique output file basename could be a combination of this generated episode title with the time and date, when your Auphonic production was started:

Field

Input

Output

Input File Basename

interview_jane_doe

interview_jane_doe

Track

25

25

Title

{track}{input_basename}

25interview_jane_doe

Output File Basename

{title}_{production_created_at:%H:%M_%m/%d}

25interview_jane_doe_19-05_01-30

See example 3 for more time formatting examples, and this table for the full list of symbols that can be used for formatting dates.

Note

Special characters, that are not allowed in filenames, like ” : ” and ” / ” in the upper example,
will be replaced with the character ” - “.

2. Deriving “Title” and “Summary” from Podcast Metadata

If the input file metadata contains a track number (alternatively, provided by api or web form), it can be referenced in other fields. Along with the name of the podcast, stored in the “album” field, a value for the title can be created as well as a value for a summary containing all information:

Field

Input

Output

Track

25

25

Album

The Placeholder Podcast

The Placeholder Podcast

Tags

Anniversary

Anniversary

Title

{album}, Episode No. {track}

The Placeholder Podcast, Episode No. 25

Summary

{title} - {tags.0}

The Placeholder Podcast, Episode No. 25 - Anniversary

In similar fashion, the Tags field might prove to be a useful place for holding arbitrary values that can be used in later substitutions:

Field

Input

Output

Tags

25, apples, 60

25, apples, 60

Title

Podcast No. {tags.0}: {tags.1}

Podcast No. 25: apples

Summary

In podcast {tags.0}, we talk for {tags.2} minutes about {tags.1}!

In podcast 25, we talk for 60 minutes about apples!

3. Adding Time and Date

The following time and date example outputs would be possible for a production created at 7:05 pm on Saturday, January 30th in 1999:

Field

Input

Output

(any)

example-{production_created_at}

example-1999-01-30

(any)

podcast-{production_created_at:%H:%M-%m/%d/%Y}

podcast-19:05-01/30/1999

(any)

output-{production_created_at:%I:%M%p-%m%d%y}

output-7:05PM-013099

(any)

record-{production_created_at:%a-%Y-%b-%d}

record-Sat-1999-Jan-30

See this table for the full list of symbols that can be used for formatting dates.

The following example demonstrates how to automatically set the year of the production from the creation date:

Field

Input

Output

year

{production_created_at:%Y}

1999

description

An XYZ Production, {year}

An XYZ Production, 1999

4. Working with List Field “Outputfiles”

For the list fields tags, chapters, outputfiles and multitrack input_filename/basename, you need to reference every value separately with a dot by adding .N to your variable – Where N stands for ascending ordinal numbers starting from 0.
Combined with the .N you can refer to the format, bitrate, suffix and ending of every selected output file, for example, {outputfiles.0.format} refers to the format of the first output file in your list of outputfiles:

  • Output File 1, format: WAV 16-bit PCM, bitrate: optimal, suffix: lossless, ending: wav

  • Output File 2, format: MP3, bitrate: 112 kbps, suffix: lossy, ending: mp3

Output File No.

Input

Output

(any)

file1-{outputfiles.0.suffix}-{outputfiles.0.ending}

file1-lossless-wav

(any)

file2-{outputfiles.1.format}-{outputfiles.1.bitrate}kbps

file2-lossy-mp3-112kbps

(any)

file2-bitrate-{outputfiles.1.bitrate:04}

file2-bitrate-0112

The bitrate output of the last row is formatted with 4 digits, defined by the suffix :04 attached to the variable. For all available list variables options, please see Table of all List Variables.

    • Field

    • Input

    • Output

    • Artist

    • MyPodcast

    • MyPodcast

    • Genre

    • Interview

    • Interview

    • Album

    • {artist}-{genre}

    • MyPodcast-Interview

    • Tags

    • {genre}, {album}, {outputfiles.0.bitrate} kbps

    • Interview, MyPodcast-Interview, 112 kbps

5. Using { curly brackets } as text

If you actually want to use a metadata field name in curly brackets as text and not have it treated as a variable and replaced, you need to double the curly brackets around the field, e.g. {{artist}}.

The following input will end up in the metadata as:

Field

Input

Output

Artist

MyPodcast

MyPodcast

Title

Special Episode of {{artist}}!

Special Episode of {artist}!