Apple’s metadata propagation patent

Apple has been awarded a patent that says that metadata propagation rules can be included with video files. That means you could pass on a video file with metadata that would be available to an editor but not exported when the generate new content based on the files you sent them:

Some embodiments provide a method for processing metadata associated with digital video in a multi-state video computer readable medium. The method specifies a set of rules for propagating the metadata between different states in the video computer readable medium. It then propagates the metadata between the states based on the specified set of rules.

It also describes an example when the metadata in one set of video clips can be assigned to a related set of clips stored elsewhere. This would apply if an on-set assistant had added metadata to lo-res H.264 clips on an iPad and an editor wanted some of the metadata applied to the media from the professional cameras.

It also says that the metadata could also define which parts of the high-quality media should be captured later:

In some embodiments, the method recaptures digital video from a first storage, when at least a portion of the digital video is also stored in a second storage. The method retrieves the digital video from the first storage. It identifies a set of metadata that is stored for the digital video in the second storage, and then determines whether there is an associated set of rules for processing this set of metadata when the digital video is re-captured from the first storage. If so, the method then stores the set of metadata with the retrieved digital video in a third storage.