MetaX Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does MetaX support video format .xxx?

MetaX can directly write meta data tags to mp4, m4v, m4a, m4b, m4p, and mov files. Other formats such as avi can only be tagged if they are first placed inside a QuickTime mov container. This can be done with QuickTime Pro.

I change the date in the release date and purchase date fields, but it reverts back to the YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ format. Is this normal?

iTunes and AppleTV both expect to find the date in this format. MetaX will auto format the date that you enter to this standard. iTunes and AppleTV will display exactly what you are expecting, the year.

Some of the tag fields are not editable when tagging QuickTime files, or when multiple files are selected. Why is this?

The rating, track number, and disk number tags are currently not supported for the .mov format. MetaX disables these fields to notify you that they are not able to be written. When multiple files are open, some fields are disabled since it would not make sense to tag multiple files with these identical tags.

The international ratings that I tagged with MetaX display in iTunes, but they are not showing up on my AppleTV.

It seems that the AppleTV doesn't support all of the international ratings that MetaX and iTunes do. This is definitely an AppleTV issue.

Why doesn't MetaX automatically gather data from IMDb? It is so much better than other sources.

I fully agree about the quality of IMDb data. I love it. Unfortunately the IMDb terms of use strictly prohibit screen scraping. Regardless of what you see other apps do, it is forbidden. Because of this I included the IMDb browser, which gives us access to the data without breaking the rules.

Do you have any plans to port MetaX to other operating systems?

I currently do not plan on porting MetaX to any other operating systems. I prefer to spend my time making it better for the Mac :)

Is the source code available for MetaX?

At this time, the source code for MetaX is not publicly available. If you would like to see a particular item, such as .mov tagging methods, just drop me an email. I'm always happy to help others out.

What future features do you have planned for MetaX?

I am currently working on supporting large files >4GB and chapter renaming. It is also possible that you will see a tag data sharing feature in the near future. If you have a suggestion, send me an email. I, like you, am a user of MetaX. Because of this, I want it to be the best that it can.

MetaX complains at launch about the database being in the wrong format. What can I do?

The database structure that MetaX uses changes periodically. An auto-conversion should occur at first launch of any new version that requires a different format. If something goes wrong with this, you may see this error. You can remove the file at ~/Library/Application Support/MetaX to make this go away. Your archive data will be lost when deleting this file, but nothing else will be affected.

The iTunes plugin doesn't seem to work any more. What can I do?

Some users have been experiencing problems with the installation of the iTunes plugin. To remedy this, download the PLUGIN HERE, unzip and place the file in your home folder ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/ directory. That should fix you up!