Media Info

License: PRO+ (Professional Edition or higher)
Plugin Type: Index Plugin
Author: Diskover Data, Inc.

Overview

The Media Info plugin extracts technical metadata from video and audio files during Diskover indexing, enabling powerful search, filtering, and analysis of media assets directly within Diskover. Whether you're managing a post-production facility, broadcast archive, or media asset library, this plugin transforms your storage into a searchable database of technical specifications.

What This Plugin Does:

• Extracts codec, resolution, duration, bitrate, frame rate, and dozens of other technical attributes from media files

• Supports two probe engines: MediaInfo (comprehensive) and ffprobe (lightweight)

• Caches results in SQLite for high-performance re-indexing of large media libraries

• Automatically tags problematic files for quality control workflows

• Supports S3-stored media with automatic temp file handling

Key Metadata Fields Added:

Use Cases

Media Asset Management

Index large video and audio libraries and enable search by technical specifications. Quickly find all ProRes files, locate 4K content, or identify files encoded with legacy codecs that need transcoding.

Quality Control (QC)

Detect potentially corrupt or non-standard files—automatically tagged as bad-video when probe errors occur. Validate that media assets meet technical specifications such as frame rate consistency, proper audio channel configuration, or color space compliance.

Archive & Migration Planning

Inventory media collections by codec and resolution before migration projects. Audit format compliance for long-term preservation standards. Identify files requiring format conversion before archive.

Analytics & Reporting

Generate reports on storage consumption by codec type, resolution distribution across your library, or bitrate analysis to identify storage-heavy content. Use Diskover's Smart Searches and scheduled email reports to automate ongoing media inventory tracking.

Understanding Media Metadata

Before diving into configuration, it helps to understand what technical metadata the plugin extracts and why it matters for media workflows.

Container vs. Codec

Media files have two key components:

A single container (like MOV) can hold content encoded with many different codecs. The Media Info plugin extracts both container and codec information.

Stream Types

Media files typically contain multiple streams:

• Video Stream - The visual content with properties like resolution, frame rate, and color space

• Audio Stream - Sound content with properties like channels, sample rate, and bit depth

• General/Container - Overall file properties like total duration and combined bit rate

• Other - Additional data streams like timecode (critical for broadcast workflows)

Choosing a Probe: MediaInfo vs. ffprobe

The plugin supports two probe engines. We recommend MediaInfo for most media workflows due to its comprehensive metadata extraction:

When to Choose MediaInfo:

• You need audio stream metadata (channels, sample rate, audio codec)

• You require detailed codec parameters (color space, bit depth, GOP settings)

• You need timecode extraction for broadcast workflows

• Professional post-production or broadcast environments

When to Choose ffprobe:

• You only need basic video metadata (resolution, codec, duration, bitrate)

• You want minimal configuration and faster processing

• Video-centric workflows without audio analysis needs

Requirements

System Requirements

• Python 3.9 or higher

• Diskover indexer with plugin support enabled

• Read access to media files during indexing

• Write access to cache directory (if caching enabled)

External CLI Tools

You must install one of the following tools depending on your probe selection:

MediaInfo (Recommended)

Download and install from the official MediaInfo website: https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download

Linux (RHEL/CentOS):

rpm -Uvh https://mediaarea.net/repo/rpm/releases/repo-MediaArea-1.0-26.noarch.rpm
sudo yum install mediainfo

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

wget https://mediaarea.net/repo/deb/repo-mediaarea_1.0-26_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i repo-mediaarea_1.0-26_all.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install mediainfo

macOS:

brew install mediainfo

Windows:
Download the installer from https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download/Windows and ensure the installation directory is added to your system PATH.

Verify installation:

mediainfo --version

ffprobe (from FFmpeg)

Download and install from the official FFmpeg website: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

Linux (RHEL/CentOS):

sudo yum install ffmpeg

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install ffmpeg

macOS:

brew install ffmpeg

Windows:
Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html#build-windows and add the bin directory to your system PATH.

Verify installation:

ffprobe -version

Python Dependencies

pymediainfo==6.1.*

Linux:

python3 -m pip install pymediainfo==6.1.*

Windows:

python -m pip install pymediainfo==6.1.*

Installation

Step 1: Install External Dependencies

Install either MediaInfo or ffprobe on your Diskover indexer server (see Requirements section above).

Step 2: Install Python Dependencies

Linux:

cd /opt/diskover/
python3 -m pip install pymediainfo==6.1.*

Windows:

cd "C:\Program Files\Diskover\"
python -m pip install pymediainfo==6.1.*

Step 3: Configure the Plugin

1. Navigate to Diskover Admin > Plugins > Index Plugins > Media Info

2. Enable the plugin

3. Configure probe selection and parameters (see Configuration section)

4. Save the configuration

Step 4: Enable in Index Task Configuration

1. Navigate to Diskover > Configurations > [Your Configuration Name]

2. Scroll to the bottom to find Index Plugins Enablement

3. Enable the Media Info plugin

4. Save the configuration

The plugin will now run automatically during scans using this configuration.

Configuration

Probe Selection

The primary configuration choice is which probe engine to use:

Stream Attribute Selection (MediaInfo Only)

When using MediaInfo, you can select which stream types and specific fields to extract:

File & Directory Settings

Cache Settings

Windows cache directory default: C:\Program Files\Diskover\__mediainfo_plugin_cache__\

Configuration Examples

Standard Media Library (MediaInfo - Recommended)

For most media libraries requiring video and audio metadata:

probe_selection:
  probe: mediainfo
  include_attributes:
    enable_video_fields: true
    enable_audio_fields: true
    enable_general_fields: false
    enable_other_fields: false
    video:
      - Format
      - CodecID
      - BitRate
      - Width
      - Height
      - FrameRate
      - FrameCount
      - DisplayAspectRatio
    audio:
      - Format
      - CodecID
      - BitRate
      - Channels
      - SamplingRate

extensions:
  - mp4
  - mov
  - avi
  - mkv
  - mxf

enable_cache: true
probe_timeout: 15

Simple Video Indexing (ffprobe)

For basic video metadata when you only need core specifications:

probe_selection:
  probe: ffprobe
  bitrate_format: true
  duration_format: true
  framerate_decimals: 2

extensions:
  - mp4
  - mov
  - avi
  - mkv

enable_cache: true
probe_timeout: 10

Indexed Fields

ffprobe Fields

When using ffprobe, the following 9 fields are extracted from the video stream:

Note: bitrate and duration types depend on format settings—when formatted, they are stored as keywords; when raw, they are stored as numeric types.

MediaInfo Fields

When using MediaInfo, fields are organized by stream type and nested under that type in the index:

Video Stream Fields (44 available)

Audio Stream Fields (26 available)

General Stream Fields (16 available)

Other Stream Fields (5 available)

Example Indexed Document

ffprobe output:

{
  "name": "interview_final.mp4",
  "media_info": {
    "resolution": "1920x1080",
    "codec": "h264",
    "codeclong": "H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC",
    "codectag": "avc1",
    "pixfmt": "yuv420p",
    "frames": 54000,
    "duration": "0:30:00.0",
    "framerate": 30.0,
    "bitrate": "8500.0 kb/s"
  }
}

MediaInfo output (with Video and Audio enabled):

{
  "name": "broadcast_master.mxf",
  "media_info": {
    "Video": {
      "Format": "ProRes",
      "CodecID": "apch",
      "BitRate": "117234567",
      "Width": "1920",
      "Height": "1080",
      "FrameRate": "29.970",
      "FrameCount": "54000",
      "DisplayAspectRatio": "1.778",
      "ColorSpace": "YUV",
      "ChromaSubsampling": "4:2:2",
      "BitDepth": "10"
    },
    "Audio": {
      "Format": "PCM",
      "Channels": "8",
      "SamplingRate": "48000",
      "BitRate": "9216000"
    }
  }
}

Searching in Diskover

Once indexed, media metadata becomes searchable through Diskover's search interface. The field structure differs based on your probe selection.

Basic Searches

Resolution & Quality Searches

Frame Rate QC Searches

Audio Searches (MediaInfo Only)

Duration & Size Searches

Quality Control Searches

Combined Workflow Searches

Analytics & Reporting

The Media Info plugin integrates with Diskover's analytics features to provide insights into your media library.

Smart Searches

Create saved Smart Searches for common media queries:

• 4K Content - All files with 3840+ width

• Legacy Codecs - Files using older codecs like MPEG-2 or DV

• High Bitrate - Files exceeding a bitrate threshold

• QC Failures - Files tagged as bad-video

Reports

Use Diskover's reporting features to analyze media metadata:

• Storage by Codec - Aggregate storage consumption grouped by video codec

• Resolution Distribution - Count and size of files by resolution tier

• Frame Rate Inventory - Breakdown of content by frame rate

• Audio Configuration - Analysis of channel counts and audio formats

Scheduled Email Reports

Configure automated reports delivered via email to track:

• New media files added to specific locations

• QC failures requiring attention

• Storage growth by codec type

• Format migration progress

S3 Support

The plugin supports S3-stored media files with the following behavior:

Standard Storage Class

• Downloads the first portion of the file to a temporary location

• Runs the probe against the temporary file

• Cleans up the temporary file after probing

• Removes temp-file-specific attributes (FileSize, File_Modified_Date)

Deep Storage Classes (Glacier, Deep Archive)

• Files in non-STANDARD storage classes are automatically skipped

• Warning logged: "Object may be in deep storage and has not been probed"

• No error raised; indexing continues gracefully

S3 Configuration Notes

• S3 support is transparent—no additional configuration required

• Ensure adequate temp disk space for large file downloads

• Network latency may require increased probe_timeout (recommend 30+ seconds)

• Consider excluding deep archive paths via exclude_dirs for faster scanning

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Cache Permission Setup

Linux:

mkdir -p /opt/diskover/__mediainfo_plugin_cache__
chown diskover:diskover /opt/diskover/__mediainfo_plugin_cache__
chmod 755 /opt/diskover/__mediainfo_plugin_cache__

Windows:
Ensure the Diskover service account has write permissions to:

C:\Program Files\Diskover\__mediainfo_plugin_cache__\

Clearing the Cache

If you need to clear cached data to force re-probing:

Linux:

rm -rf /opt/diskover/__mediainfo_plugin_cache__/

Windows:

rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files\Diskover\__mediainfo_plugin_cache__\"

Debug Logging

Enable verbose logging to troubleshoot issues:

Linux:

grep "diskover.mediainfo" /var/log/diskover/diskover.log

Look for these log entries:

• CACHE HIT / CACHE MISS - Cache behavior

• Getting media info for... - Files being processed

• Skipping excluded directory... - Directory exclusions

• mediainfo plugin initialized with probe... - Plugin startup confirmation

Support

• Diskover Documentation

• Diskover Support Portal

• MediaInfo Official Site

• MediaInfo Download

• FFmpeg Official Site

• FFmpeg Download

Last Updated: January 2026
Diskover Data, Inc.