Calabi Labs · Guide · 2026-05-26

How to add iphone 14 pro metadata to a video

How to Add iPhone 14 Pro Metadata to a Video

iPhone 14 Pro videos already carry metadata the moment they're recorded — serial numbers, color profiles, HDR flags, gyroscope data, and more. "Adding" that metadata really means one of three things:

Preserving it during editing or transcoding
Injecting custom metadata (your own tags, location, copyright)
Stripping and re-applying metadata after a workflow changeHere's how to do all three.

What iPhone 14 Pro Videos Contain Out of the Box

Your iPhone 14 Pro records in HEVC (H.265) by default, with optional Dolby Vision HDR and ProRes on the256 GB+ models. Each file carries:

Device model: iPhone15,2 (that's the iPhone 14 Pro identifier)
ColorPrimaries: BT.2020 (for HDR content)
TransferCharacteristics:PQ (Perceptual Quantizer for HDR10/Dolby Vision)
MediaDuration, resolution, frame rate (up to 4K/60fps, 240fps at 1080p)
capture-primary-key: device attributes and lens info- Embedded gyroscope/accelerometer data for stabilizationUse MediaInfo (free) to inspect exactly what's in any file:

``bash brew install mediainfo mediainfo "your_video.mov" ``

Method1: Preserve Metadata During Transcoding (FFmpeg)

Most transcoding operations strip metadata by default. Keep it with a simple flag:

``bash ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v copy -c:a copy -map_metadata 0 output.mov ``

To inject custom metadata fields while preserving originals:

``bash ffmpeg -i input.mov \ -metadata title="Slow Motion B-Roll" \ -metadata artist="Your Name" \ -metadata copyright="© 2025 Your Company" \ -metadata comment="Shot on iPhone 14 Pro @ 240fps" \ -c:v copy -c:a copy \ output_with_metadata.mov ``

To explicitly set iPhone 14 Pro model metadata (useful when repurposing footage):

``bash ffmpeg -i input.mov \ -metadata make="Apple" \ -metadata model="iPhone14,2" \ -c:v copy -c:a copy \ output_iphone_tagged.mov ``

If Dolby Vision HDR is being lost, re-inject it explicitly:

``bash ffmpeg -i input.mov \ -c:v copy -c:a copy \ -metadata:s:v:0 hdr_dovi_preset="base" \ -map_metadata 0 \ output_dovi_tagged.mov ``

Ensure FFmpeg has --enable-libx265 so it encodes HEVC without destroying the Dolby Vision structure.

Method 2: Using Adobe Premiere Pro (GUI)

Import the clip into your project.
In the Project panel, right-click the clip → Modify → Interpret Footage.
Under Pixel Aspect Ratio, leave values untouched to preserve original color metadata.
Under Audio, match the original sample rate.
Export via File → Export → Media, choose HEVC format, and check Match Source to avoid overriding color/bitrate metadata.
In the Effects Controls panel, check Lumetri Color settings — if you see a "Dolby Vision" badge, the HDR metadata is intact.

Common mistake: Applying a "Rec.709" LUT to HDR iPhone footage strips the PQ transfercharacteristics. Always toggle Export Color Space to BT.2020 / PQ before rendering.

Method 3: Using Final Cut Pro (macOS)

Import the file — Final Cut auto-detects the color profile and applies the correct HDR WCG lookup.
To inspect metadata: select the clip → press Cmd + Option + C (or Window → Inspector).
The Inspector shows Camera Metadata including focal length, ISO, shutter angle — all pulled from the iPhone 14 Pro's embedded data.
To add or override metadata on a project level: go to File → Metadata and add your own fields.
On export, choose HEVC codec and ensure HDR (BT.2020) is selected in the Color Space dropdown — this passes the original transfer characteristics through.

Method 4: Python Script (Programmatic Metadata Editing)

For batch operations or custom tagging pipelines:

```python from moviepy.editor import VideoFileClip import ffmpeg import os

def tag_iphone_video(input_path, output_path, custom_fields): """ Injects custom metadata fields into an iPhone 14 Pro video using ffmpeg-python, preserving all existing technical metadata. """ stream = ffmpeg.input(input_path)

Build metadata kwargs dynamically

metadata_args = {} for key, value in custom_fields.items(): metadata_args[f'metadata:g'] = f'{key}={value}'

Pass all existing metadata through + add custom ones

output = ffmpeg.output( stream, output_path, vcodec='copy', acodec='copy', map_metadata=0, # keep original metadata blocks **metadata_args )

ffmpeg.run(output, overwrite_output=True, quiet=True) print(f"Tagged: {input_path} → {output_path}")

Usagetag_iphone_video(

Method 5: Add Spatial/HDR Metadata to Previously Stripped Files

If you edited on a non-HDR timeline and need to re-tag a flattened file as HDR:

``bash ffmpeg -i edited_flat_file.mp4 \ -c:v libx265 -crf 20 \ -pix_fmt yuv420p10le \ -color_primaries bt2020 \ -color_trc smpte2084 \ -colorspace bt2020_ncl \ -c:a copy \ output_restored_hdr.mp4 ``

The -color_primaries bt2020 and -color_trc smpte2084 flags re-inject the HDR transfer characteristics — this is what makes metadata parsers (and HDR TVs) recognize the file as HDR content.

Quick Reference: iPhone 14 Pro QuickTime Metadata Keys

Metadata Key	Value for iPhone 14 Pro
`com.apple.quicktime.make`	Apple
`com.apple.quicktime.model`	iPhone14,2
`com.apple.quicktime.software`	iOS 17.x
`com.apple.quicktime.creation-date`	Date/time of recording
`com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO6709`	GPS coordinates
`com.apple.quicktime.color-space`	sRGB / BT.2020 (HDR)

Note: iPhone14,2 (with the comma) or iPhone15,2 (for iPhone 14 Pro Max) are the model identifiers embedded in the codec — you can confirm by reading the com.apple.quicktime.model tag with exiftool:

``bash exiftool -com.apple.quicktime.model iphone_footage.mov ``

Troubleshooting

Metadata disappears after HandBrake transcoding — In HandBrake, disable "Passthru metadata" options are off; always check "Web Optimized" off and use a recent version of x265.
Dolby Vision not detected in DaVinci Resolve — Right-click in the Media page → Delogo/Unconform → Dolby Vision metadata must be set to "Clip" not "Auto."
GPS data missing — Privacy settings on your iPhone may have blocked location recording. Go to Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Camera and set to "While Using."

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