Library - Searching for Assets and Events (W1)

Introduction

This guide covers the library application’s search function in workspace 1 to 3. It will present how to search and find Assets and Events, how to create Saved Smart searches, and how to find existing saved searches.

Note!
Remember that the search module searches for the content stored in the asset’s metadata, such as title, subtitle, etc. It also searches within the logged events. Event search is a separate search function in workspace 4 and 5 but also visible in workspace 1 and 2. Please read our guide on workspace 4 and 5, to learn more about event search.

Keep in mind that Event search and workspace 4 and all above are available for customers in Professional & Enterprise price plan only. Customers using basic price plan does not have access to Events or Tags.

In December 2018, Mediabank was updated with new search functions:

• Recent search - Library will now remember the 10 last textual searches and list them in a pop-up window when the user begins to type a search string.
• Combined event & asset search - When entering the Library, the W1 and W2 now list all assets and events available in the list/thumb-view upper right corner (3). Users can search for both assets and events using one search string.

Searching for assets and events from W1/W2
The advanced search window support assets only. To search for events, the user must use the textual search window. It is possible to combine advanced search with a textual search.

Note!
Assets - If the advanced search is active, then the textual search will only search in the output from this filter. The rule is ALL (Both the active and the contextual search parameter must be met)
Events - The textual search will search all events regardless of the active advanced search since it applies to assets only.

Conditional search (new)
Observe that advanced search is now conditional when using "match = all" switch. In the above image, the result from the first search (1) in a specific category is used by the next search (2) to find a certain clip type from the specified category. Need to find clip types from a certain category for a specified customer? Simply add the third (3) search an specify the customer.

Notice that the search order is irrelevant. The above search could start with customer or clip type. The outcome would be identical.

If the user with its three search parameters discover that the first search parameter (category) should be something else, the third and second searches must be deleted to enable the change of the category. Next, the user must define the second and third search parameter again.

Elastic implementation
Mediabank uses Elastic search engine to index and searches for Events and Assets. The Elastic implementation is configured to reflect the user behavior and the metadata available.

default_operator is changed to AND (standard is OR)
Writing Manchester Leicester in the search frame will return assets/events containing both words. If the user is searching for all assets/events that contains Manchester or Leicester, the search phrase should be Manchester OR Leicester. The standard AND will be superseded by the OR flag.

Observe that the following search flags are disabled:  = & | ! ( ) { } [ ] ~ < > : /
The reason is that these characters are often found in asset metadata like titles, subtitles etc. We have experienced that users tend to simply copy parts of a phrase (like a title) and paste it in the search window. With the standard search flags in use, the pasted text would be interpreted as flags, resulting in an unpredictable search result.

writing penalty yellow in the search frame will return the same result as penalty +yellow
It is even possible to write; penalty AND yellow.

• Valid flags are AND, OR, NOT.
• Searching for a phrase should look like this: "riding bikes into the sunset".
• Valid wildcards are * and ?.

A few examples:

• Writing just will search for any asset/event containing the word just and return these. All assets/events not containing the word just is excluded. If the word just exists in any part of the asset's metadata or properties, it will also be displayed.
• A combination: just* is the same as above but will also include a word like justify and any other word that starts with just.
• To perform a more specific search, you can search for a string by using "your text inside". Searching for "just 10 feet above"will not return anything unless the criteria for the string filter is met.
• You can also include or exclude words in your search. A search phrase like
  League +Sunday NOT Monday will search for any assets that contain League and Sunday but exclude any asset that contains Monday. You may omit the + sign in front of Sunday but to exclude a search parameter, you must use the minus "NOT" flag.
• Searching for assets/events with containing arsenal from 2010 to 2019 will look like this arsenal 201? The wildcard flag instructs the search engine to return results for arsenal AND 201 including any valid single character replacing the ? flag.

Searching assets using filter keys

The number of search keys in Mediabank is, to put it mildly, comprehensive and scrolling down these futile keys is by no means efficient. The most obscure keys are hidden by default, leaving a small number of the most used keys visible. For the very advanced user, a "show all" button is available at the end of the key window frame.

A local admin may adjust these filter keys to further optimize the availability of the most used keys. Or, simply contact NEP support and have them to adjust the filter key settings. The changes are done under "Company settings" modifying the key "SearchFilterKeys".

Note!
The available keys are vital for services running in mediabank. Adjusting these settings will simply hide them until the user clicks "Show all".

Difference between assets and events from thumb/list view.
Using the shortcut in the thumbs upper right corner will activate the media player. Depending on the type of media, the content will be loaded into the player in the Library W3 or Event W5 workspace. 

The difference between assets and events?
Starting the Library application, the default view is workspace 1. From this view, the Library lists the most recent incoming assets as thumbs. From the thumb, the user can click on the shortcut "arrow" located in the upper right corner and go directly to W3. The asset loads automatically into the media player, ready to play.

Events, however, are not (yet) assets or media clips but simply log records from a sporting event or similar. Often tagged by users/operators watching a Live Ingest. Clicking on the event thumb shortcut will open the media player in the workspace 5 Event. The media player will look at the log record, identify the event and load the "entire" asset. It will then search for the actual time code and align the event in the media player, ready to play.
When the user decides to use it for publishing or editing, it must be added to an M-box. The M-box will then use the time code to extract the particular sequence into a media clip and transcode it to the designated media format. The length, pre/post roll values are retrieved from the default values in the Event application.

Smart searches

Starting in your default thumb or list view, your search module will have a similar look like the below image. From here, you can search and select your active Saved searches. You may perform an additional manual search to refine your active search. However, to create your own Saved searches, you must open the advanced search editor by clicking on the button (1).

Press the advanced search button (1), illustrated in the image below. You have entered the Advanced search editor with a Saved search active (Smart U19-2018).

You may modify any visible Saved searches if you save it with a new name. If you like the active search, you may use it as your default search when logging in by clicking the default search button below your active search.   

Match (7): Selecting “all”  in the following rules means that all the rules must comply to list the searched media files. The alternative “any” does not work as strict as “all” since each and one of the search-rules that match will return a positive.

Search rule (8): With these filters, you have the tools to create very advanced search functions. The most common is equal is selected.

Once Sub Category is selected, you have created your search. You can continue to create additional filters or continue to refine your search.

Note!
You can use the "manual" search in combination with an active Saved search to temporary refine your search results.

The difference between Saved searches and Project:

Project:
You add the files manually you need to your project and they will remain static. If you need to add or remove an asset you must do it manually.

Saved Searches:
In contrast to Project, when you add the assets manually and save the asset-list for later use, you now add the search criteria in Smart search and save the search for later use. When you select the smart search next time, it will initiate a new search and list the assets matching your search criteria. Saved Searches will always provide an up to date result.

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