What is a metadata view
A metadata view is a panel in Final Cut Pro for viewing, changing, and consolidating clip metadata. Installing the Media Sync Tool view is an optional convenience: it makes sure your exported FCPXML carries the descriptive metadata—notes, reel, scene, and take—that Media Sync Tool then preserves on the synced clips.
What it’s for
Final Cut Pro only writes the metadata fields that the active metadata view exposes. Media Sync Tool syncs from timecode and groups clips by their shooting-day folders, so the sync itself doesn’t depend on this view. What it adds is completeness: with the view active, the exported FCPXML also carries the descriptive fields—notes, reel, scene, take, and the Content Created date—so Media Sync Tool can carry them onto the synced clips and use the creation date as a secondary way to group same-day footage. Without it, your clips still sync, but some of that metadata may not appear on the resulting synced clips.
To learn how to use Media Sync Tool metadata view to fine-tune sync results, see Using the metadata view.
Install it from Media Sync Tool settings
Add the Media Sync Tool metadata view to Final Cut Pro from Media Sync Tool Settings, under Final Cut Pro Integration, using the Install Metadata View button. If Final Cut Pro is running when you install the view, you’ll need to relaunch it for the view to appear.
Tip: The timecode Media Sync Tool pairs on is always part of the export, so syncing works with or without the view—the view just adds the richer metadata so it rides onto your synced and logged clips. As long as your Final Cut library references the original camera media, that metadata is available even when the originals are currently offline.
To learn more about Final Cut Pro metadata views, see the Final Cut Pro User Guide.