Search your library

One search box covers four things at once: your video titles and descriptions, the shot fields you fill in, the video fields you fill in, and transcript text.

It searches what has been recorded. It does not look at the picture — a shot is findable because you, Autofill or a transcript described it, not because it happens to be a wide shot of a warehouse.

Start a search

1. Go to All items for the whole library, or open a folder or collection to search inside it.
2. Press /, or Cmd+F (Ctrl+F on Windows), which works even from inside another field. Clicking the box works too.
3. Type your query.
4. Read the result count, and the reason line on each result.

What a text search reads

Read by typing	Not read by typing
Video title and description	Rating — no text to match
Text, Dropdown, Tag and Number shot fields	Checkbox — no text to match
The same four types of video field	The picture itself
Transcript words, where a transcript is complete

Rating and checkbox fields are reachable with a filter chip instead, which is the right tool for them anyway: Rating is at least 4 is a cleaner question than any word you could type.

Because video fields are searched too, typing a client name finds the projects filed against it, not just the shots that mention it.

How words are matched

Literal substring matching, case-insensitive. No fuzzy matching, no synonyms, no boolean syntax.

Type two words and both must appear, in any order, within the same value.

• dock finds a Location reading Warehouse dock.
• dock warehouse finds it too — order does not matter.
• dock forklift finds nothing, unless one value contains both words.

A number field matches on the text of its value, so 4 matches 4, 24 and 400.

The one forgiving search in StoryFolder is the transcript box inside the Transcript tab, which tolerates a word the recogniser split or misheard. See Search, copy, and export a transcript.

Narrow results with filters

Chips are how you ask structured questions.

1. Add a filter and choose a field.
2. Choose an operator. What is offered depends on the field's type.
3. Enter or pick the value.
4. Add more chips, and combine them with a typed query if you like.

Field type	Operators you get
Text	contains, does not contain, is, is not, is empty, is not empty
Dropdown	is, is not, is any of, is none of, is empty, is not empty
Tag	has, does not have, has any of, has none of, has no tags, has any tag
Rating	is exactly, is more than, is at least, is less than, is at most, is between, is rated, is not rated
Number	is, is not, is more than, is at least, is less than, is at most, is between, is empty, is not empty
Checkbox	is, is not

Is empty and is not empty are the ones people find late and then use constantly: they are how you find the gaps in your own notes. Remove one chip at a time, or clear them all, from the chip bar.

Understand search scope

Standing in	Search covers
All items	The whole library, filed videos included
A folder	That folder and everything nested under it
A collection	Only the shots in that collection
A quick filter	Its saved query, chips and layout

The editor has its own search over the open storyboard, which is a different box with a different scope — see Search & filters.

Understand why a result matched

Every result names what it matched on: a filter you built, a field by its label, or Transcript.

Results are ordered by that, too. The conditions you built rank above a plain field hit, and a field hit ranks above a transcript hit — so a shot that is there because it satisfies your filter comes before one that is there because somebody said the word on camera.

That line is the difference between trusting a result and guessing at it. When a search surprises you, read it first.

Save a search as a quick filter

Once a query and its chips are worth keeping, click Save as quick filter on the chip bar and name it after the question. Arriving at it later asks the question again — the results stay live as your metadata changes. See Quick filters.

Search tips

• Search one distinctive value before stacking chips. Most "nothing matches" is one chip too many.
• Put project-wide facts in video metadata. One value on the video beats the same value typed onto ninety shots.
• Transcribe before expecting spoken words. A video with no completed transcript contributes no dialogue to search.
• Record what you want to find later. Autofill or type the visual details now, and they become searchable from then on.

Does search narrow my exports and share links?

Yes. An export or a publish takes the shots your current query and filters leave standing — filter to four stars, then publish, and you publish the selects. Clear your filters first if you meant the whole thing.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to check
Something you know exists is missing	Your scope (are you inside a folder?), spelling, whether the metadata was ever recorded, whether a transcript finished, active chips, and the Trash
Far too many results	Add a chip. Structured questions beat longer queries
A visual subject is not found	Nothing looks at the picture at search time. Record it as metadata first
Two words find nothing	Both must appear in the same value. Try one, then add a chip

Related pages

• Organize your StoryFolder library
• Quick filters · Video metadata
• Search, copy, and export a transcript
• AI Autofill

Next step

→ Video metadata