Imported my library into Serato and noticed that all my ID3 tags made with Engine Prime were actually not written to the source files. Is there something I’m doing wrong, or is this a feature Engine Prime lacks? If its the latter, I would be very disappointed that the senior to Engine 1.5 does not have this basic feature…
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Hi
Engine Prime does not write to 3rd party software databases.
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What he is referring to are the ID3V tags on the MP3 file itself, not the serato database.
Hello, I know this is an old topic but I just noticed this issue. I am using Engine Prime 1.2.2 on Windows 10. I am able to write to ID3 MP3 tags in Serato but unable to do so in Engine Prime. For example, I write “test” to composer, artist, genre, comments, etc… in Prime and it saves. I then look at the file details in explorer and it doesn’t show the new info, only what was previously written in Serato, I then “re-import track information” in prime and it reverts back to whatever I wrote from Serato previously. The prime info does show on the players so that’s not an issue, I am only concerned that all of the tags I enter in prime disappear when/if I re-import track information. I would prefer not to switch back to Serato as my main library management since the import takes forever and I already put alot of time into Prime. Anyone run into this also?
You can prepare your tracks metadata in a dedicated ID3TAG editor, before importing your library in Engine Prime.
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This - Prime writes to it’s own area, and if you refresh the information it’ll lose it anyway, so much better using a tag editor.
Thanks for the info.
So FYI, in order to update the ID3 info for the source file you need to make sure you DO NOT load the track into the prime player when you edit (i.e. Double Click). You need to click on the track ONCE, then click on the field you want to edit ONCE, then change the info, it then saves to the source file. Thank you pg. 29 of the Engine Prime Manual :).
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It is logical not to edit files while they are loaded into the player because their are in use at that moment and the player works with the track metadata at that moment, so the file is locked for editing. Still the best method of preparing tracks is to use dedicated software for id3tag editing and BPM analysis and later using Engine only for playlist management or some cue and loops settings.
Feature Request:
Right Click > Write Tag to File
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Performing an operation on the file using direct right click on the mouse can lead to accidental modifications. Any editing operation should be done by first selecting a track or a group of tracks and then selecting an option from a popup menu displayed on right click of the mouse. Keep in mind that the right click of the mouse can also be used to reanalyse a track.
You missed the arrow in there. :-p
Arrows signify an action to pop up a menu in manual writing.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been struggling with this very issue, and I think it is non-standard (ie no other DJ software doesn’t write to the file when you alter tag info in the library, under any circumstances).
Would like to see this changed/fixed.
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I had to read that twice!
In fact Phil, VirtualDJ writes changes made from its tag editor to the database. It will only write to the tag if the ‘setTagsAuto’ option is enabled (or you click the ‘write tag’ button).
Good point! At least Virtual DJ has got a clear option to do it though. Point is, in Engine it feels buggy – I think it’s to do with when the track is loaded onto the deck. Otherwise, it seems to write without fail to the file.
I like that Engine Prime is walled off i.e. any changes done in EP does not affect other DJ software, this is for folks like myself that still use other dj software for good reasons.
If and when Engine prime decides to start touching id tags, please please please, let it be optional in the settings.
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That’s the thing - it DOES touch ID3 tags. I edited about 30 tracks in Engine Prime the other day, about 5 of them had their tags altered, 25 not. I think I’ve tracked it down to it not altering the tags of a track that is actually loaded onto a deck. Wish I had time to exhaustively test, but I’m just trying to figure out what is going on through trial and error.
We’re not talking waveforms etc (ie DJ platform specific info), just the standard ID3 tags that you could alter in iTunes/Music, MediaMonkey etc.
You are correct about it not writing tags that are loaded into the deck. Engine Prime does write to tag otherwise. This was covered in an older feature request thread.
Thanks! I realise I am new round here 
As a reviewer and tutor I spend a few months with each system to stay up to date and right now I am getting back up to speed with Engine Prime/OS, as we’ll be making some new training material based around it soon.
Been really enjoying DJing with it on my school livestreams last few months.
Appreciate the help from everyone here!
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Bumping this because I would like a button or menu item “Update all ID3 Tags” to just mass write all the tags for an entire crate or playlist to the mp3 files themselves. I edit tags on almost every track in Engine Prime to suite my liking and it’s hit or miss whether that gets written to the file. This is important for me later when I bring tracks from Engine to Rekordbox to make CDJ-compatible USB sticks, almost none of my tag edits done in Engine Prime are there.
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