As of 10.4.3, Spotlight indexes only a few QuickTime video annotations, which I use to add metadata to videos downloaded from Crooks and Liars and vlogs accessed through DTV. Relocating videos is easier when they have structured metadata that is indexed and searchable.

The below table does not include every annotation available and many of the generic metadata mappings are suggestions based on the descriptions of existing kMD mappings. The new QuickTime metadata format documentation explicitly names a few mappings; the rest are based on the syntax.

Spotlight-Indexed QuickTime Video Annotations

Annotation	Indexed	Generic Metadata Mapping	New QuickTime Metadata Mapping
Title (Full Name)	Yes	kMDItemTitle	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDisplayName
Copyright	Yes	kMDItemCopyright	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyCopyright
Comment	Yes	kMDItemComment	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyComment
Author	Yes	kMDItemAuthors	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAuthor
Description	Yes	kMDItemDescription	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDescription
Keywords	No	kMDItemKeywords	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyKeywords
Producer	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyProducer
URL Link	No	kMDItemWhereFroms	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyURLLink
Performers	No	kMDItemContributors	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyPerformers
Director	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyDirector
Writer	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyWriter
Artist	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyArtist
Album	No	kMDItemAlbum	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAlbum
Genre	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyGenre
Composer	No	kMDItemComposer	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyComposer
Encoded By	No	kMDItemEncodingApplications	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyEncodedBy
Warning	No	kMDItemInstructions	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyWarning
Information	No	kMDItemRights	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyInformation
Software	No	kMDItemCreator	kQTMetaDataCommonKeySoftware
Make	No	kMDItemAcquisitionMake	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAcquisitionMake
Model	No	kMDItemAcquisitionModel	kQTMetaDataCommonKeyAcquisitionModel
Original Source	No		kQTMetaDataCommonKeyOriginalSource

A few related thoughts

• I believe Apple will release a real video manager sometime in the near future. iTunes is my preferred music manager, but it is a lousy video manager.
• A video manager that would handle television show episodes and feature films would need a more flexible metadata infrastructure than the old QuickTime annotation system, hence the extensible system introduced with QuickTime 7.
• Download distribution rights for all of Pixar’s feature films are probably part of Jobs’ negotiations with Disney. They’ve already been (more than) amortized, so why not sell them through the online video store for four or five dollars? Pixar, Apple, and Disney all get a cut and Apple gets some quality content to launch feature film sales.