Writing Metadata to Video Files to Search Using Finder

I have lots of video files (.mov and .mp4).

I assigned Finder tags to each file so I could easily locate what I needed with a simple Finder search. This worked great until I upgraded to a newer Mac. I didn't realize the Finder tags were specific to the computer. Now they are all gone and thousands of files need to be retagged. :(

In my preliminary research, I discovered that the comments you enter in the Cmd-I popup window are specific to Finder. Also, the keywords in the native Apple Photos app are specific to it. Oh, and Adobe Bridge Keywords don't help either.

This time around, I'm looking for a way to write my notes into the metadata so the information lives with the file and won't be lost when I move the files from one computer to another or on and off cloud storage.

I'm playing around with programs like MetaZ, Subler, MetaDoctor, etc. They are writing metadata somewhere, but it is not in the location that Finder looks when searching.

Here's what Finder let's me select for (what I thought were) metadata options to view.

Here is a screenshot of MetaDoctor and the fields it will let me affect (the field names are the same across the metadata editors I've tried).

Notice that the Finder metadata is named something different than the metadata listed in MetaDoctor.

For instance…

Finder MetaDoctor

Description Short Description & Long Description

Director Directors

Producer Producers

Encoding Software Encoding Tool & Encoded By

Genre iTunes Genre & User Genre

There are also several fields in MetaDoctor that are not in Finder, like…Actors, Artist, Screenwriters, etc.

And fields in Finder that are not in MetaDoctor, like…Keywords, Movie Information, etc.

I'm now convinced that these are two sets of metadata. According to MetaDoctor support, software like theirs is meant to edit iTunes metadata. (I didn't know there were different sets of metadata.)

If that's the case, how do I get to the metadata Finder lists in the preview window?

I could use the 'Keywords' or 'Description' or 'Movie information' sections to enter the information I need to help me sort through the files when I need a specific one...if I can find a way to get there.

Here are the questions about 'Keywords' or 'Description' or 'Movie information' (if you're still following along)...

Are any or all three of those user-editable? If so, how do I edit them?

Does the information in any or all three of those sections live with the file or is it Finder-specific or computer-specific?

I'm also open to other suggestions that would solve this challenge.

Thanks for your time. :)