reelid

Reelid is a term used in film archiving, production, and digital asset management to refer to an identifier assigned to a film reel or its digital equivalent. The exact meaning of “reelid” varies by organization, and there is no universal standard for the term. In general, a reelid serves to link a physical reel or digital asset to its metadata, history, and associated permissions.

In physical media contexts, an identifier may appear on the can label, the reel spool, or edge labels. These codes encode information such as project title, version or take, source, date, and circulation status. In archives and libraries, reelids facilitate inventory control, tracking between facilities, and accurate reassembly of edited material. The practice relies on consistent labeling and record-keeping to prevent mix-ups during storage, transfer, or restoration.

In digital workflows, a reelid may refer to a metadata field (often named reel_id or similar) that groups media assets by the original source reel. This helps editors keep track of footage across takes and editions and supports provenance in preservation systems. Many editing platforms and digital asset management tools support linking media items to a reelid through metadata schemas, though field names and formats vary by system.

Because practices differ, reelids tend to be organization-specific. Clear documentation and cross-referencing with other identifiers (such as project_id, shot_id, or take) are important to avoid misidentification and data loss. See also film reel, archiving, metadata, and digital asset management.