Motion Array writes its metadata rules per content type rather than once for the whole library, which is why a rule you learned uploading graphics will not carry over to your next music track. Three limits bite hardest: a 40-character title cap on graphics, a 25-word cap on graphics descriptions, and a flat refusal of accented and non-Western characters across submissions.
There is no single Motion Array metadata rule
Most agencies publish one metadata specification and apply it to everything they take. Motion Array's upload rules are organised the other way round, by content type. Graphics, stock photos, stock video, motion graphics templates, royalty-free music and sound effects each get their own paragraph, and a field that is capped in one section is often simply not mentioned in another.
That has a practical consequence. If you build one metadata template for Motion Array and reuse it across categories, you will either over-constrain your photo titles to a graphics limit that does not apply to them, or push a 60-character title into a graphics submission that caps at 40. Reading only the section that matches what you are uploading is most of the technique here.
The page is also notably silent in places, and silence is not permission. Motion Array states no tag count or limit for any category, and no title length limit for music or sound effects. Treat those as unverified rather than unlimited: the portal field is the real authority, and for music and sound effects a reviewer can still come back and ask for a different title.
The limits Motion Array actually publishes
Here is what the upload rules state, field by field, with the gaps left visible rather than guessed at. Filter to the type you are about to submit and ignore the rest.
Motion Array metadata limits by content type
The limits Motion Array states per content type: graphics titles capped at 40 characters and descriptions at 25 words, raster illustrations at 2000x2000 px and 300 ppi, stock photos at 3840 px on one edge, video and motion graphics templates at 1920x1080, sound effects in packs of 3 to 15, and no tag count published for any type.
Two entries in that table deserve expanding. The 40-character graphics title is a hard cap and it is tight, roughly six or seven words, so the useful discipline is to name the asset rather than describe it. Motion Array also asks you to capitalise each word and to name the file to match the asset, which means the title and the filename stop being independent fields.
The 25-word graphics description is tighter than it sounds, because Motion Array spends some of those words for you. The description has to state how many graphic assets are in the submission, and then carry hyphen-led bullets covering digital or print use, colour space, format sizes and aspect ratios, PPI, and plugin use. Graphic templates need two further facts in the same budget: the number of pages or screens, and the number of text, media and logo placeholders.
At that point the description is a specification sheet rather than prose, and writing it as prose is precisely how contributors blow the word count. Draft it as the bullet list first and add connecting words only if you have budget left.
The character rule that breaks whole batches
Motion Array states that submissions should use only standard Western characters, and that non-Western alphabets, accented letters and special symbols are not accepted. For audio files it is more specific still: no spaces, no characters such as apostrophes, commas, full stops, exclamation marks or at signs, and no non-English characters in the filename.
This is the rule most likely to fail silently on a large delivery, because it is a property of your own naming habits rather than of the images. A photographer in Munich, Kraków or São Paulo naming files after the place they were shot will generate non-conforming filenames without noticing, and a batch assembled over months will contain a handful of them scattered among hundreds of clean ones. It is cheaper to normalise filenames on the way out than to find out which three failed.
Version naming is its own small requirement. Motion Array asks that each version be named so a customer can tell what it is, giving Main, Instrumental, 30s, 15s and Stinger as the pattern. Sequential suffixes such as v1 and v2 do not satisfy that, because they describe your process rather than the customer's choice.
Would Motion Array take this submission?
Eight submissions judged against the rules Motion Array publishes: the 40-character graphics title cap, packs of 3 to 15 sound effects, one clip per stock video submission, unique music titles, 2000x2000 px raster illustrations, 3840 px stock photos, filenames without spaces or non-English characters, and previews without photographic backgrounds.
Tags: guidance without a number
For music and sound effects, Motion Array asks that tags be unique and searchable, that you keep them to one-word items, and that you omit obvious terms such as music or effect appended to other tags. There is no stated minimum or maximum tag count for any content type on the page, which is unusual and worth planning around rather than exploiting.
The one-word rule is the part that changes how you build a set. Compound concepts have to split, so corporate teamwork becomes two tags rather than one phrase, and anything you would normally write as a two-word search term needs rethinking. Where no maximum is published, the safe assumption is that the field itself may still cap you silently — keywords get truncated on upload more often than contributors realise, and an unstated limit is not the same as no limit.
Originality, editorial, and what metadata cannot fix
Motion Array states that submissions must be original, and that derivatives, slight variations and recoloured versions of already approved work are not accepted. For anyone used to microstock, where near-variants of a successful file are a normal tactic, this is a genuine difference in strategy rather than a detail. Metadata will not rescue a file that is a recolour of something already in your own portfolio.
Anything that cannot be used commercially has to be declared at submission. Motion Array names visible brand logos and unreleased people or property specifically, and asks that such assets be marked as editorial during the submission itself. That is a metadata decision made at upload time, not something to correct afterwards.
Music carries an extra administrative layer. Tracks must be registered with an approved rights management company, and Motion Array lists AdRev, Artlist, CDbaby, EpicElite, HAAWK and Identifyy. If a track is registered with a performance rights organisation instead, you need to supply the organisation's name, composer and publisher details including IPI or CAE numbers, and the registered track name. Lyrics go in as a PDF or TXT with copyright and origin details.
Getting accepted at all
Motion Array is not an open-signup library. It states that artists are accepted on the basis of their experience, the quality of their work and the catalogue's needs, and asks applicants to submit previous work and online portfolios. That last clause matters: a strong portfolio in an oversupplied category can still be turned down, so it is worth looking at what the library is thin on before you apply.
How this sits next to the video libraries you already supply
If you already deliver to Pond5 and Storyblocks, Motion Array will feel stricter in a specific way. The others publish field limits that apply library-wide; Motion Array publishes limits that apply per content type, and leaves the tag field undefined. In practice that means you cannot derive its rules from theirs, and a metadata set that passed elsewhere can fail here on a title length or a filename character.
Two habits make the difference. Settle a file naming convention that is ASCII-only and space-free at source, rather than cleaning names per agency, and know what resolution each library actually requires before you export, because Motion Array's 3840-pixel photo minimum is above what several photo libraries ask for.
Keeping one archive compliant with several rulebooks at once is the part that does not scale by hand. Rastock generates titles, descriptions and keywords against each agency's own policy, including mandatory and banned terms, and delivers over FTP to 10+ agencies with per-agency status rather than a single sent flag — the feature overview covers how the policy side works, and the pricing page has the 14-day free trial, which does not ask for a card.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a Motion Array title be?
It depends on the content type. Motion Array states that graphics titles should be a maximum of 40 characters, with each word capitalised and the filename matching the asset. For music and sound effects it states no character limit at all, only that titles must be unique and artistic; generic music titles are not accepted and reviewers may ask for a replacement. No title limit is published for stock photos or video.
How many tags does Motion Array allow?
The upload rules do not state a tag count or limit for any content type. For music and sound effects they say tags should be unique and searchable, kept to one-word items, with obvious terms such as music or effect omitted when appended to other tags. Treat the absence of a number as unverified rather than unlimited and check the portal field before a large batch.
Does Motion Array accept accented characters in filenames?
No. Motion Array states that submissions should use only standard Western characters, and that non-Western alphabets, accented letters and special symbols are not accepted. For audio files the rule is stricter still: no spaces and no characters such as apostrophes, commas, full stops, exclamation marks or at signs, and no non-English characters in the filename.
What resolution does Motion Array require?
Stock photos need a minimum of 3840 pixels in width or height, in JPG or PNG. Raster illustrations need a minimum of 2000x2000 pixels at 300 ppi. Stock motion graphics and video need a minimum of 1920x1080, with no audio allowed in previews or clips. Graphics previews must be a 1920x1080 JPG without photographic backgrounds.
Can I upload variations of an approved file to Motion Array?
No. Motion Array states that submissions must be original and that derivatives, slight variations and recoloured versions of already approved work are not accepted. If you are used to microstock, where near-variants of a proven file are a normal tactic, this is a real strategic difference rather than a technicality, and no metadata change makes such a file eligible.
How many files can I put in one Motion Array submission?
It varies by type. Stock video takes only one clip per submission. Sound effects are accepted only in packs of between 3 and 15 effects. Icon packs run from 5 to 30 icons. For graphics the constraint is size rather than count: the maximum zipped package is up to 3GB per submission, and the description must state how many graphic assets are included.