Filtering, sorting, and searching data in Encord Index is crucial for various reasons. It enables insights and actionable results on the following key aspects and more:
  • Identification of patterns, trends, or anomalies within a subset of the data.
  • Recognition of duplicates, outliers, and inconsistencies.
  • Removal of irrelevant, noisy, and erroneous data.
  • After filtering, sorting, and searching your data, use Collections with Annotate Projects to streamline your annotation process.
Encord Index provides the following methods:
  • Filter: Refine your searches using quality metrics, custom metadata, Collections, folder, data title, and data types.
  • Sort: Sort your data, in ascending or descending order, using quality metrics.
  • (Coming soon) Natural language search: Enter descriptive queries in everyday language to make it easier to find relevant images without the need for specific keywords or complex search parameters.
  • Embedding plot: A two-dimensional visualization technique used by Encord to represent high-dimensional data in a more interpretable form. Use the plot to select points within a specific rectangular area, thereby focusing on a particular subset of data points for in-depth analysis.

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Filters

In the Index Explorer for a Project you can refine searches by data quality metrics, Collections, custom metadata, folders, data titles, and data types.
Filters provide the ability to include or exclude images based on your filtering criteria.
Video Quality Metrics: Video quality metrics are calculated as your videos import into Index. Examples include, Area, Clip duration, Frames per second, Number of frames. Data Quality Metrics: Data quality metrics are calculated as your videos import into Index. Examples include, Area, Frame number, Random value.
Collections: Collections are a new way to save interesting groups of data units and labels, to support and guide your downstream workflow. Custom Metadata: Custom metadata added to data units. The custom metadata added to data units in Folders persist to Annotate Projects and Active.
For information on importing custom metadata to an Annotate project, refer to Adding Metadata in the documentation.
Data title: The file name of the image or video. Data Types: Data, labels, and Predictions can be filtered by: images, image sequences, image groups, and videos File ID: The unique hash assigned to the image or video when the image or video import into Encord. Folder: The Folder images or videos reside in. Integration: The integration (if any) your images/videos reside. Keyframe: Frames of interest you specified on your videos. MIME type: Also known as media type. The file type of an image or video. For example, video/mp4. Storage location: The location where your images/videos reside. Examples include, AWS, GCP, Local. Uploaded at: The date and time that the image/video uploaded to Index. To filter Index data:
  1. Log in to the Encord platform. The landing page for the Encord platform appears.
  2. Go to Index > Files. The All folders page appears with a list of all folders in Encord.
  3. Click in to a folder. The landing page for the folder appears and the Explorer button is enabled. Access Index Explorer
  4. Click the Explorer button. The Index Explorer page appears.
  5. Click the Filters dropdown or press F. The Filters menu appears. Index Filtering
  6. Add and configure the filters you need. Frame/video/audio files filter in the Explorer workspace.
  • Sort and use the natural language searches (natural language searches coming soon) to further help get the results you want.
  • After filtering, sorting, and searching, create an Index Collection.

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Preset Filters

Preset filters provide a way to save your filtering criteria for use and reuse in Index. All preset filters are available everywhere in Index. This means that some preset filters might not return any results. For example, a preset filter might use a specific Folder (Folder A) in the filtering criteria, but if you open Index in a different Folder (Folder B) and the first Folder (Folder A) is not a child of the other Folder (Folder B) no results are returned.

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Create a Preset Filter

Create Presets (Preset Filters and their settings) from the Filter tab. To create a Preset (Preset Filter and their settings):
  1. Log in to the Encord platform. The landing page for the Encord platform appears.
  2. Go to Index > Files. The All folders page appears with a list of all folders in Encord.
  3. Click in to a folder. The landing page for the folder appears and the Explorer button is enabled. Access Index Explorer
  4. Click the Explorer button. The Index Explorer page appears.
  5. Click the Filters dropdown or press F. The Filters menu appears.
  6. Add and configure the filters you need. Frame/video/audio files filter in the Explorer workspace. Index Filtering
  7. Click Presets > Create Presets once you have added all the filters you need and specified each filter’s settings. After creating the Preset you can use the Preset in this or any other Folder. Create Presets

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Use a Preset Filter in Index

Once you have created one or more Preset Filters, you can apply them to any of your Folders from the Filter tab.
Global filters apply to any Folder, but Local filters only apply on the Folder where the Preset was created.
To use an existing Preset (Preset Filter and their settings):
  1. Log in to the Encord platform. The landing page for the Encord platform appears.
  2. Go to Index > Files. The All folders page appears with a list of all folders in Encord.
  3. Click in to a folder. The landing page for the folder appears and the Explorer button is enabled. Access Index Explorer
  4. Click the Explorer button. The Index Explorer page appears.
  5. Click the Filters dropdown or press F. The Filters menu appears.
  6. Click Presets. A menu appears. Use Preset Filter
  7. Select the Preset you want to use from the dropdown. Frame/video/audio files filter in the Explorer workspace based on the Preset Filters and their settings.
Global filters apply to any Folder, but Local filters only apply on the Folder where the Preset was created.

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Sorting

Sort your data, in ascending or descending order, using data quality metrics. To sort Index data:
  1. Log in to the Encord platform. The landing page for the Encord platform appears.
  2. Go to Index > Files. The All folders page appears with a list of all folders in Encord.
  3. Click in to a folder. The landing page for the folder appears and the Explorer button is enabled. Access Index Explorer
  4. Click the Explorer button. The Index Explorer page appears.
  5. Select the metric to sort the data. Index Sort
  6. Specify ascending or descending order.
  • Filter and use the natural language searches (natural language searches coming soon) to further help get the results you want.
  • After filtering, sorting, and searching, create an Index Collection.