PM equivalent of Lightroom plug-in

[DJM]

I'm moving from Lr to PM and looking for advice on plug-in metadata please. I currently use Jeff Friedl inspired Lr plug-ins to enter specific information on the content of my transport photos.
I select these through "All Plug-in Metadata". Example:
  Merchant Ship 1
Name
Port Register
Country
Type
Operator
GRT
MMSI
I can go to 'Library Filter' then 'Metadata' which gives 4 columns in which I can select any of the items above. This will then show all the occurences, in order, selection of any then displaying the relevant photo.
I've watched various videos on using metadata in PM but they all seem to be about using & editing standard IPTC data.  My questions therefore are: 1) can I replicate this setup in PM, 2) if not, can I edit IPTC headings etc to do it, or 3) any suggestions on the best way to achieve moving my data ?
Thanks in advance.

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

Given that we are not familiar with the plugin that you're describing, it isn't easy to give you any specific advice based on what you've vaguely described here.

Photo Mechanic can enter metadata into many many different standard IPTC metadata fields. You can see descriptions of most of those fields here:
https://docs.camerabits.com/support/solutions/articles/48001174616-metadata-iptc-template-map

Though there will not be dedicated IPTC fields for some of the fields you mention, there are different description fields that you can use. Photo Mechanic can also be configured to show user-defined labels on these metadata fields. For E.g. "Supplemental Category 1" could be renamed to "MSSI" if you so desired.

Photo Mechanic and Photo Mechanic Plus both have ways of locating specific photos within your files based on the specific metadata contained in them. So, something like what it sounds like you're trying to do should be feasible. However, it is likely you may have to adjust your inner mental model of how metadata is organized. If Mr. Friedl's plugin is saving the data as custom fields in his own proprietary database, there is no way to duplicate that directly in Photo Mechanic.

-Mick

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

Also, If you are able to post a sample XMP file of the metadata one of your files has after you've tagged it in Mr. Friedl's plugin, we can tell you if/how that can work with Photo Mechanic.

-Mick

[DJM]

As a test I've just updated the info on a photo using the plugin but on checking I find that the xmp file has not updated. I now think you are correct that the plugin is saving the data as custom fields in a proprietary database. I'll now consider that a dead end and work on what's available via PM, for example, reconfiguring labels as you suggest and see how I get on with that. I'll not spend anymore time on Lr and just work  with PM and Capture 1. Thanks for your time

-Dave M