CreationDate or CreateDate

[BrunoA]

Hello.

I'm sorting some photos and videos for a client and took some samples from some files, of EXIF metadata for each file extension.

I came across with two .MOV files that were downloaded from ICloud, and have very unequal dates on CreationDate and CreateDate tags. I've imported the data into excel and sorted the dates in ascending order.

IMG_5040.MOV           
           
FileModifyDate    :    19-02-2023    16:51:22+00:00
CreationDate    :    19-02-2023    16:51:22+00:00
CreateDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:54
ModifyDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:57
TrackCreateDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:54
TrackModifyDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:57
MediaCreateDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:54
MediaModifyDate    :    28-02-2024    00:29:57
FileCreateDate    :    26-04-2024    23:36:13+01:00
FileAccessDate    :    28-04-2024    22:22:09+01:00

IMG_0216.MOV           
           
FileModifyDate    :    04-02-2021    12:50:04+00:00
CreationDate    :    04-02-2021    12:50:03+00:00
CreateDate    :    27-02-2024    18:51:10
ModifyDate    :    27-02-2024    19:02:07
TrackCreateDate    :    27-02-2024    18:51:10
TrackModifyDate    :    27-02-2024    19:02:07
MediaCreateDate    :    27-02-2024    18:51:10
MediaModifyDate    :    27-02-2024    19:02:07
FileCreateDate    :    26-04-2024    23:18:43+01:00
FileAccessDate    :    28-04-2024    22:23:57+01:00

As it can be seen, CreationDate and CreateDate dates are very disparate.  Why is it so?

In other .MOV files the dates are equal but the hours include the time marker (ex: +00:00).

Which tag should I use?

I've also attached the complete EXIF metadata of both files.

Thank you.

[StarGeek]

Minor nitpick, these are most likely Quicktime tags (see the Quicktime tags page), not EXIF tags. EXIF data can exist in a video file, but it is non-standard and will almost certainly be lost if the file is edited in any way.

You need to use the command in FAQ #3 to see the group names and duplicates.

As to why they are so far apart, no idea, unless they've been edited in some way. I think iPhones will put the correct date in CreationDate when the file is created, but @wywh would have to verify, as they know what Apple does with metadata. Under normal circumstances, CreationDate and CreateDate should differ by the time zone.

My standard copy/paste regarding video time stamps
Most video time stamps are supposed to be set to UTC and the program is supposed to adjust this to the local time zone when displayed (see 5th paragraph on the Quicktime tags page), with the most common exceptions being the Quicktime:CreationDate (not to be confused with the Quicktime:CreateDate) and the Quicktime:DateTimeOriginal.

If your computer is in the same time zone as where the video was shot, ignoring differences for Daylight/Summer time, then you can add the -api QuickTimeUTC option and exiftool will automatically adjust the time to/from UTC when writing/reading.  Otherwise, you either have to figure out the UTC yourself or use this -api option and include the correct time zone, e.g. "2023:02:03 04:05:06±07:00".
The data you've provide doesn't match.  You show two files in this post, IMG_5040.MOV and IMG_0216.MOV in this post, but two different copies with the same filename in your attachment, TESTE\ICLOUD\IMG_5040.MOV and TESTE\IPHONE\105APPLE\IMG_5040.MOV.

Use this command to list only the date/time tags and copy/paste the results from the problem files here, not as an attachment, and using the CODE button (see my .sig below).
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s /path/to/files/

But when it comes down to it, if there are differences that are off by more than a time zone (not counting the FILE: group tags), then something has edited it and changed the data.

[BrunoA]

Thank you for your reply.

I knew I had to screw up somewhere. My client has the same photo in two different folders, one downloaded from ICloud and the other from his IPhone.

I've replaced the FILES.txt attachment with exiftool -s.txt that outputs the metadata for IMG_5040.MOV in both folders and IMG_0216.MOV.

Also the output of the command "exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s /path/to/files/" as requested:

Code Select Expand

IMG_5040.MOV
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_5040.MOV

C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\ICLOUD>exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_5040.MOV
[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2023:02:19 16:51:22+00:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2024:05:02 23:26:11+01:00
[System]        FileCreateDate                  : 2024:04:26 23:36:13+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track3]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track3]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track3]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track3]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track4]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track4]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Track4]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Track4]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:28 00:29:57
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 2023:02:19 16:51:22+00:00



C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\IPHONE\105APPLE
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_5040.MOV

C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\IPHONE\105APPLE>exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_5040.MOV
[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2024:02:28 21:34:40+00:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2024:05:02 23:27:07+01:00
[System]        FileCreateDate                  : 2024:04:15 23:28:22+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:02:19 16:51:22
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:22
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:22
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track3]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track3]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track3]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track3]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track4]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track4]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track4]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Track4]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2023:02:19 16:51:23
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 2023:02:19 16:51:22+00:00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMG_0216.MOV
exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_0216.MOV

C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\ICLOUD>exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_0216.MOV
[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2021:02:04 12:50:04+00:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2024:05:02 23:28:37+01:00
[System]        FileCreateDate                  : 2024:04:26 23:18:43+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track3]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track3]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track3]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track3]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track4]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track4]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track4]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track4]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track5]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track5]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Track5]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Track5]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2024:02:27 19:02:07
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 2021:02:04 12:50:03+00:00


[StarGeek]

I would say the CreationDate is a good choice in all three.  In the first and third files, something has edited them, as all the Track*Date and Media*Date tags are different. And there aren't very many programs that will edit these tags as part of a workflow. Many free/open source programs are based upon ffmpeg and it won't edit those time stamps afaik.  At least I can't find info on how to do so with a quick search or with ChatGPT.

[wywh]

Has the client edited the date in the mobile device? For example, AirDrop default (Options: include Location and Captions) transfers edited date, location and caption. Edited movie date is in Keys:CreationDate but the original date is still in QuickTime:CreateDate (I guess the explanation for this is that the user might want revert that date edit).

- Matti

[BrunoA]

Has the client edited the date in the mobile device? For example, AirDrop default (Options: include Location and Captions) transfers edited date, location and caption. Edited movie date is in Keys:CreationDate but the original date is still in QuickTime:CreateDate (I guess the explanation for this is that the user might want revert that date edit).

- Matti

So, what I understood is that if my client for example used AirDrop, the app could have edited CreationDate? Would that happen if he just changed date and time in the phone settings?

You wrote:

Edited movie date is in Keys:CreationDate but the original date is still in QuickTime:CreateDate

In both files CreationDate date is older than CreateDate:

Code Select Expand

C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\ICLOUD>exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_5040.MOV
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2024:02:28 00:29:54
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 2023:02:19 16:51:22+00:00

C:\Users\antonio\Desktop\TESTE\ICLOUD>exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_0216.MOV
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2024:02:27 18:51:10
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 2021:02:04 12:50:03+00:00

If i used my intuition without requesting assistance in this forum, I would have used the older date. But you suspect that the original date is CreateDate and CreationDate was edited in some way?

My client isn't very tech savvy and I'm not very proficient in Apple products, I'm mostly a Windows and Linux user. I can't squeeze much information from him regarding what app or action he could have taken, that might have caused this.

[StarGeek]

If i used my intuition without requesting assistance in this forum, I would have used the older date. But you suspect that the original date is CreateDate and CreationDate was edited in some way?

Personally, I would think that the CreationDate is the correct time. Does the client not know if they took the video recently or not?

[BrunoA]

If i used my intuition without requesting assistance in this forum, I would have used the older date. But you suspect that the original date is CreateDate and CreationDate was edited in some way?

Personally, I would think that the CreationDate is the correct time. Does the client not know if they took the video recently or not?

I will get hold of him and ask if he has an idea when he recorded the video. The best example to ask him about would be IMG_0216.MOV where the dates 2024:02:27 and 2021:02:04 are quite different.

But I'm inclined to go with CreationDate.

Thanks for all your support until now.