Dear all, there are some related topics to GPS Tags for the Photos App on a Mac but I could not figure out how to solve my problem yet.
Here is what I did: I converted a video (from .mov to .mov). This led to a loss of date and GPS information in the exif data in the converted file. So I used the exiftool to add the information to converted file. The problem: The Photos app does not display the location of the converted file on a map (as it does though with the original file). Important though: When I am using the exiftool to read the data from original and from the converted file ("exiftool -n /Users/.../IMG_4751.mov") they look exactly the same (please see attachment). (I am calling the command from within R (R Studio).)
I assume that the format of the GPS tag is not 100 % correct (for the Photos app) abd/or the exiftool fixes the output format so I do not see the original entry in the file?! Or I am missing out a tag that the Photo app uses to show the location where the video was recorded on a map. I believe though that exiftool pulls out all exif tags included in a file?!
Maybe this issue is rather on the side of the Photos app but maybe someone knows how to fix this issue.
Tl;dr: How to add GPS tags to .mov file (or other format as well) so that the Photos app on a Mac displays its location on a map?
Btw: When I edit the "GPSCoordinates" tag (also see attachment), the other tag are edited accordingly. Nice feature if this happens deliberately.
I am using Mac OS Mojave and the latest version of the exiftool (12.13) on a Mac.
Also btw: The same "problem" with the Photos app is also true for the Finder: Even though I editted the GPS tags as described above the Finder won't show them when I inspect the file with cmd+I.
Did you add GPSCoordinates in the same location as the file that works? Use the -G1 option when extracting to see the specific locations where the tags are stored.
- Phil
Hi Phil,
yes you were right - that was the problem. Per default exiftool does not write those tags into the location where the Finder or the Photos app looks for them and where they are stored in the original file. This I could find out with the -G1 option. Just after your suggestion I also found repsective sections in the FAQ which deal with such issues. Before my post I noticed commands like QuickTime:GPSAltitude and similar but I always got a syntax error when attempting them on my own.
I now solved my issue by using a Copy-command to copy all exif tags from the old to the new file (this one: exiftool -exif:all= -tagsfromfile -all:all -unsafe bad.jpg) That also preserves the location and is very convenient.
Thank you.