ExifTool Forum

ExifTool => Newbies => Topic started by: theodore2018 on November 23, 2018, 06:12:09 PM

Title: Confusion about Video metadata in Apple Photos for Mac
Post by: theodore2018 on November 23, 2018, 06:12:09 PM
Hi,

i have a few strange anomalies with wrong dates/times for a handful of videos (all shot on the iPhone) in the Photos for Mac app and i'm not sure how to fix it. I was under the asumption, that the Quicktime:CreationDate (which is set by the iPhone and includes the timezone) is used for displaying the date/time, but i'm not so sure about that anymore.

Case 1: Displayed in Photos for Mac 2014-10-06 19:54:31

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_0348.MOV


[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2014:10:06 19:54:35+02:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2018:11:23 23:48:47+01:00
[System]        FileInodeChangeDate             : 2018:11:23 23:48:47+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2014:09:07 15:05:12
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2014:09:07 15:05:24
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:12
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:24
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:12
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:24
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:12
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:24
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:12
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2014:09:07 15:05:24
[QuickTime]     ContentCreateDate-deu           : 2014:09:07 22:05:12+07:00
[QuickTime]     CreationDate-deu-DE             : 2014:09:07 22:05:12+07:00
[QuickTime]     ContentCreateDate               : 2014:09:07 22:05:12+07:00
[QuickTime]     CreationDate                    : 2014:09:07 22:05:12+07:00


mdls IMG_0348.MOV

MDItemFSCreationDate              = 2014-10-06 17:54:31 +0000

The above information indicates that the MDItemFSCreationDate is used. Which leads me to...

Case 2: Displayed in Photos for Mac 2018-08-28 11:17:41

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_4120.MOV


[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2018:09:09 12:06:11+02:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2018:11:23 23:55:25+01:00
[System]        FileInodeChangeDate             : 2018:11:23 23:55:25+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track3]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track3]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track3]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track3]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track4]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track4]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[Track4]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:42
[Track4]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2018:08:28 09:17:58
[QuickTime]     CreationDate                    : 2018:08:28 11:17:41+02:00


mdls IMG_4120.MOV

MDItemFSCreationDate              = 2018-09-09 10:05:16

This indicates that the CreationDate is used and not the MDItemFSCreationDate - as i would have expected.

Why is there this difference? What is really used?

Additionally i have a bunch of files (also recorded with the iPhone) with missing CreationDate tags.

Case 3: Displayed in Photos for Mac 2015-12-18 11:31:52

exiftool -time:all -G1 -a -s IMG_0974.mov


[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2015:12:18 11:31:52+01:00
[System]        FileAccessDate                  : 2018:11:23 23:59:23+01:00
[System]        FileInodeChangeDate             : 2018:11:23 23:59:22+01:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2015:12:18 10:31:52
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2015:12:18 10:32:05
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:31:52
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:32:05
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:31:52
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:32:05
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:31:52
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:32:05
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:31:52
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 2015:12:18 10:32:05


mdls IMG_0974.mov

MDItemFSCreationDate              = 2015-12-18 10:31:52 +0000

Is there a possibility to add the Quicktime:CreationDate tag? I really don't know why it is missing. The consequence is that the time in Photos for Mac isn't displayed in the local creation time.

The correct CreationDate would be in this case

[QuickTime]     CreationDate                    : 2015:12:18 18:31:52+08:00


Another video - shot only a few minutes earlier is - is displayed "correctly" with the local Hongkong time (in this particular case 18:28:18).

But i wasn't able to add the CreationDate information via Exiftool nor with the help of matchDateTime. What are my options here?
Title: Re: Confusion about Video metadata in Apple Photos for Mac
Post by: Phil Harvey on December 01, 2018, 10:43:36 AM
Quote from: theodore2018 on November 23, 2018, 06:12:09 PM
Is there a possibility to add the Quicktime:CreationDate tag?

Not with ExifTool.  There may be some video utilities that can do this for you.

- Phil