Canon S95 and THM file

[mlmiller8]

Sorry.  I recently replaced a Canon S90 with the Canon S95 and was surprised to find that the MOV files created do not have an accompanying THM file.  I never had this issue with the S90 and I really don't want to create my own THM file for every video I take now.  I happened upon an Exiftool version history from October that included "Decode thumbnail image and maker notes from Canon S95 MOV videos".  I'm assuming this creates the THM file but unfortunately I am completely Exiftool ignorant.  I followed directions a few years ago using it to caption files from filename and was hopeful that someone might post step by step instructions to create the THM file from the MOV file on the Canon S95.  I know exiftool is extremely powerful and I'm hoping this is a simple feat to accomplish.  I am one who has always valued the THM file for videos and I currently use it to keyword, geotag, and organize all my videos within the rest of my collection.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Michael

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Michael,

Sure, here are the steps:

1) Download and install the ExifTool version for your platform.  If in Windows, follow the instructions for use from the commannd line.

2) Open a terminal window: In Windows, select "Run..." from the Start menu, type "cmd" and press RETURN.  On Mac, launch "Terminal" from the Applications/Utilities folder.

3) Type the following in the terminal window, then press RETURN:

exiftool -ext mov -thumbnailimage -b -w thm DIR

where DIR is the name of a directory containing MOV videos.  The trickiest part may be figuring how how to specify the directory name if you have never used the command line before.  If so, it may be easiest to put the files in a folder called "Movies" at the top level on your hard disk, then you can specify something like "C:\Movies" on Windows, or "/Movies" on the Mac.

If all goes well, the command should create one ".thm" file for each ".mov" file containing a ThumbnailImage.

- Phil

[mlmiller8]

Wow, thanks for the response Phil.  I am still a little confused as to whether this will create a thumbnail image only or will actually create a THM file which houses metadata from the MOV file, such as date taken, etc.  I'm looking forward to trying this out tonight.  Thanks again!

[Phil Harvey]

The full THM is stored in the S95 MOV videos, so this should do exactly what you want.

- Phil

[mlmiller8]

Thanks Phil.  Everything was Flawless.  I don't use exiftool often but am amazed yet again.  great job and many thanks.