Overwriting all dates of a movie (GoPro MP4)

[ocroquette]

Hi,

I am fixing some time shift issues in videos created by a GoPro. The correct date (2023:08:04...) is available in various fields, but somehow I cannot copy it to the other fields (2023:08:05...).

Here is the info of the file:

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s  GOPR1787.MP4

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[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2023:08:24 11:00:55+02:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2023:08:24 11:01:01+02:00
[File:System]   FileInodeChangeDate             : 2023:08:24 11:00:55+02:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[XMP:XMP-exif]  DateTimeDigitized               : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[XMP:XMP-exif]  DateTimeOriginal                : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-photoshop] DateCreated                 : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-tiff]  DateTime                        : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-xmp]   CreateDate                      : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-xmp]   MetadataDate                    : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-xmp]   ModifyDate                      : 2023:08:04 15:23:24
[XMP:XMP-xmpDM] ShotDate                        : 2023:08:04 15:23:24

Here is the command line I use to copy from CreateDate:

exiftool "-time:all<$CreateDate"  -overwrite_original GOPR1787.MP4

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Warning: [minor] The ExtractEmbedded option may find more tags in the media data - GOPR1787.MP4
Warning: No writable tags set from GOPR1787.MP4
    0 image files updated
    1 image files unchanged

Using -ee does not help.

I am looking for a way to update the remaining fields, e.g.:

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s  GOPR1787.MP4 | grep "2023:08:05"

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[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:08:05 01:53:24
[XMP:XMP-exif]  DateTimeDigitized               : 2023:08:05 01:53:24

Thanks!

[wywh]

QuickTime:CreateDate is important. The other TrackCreateDate, TrackModifyDate, MediaCreateDate, MediaModifyDate usually just tell the movie's or encoding's start and end times.

That said, I usually set them all the same with something like (I use file name as the "gold standard" for date after copying it from some metadata date):

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exiftool -overwrite_original -wm w -api QuickTimeUTC=1 -api LargeFileSupport=1 '-AllDates<FileName' '-Track*Date<FileName' '-Media*Date<FileName' .
or just:

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exiftool -overwrite_original -wm w -api QuickTimeUTC=1 -api LargeFileSupport=1 '-AllDates<FileName' '-QuickTime:*Date<FileName' .

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exiftool -a -G1 -s -fileOrder5 FileName -api LargeFileSupport=1 -api QuickTimeUTC=1 -Time:All 1988-0601-1200-00.mp4
[System]        FileModifyDate                  : 2023:08:24 14:35:04+03:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track1]        TrackCreateDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track1]        TrackModifyDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track1]        MediaCreateDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track1]        MediaModifyDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track2]        TrackCreateDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track2]        TrackModifyDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track2]        MediaCreateDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Track2]        MediaModifyDate                 : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
[Keys]          CreationDate                    : 1988:06:01 12:00:00+03:00
I use an extra command to set also the file creation and modification dates the same.

That '-AllDates' shortcut (for DateTimeOriginal, CreateDate, ModifyDate) is meant for images but it works for similar G0 movie dates as well. I often use it with '-wm w' so no extra movie date tags (such as XMP, UserData, ItemList) that none of my apps read or favor are created. But sometimes I let exiftool create 'Keys:CreationDate' so it can then modify it (Apple's devices and apps use it for the primary date and revert to UserData or file creation date if it does not exist).

- Matti

[StarGeek]

Writing to -Time:All is never a good idea, as it will write a lot of tags that have nothing to do with the file.  If you feel you must, then you should include the -wm (-writeMode) option which wywh is using -wm w, which only writes to existing tags.

wywh's first command is a good one, as it will specifically write the media and track tags.

Also, my standard copy/paste about 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 4th 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 UTC.  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".