Multiple photos with same date and time stamp

[vetinry]

Hello everyone
This is my first post here and I am still a definite Metadata newbie so please be gentle.

I have started a project to try and sort out about 45,000 photos.

So far, I have managed to get them all on to one PC and am going to start working on the duplicates.

I would like to rename them all into a single scheme and definitely like the options available in the GUI, either DDMMYYYY_HHMMSS or HHMM.  I would prefer the slightly shorter version but am coming up against a problem of multiple files with the same time.  I have used burst mode on my camera quite frequently so even with the version including seconds, I'm still getting errors.

I know that if I use ExifTool, I can get seperate files with the same time stamp to have seperate file numbers after the rest of the information, but can you use the GUI to do this, becuase I haven't really got the confidence to use the command line if I can avoid it

Really hope this makes sense

Many thanks

Steve

[vetinry]

Does no-one have any suggestions?

Steve

[Phil Harvey]

Sorry Steve.  I was hoping someone else could answer your question.  I know how to do this at the command line, but not with the GUI.

If you decide to go the command-line route, this page gives details and examples on this topic.

- Phil

[kevinf]

Hi vetinry,

I use IrfanView http://www.irfanview.com/ for renaming photos. It lets you set up filename formats that retain portions of the original filenames, as well as adding things like the date/time of the photo using keywords. For example:

$E36867 -        DateTimeOriginal
$E36868 -        DateTimeDigitized

The F1 - Help is very comprehensive.

I retain the index number that the camera assigns the photos in an effort to avoid duplication. Maybe that will assist you best?

This tutorial covers the basics http://www.kearc.com/southernstringband/Irfanview/irfanrename.html.

The nice thing is that there is a test mode, so you can play without screwing things up!

Regards,
Kevin

[vetinry]

Thanks Phil and Kevin
I think I will try to use the command line and then if I'm still struggling, I will take a look at irfan view

Cheers

Steve