Help optimizing IPTC injection into a large number of files.

[skippix]

I have a Windows-based GUI for managing a library of image files. Through it I can fill in the blanks on an IPTC captioning form to create a tag definition file, then select a folder to inject the metadata.

Here's a sample, typical tag definition file:
-XMP-photoshop:AuthorsPosition=Photographer
-XMP-photoshop:Headline=Junk
-XMP-photoshop:CaptionWriter=Junk Man
-XMP-photoshop:City=Baltimore County
-XMP-photoshop:State=MD
-XMP-photoshop:Country=USA
-XMP-photoshop:TransmissionReference=RTD_SPORTS_2019_01_13_TDIT
-XMP-photoshop:Credit=junk
-XMP-iptcCore:Location=junk
-XMP-dc:Title=junk
-XMP-dc:Creator=junk
-XMP-dc:Rights=© junk 2019
-XMP-dc:Description=The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorCity=Junktown
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorAddress=123 Sunny Ln
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorRegion=VA
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorPostalCode=27233
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorCountry=USA
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorWorkTelephone=800.555.1212
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorWorkEmail=no@one.com
-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorWorkURL=www.junkpics.biz
-XMP-XMPRights:WebStatement=www.junkpics.biz
-XMP-xmpRights:Marked=True
-XMP-XMPRights:UsageTerms=All rights reserved. Unauthorized publication, distribution, or usage will be considered a copyright violation and pursued to the fullest extent allowed by law.
-IFD0:Software=aDAM 4.1 (Windows)

The folder contains both RAW and jpg files. RAW files run in size 20-30MB, jpgs are 5-10MB. I may be targeting as few as 4 pairs or as many as 1500.

Here's the current call that is being used (note: I'm using version 11.24) :
exiftool -L -@ C:\Users\public\pictures\Resources\tagdef-190113093744037.txt -overwrite_original C:\Users\public\Pictures\2019\junk\190113-junk*.*

This is acceptable for up to about 20 files with the injection taking 10-20 seconds. A recent injection of about 400 pairs took about 25 minutes.

I'm looking for *anything* that can speed up this process. As is, it is almost unbearable.

Thanks!

[Phil Harvey]

Other than running from a faster hard disk, I don't have any advice that could help much.  I just tried on my system here and I get 2.3 files per second when the average file size is 17 MB.  That's not too far off what you are getting.

But note that I only get 2.8 files per second doing a straight copy of the same files using the system.  So ExifTool is nearly as fast as copying the files on my system, which is about as fast as one could expect since ExifTool copies the entire file when it rewrites the metadata.

- Phil

[skippix]

As always, thanks for your response!

I guess the cold reality is that a piper must be paid. I just need to figure out which piper and when to pay...

For me, the vicious cycle involves using multiple programs that all treat metadata differently. Lightroom is great for many things, but terrible for captioning, especially since it won't inject into RAW files.

Oh well, thanks again, and keep up the great work!