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time date stamp on video files ( .mov, .mp4 )

Started by ffrree, May 23, 2020, 06:41:40 AM

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ffrree

Hi

I don't know if exiftool can help with this, but I'll try anyway.

Often when I copy files from my sdcard from my camera to my Win 10 pc, some of the files has its date-time stamp changed to the time it was copied over, not the original creation or modified time  (which are preserved).  But it does not happen reliably all the time.  If I copied the same file again, it usually then preserve the original creation  or modified time.

Has anyone observed this?  I had this same problem for many years with different pc, different versions of window, starting from Xp, Win7 to Win10.  So it can not be me ? I hope.

Can exiftool help with this with a command-line syntax to copy the original creation time stamp ( or the modified time stamp) to become the date-time stamp of the file?

StarGeek

I've never had a problem like that, but then, I always remove the SD card and move them directly from there.

You can take a look at all the time related tags in the file with this command
exiftool -G1 -a -s -Time:all /path/to/files/

If you can see the correct timestamp in one of those listed, you can copy it to another tag with a command like
exiftool "-TAG1<TAG2" /path/to/files

Replace the TAG* with the tags you want to copy.

There is one problem, though.  According to the spec, the time stamps in video files are supposed to be UTC. So technically, the video time stamps should be off by your time zone. Unfortunately, not all programs understand this.  For example, Windows knows this and adjusts the time it displays properly.  Adobe programs do not. It's up to you to decide if you want the time stamps to be in UTC or not based upon what programs you might use.

If you post the output of the first command and decide how you want to deal with the time stamps, we can help you with an exact command to get the results you want.
* Did you read FAQ #3 and use the command listed there?
* Please use the Code button for exiftool code/output.
 
* Please include your OS, Exiftool version, and type of file you're processing (MP4, JPG, etc).

ffrree

Thanks, StarGeek.

I also always remove the SD and put into either the built-in card reader on laptops or a standalone one, the same problem prevails.  I used drag and drop to copy files on File Explorer on Windows whichever version/built I happened to be using.  And it does not always happen, if it did, it would be random ( sometimes not at all ), any file, any particular order / position of that file in the copying queue.  All very strange, perhaps I way I drag it  :-[ :-[

I'll try the syntax of exiftool you provided, and use it post copy, and will report back.

cheers