Organizing image and video files.

[calberga]

I'm looking for advice from wiser heads than mine!

I have a collection of images which I'm constantly fiddling with, renaming, renaning the directory tree they live in, etc.  I'm also trying to set up "play lists" for slideshows. 

In order to avoid reconstructing such lists I have  used the IPTC tag "ObjectName" to give a permanent to each .jpg file.  I use the following EXIFTOOL command after any changes in the file structure:

Code Select Expand

exiftool -charset cp1252 -r -T -ext jpg -ObjectName -directory -Filename -F -L D:\P\Photographs > D:\P\X\D-FileIds-unsorted.txt

to build a translation table (which I sort).  My "play lists" list the IDS, and these are mapped into the file path & name.

BUT -- I would like to include video files in the show.  However I have not found any way to assign a permanent ID to any of the video formats.

Does any one out there have a solution to this problem?  Other than, don't mess with the file structure?

[StarGeek]

I would suggest using an XMP tag rather than an IPTC tag.  That way you can use the same tag for both images and mp4/mov.

The XMP equivalent to ObjectName is XMP:Title.  One possible problem is that Adobe uses it as a short description, which technically should be used by Headline.  Either one would work if you don't use them for anything else. 

[calberga]

I've been avoiding XMP.  EXIFTOOL allows we to define custom tags, such as more detailed location tags like "County", "Region", etc.  I gather there is a way to do this in XMP but, being lazy, I didn't want to repeat the process, and convert all my files.  As to Adobe, I do most of my editing in either Irfanview or Corel Paintshop, and only before tagging.  It turns out that none of the editors I've tried respects the IPTC tags, munging them in various ways.  I do have EXIFTOOL routine which fixes them, but which requires a copy of the file from before it was edited, and is a bit of a bother.

[StarGeek]

IPTC IIM/Legacy can't be embedded in a video file.  If you don't want to use XMP, you'll have to take a look at the Quicktime tags to see if there's something you can use or repurpose.

[dae65]

BUT -- I would like to include video files in the show.  However I have not found any way to assign a permanent ID to any of the video formats.

Are you asking how to store a permanent ID in, or how to generate one from, a video file?

[calberga]

Store it in.  As I said, I am (very) slowly re-naming most of my photos.  Adding dates to scans of old picture, locations to travel photos (both scanned slides and later digital with camera-generated names).  I am also building slideshows and want to be able to automatically update them.  Perhaps there is a better way, but I haven't found one yet.

[dae65]

Since you already know what IDs to assign, I think StarGeek's suggestion above is good. You could use, say, tags such as ProductID, GUID, EpisodeGlobalUniqueID, TVEpisodeID, etc. from the ItemList group, or even the ContentID tag from the UserData group for your video files.

Code Select Expand

exiftool -ItemList:ProductID=123456789 FILE
exiftool -UserData:ContentID=123456789 FILE


To be on the safe side, though, I recommend using ItemList tags. Although UserData ContentID seems better suited to what you're trying to achieve, the way ExifTool writes UserData tags somehow makes them invisible to other MP4 tag editors such as AtomicParsley. I think this is rather AtomicParsley's fault, though. I'm trying to figure out what's going on but I'm still not sure.

[Phil Harvey]

the way ExifTool writes UserData tags somehow makes them invisible to other MP4 tag editors such as AtomicParsley. I think this is rather AtomicParsley's fault, though. I'm trying to figure out what's going on but I'm still not sure.

Thanks for trying to figure this out.  Let us know what you find.

- Phil

[calberga]

Thank you all for the suggestions.  I'll look at them and see which work for me.  If I fall flat on my face I may be back.  Part of my trouble is probably that my programming skills are archaic.  I haven't learned much since retirement (1991) when I was using LISP and system 370 assembler.

[dae65]

Thanks for trying to figure this out.  Let us know what you find.

What I said was inaccurate. There seems nothing wrong, as far as it goes, with how ExifTool writes UserData tags. AtomicParsley (v0.9.6) parses them all right, but, unless the file is a 3GPP video, it simply fails to report them as metadata.

[Phil Harvey]

What I said was inaccurate. There seems nothing wrong, as far as it goes, with how ExifTool writes UserData tags. AtomicParsley (v0.9.6) parses them all right, but, unless the file is a 3GPP video, it simply fails to report them as metadata.

Thanks.  Good to know.

- Phil