Update CreateDate (Video files more specifically mp4) with JSON information

[vvmobservant]

I am trying to educate myself on this tool, so please pardon my ignorance.

Google Takeout - Album of video files - mp4. Filename - vfile.mp4. JSON file is vfile.mp4.json.

WINDOWS 11 - CMD

JSON file has entry
  "photoTakenTime": {
    "timestamp": "1699489616",
    "formatted": "Nov 9, 2023, 12:26:56 AM UTC"
  },

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s vfile.mp4

results in

Code Select Expand

[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2024:11:22 19:22:12-06:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2024:11:22 19:25:14-06:00
[File:System]   FileCreateDate                  : 2024:11:22 19:25:14-06:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
Command used to update CreateDate tag (which has zeroes currently) with value in JSON file

exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d %F.json" "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" vfile.mp4

However I get an error

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Warning: Error opening file -  vfile.mp4.json
    0 image files updated
    1 image files unchanged

Also, do I need UTC in QuickTimeUTC for CreateTag?

json file exists in the current directory only.

[StarGeek]

Command used to update CreateDate tag (which has zeroes currently) with value in JSON file

exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d %F.json" "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" vfile.mp4

The problem is with "%d %F.json". You have a space in there. %d is a variable for the directory of the target file and includes the trailing slash. The result is you are telling exiftool to look for
/directory/ file.mp4
when it needs to look for
/directory/file.mp4

Remove the space and use
"%d%F.json"

But there's still a problem. The JSON "PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" is a Unix/Epoch time stamp (number of seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC). Exiftool expects a time stamp in the format of "Year:Month:Day Hour:Minute:Second" and will either return an error or write a widely inaccurate date depending upon the time stamp. The -d (-dateFormat) option can be used to tell exiftool to convert the Unix time into the needed format by adding this to the command
-d %s

Also, do I need UTC in QuickTimeUTC for CreateTag?

Yes, but Google has already done the conversion for you. When you upload a file to Google, it will convert any time stamps it uses into the same time UTC. And as I said, "PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" is a Unix time stamp which is always UTC. So all you need to do is copy it directly into the video time stamps.

Note that this is one of the main reasons why you usually don't want to copy data from Google takeout. Contrary to popular belief, Google doesn't remove metadata from files. And when you copy a time from the JSON file, you are usually overwriting the correct time stamp with the UTC time, which will be off from the correct time by hours.

Your case is different though, as you have shown that the original video didn't have any time stamps to begin with. Good job for actually checking first.

So your final command would be
exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -d %s "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" vfile.mp4

If you want to fill in all the 0 time stamps, you could use this command
exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -d %s "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Track*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Media*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" vfile.mp4

[vvmobservant]

Wow! This worked perfectly! Thank you! 🙏🙏

A quick highlight:
I am downloading an entire album (with both photos and videos) and resizing them for displaying them on the web. But I upload the compressed media files to another google account and display the media files to the website from there. But I need to copy the metadata from the original download to the compressed files. I was able to do that successfully using FFMPEG command (usually shared video files are the culprit - I "save" the shared video into my account and then download or takeout them, images come through with the correct Create Date).

Album Download is attempted first, if no CreateDate value, then Google Takeout is tried. Sometimes the mp4 files in Google Takeout has the correct value. However, If no CreateDate value in Google takeout mp4 files also, then finally JSON file value is used (nuclear option!).

ffmpeg -i originalvideo.mp4 -i compressedvideo.mp4 -map 1 -map_metadata 0 -c copy metadatafixed.mp4

I would rather use EXIFTOOL to copy all the metadata from one file to another. Can you help with that too please?

[vvmobservant]

I saw a couple of forum articles for copying metadata for video files that had very complex requirements. Luckily my requirements were simple, hence used the following command to copy the metadata from source video file to compressed video file.

exiftool -TagsFromFile original.mp4 compressed.mp4

It created a backup too, which I liked so didn't use the overwrite tag.

[vvmobservant]

Is it possible to specify a path for the new MP4 that gets created with the metadata values?

UPDATE:
ANSWER: Yes

exiftool -o "\path\outputFile.mp4" -TagsFromFile "\path\metadataFromOriginal.mp4" "\path\fileThatNeedsOriginalMetadata.mp4"

[StarGeek]

I saw a couple of forum articles for copying metadata for video files that had very complex requirements. Luckily my requirements were simple, hence used the following command to copy the metadata from source video file to compressed video file.

exiftool -TagsFromFile original.mp4 compressed.mp4

I would suggest
exiftool -TagsFromFile original.mp4 -All:All compressed.mp4

With -All:all, tags are copied into the exact same group as they are in the source file. Otherwise, they will get moved to the preferred groups. See FAQ #9, "The tag locations change when I use -tagsfromfile to copy information"

Also, EXIF data and GPS tracks cannot be copied, as these are non-standard in video files and every company embeds the data in different ways. The best that can be done is to copy EXIF data into the corresponding XMP tags using the exif2xmp.args file and extracting the GPS track into a separate GPX/KML file.

[vvmobservant]

I am running into a  slightly different problem when dealing with JPGs that don't have CreateDate tag.

Photos taken by Pixel camera has the CreateDate. This was the output for PXL camera photo.

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s PXL_20231110_011102673.jpg

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[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2024:11:10 17:22:46-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:03:42-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:03:43-06:00
[EXIF:IFD0]    ModifyDate                      : 2023:11:09 19:11:02
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  DateTimeOriginal                : 2023:11:09 19:11:02
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  CreateDate                      : 2023:11:09 19:11:02
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  OffsetTime                      : -06:00
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  OffsetTimeOriginal              : -06:00
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  OffsetTimeDigitized            : -06:00
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  SubSecTime                      : 659
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  SubSecTimeOriginal              : 659
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  SubSecTimeDigitized            : 659
[EXIF:GPS]      GPSTimeStamp                    : 01:10:56
[EXIF:GPS]      GPSDateStamp                    : 2023:11:10
[ICC_Profile:ICC-header] ProfileDateTime        : 2016:12:08 09:38:28
[Composite]    SubSecCreateDate                : 2023:11:09 19:11:02.659-06:00
[Composite]    SubSecDateTimeOriginal          : 2023:11:09 19:11:02.659-06:00
[Composite]    SubSecModifyDate                : 2023:11:09 19:11:02.659-06:00
[Composite]    GPSDateTime                    : 2023:11:10 01:10:56Z

However, same used in a different JPG file that was downloaded through Google takeout (including JSON file that had the correct PhotoTakenTime).
exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s 09fc957f-f0f9-4fb0-craz-ylettersinfname.jpg

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[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:31:46-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:41:36-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:41:37-06:00

Since, Google Album expects CreateDate value to sort correctly, I need to Create the CreateDate tag and then update it with JSON value.

The command suggested to copy from JSON file is working only if CreateDate tag already exists. Is it possible to create the CreateDate tag and update it with the value from JSON file?

Thanks!

[StarGeek]

I don't know which command you are using, but all the examples above use Quicktime:CreateDate. Since Quicktime is a video tag, it can't exist in a JPEG. You can either use simply CreateDate or you can use AllDates which will fill out a couple more EXIF time stamps.

[vvmobservant]

A quick update:

I updated in File Explorer -> Right Click -> Properties -> Details -> Origin -> Date Taken with a random date (cannot update time through this interface).

File explorer created this tag successfully.

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s 09fc957f-f0f9-4fb0-craz-ylettersinfname.jpg

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[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:02 08:50:36-06:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:41:36-06:00
[File:System]   FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:41:37-06:00
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  DateTimeOriginal                : 2024:12:02 08:50:28
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  CreateDate                      : 2024:12:02 08:50:28
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  SubSecTimeOriginal              : 67
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  SubSecTimeDigitized             : 67
[XMP:XMP-xmp]   CreateDate                      : 2024:12:02 08:50:28.671
[Composite]     SubSecCreateDate                : 2024:12:02 08:50:28.67
[Composite]     SubSecDateTimeOriginal          : 2024:12:02 08:50:28.67


exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -d %s "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" 09fc957f-f0f9-4fb0-craz-ylettersinfname.jpg


Results in no success.

Code Select Expand

    0 image files updated
    1 image files unchanged


[StarGeek]

Since Quicktime is a video tag, it can't exist in a JPEG. You can either use simply CreateDate or you can use AllDates which will fill out a couple more EXIF time stamps.

[vvmobservant]

Ah...It is not QuickTime. it is EXIF as it is JPG. QuickTime is for videos.

Ran this command.


exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -d %s "-Exif:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" 09fc957f-f0f9-4fb0-craz-ylettersinfname.jpg


It created the CreateDate correctly.

Code Select Expand

1 image files updated


exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s 09fc957f-f0f9-4fb0-craz-ylettersinfname.jpg

Code Select Expand

[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:02 09:33:24-06:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:02 09:33:24-06:00
[File:System]   FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:02 00:41:37-06:00
[EXIF:ExifIFD]  CreateDate                      : 2023:11:09 19:20:00


[vvmobservant]

A very different situation has happened. Not able to pinpoint:

JSON file has this:

  "photoTakenTime": {
    "timestamp": "1699750577",
    "formatted": "Nov 12, 2023, 12:56:17 AM UTC"
  },


The above video was taken on Nov 11, 2023, 6:56:17PM CST. Google Photos takeout got it right 👍.

Used this command to update CreateDate (only one file so used wild card).


exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -d %s "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Track*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Media*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" *.mp4


However, when checking on the date/time from File Explorer, in section Origin, Media Created Date has the time without adjusting for TimeZone. In the above example, the expected time (CST) would be Nov 11, 2023, 6:56:17PM. However, exiftool updated it as Nov 11, 12:56:17PM.

Not sure if I am missing something here?

Output looked like this. Since the CreateDate is UTC, shouldn't it show as Nov 12, 2023, 12:56:17AM? File Explorer will then convert to system timezone when displaying.


exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s *.mp4

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[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:06 11:02:20-06:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:06 11:07:36-06:00
[File:System]   FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:02 19:26:12-06:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:11 18:56:17

This is messing up the sorting by Google Photos.

[StarGeek]

I traced this back to version 12.65, which says

Patched the -d option to handle the %s format code internally when writing (avoids problems due to inconsistent behaviour of this format code in the strptime function on different systems)

Somehow I missed this and how it would affect the Google Takeout.

Adding the -api QuickTimeUTC option fixes it.

Example. Since I'm on Pacific time, my results are 16:56:17 instead of 18:56:17

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C:\>exiftool -P -overwrite_original -d %s -Quicktime:CreateDate=1699750577 Y:\!temp\Test4.mp4
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -CreateDate Y:\!temp\Test4.mp4
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:11:11 16:56:17

C:\>exiftool -P -overwrite_original -api QuickTimeUTC -d %s -Quicktime:CreateDate=1699750577 Y:\!temp\Test4.mp4
    1 image files updated

C:\>exiftool -G1 -a -s -CreateDate Y:\!temp\Test4.mp4
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
Reading note #2 under Common Date Format Codes, this was how it was supposed to work, but Windows was the source of the inconsistency.

Edit: It looks like in was Linux Fedora that was causing the problem, but the change affected Windows as well. Source thread

[vvmobservant]

Yes!

Used this code to update CreateDate from JSON file:

exiftool -tagsfromfile "%d%F.json" -api QuickTimeUTC -d %s "-Quicktime:CreateDate<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Track*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" "-Quicktime:Media*Date<PhotoTakenTimeTimestamp" *.mp4

Code Select Expand

    1 image files updated

It updated it correctly 🙏

Verified it with exiftool.

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s *.mp4

Code Select Expand

[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:07 10:33:32-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:07 10:33:32-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:06 11:00:07-06:00
[QuickTime]    CreateDate                      : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime]    ModifyDate                      : 0000:00:00 00:00:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:12 00:56:17

From File Manager, checked on Properties, it shows the correct date/time (local timezone converted) in Origin -> Media Created.

[vvmobservant]

Question on -tagsfromfile

As recommended I am copying metadata from one video file to its compressed counterpart. This is ok for mp4 files.

However, when I compress a MOV file (simultaneously converting to mp4) and copy metadata it copies a specific metadata (CreationDate). Unfortunately, Google Photos seems to have a bug (not sure if it is a bug) where it is sorting with CreationDate (first priority than CreateDate) without using the Timezone offset.

Original MOV file from Google photos has CreateDate and CreationDate. Both are correct values.
exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s IMG_0446.mov

Code Select Expand

[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2023:11:18 09:26:38-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:08 19:08:08-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:08 19:08:08-06:00
[QuickTime]    CreateDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime]    ModifyDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track3] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track3] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track4] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track4] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track5] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track5] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track5] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track5] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Keys] CreationDate                  : 2023:11:18 09:26:38-06:00
Renamed this file to 20231118_092638.mov using command
exiftool -api quicktimeutc -d "%Y%m%d_%H%M%S%%-c.%%le" "-filename<CreateDate" IMG_0446.mov

Compressed and converted to MP4 file. No CreationDate. CreateDate has the date/time when the file was created.
exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s 20231118_092638.mp4

Code Select Expand

[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:08 15:14:00-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:08 15:14:00-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:08 15:13:35-06:00
[QuickTime]    CreateDate                      : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime]    ModifyDate                      : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2024:12:08 21:13:35
Executed command
exiftool -o "X:\20231118_092638.mp4" -TagsFromFile "V:\20231118_092638.mov" -All:All "W:\20231118_092638.mp4"

to copy metavalues from Original to compressed.

Checking all the tags in the new compressed value after copying metadata.

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s 20231118_092638.mp4

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[File:System]  FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:08 18:19:18-06:00
[File:System]  FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:08 18:19:18-06:00
[File:System]  FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:08 15:13:35-06:00
[QuickTime]    CreateDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime]    ModifyDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Keys] CreationDate                  : 2023:11:18 09:26:38-06:00
If I can bring the date values WITHOUT the CreationDate, I think I should be ok in Google Photos for sorting. Will try that.

Is it possible to change this command to ignore CreationDate?

exiftool -o "X:\20231118_092638.mp4" -TagsFromFile "V:\20231118_092638.mov" -All:All "W:\20231118_092638.mp4"


ANSWER:


exiftool -o "X:\20231118_092638.mp4" -TagsFromFile "V:\20231118_092638.mov" -All:All --"CreationDate" "W:\20231118_092638.mp4"

did not copy over CreationDate

exiftool -time:all -a -G0:1 -s X:\20231118_092638.mp4

Code Select Expand

[File:System]   FileModifyDate                  : 2024:12:08 20:31:14-06:00
[File:System]   FileAccessDate                  : 2024:12:08 20:31:14-06:00
[File:System]   FileCreateDate                  : 2024:12:08 15:13:35-06:00
[QuickTime]     CreateDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime]     ModifyDate                      : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track1] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] TrackModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaCreateDate              : 2023:11:18 15:26:38
[QuickTime:Track2] MediaModifyDate              : 2023:11:18 15:27:00
I uploaded this file to Google Photos and it has the correct date for sorting.

Most likely a bug in Google photos as it ignored the fact that the CreationDate was timezone based.