Missing date in MOV files

[exifzarko]

Hello!

I am using Carousel by Dropbox as a service to store my pictures and videos. Everything is fine except that some videos (particularly the ones with the .MPG extension) are shown outside of the timeline and categorized as "missing dates" (please see the attachment). I do not know what "date is missing", since there is a creation date and the modified date written as metadata in each of those files.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this problem (without converting the file to a newer file format)?

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Zarko.

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Zarko,

I don't know what you were trying to show with your attachment, but I think the creation date and modified date you are talking about are from the filesystem, and not metadata in the file itself.  Use "exiftool -G1" to see where the tags are coming from.  "System" tags are not metadata in the file.  It could be that your software is correct, and there is no date/time metadata in the file.

- Phil

[exifzarko]

Thanks Phil!

I did what you told me and got the following result (in a screenshot):

======== ./MOV03521-1.MPG
[ExifTool]      ExifTool Version Number         : 9.79
[System]        File Name                       : MOV03521-1.MPG
[System]        Directory                       : .
[System]        File Size                       : 25 MB
[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2015:01:06 23:04:28+01:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2015:01:06 23:01:01+01:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2015:01:06 23:01:01+01:00
[System]        File Permissions                : rw-rw-rw-
[File]          File Type                       : MPEG
[File]          MIME Type                       : video/mpeg
[MPEG]          MPEG Audio Version              : 1
[MPEG]          Audio Layer                     : 2
[MPEG]          Audio Bitrate                   : 64 kbps
[MPEG]          Sample Rate                     : 32000
[MPEG]          Channel Mode                    : Single Channel
[MPEG]          Mode Extension                  : Bands 4-31
[MPEG]          Copyright Flag                  : True
[MPEG]          Original Media                  : True
[MPEG]          Emphasis                        : None
[MPEG]          Image Width                     : 640
[MPEG]          Image Height                    : 480
[MPEG]          Aspect Ratio                    : 1:1
[MPEG]          Frame Rate                      : 30 fps
[MPEG]          Video Bitrate                   : Variable
[Composite]     Image Size                      : 640x480
    1 image files read
    1 files could not be read
File not found: exiftool
<-END-


You are right about the file system dates, but why are those dates not good enough for Carousel? Where should other dates be written and how could this be done?

Thanks a million for your help!

Regards,

Zarko.

[Phil Harvey]

why are those dates not good enough for Carousel?

You're asking the wrong person.  I can answer questions about ExifTool.

Where should other dates be written and how could this be done?

Hmm.  Looking at the MPEG tags documentation, there don't seem to be any date time tags that ExifTool recognizes in MPEG videos.  So you may need to convert them to a newer format as you first mentioned.

- Phil

[exifzarko]

Dear Phil!

You were my last hope...I was hoping you would pull off some kind of a magic exiftool script line that would "insert a date" in the MPG file, but now I understand that it is impossible and that it is actually a limitation of the MPG documentation itself :-(

Thanks for your feedback anyway.

Cheers,

Zarko.

P.S. Would you know what file format would be best to convert this MPG file (I would like to retain everything and have the time tag associated).

[Phil Harvey]

I believe there are various container formats that may support the MPEG codec, and so the video may not require recoding, but I'm no video expert.  I would recommend you look into MP4.

- Phil

[StarGeek]

You might take a look over at VideoHelp.com.  I noticed that there were a couple of threads where people suggested that you might be able to remux your mpg into a mkv or mp4.  Basically just changing the container and not having to recompress it.  For example, check this thread.

This is not something I've done, so I don't know how well it would work.

[exifzarko]

Thanks guys!

I have tried remuxing it but have not succeeded. Seriously, I thought it would be a piece of cake to add the date into the metadata and now even the conversion does not help :-( I do not believe that mp4 files do not allow change of metadata once the conversion has been done.

[Phil Harvey]

ExifTool will write XMP to MP4 videos, and may be used to edit many of the existing date/time tags.

- Phil

[exifzarko]

Phil, could I please then ask you to guide me on how I could add a metadata date to the converted file?

[Phil Harvey]

The command could look something like this.

exiftool -createdate="2015:01:08 11:05:06" some.mp4

- Phil

[exifzarko]

Perfect Phil!!! It worked (I tested it on the converted mp4 file).

Do you know what command should be used for the MOV files?

As you can see from the log below (line in bold red) the command changed the "createdate", but the other dates seem to dictate the ball game in this MOV file (photo taken by iPhone). What parameter should be changed: media create date, content create date or something else? Please write me a command of what you think it will work! Thanks in advance!



ExifTool Version Number         : 9.79
File Name                       : novi.mov
Directory                       : S:/test
File Size                       : 5.0 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2015:01:08 18:32:05+01:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2015:01:08 18:32:05+01:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2015:01:08 18:23:55+01:00
File Permissions                : rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : MOV
MIME Type                       : video/quicktime
Major Brand                     : Apple QuickTime (.MOV/QT)
Minor Version                   : 0.0.0
Compatible Brands               : qt
Movie Data Size                 : 5244910
Movie Data Offset               : 36
Movie Header Version            : 0
Modify Date                     : 2013:08:26 15:31:13
Time Scale                      : 600
Duration                        : 0:00:54
Preferred Rate                  : 1
Preferred Volume                : 100.00%
Preview Time                    : 0 s
Preview Duration                : 0 s
Poster Time                     : 0 s
Selection Time                  : 0 s
Selection Duration              : 0 s
Current Time                    : 0 s
Next Track ID                   : 3
Track Header Version            : 0
Track Create Date               : 2013:08:26 15:30:58
Track Modify Date               : 2013:08:26 15:31:13
Track ID                        : 1
Track Duration                  : 0:00:54
Track Layer                     : 0
Track Volume                    : 100.00%
Balance                         : 0
Audio Format                    : mp4a
Audio Channels                  : 1
Audio Bits Per Sample           : 16
Audio Sample Rate               : 44100
Purchase File Format            : mp4a
Matrix Structure                : 0 1 0 -1 0 0 272 0 1
Image Width                     : 480
Image Height                    : 272
Clean Aperture Dimensions       : 480x272
Production Aperture Dimensions  : 480x272
Encoded Pixels Dimensions       : 480x272
Media Header Version            : 0
Media Create Date               : 2013:08:26 15:30:58
Media Modify Date               : 2013:08:26 15:31:13
Media Time Scale                : 600
Media Duration                  : 0:00:54
Media Language Code             : und
Graphics Mode                   : ditherCopy
Op Color                        : 32768 32768 32768
Handler Class                   : Data Handler
Handler Vendor ID               : Apple
Handler Description             : Core Media Data Handler
Compressor ID                   : avc1
Source Image Width              : 480
Source Image Height             : 272
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Compressor Name                 : H.264
Bit Depth                       : 24
Video Frame Rate                : 30
Camera Identifier               : Back
Frame Readout Time              : 32082 microseconds
Make (hrv)                      : Apple
Software Version (hrv)          : 6.1.3
Content Create Date (hrv)       : 2013:08:26 11:27:09+02:00
GPS Coordinates (hrv)           : 45 deg 50' 30.48" N, 16 deg 3' 15.48" E, 132 m
Above Sea Level
Model (hrv)                     : iPhone 4
XMP Toolkit                     : Image::ExifTool 9.79
Create Date                     : 2015:01:01 12:05:06
Handler Type                    : Metadata Tags
Make (hrv-HR)                   : Apple
Creation Date (hrv-HR)          : 2013:08:26 11:27:09+02:00
GPS Coordinates (hrv-HR)        : 45 deg 50' 30.48" N, 16 deg 3' 15.48" E, 132 m
Above Sea Level
Software (hrv-HR)               : 6.1.3
Model (hrv-HR)                  : iPhone 4
Make                            : Apple
Software Version                : 6.1.3
Content Create Date             : 2013:08:26 11:27:09+02:00
GPS Coordinates                 : 45 deg 50' 30.48" N, 16 deg 3' 15.48" E, 132 m
Above Sea Level
Model                           : iPhone 4
Creation Date                   : 2013:08:26 11:27:09+02:00
Software                        : 6.1.3
Avg Bitrate                     : 777 kbps
GPS Altitude                    : 132 m
GPS Altitude Ref                : Above Sea Level
GPS Latitude                    : 45 deg 50' 30.48" N
GPS Longitude                   : 16 deg 3' 15.48" E
GPS Position                    : 45 deg 50' 30.48" N, 16 deg 3' 15.48" E
Image Size                      : 480x272
Rotation                        : 90
-- press any key --

[Phil Harvey]

The command for MOV files is the same.

The command to change other date/time tags is the same, but just use the other tag name instead of CreateDate.

See FAQ 2 for help with this.

Also, you can write as many tags as you want in a single command.

- Phil

[exifzarko]

Thanks Phil! I have realized that it is even better to use the m4v format for the file conversion, as it does not require additional tagging and is correctly displayed in the iOS/carousel timeline :-)

Cheers!

[exifzarko]

Hi Phil! Could it be that the MKV format is not supported by EXIFTOOL? I have tried using the same command as for MP4 files (exiftool -createdate="2014:09:23 11:05:06" mov03521.mkv), but it seems as if MKV file inherits the "absence of createdate" from the remuxed MPG1 inside of MKV.