CRD - dumped footage on external drive - how to preserve date / time metadata

[coyotegyrl]

Good morning,

On a field shoot, I dumped multiple cards onto an external drive (no way to process in the field, currently). If I import those clips from the external drive with CRD, I lose the original date and time stamp on my clips. The info is there, but I think my settings need changed in CRD. What are those settings and where can I find them?

The only other solution I can think of is to put the footage back onto the cards--and that seems like a waste of time.

Thank you!

[AtticusLake]

There may be a solution, but it depends on the file format you're shooting, and on your camera. (I don't have a C500 to experiment with.)

Basically there are two types of meta-data your files may have.

• Every file on a computer (which includes cameras etc) has file meta-data stored about it by the operating system. This includes a creation date and a last modified date. The thing to understand is that this meta-data relates to the physical copy of the file, not to the content of the file. When you copy a file from the memory card, does the copy get a new creation date, because it's a new file? Or does the creation date get copied over? It could be either way, depending on exactly how you copy it. Probably this isn't up to CRD. However, once the original creation date is gone, it's gone. Copying the files back to the memory card won't make any difference. Your only hope here is to check both the creation date and the last modified date - one of them may be good.

• Media files can have additional meta-data stored inside the file, as part of the media format. What this data is, and whether it even exists, depends on the file format and on the camera. But it could include the date/time that a clip was actually shot, and if so, it's permanent - because it's inside the file, it gets copied as-is along with the rest of the file. So, cross your fingers, and look for a "Date Created" field or some such. In Resolve, for example, you can see this in the media pool, if you customise the headings and include Clip Details / Date Created.

Good luck.

[coyotegyrl]

Hi AtticusLake,

Thanks for the convo. On the external drive, the date and time created is correct on the CRM file. Date modified mathes the time I transferred the files from the card to the hard drive. If I copy the files back to a card from the hard drive, the date and time created are retained on the CRM file, but at the same time it creates a XML file and that created date and time is changed to when it was transferred (to today's date and time). When I then use CRD to import the clip from the card, the date and time are changed to today. Any additional ideas? To me--this means that something is going on in the CRD process because I can see the original date and time shot on the CRM file. Thanks!

[coyotegyrl]

perhaps I should also add that I'm on a Mac platform using CRD.

[AtticusLake]

You're reading too much into the operating system's meta-data.  The operating system neither knows nor cares that these files are movies, or when they were shot, or anything like that.  All it cares about is keeping track of the data blocks on disk.

So for example when you say "it creates a XML file and that created date and time is changed to when it was transferred"... the date and time weren't changed.  The XML file is a completely new file; its OS meta-data has nothing to do with the OS meta-data on the CRM file.

So, again, by far the best approach is to use the media meta-data stored inside the media file; i.e. the "Date Created" field.  If there isn't one, then the OS meta-data will be your best hope to get an idea of when the clips were shot, but don't expect it to be resilient to copying the files, and certainly not if you do any kind of processing on the files.  Really, if your camera isn't writing a date created inside the files, then the best bet is to look at the creation times of the files on the memory card, and just make a note of them.  Like take a screenshot of a directory listing, or something.

[coyotegyrl]

I'm still having the same issue.

So I'll ask in a different way: where are the settings in Canon Cinema Raw Development that allow me to keep the date and time recorded? Currently, when I import a clip, that information is not retained. 

Inside the CRD<Settings ? 

And / or in Export<Export configuration. 

What needs changed? Thanks!

[AtticusLake]

I don't have a C500, and I've never used CRD before (I just load RAW files into Resolve), but I've had a go at testing this with my C80, and here are my results.

In CRD, in the menus, check "View -> Clip Information". Select your clip. Under "Recording Date/Time", it shows the date/time the clip was actually recorded. See first screenshot.

Note that the "Recording Date/Time" is 08:51:56, whereas the Window "date modified" for that file (second screenshot) is 08:52.  That's when the file was last written to, as opposed to when you pressed record.

The good news here is that this is the recording date/time stored as meta-data inside the file, by the camera, so it isn't fragile like the operating system's meta-data. The bad news is that it's up to the camera to store this, and not all cameras do. Clearly the C80 does; as for the C500, I have no idea. If the camera doesn't save that information, then it's not there, and I don't know what else to tell you.

I know it's frustrating to see the date/time you want on the files on the memory card, but again you need to know that those date/times are about the physical files, not the movies stored inside them. When you copy a file, that copy is a new file, and may be set with its own date/time.

Windows keeps three times for a file: "date created", "date modified", and "date accessed". In my tests, the "date created" is the date/time at which a physical file was created -- i.e. the copy of a file. But the "date modified" generally seems to be kept as when the content of the file was last modified. This is close to what you want (though not identical), but whether it works for you, will depend on your computer and exactly how you copy the files. See second screenshot.

As I said, I generally just load RAW clips into Resolve. Resolve lets you see the date/time recorded for a clip, but not by default; you need to go to the media pool, right click on the column headings, select "headings", and scroll down the huge list of meta-data to "Shots & Scene", and select "Date Recorded". Again, though, whether this is actually there will depend on your camera. See third/fourth screenshots.

Again, I know this is frustrating, but I hope this at least helps a little.

[coyotegyrl]

Hi again!

Yes the original dates and times are on the media when it is on the camera card. The camera most certainly records date and time. (see 'inside card' attachment, and 'inside CRD'). But when I process the clip in CRD, the resulting file does not have matching dates and times, it is the date and time that I processed the clip (see 'in finder after export).

This is a change from what happened previously on import. I have been shooting with this camera for many years and those dates were always correct in the past. I wish Canon would fix this.

[AtticusLake]

So I'd love to help, but I have to say I'm struggling to understand what the issue is.

But if I understand your latest post, it seems like you're trying to convert RAW files to MOV (with some video format inside the MOV container), and you want the MOV files to inherit the shooting date of the original RAW files. Is that correct?  (That wasn't abundantly clear before.)

And it seems you're looking at the "Date Created" and "Date Modified" on the resulting MOV files.

So, as I've been trying to explain, thoise fields are the operating system's meta-data for those files. This operating system's meta-data is unreliable and will not give you what you want. It is there for the operating system's benefit, not yours. And, in particular, on generated MOV files, it is always going to show the date/time when those files were created -- in other words, when you exported them from CRD.

I know you said "This is a change from what happened previously on import", but I don't understand how that can be. Maybe you were looking at something different?  (I'm assuming you mean "on export", not "on import".)

It is possible that CRD could copy the recording date/time from the original RAW files to the media meta-data inside the MOV files. This would give you what you want. But you're not going to see that meta-data in Finder -- you will need to open the files in a video eitor to see it. I can't try this, because I can't get CRD to create a MOV file, only DPX (I'm on a Windows system).

So, if you open the MOV files in your editor, there's a chance -- a slim chance -- that if you dig through the media meta-data on those files, you might find what you need. Otherwise, I don't know what to say.

If you want more help with this, it would be useful if you could supply more information. For example:

• What video format are you exporting to? MOV is not a video format, it is a container file. The video inside that file could he H.264, or something else, I don't know what.
• What video editor are you using?
• Why are you using CRD?

Personally, I would not use CRD -- I would just open the RAW files in my editor (Resolve) and process them there. Then all of the original meta-data is completely intact -- importantly, I mean the media meta-data inside the RAW files.

Anyway, again, I know this is frustrating, but to answer your original question, I do not believe that there is any setting in CRD that would cause it to set the operating system's meta-data on the output MOV files.  Those are completely new files, and they will have completely new operating system's meta-data.  Even if that wasn't true, at some point the "Date Created" and "Date Modified" on those files will get lost -- for example, if you ever restore them from a backup.

The only reliable and accurate meta-data for this purpose is media meta-data inside the files.  Can CRD copy that meta-data into the MOV files?  Maybe, depending on what is actually inside those files.  I don't know of any CRD setting that would influence this (CRD doesn't seem to have very many settings), so if it doesn't. then it doesn't; but it might depend on what actual video format you're using.