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.