How to correct date of AVI file transferred from MiniDV with WinDV

[shmuelmunkes]

so I've gone ahead and transferred my collection of minidv tapes to digital, using an old windows laptop with a firewire port, and WinDV. the names of the files were set as the date the video was taken (i.e. ".2001-01-21_22-00.00.avi"), and it split up every clip according to the way it was recorded on tape. now I want to organize all my videos to see them using windows libraries (and add them to my whole archive of family photos and videos, all dated accordingly), but they all end up sorted with the date created (i.e. when they were transferred). I want to set the videos metadata "date taken" to the date in the video name.



in short: I want to set AVI files date in the metadata to the date in the files name

(and I've tried using Exiftool, but it didnt work)

[Cornucopia]

IIRC, Budman1 has a tool mentioned on this site a few times that can do what you want (dv metadata encode date --> change filename).


Scott

[shmuelmunkes]

IIRC, Budman1 has a tool mentioned on this site a few times that can do what you want (dv metadata encode date --> change filename).


Scott

not sure if I'm misunderstanding you, or vice versa. I dont want to change the files names, I want to change the date of the video to the date that is written in the name of the file. and I've got hundreds of these, so I need something automated. (I dont mind using a command line or something, as long as its not too complicated)

[Cornucopia]

Ok that's backwards from what I was assuming. But I think his tool can do that, too.

Scott

[Budman1]

Change date/Time uses the videos Metadata such as MedaInfo date encoded/tagged. It takes from that and changes the windows date accordingly. This what I assume you want. However, since AVI;s have no Metadata such as encoded or tagged shown in MediaInfo that I know of, it has no reference to change the Windows date.

It would need a separate function (checkbox) that copies a portion of your name, verifies it as valid date/time and then changes the modified date of the video. That what gets changed sometimes during copy move, etc. The format would have to be specific for you or anyone else that wished this feature.

The valid date for one country may be 01/26/2021, For another it may be 26/01/2021. Not a bit deal since this can be changed automatically.

Valid metadata dates.
Encoded date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00


Valid Windows Dates
01/21/2021 23:15:10
01/21/2021 11:15:10 PM
I understand filenames do not play well with names that contain '/' so alternate characters can be used as long as they are consistent file to file.

This can be interpreted with a separate function as long as - always means / in the first 10 characters and : in the last 8.
2001-01-21_22-00.00

It would be extremely difficult for this reason since many people use many format. It would be very hard to tell format, country method, 24 hour or 12 hour time, etc.
If the following 2 users dates were used in their titles and the program handled a standard naming convention, everyone else would have to change the filenames. (I could possibly code the program to use a manually entered format of their filenames but it would take more than a couple days to be sure .

2001_01_21_22_00_00
2001-01-21 21-00-00

I could update the program if enough people request this feature and if I'm still here.

[shmuelmunkes]

[Attachment 57028 - Click to enlarge]
[Attachment 57029 - Click to enlarge] I want the names to become the dates essentially, instead of the dates that were given to the files based on the day I transferred them. I want to have them sorted correctly in the library, instead of all ending up in a folder for 20 years later than the actual date

[Budman1]

Couple of quick questions... names to become the dates... grammatically means you want to change the names... names to become(changed to). I believe you want the opposite where the dates are changed to the name. Correct? Also are those supposed to be folders named July 20xx and may 20xx, etc? My windows 2007 does not display libraries or folders in this manner. ??

[shmuelmunkes]

Couple of quick questions... names to become the dates... grammatically means you want to change the names... names to become(changed to). I believe you want the opposite where the dates are changed to the name. Correct? Also are those supposed to be folders named July 20xx and may 20xx, etc? My windows 2007 does not display libraries or folders in this manner. ??

I guess you are right with the grammar. I just want the videos to be dated properly so they can be sorted and viewed correctly (and the dates we need are right there in the file name)

and as for the library folders, I'm using windows 10, with the library optimized for images, and then within the library, right click>arrange by>month

[aedipuss]

wtf. you want the actual filenames - i.e. the videos recorded date to change to the date it was copied to a hard drive time???

[shmuelmunkes]

wtf. you want the actual filenames - i.e. the videos recorded date to change to the date it was copied to a hard drive time???

Your reaction was greatly unnecessary (although not surprising, with a name like that and all).

Such an idea is not so far fetched, I've seen plenty of instances of this being implemented with various file types and programs. I've seen various posts of people doing this successfully using Exiftool and other things. however none of these seemed to work for me, being that it appears that AVI files have a different metadata structure.

[aedipuss]

LOL. sorry it's just the stupidest idea i've seen in, oh, maybe seconds. brain deadness seems to be a current problem.

[shmuelmunkes]

LOL. sorry it's just the stupidest idea i've seen in, oh, maybe seconds. brain deadness seems to be a current problem.

y'know, I guess some people really are better off dead

[aedipuss]

yep

[shmuelmunkes]

[Attachment 57032 - Click to enlarge]

anyone have any real solutions, or is this simply too complex?

[butterw]

It's not impossible to do.

You need to set the Windows Modified Date to a parsed version of the filename for all files in a folder.
Windows Created Date would be the date the files have been copied.

[shmuelmunkes]

can you explain?

[Budman1]

I have a preliminary gui to do what you need but will take a couple days to finish and debug. How long can you wait? And yo be sure you want the date time in the filename to be transferred to the modified date in windows correct? I have seen this request before because of windows penchant to change when just copied transferred.

So Far:

[Attachment 57052 - Click to enlarge]

[shmuelmunkes]

so I am in no rush at all (beggars cant be choosers, I'll take whatever help I can get).
the file names have the proper date the video was actually taken, windows does not (as its only got whatever WinDV gave it when I transferred them off the tapes, which is decades off).
I would like either the date modified or date created (or both) to be changed to the date in the file name, which ever one windows uses when sorting libraries.

[aedipuss]

wait. now you're saying it's a winDV problem? winDV assigns filenames only from the date/time taken on the tape in whatever format you choose.


[Attachment 57049 - Click to enlarge]

[shmuelmunkes]

wait. now you're saying it's a winDV problem? winDV assigns filenames only from the date/time taken on the tape in whatever format you choose.


[Attachment 57049 - Click to enlarge]

it appears you lack basic reading comprehension skills, for in no place have I blamed WinDV for anything. all the files were named by WinDV (as you stated for some odd reason) according to the date on the tape, which is the correct date of the video. what WinDV got wrong, is that the files metadata, was given the date the actual file was created (i.e. the transfer date), instead of when the video was filmed.

so to sum up what we've got so far:

file name: correct date.

file metadata date: wrong date.


now what I want to do, is have the metadata date switched to the date in the name. so this way the files can be essentially archived according to date. instead of 500 videos from 2004 showing as being taken in 2019.

because they all follow the same naming scheme, I figured it should be possible using a script or some GUI. am I being clear enough? any questions?

[shmuelmunkes]

[Attachment 57050 - Click to enlarge]
Am I not explaining it correctly?

[Cornucopia]

No you are not.

WinDV didn't get anything wrong. The app named the file according to the embedded metadata (record date) in the dv streams. But the app does not change the date of the file - the OS does (for the vast majority of apps it works this way).
And the OS is showing the modified date = creation date = date that the file was actually created.
You might like to THINK of these as being copied, but they are not, they are captured and generated. Think of it this way: this is the first time these have ever been FILES (as opposed to streams on tapes).

So what you seem to think of as "being wrong metadata" is correct as far as the normal processes of the OS is concerned.

Now, there are "touch" type apps that can modify one or more of the 3 internally tracked dates (creation, modification, access), based on various criteria. That criteria COULD include the dv file's internal metadata (aka recorded date), such as what Budman1 is attempting to do for you, but this may not be necessary, as the WinDV app has already done the main work for you, so all you really need to do is bulk change the create & modify dates using a parsing of the filename.

Nirsoft's Bulk File Change utility might be able to help, if it supports taking the date from the filename.
It would also be quite possible to script this in Windows PowerShell, since it supports filename parsing, temp variables, and file attribute reading/writing. Heck, I could do it, but my Covid workload is such I wouldn't be able to get to it before the summer!


Scott

[shmuelmunkes]

I guess I wasn't clear enough. I have no complaints against WinDV, it worked exactly as I wanted it to. I understand that the files have the date they were made, which is the day the tapes were transferred. I want to change those dates, to the day the video was recorded so they sort properly

[Budman1]

shmuelmunkes ... So far this is what I have; Takes up to 3 wrong date characters in filename (Your example is "-" and ".") and corrects for valid file date. At the moments it always corrects both created and Modified Windows dates. Needs fix that and a few more safeguards and a couple bells and whistles. LOL

[Attachment 57061 - Click to enlarge]

[Attachment 57062 - Click to enlarge]

[Cornucopia]

I tip my hat to you Budman1. You sure are good at what you do.


Scott

[Budman1]

Thank you much scott. You'd never guess I was a hardware guy for 43 years. Lol. I love programming though. My favorite time to work is 2200-0300.

[shmuelmunkes]

Holy cow, I did not expect such help from the internet. That program looks amazing

[Budman1]

I'll try to finish it up tonight, at least so its useable for your filenames.

[shmuelmunkes]

thank you, cant wait to try it

[Budman1]

shmuelmunkes... Give this a try. It works fine for me but I included a rar file in case it needs the other 2 files.. It shouldn't though.
BTW Malwarebytes doesn't like it but it doesn't like a lot of Visual Studio Projects. Norton 360 is fine with it. Scan it if you wish.

https://files.secureserver.net/0sAiMbFhnCsCvj EXE
https://files.secureserver.net/0sFE8Vw9MycBwT RAR

Windows Modified is pre-checked but you can pick either or both if you wish. The test button is for my testing and I never removed but it
was a bear creating. My first form was .net 5 and json files. I tried to convert to .net 4 Framework and lost everything GRRRR Microsoft!!!
Finally got it recreated and it uses .net 4 so shouldn't be a problem, The Source and Destination folders as well as the From folder files
are Drag and Drop so if you want to load a folder with lots of files that do not need to be converted, click Clear and drag drop the ones you do want.

The default example tests for your filename format but if another is entered and is valid, it will test for up to 3 non-Date/Time characters and convert them to Valid symbols for the Windows Created and Modified time format.

IMPORTANT: ALWAYS USE COPIES OF YOUR FOLDERS TO TEST. I'm not a programmer but I never change any files but instead copy and alter the copies.
If you try to convert to the same folder, You will get a message and allow you to correct. After conversion you can click the filename in the To folder and the
New times will be displayed.

Let me know if you have any problems
Budman1

EDIT: just tried and Godadys server is temporarily down. Give it a bit
Edit 2: server was ok. It was Malwarebytes safe search function. Used to be good but not so much now.