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John_R_Ellis

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5K Messages

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91.7K Points

Wed, Dec 10, 2014 12:38 AM

Lightroom: Still inconsistent capture date/time for photos and videos

Update 5/17/2018: Though LR 7.1 made improvements, LR 7.3.1 still has two closely related problems with a single underlying cause:

- With photos and videos missing metadata capture date/times (e.g. scans), there is still an inconsistency between the times shown under the thumbnails in grid view and in the Metadata panel and the hidden, internal times used for sorting in grid view.

- Changing IPTC Date Created in the Metadata panel, either by editing the field or using Metadata > Copy/Paste Metadata, similarly causes inconsistent values to be shown and sorting and searching to work inconsistently.  It also causes date metadata to be written back to the files that doesn't conform with the Metadata Working Group's standard.

The underlying cause is architectural: LR doesn't have a single internal catalog field representing "capture time".  Rather, it maintains capture time in several different fields, and the various parts of LR update those fields inconsistently.

See here for precise recipes to replicate these bugs:

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-still-inconsistent-capture-date-tim...

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-still-inconsistent-capture-date-tim...

See here for a workaround: 

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-still-inconsistent-capture-date-time-for-videos?topic-reply-list%5Bsettings%5D%5Bfilter_by%5D=all&topic-reply-list%5Bsettings%5D%5Breply_id%5D=15475521#reply_15475521.  

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LR 5.7 still shows inconsistent capture date/times for videos. For a test .avi on Windows 8.1, the date in grid view appears to be the file system's last-modified time, while Capture Date/Time is set to the time of import.This problem was declared fixed in LR 5.5, and it appears to have been fixed for images, but not videos:http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/inconsistent_dates_for_files_missing_date_time...I'm opening a new topic, since the previous one has been marked "Solved".

Problems

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Updated 

9 months ago

9

66

Responses

Official Solution

melissa_rios

109 Messages

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2.9K Points

3 years ago

Hi all,

Just to reiterate what Sunil said in a comment above, this issue should be fixed in Lightroom Classic CC 7.1. Please let us know if you're still seeing this issue after updating.

Thanks,
Melissa

10

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stephen_leggett

79 Messages

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1K Points

1. Did you fix ALL the bugs referenced in this thread or just the one referenced in the title? You will see many comments (i.e. complaints), including mine, that disparate errors have been merged into this thread.
2. Anyone who has used Edit Capture Time and/or Paste Metadata will have different values in different fields in the catalog for the relevant images. Where is the utility to make these consistent?

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3 years ago

0

lightroomqueen

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5.8K Messages

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102.2K Points

It's impossible for them to promise they've fixed every single one Stephen, because even if they think they've fixed everything, someone might still have a problem. If you can still reproduce any of the issues you've noted, please feel free to update the thread or start a new one for the specific error you're still seeing.

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3 years ago

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stephen_leggett

79 Messages

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1K Points

1. I did start a specific thread, it got merged into this
2. It would be quite straightforward for them to enumerate all the errors in this thread and answer yes/no - if you read the thread you will see I suggested this earlier
3. Its my job to USE the software not test it. Remember I'm paying them, not the other way round

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3 years ago

0

John_R_Ellis

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5K Messages

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91.7K Points

"Anyone who has used Edit Capture Time and/or Paste Metadata will have different values in different fields in the catalog for the relevant images. Where is the utility to make these consistent?"

In my testing, the previous workaround continues to work: Select all the affected photos, do Metadata > Edit Capture Time, and click Adjust All.  That  will set IPTC:DateCreated to the same capture date value as shown in Metadata > Default,  Metadata > EXIF, and under the thumbnail.

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3 years ago

stephen_leggett

79 Messages

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1K Points

They may look the same on screen but in the underlying database they are still different. 
For example, should you use a plug-in then you are at the mercy of the gods as to which of the many fields the developer has chosen.
[Edit, see your own comment below on copy/paste. Until that is corrected, in any event; any utility would be of limited use ]

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3 years ago

0

tir

1 Message

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60 Points

6 years ago

Yes, this is quite annoying for me. Because reverse capture date is my preferred sorting method in the grid, old videos I add are being shown before anything else, because LR5.7 is putting their capture date as the time of import.

Here's a much less neater example than above (scribbled on my Surface):

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daniel_arbeeny

47 Messages

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592 Points

6 years ago

I find the behavior has changed BUT is still wrong.

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hhheflin

22 Messages

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426 Points

6 years ago

Thanks for keeping this issue "Open".

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fotografistanet

5 Messages

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120 Points

6 years ago

I imported >1000 videos from 2014, all got the "Creation date" set to "Import date" (for all my video-sources), although they could be split into the proper folders by date during the import, which means LR *CAN* properly interpret the dates, *BUT NOT* in the Library while sorting!

This is total disaster, because I am not able get the files in the correct creation order to rename and store them properly, which *CRUCIAL* to work with the video clips!

There is a *WORKAROUND*: you can make LR update the dates using the menu function "Metadata/Edit capture time".

... *BUT* - I am not going to do it manually for 1000 files. And after that *FOR EACH AND EVERY IMPORT*...

This seams to be a simple *BUG* and I do not understand why it has not been fixed for years now as it is a *FUNDAMENTAL FUNCTIONALITY*.

I would really appreciate to get a fix *SOON*. Or at least a better workaround. At the moment I'm *BLOCKED* in my workflow, and the material get produced more and more.

I can support the developers with further details and examples.

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John_R_Ellis

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5K Messages

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91.7K Points

6 years ago

Fotografista wrote: "There is a workaround: you can make LR update the dates using the menu function 'Metadata/Edit capture time'. ... I am not going to do it manually for 1000 files."

I haven't tried it recently, but in the past you could select all the videos, do Metadata > Edit Capture Time, and then hit OK without making any changes to the date/time. This would set the capture time correctly for each of the selected photos. So you wouldn't need to do it one video at a time.

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fotografistanet

5 Messages

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120 Points

6 years ago

John,

that would work. But *all* the files would get then the *same* date and time (of the "most marked" one). It's OK, if you wanted to move the time of all files about an interval, but that is not what I need.

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fotografistanet

5 Messages

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120 Points

6 years ago

I saw there hundreds of bug reports in here...

I would really appreciate to get an answer it was read from someone from LR Team. Just to know this thread in not an dead end...

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John_R_Ellis

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5K Messages

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91.7K Points

6 years ago

Fotografista wrote, "But *all* the files would get then the *same* date and time (of the "most marked" one)."

I haven't tested with videos in the most recent version of LR, but in previous versions, I and others observed that Edit Capture Time would set the capture time of each video to its correct internal time, not the time of the most-selected video.

That in general is how Edit Capture Time works when you have multiple images selected. It offsets each image's time by the amount that the most-selected image is being offset. If the most-selected image is being offset by 0 seconds, than all the others will be too:



The text of the Edit Capture Time window says "but not videos", but at least in past versions, it did what I described. Worth a test.

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John_R_Ellis

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91.7K Points

Update: I just updated my post to clarify a little.

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6 years ago

0

John_R_Ellis

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91.7K Points

6 years ago

I just verified with LR 5.7.1 / Windows 8.1: You can correct the inconsistency described in the original post above by:

1. Select all the videos.

2. Metadata > Edit Capture Time

3. OK

For each video, this will make the Capture Date/Time shown in Metadata panel match the capture date/time shown under the thumbnail in Library Grid view (which is the file's last modified time, if LR wasn't able to read the file's metadata).

There is no need to do each video one at a time. But if you have any doubt, make a backup of your catalog first.

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anothertal3

11 Messages

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260 Points

Had some issues when attempting to assign the capture date/time of a video to its filename. There was always a strange offset.

I tried this workaround before renaming and it then worked fine.

Always worth a shot, I guess.

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5 years ago

0

John_R_Ellis

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91.7K Points

"Had some issues when attempting to assign the capture date/time of a video to its filename. There was always a strange offset."

If they were Quicktime videos (e.g. with extension .mov, from an iDevice), there's a known bug where LR gets confused by the time zone (or lack of one) stored in the video's metadata: http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...

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5 years ago

0

anothertal3

11 Messages

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260 Points

Sorry, haven't been here for a while. Dropped by to thank you for suggestion.

Timezone handling seems to be kind of funny indeed, even with images.
Example: it  seems that any timezone stored in a picture (e.g. by Geosetter) will be removed when re-saving new meta information within Lightroom.

Then again... I'm not completely sure about the standardized process, so maybe it's some sort of irregular information anyway.

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5 years ago

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John_R_Ellis

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"it  seems that any timezone stored in a picture (e.g. by Geosetter) will be removed when re-saving new meta information within Lightroom."

Yeah, LR doesn't follow the standard (Metadata Working Group, of which Adobe is a member), which calls for existing time zones in date/times to be preserved.   LR is pretty aggressive at pretending time zones don't exist.

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5 years ago

0

bruce_lull

3 Messages

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82 Points

This technique seemed to work more generally. I used it to fix both video and .JPG's that were sorting incorrectly. This was with Lightroom CC on a Mac. Thanks a bunch!

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5 years ago

0

fotografistanet

5 Messages

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120 Points

6 years ago

To John:

thank you very much for all your research, I'll give it a try, although it seems to be just another workaround and it MAY stop working for any reason...

I've just gone through my 1000 thousand videos and stated the problem is even worse - there are sources (android devices only?) where there is the original capture time wrong - it can be seen under windows as well (last modification time). It seems to be a creation time while copying the files on android or something like that. Now I am completely unsure if there is anywhere the proper capture time - as I said windows shows not the expected time and LR shows just nothing...

I will probably need to dig in the EXIFs of the videos... I hoped LR is clever enough to manage it on its own. I'm getting even more frustrating. I am ensuring myself one again - NEVER EVER TRUST any tools you didn't constructed yourself...

... my origin idea was so simple - throw everything into LR, let it sort by LR and make your own order. None of these works 100% (just try to import some BMPs from a scanner).

Grrrrr

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John_R_Ellis

Champion

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5K Messages

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91.7K Points

6 years ago

LR does a poor job with video metadata in general. Add your vote and opinion to this topic:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photosh...

You might consider my Any File plugin to manage your videos in LR. It uses the very robust Exiftool to extract video metadata and add it to the LR catalog, and any changes you make to the metadata in LR get written back to JPEG sidecars. Any File isn't as convenient as having proper video management built in to LR, but it gets the job done reliably.

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daniel_arbeeny

47 Messages

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592 Points

5 years ago

I believe that Any File plugin is great, thanks John!

Does anyone know if this has gotten better in LR6?

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louis_sherwin

148 Messages

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3.3K Points

5 years ago

I havn't tried it yet but there is nothing in the release notes that indicate that anything was done to improve metadata for video or image files.

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john_ellis_3507433

115 Messages

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1.6K Points

5 years ago

The bug still exists in LR CC 2015.0.1 / Windows 8.1.

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