P: Altitude field is blank after clicking Fetch Altitude For Coordinates in Map module

[johnrellis]

When the Fetch Altitude For Coordinates button in the Location tagset of the Metadata panel is pushed while in the Map module, it correctly sets Altitude but it doesn't display it in the Metadata panel. This appears to be an old bug filed in 2019 that didn't get migrated from the old feedback forum:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/map-module-altitude-of-the-points-si-0-... 

To reproduce on LR 13.2 / Mac OS 14.2.1:

1. In Library, select a photo that doesn't have any assigned GPS coordinates.

2. In Map, drag the photo to the map. Observe that it gets assigned GPS coordinates but not Altitude (correct).

3. Click the Fetch Altitude For Coordinates button. Observe that the Altitude field remains blank (incorrect).

4. Go to Library and observe that the Altitude field is filled in (correct).

5. Go back to Map and observe that the Altitude field is filled in (correct).

See the attached screen recording.

[DenisPac]

When copying/pasting metadata from one image to another one (or several ones), the copied elevation is not pasted into the destination image(s).

This is systematic and not new.

My current version of LRC is 13.2 (latest as of today).

Steps to reproduce:

1. Have an image with Elevation metadata value set (other geolocation data as well in my case), shown in .

2. Copy metadata through menu or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C

3. Metadata copy windows is displayed and shows the available metadata. Select the check box in front of the elevation, as well as all other available metadata in my case usually, then click Copy.

4. Select another image and paste metadata through menu or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+V

5. The metadata are all pasted, except the elevation.

[Lumigraphics]

As a workaround you may have to use third-party software like EXIFTool to copy missing metadata.

[DenisPac]

Hello Lumigraphics,

I'm already using exiftool that is actually called by my geolocation tool GeoSetter.

Actually I have a much more easier workaround: I just rewrite the missing elevation value in the destination image.

But I would like to get it fixed in LRC.

[johnrellis]

Hmm, I'm not able to reproduce this.  In my LR 13.2 (English), the Sync Metadata command and the Copy/Paste Metadata commands successfully transfer the Altitude field.

Adobe will only pay attention to issues they can immediately reproduce. So to make progress on this, I recommend these next steps:

1. Select the source photo containing the Altitude data and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File.

2. Upload the original source and destination photos to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar. If the source photo is a raw, upload its .xmp sidecar as well. Post the sharing link here.

[DenisPac]

Hi John,

Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nyzoAqYJZdmCT1lqydpGyGy9T2LZxaEt/view?usp=drive_link

cr2 is the source and dng is the destination.

Note that in this case, the destination image  has been generated by LRC itself using the new noise reduction feature.

All metadata have been copied to the created dng file, except the Altitude field.

[johnrellis]

I'm not able to reproduce the problem with that .cr2 and .dng :-<  

Examining the metadata closely, I see that you used Exiftool to store GPS, IPTC fields, and XMP in the .cr2 directly, rather than the .xmp sidecar. Normally, Enhance will copy all the metadata fields (including GPS) from the source file into the .dng, so I think the sequence of events was probably:

1. Import the .cr2.

2. Use Enhance to create the .dng.

3. Use Exiftool to set the GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields of the .cr2.

4. Select the .cr2 and do Metadata > Read From File.

5. Do Copy/Paste Metadata to transfer all the fields from the .cr2 to the .dng.

When I clear the GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields from the .cr2, delete its .xmp, and try to reproduce the steps above, Copy/Paste works correctly and copies Altitude.  So perhaps I don't have the exact sequence of steps or there is something else going on.

* * *

A couple of other troubleshooting steps that are easy to try:

1. Try resetting LR's preferences:
https://www.lightroomqueen.com/articles-page/how-do-i-reset-lightrooms-preferences/

LR sometimes soils its preferences file, and resetting it can fix all sorts of wonky behavior. That article explains how to restore the old preferences if resetting doesn't help.

2. Try deleting the Helper.lrdata folder:

a) Do Catalog Settings > General > Show to open Finder / File Explorer on the current catalog folder.
b) Exit LR.
c) In that folder, delete the folder "<catalog> Helper.lrdata".
d) Restart LR, and it will rebuild the folder.

The Helper.lrdata folder caches information about metadata, keywords, folders, collections, and other things to speed the performance of LR and it can sometimes get corrupted. In recent versions, LR has used it more heavily to improve the speed of displaying metadata, and there have been a fair number of bugs with it.

[Lumigraphics]

Try locking one of your RAW files to see if metadata you add is correctly written into the XMP file rather than the RAW file directly.

[DenisPac]

Hi John,

The correct sequence of events is the following:

1. Use Exiftool through GeoSetter to set the GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields of the .cr2+.xmp.

2. Import the .cr2+.xmp.

3. Use Enhance to create the .dng.

4. Select the .cr2 and do Metadata > Read From File.

5. Do Copy/Paste Metadata to transfer all the fields from the .cr2 to the .dng.

I also followed the other troubleshooting steps as you described:

* Resetting LR's preferences

* Deleting the Helper.lrdata folder

But unfortunately it didn't help.

Ultimately, I tried changing the language setting to English since this is the version you are using, but no change.

Finally I tried to use LRC instead of my usual GeoSetter/exiftool to geotag a fresh cr2 image.

I set the location on Maps module, then set th ecountry code, country, state and city. But when trying to extract the altitude from coordonates (small icon on the right), nothing happens.

I never use this feature and I don't know exactly how it behave, but this is maybe linked to my problem of copy/paste the altitude.

Note: I did all last test on a fresh catalog with only a few images, just to not have a bad behaviour due to the catalog.

[johnrellis]

"1. Use Exiftool through GeoSetter to set the GPS, IPTC, and XMP fields of the .cr2+.xmp."

It isn't necessary to set the fields in both the .cr2 and the .xmp. The whole point of the .xmp is to store metadata for the raw without needing to modify the raw.

It may be that this is part of the problem. The industry standards that LR follows specify a complicated algorithm for choosing which version of a field to use when the field is present in multiple locations, and it may be there is a subtle difference of  opinion or an outright bug somewhere between between Geosetter, Exiftool, and LR about this. Over the years, there have been a few reports posted here about problems when modifying metadata fields in both the raw and the .xmp sidecar.

"4. Select the .cr2 and do Metadata > Read From File."

This step is unnecessary, since nothing has changed the metadata in the .cr2 or the .xmp.

"5. Do Copy/Paste Metadata to transfer all the fields from the .cr2 to the .dng."

This step should be unnecessary, since Enhance copies all the metadata (including GPS coordinates and altitude) from the raw file into the DNG.

* * *

Try these simplified steps:

1. Set Geosetter's settings so that it creates the .xmp but doesn't modify the .cr2 (as suggested by Lumigraphics). I'm pretty sure that's possible in its Settings > File Options (but it's been years since I used it):

https://geosetter.de/en/screenshots-en/

2. Import the .cr2 (along with its .xmp).

3. Run Enhance.

[johnrellis]

"when trying to extract the altitude from coordonates (small icon on the right), nothing happens."

This is a minor display bug in the user interface. When you click the Fetch Altitude From Coordinates button in the Map module, LR correctly sets the contents of the Altitude field but doesn't display it. If you go to Library and look at the Location tagset of the Metadata panel, it will be correctly displayed.

There was an old bug report filed about this in 2019 that seems to have been lost a couple years ago in the transition from the old forum platform. I filed a new bug report:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/altitude-field-is-blank-after-clicking-fetch-a...

This isn't the cause of your issue.

[DenisPac]

Hi John,

Before following your recommendation, I wanted to double-check the actual metadata written in the created .dng file, and I found something weird.

I used exiftool (latest v12.79) using the command "-a -u -g1 -w txt" to write all metadata into a text file for both cr2 and selected the .dng image and did Metadata > Read From File.

And badaboum the Altitude appeared!

Two txt files were created and I could compare the tags used a comparison tool (WinMerge).

I found the altitude in both files!

I then just selected the .dng image and did Metadata > Read From File.

And badaboum the altitude appeared.

It seems I encountered the minor display bug in the user interface you've mentionned in your last post.

Minor but annoying when you are not aware.

[DenisPac]

Coming back to this issue, sicne it is still present with a an addtional information.

Aside of the dng files, I sometimes copy/paste the metadata from an image to a video (mp4, mov...).

I don't think the metadata are actually written into the file, nor a sidecar file (xmp), but I find useful to tag my video files with the same metadata as images files.

In that case, the altitude is also not present in the target video file.