Imported Creation Date does not match source file.

[Caelocide]

To be brief, I have a lot of video files, each with a creation date and a modified date that are exactly what I want them to be when viewed in the Windows 10 file explorer. Recording using OBS.

These dates and times are good.

Then, I import them into Premiere, and the metadata changes to this.

The creation date becomes System Time Zero and the Modification date becomes the moment of importing. This changes nothing about the original file, but I can't effectively sort by time this way. 

The only notable difference I've found is that some of my other video files created with different software have the "Media Created" field filled where the problem files above do not.

This leads me to believe that Premiere uses the Media Created attribute for it's Creation Date field instead of the Windows file creation date. 

So, if this is correct, are there any workarounds known to have the Creation Date or Modification Date from the File Explorer imported as unchanged metadata, or external solutions to change the files' "Media created" date that anybody knows of?

[R Neil Haugen]

I've had a couple long discussions of this with the engineers while at NAB. Who point out that there are something like 8 or so diffferent date/time fields currently in use, and different cameras, apps, and OSs all treat them a bit differently from others.

Which the engineers find enormously troubling. They ... being engineers ... would prefer a simple, straight-forward iron-clad Rule. But in reality, they have to out-guess what will work best in 'most' situations, and go with that. Even when it can't work for some things.

As they point out, by "nature", Apple OSs and Windows don't interpret the same fields as meaning the same thing, Avid is "over there", Sony does this, but Panny does that ... so what the hay are they supposed to choose? Which one is right, Apple, Sony, Panny, Avid, someone else?

And any answer they come up with will be guaranteed wrong for some users.

I know from talking with Karl Soule, who works with their "Hollywood" clients, that he has a complete process for ingesting assets that sets everything up to be talking the same lingo internally. As for those projects, typically with assets in the many thousands, metadata control is everything.

I've struggled with this myself, where some cameras file's have 'dates' that are clearly way different, though I know the camera clock data was synced for the shoot. So I've gone through adding all the various time/date fields in the whole possibles system to see if I could get a better data. But the cameras all had different fields they used or didn't use, and well ... it was a total waste of time.

So yes, having a list of first, where to go to set this up correctly, and ... Panny does this, so do that instead ... Sony is this, Canon that, and as there's going to be both Macs & PCs also set this field up as X so it can be read cross-platform ... which Karl seems to know how to do! ... would be incredibly useful.

I don't know of such a thing outside Karl's head, though.

Neil

[Caelocide · Accepted solution]

Thank you Niel.

I have found a solution to this problem. Premiere (at least in my version) is drawing the "File Created" Metadata from Origin: Media Created as seen under properties in file explorer. 

I used an external tool (Am I okay to mention the tool to help any other readers?) to copy/paste Windows' file creation date into the Media Created property, reimported, and it all worked perfectly.

Thank you for your time.

[R Neil Haugen]

Good to hear ... and sure, mention what you used. Workflows are always up for discussion here.

Neil

[Caelocide]

The tool I used to get the metadata ready for Premiere to work with was BulkFileChanger.

I import all my footage to BulkFileChanger, Select it all with Ctrl-A, use F6 to open Change file time / attributes.

I enabled "Copy Time From", select "Created" in the dropdown, and copy it to Media Files - Date Encoded in the To: Dropdown.

[movieb]

Thanks for the workaround.

But I will not accept from an expensive tool, that it is not handle simple Creation-Dates and Modification-Dates from Computer file-Systems.

I have footage from GoPro and Soundrecorder with cruel namings in filename.

All devices synced in time (I hoped) would allow to get the files in the right sequence, when using change-Date.

NOT WORKING (what a rubbish).

Copying from SD-Card sets Creation-Date to today, and leaves Changed-Date staying some days before (when recorded)

Premiere (not PRO in that department) lets "his" Creation Date empty (why) and fills "his" Modification-Date not from modification-Date of Computer or NAS but puts in creation-Date from Computer or NAS ...  (wy the hell are they doing that)

Sorry