Is There A Date Embedded In Quicktime files?

I'm just wondering when you say......... "select (highlight) the file and use the "Commsnd-I" shortcut to open the Finder "Information" window"..........Do you mean press the Command key and capital I key at the same time or the command key and 1?


Am referring to the system's "Finder Information" feature here. You select/highlight the file in a Finder window and press the "Command" key and the letter "I/i" (as in 9th letter of the English alphabet simultaneously) to open the "Information" window. You can also simply "Control-Click" (mouse click the file while holding the "Control" key down) to open the "context" window from which you can select this option or you can use the "Get Info" File menu option that will display the same window for any/all files currently selected/highlighted files in the Finder window. Sorry, I tend to assume everyone is familiar with this Finder feature since I use it so often to check dates, compare files sizes, check the formats of media files that will not open in the QT Player, create custom Finder icons, etc.

Unfortunately, I did not put a date on the files and I now need to know the date of creation.I'm not sure, but it seems to me I read somewhere that the date the file was created, as well as some other info is embedded into each video file. Wondering if this is true and if so , how do you get access to this info?


Yes it is true.Probably the easiest way to access/read this information is to select (highlight) the file and use the "Commsnd-I" shortcut to opent the Finder "Information" window. This window will contain both a creation and a modification date. However, this information may or may do be somewhat misleading. For Instance...

The creation date usually reflects the date a file was created. For a file captured/copied to you hard drive this usually reflects the date the file was transferred to the hard drive and not necessarily the date the segment was actually filmed. Date the segment was actually recorded may or may not be embedded in the original camcorder file used as a basis for the creation date depending on the specifis hardware, software, and worklow used. Copying/duplicating files usually does not change a true file creation date but a "Save As..." or recompression of the file will change both the creation and mondification dates. On the othe hand, editing a file (e.g., making a rough trim) and then saving the change back to the ortiginal file will normally change the modification date but not the creation date. So bear these things in mind when reviewing the date information.