When I export a video with HEVC codec to my external hard drive, it won't transfer the original date created info. Upon the completion of the export, the information in "get info" changes to some other random date. How can I export the video and keep the original created date?
MacBook Air
Works for me even to a FAT (MBR) thumb drive (all metadata and file dates as originals OK). But if I drag and drop THEN the original file is NOT exported and dates are current and also other metadata such as GPS is dropped off.
Notice that if you have edited dates inside Photos.app (same applies also to Google Photos), then the original internal file dates are NOT saved to the file but only to the app's database and care must be used to apply those edits also to the exported original image and movie files (i.e. join the data from the sidecar .xmp or .json files to the actual .jpg or .mov files etc).
> xmp file does show the original date when opened with text edit
You can use 3rd party tools like GraphicConverter to join the .xmp info to the .jpg (if you export from Photos.app as .jpg, i.e. not as original, then the updated metadata is in the exported new .jpg). And use exiftool to do the same for .mp4, m4v and .mov movies (I have not tested how Photos.app behaves if it is re-encoding movies, i.e. not as original).
How do you export or share edited Mac Pho… - Apple Community
How to retain metadata modification date … - Apple Community
> how Photos.app behaves if it is re-encoding movies
I did a quick test and macOS 13.2 Photos.app seems to export edited metadata to re-encoded movies as expected (the Keywords did not export, though):
exiftool -a -G1 -s -api QuickTimeUTC=1 blank.mov
[Keys] DisplayName : Photos Title
[Keys] Description : Photos Description
[Keys] GPSCoordinates : 33 deg 27' 6.84" S, 70 deg 39' 1.80" W
[Keys] CreationDate : 1988:08:08 12:00:00+03:00
The export/re-encode date is in these file date and QuickTime date tags:
[MacOS] FileCreateDate : 2023:02:09 11:29:52+02:00
[System] FileModifyDate : 2023:02:09 11:29:52+02:00
[QuickTime] CreateDate : 2023:02:09 11:29:52+02:00
[QuickTime] ModifyDate : 2023:02:09 11:29:52+02:00
So you should be able to export edited date tags to re-encoded movies if you have that option selected:
...but in your initial post you mentioned HEVC and Photos.app does not seem to support that, only H.264. I have used exiftool to copy metadata tags from the original movie to the re-encoded HEVC .mp4 done with Final Cut Pro or ffmpeg.
p.s. I do not use iCloud Photos so YMMV. Oh, so many variables...
On my IPad I use an app FileBrowser which has access to the photos library to copy or export (both work) the video to any location I want the video to use (on iPad, iCloud, jas, usb drive) which then puts a copy in the destination location with the correct create date. This enables me to keep the files on the iPad and use straight away in DaVinci resolve with the correct date. In DaVinci the import from photos function provides the date of import.
When you are using iCloud Photos to transfer the videos from the iPhone to your Mac, the file creation dates as seen in the Info in the Finder are changed to the date and time you downloaded the file from iCloud. That could be any date between you took the video and the date you exported it from Photos.
if you want to see the original date when the when the video has been taken in the finder, write the date into the filename, when you export the video.
Too little info for a precise answer. What date -- internal metadata date or file date? What format external drive? Export original via what workflow? Or re-encode the movie?
Original file date. (date and time when the video was recorded). I believe I formatted my external drive as fat 32 if that helps. Workflow is "export unmodified original" through the photo app. Not re-encoding.
Thx
doesn't work for me. never edited dates inside photo app. I took videos on phone with icloud sync on. videos do not export to my ExFat external drive with the original date, just some random date that has nothing to do with when I shot the original. im not dragging and dropping--im using the export function in Photos.
if I export with an xmp sidecar file, the date on the xmp file is from day of export. In that case, I wind up with 2 files-the video and the xmp, both with different dates than the original.
I have never really used iCloud Photos sync so maybe this that have can chime in.
BTW I'd avoid non-Mac filesystems like exFAT unless I really need to.
> the date on the xmp file is from day of export
But does the .xmp text have the correct date when viewed in a text editor?
<photoshop:DateCreated>2000-01-01T12:00:00+02:00</photoshop:DateCreated>
yes,the xmp file does show the original date when opened with text edit. I'd rather not have the 1000+ videos I export to have to have an associated xmp file which must be opened in text edit in order to see the original date.
Thank you all for the help and info. Applecare suggested the use of the Terminal utility to accomplish my task, but for someone like me, it's confusing. Thx
export videos to external hard drive
