how do I remove metadata inserted into ORIGINALs

zoidicus wrote on 1/3/2014, 11:58 AM
Contrary to the very definition of "Nonlinear Editor", Movie Studio (v12) (a.k.a.. VMS) trimmer modified my *original source media* files to add region and marker metadata. I expected the regions and markers to be saved in an *.SFL file. Apparently that is only true when VMS can't actually modify the original source media file to include such data directly.

OK, damage done, painful lesson learned. How do I undo it? VMS refuses to use SFL files for that media, even if I make it read-only.

1. I opened the original media in trimmer.
2. Deleted all the markers and regions that were added previously.
3. Saved the markers/regions.
4. Closed VMS.
5. Set the original media to read-only via Windows Explorer.
6. Re-launched VMS and loaded the media into trimmer, verifying that the previous markers/regions were all gone.
7. Created a couple new markers/regions just to test.
8. Saved markers/regions.
9. Verified that the expected *.SFL file was written to disk in the same location as the media.
10. Verified original media file *modified date* didn't change since step 5.
11. Closed trimmer.
12. Re-opened the same media again in trimmer.
There are no regions/markers displayed in trimmer.

What do I have to do to restore VMS' ability/willingness to store and LOAD markers from SFL for this media?

--Chris

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 1/3/2014, 12:05 PM
You are talking about Movie Studio and not Sound Forge, right? Because .sfl files are Sound Forge files -- and Sound Forge does change your original audio and video file.

Movie Studio project files are .vf files, and they never change the original video files unless you output a file and intentionally overwrite an existing file.
zoidicus wrote on 1/3/2014, 1:41 PM
SoundForge isn't the only app that writes files with *.SFL extension. In any case, I don't use SoundForge. I'm talking about Movie Studio Platinum 12 Suite, and as you can see from my original post, I can get MovieStudio to create a *.SFL at will, using nothing but clip markers in trimmer, and a read-only media file. The problem is that some of my media files were not read-only, and MovieStudio stored the clip marker data right in the source media file (default behavior if media is not write-protected).

.VF files store project data, including timeline markers, but not clip markers.
Markk655 wrote on 1/3/2014, 1:43 PM
Note in Prefs>General>Automatically save trimmer markers and regions with media files. This can be unchecked. The markers are saved to an SFL file. I just checked that with V12 (and verified by date/time). No change was made to the original media file. What type of media file are you using?

Also try right clicking in the trimmer and selecting 'autosave markers/regions. I think this does the same thing as the prefs setting.

Did you try with markers AND regions?



Chienworks wrote on 1/3/2014, 1:44 PM
.sfl files are used by all of Sony's applications for storing metadata that it can't write into the media files.

Steve, you're probably thinking of .frg, which are Sound Forge project files.
zoidicus wrote on 1/3/2014, 2:06 PM
Yes, I tried markers and regions. Media is *.MP4 from a GoPro.

Be wary about what Windows Explorer tells you about file date in lists. There's the "Date" column (the default), plus "Date Created" and "Date Modified" columns, which are not displayed by default. Depending on file type, Windows decides whether to report modified or created within the "Date" column. It took me forever to realize my media was getting modified because (a) the "Date" column was reporting *create* date, not *modified* date, AND (b) the file length didn't change enough for me to notice right away. R-click your media file and select "properties". Look closely at Modified and Size before and after saving new clip markers.

1,374,449,220 <------------ original size of my experimental MP4.
1,374,449,296 <------------ size after adding and saving 1 marker via trimmer.

zoidicus wrote on 1/3/2014, 6:35 PM
Well it appears I embarked on a wild goose chase. I did a bunch of experimentation with VMS and binary file comparers. Then I read some MP4 file format specification stuff. Then I used that combined knowledge to write short program to hunt down and kill the Sony metadata. Works flawlessly. My originals are restored.

However, VMS still refuses to read the markers from the SFL it wrote earlier.

I'm not ready to give up yet. Doesn't make sense to write files that'll never get read, so I can't help but believe I'm missing a checkbox somewhere.
Markk655 wrote on 1/3/2014, 6:53 PM
1- What happens if you drag the media file (when in the same folder as the sfl file) from explorer to the timeline (not the trimmer). Are the markers there? If it reads from the sfl file, you should see the markers (if not try checking view>event media markers (and marker labels)

Also, if you open up the sfl file using MS Word, can you see any of the information? I can see most of it that way.

2- FYI - From VMS Help -
Saving Trimmer markers and regions
Click the Save Markers/Regions button . All markers and regions in the Trimmer are saved back into the file.

If you want to automatically save markers and regions to the file, select the Automatically save Trimmer markers and regions with media file check box on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.

Notes:

You cannot save markers and regions to a read-only file or to file types that Movie Studio cannot render. If markers and regions cannot be saved, the Save button is unavailable.

If the selected file type cannot save markers internally, Movie Studio will save the metadata to an external file with an .sfl extension (using the same base name as your media file).
zoidicus wrote on 1/5/2014, 1:02 PM
Mark, answers to your questions...

1 - No difference. Media is inserted to timeline, but not the markers. I have view markers turned on. When I open the SFL in another app, I do see my marker labels.

2 - I have experimented with auto-save On and Off. It simply prevents you from having to manually save your markers. Doesn't change the final outcome when clip is inserted into timeline, or reloaded to trimmer.

Concerning write-protected: Only the media *file* is write protected, not the folder. The SFL is writable like any other. I've never encountered a situation where the markers [save] button was not available.