Sorting Media by creation time

walter-born wrote on 11/16/2018, 8:14 AM

Right now I have a rather large project in front of me with 6 different types and sources.
As the single item are pretty similar looking and not as easy to localize in time visually, I would want to use creation date/time for sorting.
Anyway media bin does not sort by created but by last changed. Last changed is not helpfull as I got some files that display the date when they where added on this computer (came packed via wetransfer and thus have all the same date/time)
No, the names of the files do not help as they are pretty random.
When right clicking on properties creation time is shown under last changed, while in the bin it shows the date and tim when the file had been created on this machine (unpacked)

Any way to fix this without opening each and every file to check real creation time?

Comments

j-v wrote on 11/16/2018, 8:59 AM

That's not so difficult in the Project Media info voor those videos.
Go to the option in the top of that window to choose which look to see and choose for "details". Then go to the bottem of that window a scroll the slider untill you see the "modified" option and there you see the creation date and time of the video.
Clicking on the name of the options gives the dates a certain order.

walter-born wrote on 11/16/2018, 9:15 AM

Yes, that is what I did. Yet as described I have files that do show the correct data in right click properties but show the date when copied on this machine in the details view. See my screenshot for that. So the problem is not that I do not find a way to sort things, only some files (all that I got via we-transfer) get displayed in the wrong order and real creation date/time can be seen only by rightclicking on each item.

And no, I do not want the date when modified, but the date when originally created which does not seem an option in media bin.

j-v wrote on 11/16/2018, 10:00 AM

Sorry, I did not realize that it were not files shot with your own cams, because that kind of files show always exact the creation date and time.

Len Kaufman wrote on 11/16/2018, 11:12 AM

You might try the following program that I like/use. http://www.filerenamer.net/ You can sort by date and then rename the files using consecutive numbers. That way, they should show up in the proper (desired) order. There is a free version, but it doesn't have the ability to undo the change to file names.

walter-born wrote on 11/16/2018, 1:19 PM

I´try that soft and make a copy of the folders first before renaming. Hope it can read MP4 or MOV as well. Started sorting manually by adding each filetype on a different track and then sort visually. Heck of work when you have a couple of hundred files to sort.

j-v wrote on 11/16/2018, 1:38 PM

AFAIK has Windows Explorer exactly the same possibilties or am I missing something?

walter-born wrote on 11/17/2018, 1:46 AM

filenamer seems to be a very good tool, only in my case it does not read the real creation date, just the date when it had been copied to the position from where you load the file into the software.
@j-v Windows explorer, besides I have the german version, does not show those options to me even when I mark several files and right click rename. That gives me the option only to rename one filename manually. Quit a job for several hundred items.

But at least windows explorer correctly displays the correct date and time when the picture or film was taken. So why can´t Vegas read that data? Or how can I make Vegas read these data?

Then it would be simple to move a row of items in correct order of creation on a track or timeline, which I really liked to have. Would be a snap then to selct those you wnat to use and those to disregard, without looking for another file created in the same location and time for the same location/event.

j-v wrote on 11/17/2018, 5:48 AM

But at least windows explorer correctly displays the correct date and time when the picture or film was taken. So why can´t Vegas read that data? Or how can I make Vegas read these data?

This is the way I do it in my Windows 10 and Vegas Pro 16

walter-born wrote on 11/17/2018, 6:02 AM

Nice. Only changing the name does not solve that Vegas does not sort by "Aufnahmedatum" ("opgenommen on"?) I have a ton of files form different sources and need to sort all in one Vegas folder so to be able to compare entities from different sources at the same moment of time filmed. That only works if files can be sorted by time/date of when they are filmed. Not by name or date of copying or the else. Maybe Í just don´t see the category in the media bin.
I attach a file so you can see that date o creation and date of copy are different.

j-v wrote on 11/17/2018, 6:22 AM

The files I showed you in one map were shot on different dates (years) and Windows showed exactly the days and hours they were taken with different cameras, Panasonic videocamera, smartphone and GoPro.
If I click on that date column in Windows explorer the are sortened out, the first time beginning the old videos and after the next click with the newest first. When I rename all those files in a certain order they get a number (1 till ....).Those numbers will be recognised in the Vegas explorer or Media bin, and if you wish can there also be changed in order.
That this not possible is with you is very sad. 🙁

walter-born wrote on 11/17/2018, 7:42 AM

So you mean sorting in Explorer along creation date and then renaming from 1-XX. Afterwards importing in Vegas and sorting by that number instead of creation date? Might be an idea. Only then I have to find a way to tag them after the source so not to put different sources in same tracks. Well, I try that version.