XnView Software

Hello,

I have been experimenting with changing Timestamps to try to create a coherent sort across videos and photos. I have noticed that it takes about 2 seconds for each file to change, which seem rather long for this type of change. I am running Windows 10 Pro with a Ryzen 5 3600X, on a X570 ASRock Phandom Gaming X MB, with 64 GB of Memory, 970 Plus Evo SSD for main drive and a EXOS for my media drive, so not a slow machine.

I am trying to determine if there maybe something wrong with my system or if this is normal.

Thank you for your request, Damit. 2 seconds for changing time stamp is really very long. My guess is that XnView performs some resorting or something else but this is really just a guess. Are we talking of changing time stamp of a single file or multiple files (batch convert)? Do the files reside on a local drive or on a network drive?

Thanks again, helmut for your response.

That is what I thought. I was changing a bunch of files but monitoring it through File Explorer by sorting by Date Modified. That way I could see the rate of files repopulating on the file list. It was definitely taking at least 1 second but closer to 2 seconds per image.

The files are in a EXOS enterprise drive that resides in the computer with a direct SATA II connection to the MB. The method I used is I highlighted a bunch of files went to Tools>Change Timestamp....>File Modified Date on the Pulldown with an adjustment of + 10:59:59. I Checked "Create EXIF metadata if needed" and "Force the update in case of anomaly." I set XnView to change all 5 date types and then hit "Write to all Files"

I would think this would take milliseconds as only text is being altered. Something may be up in my system but I have checked for viruses, malware, corruption on all drives and reindexed all my files. I do have a computer that is LOADED with close to 100 TB of data (only 20 of it is photos and video) but I do not think that should cause these problems.

Hello,
When you set these options :

Checked "Create EXIF metadata if needed" and "Force the update in case of anomaly."

XnviewMP calls ExifTool (external AddOn) instead of using it's own procedures; so it takes a while to load ExifTool (maybe for each photo) , and it seems that ExifTool is a bit slow.
If these options are unchecked, the Change Timestamp is quicker.

(And avoid setting file dates earlier than 1970)

michel038 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:49 am Hello,
When you set these options :

Checked "Create EXIF metadata if needed" and "Force the update in case of anomaly."

XnviewMP calls ExifTool (external AddOn) instead of using it's own procedures; so it takes a while to load ExifTool (maybe for each photo) , and it seems that ExifTool is a bit slow.
If these options are unchecked, the Change Timestamp is quicker.

(And avoid setting file dates earlier than 1970)

Thank you michel038. I tried your suggestions. It took 3min 20sec to process 498 images (half were .arw) totaling 6.2 GB. I am wondering if this is usual and what I can do to improve the processing time, whether it be more memory, faster processor etc. I also am using a RTX 2070 so GPU strength should not be a problem. When I checked the Task Manger and Resource Monitor it does not seem as my system is being taxed.

As far as changing dates earlier than 1970, why is that a problem? I am planning on changing dates on slides I scanned from my grandfather's collection and many predate 1970.

As far as changing dates earlier than 1970, why is that a problem?

You can change the three Exif dates as you want

But the file attributes, managed by your O.S. should not contain file created or file modified dates prior to the invention of computers
This can cause anomalies and damage files, in some internal date representations, 1970/01/01 is equal to zero

michel038 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:50 pm

As far as changing dates earlier than 1970, why is that a problem?

You can change the three Exif dates as you want

But the file attributes, managed by your O.S. should not contain file created or file modified dates prior to the invention of computers
This can cause anomalies and damage files, in some internal date representations, 1970/01/01 is equal to zero

Crap, there are always unforeseen caveats! Thank you so much for pointing this out!

I was hoping I could use Created Date to sort files chronologically in File Explorer and other browsers without relying on metadata. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to use a time field that traverses all visual media (photo and Video) in order to accomplish this. I tried to use EXIF and use Date Taken (DateTime) but I cannot figure out how to append this information to videos (I don't think it is possible). If I could that would be the field...I think.

Any suggestions on what field may serve this purpose? Perhaps IPTC, but then I don't know if I can use this value in Windows File Explorer or how to change the IPTC time stamp with batch processing.

Man, I thought tagging music was difficult, visual media is proving to be on another level!

I was hoping I could use Created Date to sort files chronologically in File Explorer and other browsers without relying on metadata. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to use a time field that traverses all visual media (photo and Video) in order to accomplish this.

I think it's not possible to use a unique method to give an exact date for all types of files.

If you only want to keep the chronological order, maybe you can give virtual (file) modified dates (e.g. from 1970 to 1980) for oldest documents, or rename them like this 1931-03-03 001 GrandMa.pdf

For jpg photos it seems that windows 7 automatically uses the exif date taken.

I choosed to store my documents in chronological folders, so all those dating from 1931 are in the "1931" folder.
There are some ways to automatically move files into yearly folders

Damit wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:11 pmMan, I thought tagging music was difficult, visual media is proving to be on another level!