INTERACT FORUM
Windows => Third Party Plug-ins, Programs, and Skins => Topic started by: cncb on January 13, 2014, 01:43:49 pm
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I wrote this program for flexible copying/importing from my digital camera. In particular I wrote it to better handle video dates so that the recorded date would be stored somewhere other than the OS file dates which can be easily and unintentionally changed. It also allows for video conversion as well as custom destination folders and file naming. Hopefully someone else might find it useful.
Features
- Custom folder and file naming using date taken as well as media type
- Embed/write "Media created" dates in compatible video files
- Create JRiver Sidecar files with video recording date
- Video conversion using ffmpeg
- Visual selection of media to copy (or delete) using embedded Windows Explorer window
Notes
- The .NET Framework 4 is required.
- I have only tried this in Windows 7 and 8. It may work in XP but I am not sure.
- This works well with my Canon PowerShot camera which shows up as a "Device" in Windows Explorer. This should also work with cameras that show up as a "Drive" but I am not able to test.
- I would recommend doing a small temporary test to make sure it is working properly with your camera before you try to use it with your main MC library.
Installation/Usage
- Install the .NET Framework 4 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17851) if necessary (will have to be installed for Windows 7).
- Unzip the attached file to a folder and run the program.
- Click the Options button and set the options as desired (see below for details).
- Plug in your camera, navigate to your camera media files in the Explorer Window, select the files you want to copy and click the "Copy" button on the left.
- To import into MC either add the destination folder to MC's Autoimport directories or drag and drop the "<< Drag N Files >>" label (above the copied file list) to the MC interface.
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Saved Search
My camera creates what seems to be random sub-folders on the memory card so I set up a Saved Search in Windows Explorer to make selecting the media files to copy easier. Plug in your camera and in a separate Windows Exporer window click on your camera in the left tree. Then type in a search string in the search text box in the upper right corner (e.g. ".jpg"). Save this search to a known location, run my program, navigate to and double-click the Saved Search. After you copy from this Saved Search the program will automatically return to it the next time it is run (make sure you have your camera plugged in first).
Options Explained (see screenshot for examples)
- Destination folder: A static folder plus optional custom path using media type and/or date taken. Media type is of the form <STRING1;STRING2> where STRING1 is used when the file is a photo and STRING2 is used for videos. Date taken is of the form [FORMATSTRING] where FORMATSTRING is the .NET DateTime formatting described here (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4(v=vs.110).aspx).
- Destination file: Must include <*> which is the original file name to avoid duplicates. Optionally can include Date taken string as above.
- Set copied file dates to source: when enabled the created, modified, and accessed dates of the copied file are set to the date taken of the source.
- Write "Media created" date to videos: will attempt to write the "Media created" tag ("Origin\Media created" in Windows File Properties) for video files. I know this works for .MOV and .MP4 but I'm not sure about other video file types.
- Create JRiver Sidecar files for videos: creates JRiver Sidecar files for videos containing the "Date" and "Date Recorded" fields.
- Convert video to: file extension to convert video to.
- ffmpeg .exe: full file location of ffmpeg.exe.
- ffmpeg options: ffmpeg command line options NOT including input and output file specifiers (e.g. -acodec copy -vcodec copy)