"Properties" shows me the file format and a couple other details about my video clips, but doesn't include the same kind of details that EXIF data shows about still photos. is there a way to get full EXIF data on video clips? I am interested in seeing exactly what focal length was used on a certain clip. thanks.
GH4 EXIF data on video clips?
- Thread starter jnorman34
- Start date
stoneinapond
Veteran
In short, no. You could record a bit of audio with the clip if you can accurately determine the exact number. Some people capture a still to go along with the video, but that only helps with lenses that are electronically coupled.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
As far as I can tell, there is no equivalent to EXIF for moving picture clips in either MOV, which can support such inside the files, or AVCHD 'CLIPINFO' files, (and I think MTS could support a 'info chunk'...), for any camera. I looked recently at the CLIPINFO files for a Canon C100... nix for useful 'info', such as shutter speed, effective focal length, f-stop, etc...
About the only thing is either an audio voice over, or on the slate writing, to record such.
Jaime Valles
Veteran
I'm pretty sure RED cameras record all that info on their .r3d files that you can access using REDCINE. But not the GH4, (or any other DSLR for that matter).
It would be nice.
It would be nice.
gh4_storyteller
Active member
Yeah, I think Jaime Valles nailed it on the head. In general EXIF data is reserved for RAW formats only. This is mostly because it is necessary for that information to carry over for making changes in post production. Since the look of the video is baked into the .MOV, or whatever you choose to shoot on the GH4, it isn't thought of as necessary metadata.
It'd probably be worth shooting an email to Panasonic recommending they include a feature like this. They're really gung-ho about adding features their video pros want. It wouldn't be difficult for them to do it anyways. It'd just be a matter of including something as simple as a .TXT file in the 100_PANA folder with all the info. (i.e. P1000578.TXT contains all the EXIF info for the P1000578.MOV file)
It'd probably be worth shooting an email to Panasonic recommending they include a feature like this. They're really gung-ho about adding features their video pros want. It wouldn't be difficult for them to do it anyways. It'd just be a matter of including something as simple as a .TXT file in the 100_PANA folder with all the info. (i.e. P1000578.TXT contains all the EXIF info for the P1000578.MOV file)
PerroneFord
Deals in Lead
A lot of this information is carried in RAW formats, but also in other camera formats. The Blackmagic cameras include it with the audio files so it can be extracted. My Sony camera (not DSLR) embeds it in the MXF file.
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
The MOV format supports "text" chunks. The problem with the side car file approach is that they often get lost. For example, I'm working with a guy who shoots Canons, and he reacently got a C100... when he sent me the 'media' it was only the MTS files, and not the whole AVCHD file set... That's why I looked a copy of the AVCHD file set that I had gotten earlier, to see if Canon had put in more info than Pannasonic... doesn't appear to be so.
MTS and M2TS files are different only in naming convention. Otherwise they also are 'container' formats, and could have a text/EXIF like chunk. But for some reason camera manufacturers are not putting such info in, or using EXIF format which would already be there for there for the JPEG files.
'RAW' doesn't have much to do with it... EXIF has been part of JPEG files for... perhaps forever... ok... at least 10+ years... which for technology... is forever...
Or better yet, leaving the past behind (.mov/FAT32) and embracing the future (.mxf/exFAT) for their cameras and recording everything - video, audio, timecode and various metadata - in one file per clip (meaning no more spanning). I mean, this is precisely what the MXF format was designed for. It's way past time camera makers started using it properly.
gh4_storyteller
Active member
I totally agree with you 100% on that. The .TXT file is just a baby step for manufacturers that are too scared to take the leap to .MXF for whatever stupid reason.
Yes, EXIF data is enclosed in JPEG stills, but I was talking mostly to the video side of things. R3D for example.