bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeline

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fishtop

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bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeline

PostTue Oct 04, 2022 1:31 am

I know a zillion folks use Resolve to edit GoPro files. Is there an easy way to import a large number of files from a GoPro (Hero 9) into Resolve (18.0.4 b5) so that I can easily put all the files onto the timeline?
The problem is that GoPro files have a weird naming convention that doesn't sort naturally. When I try to drop a big number onto the timeline, Resolve uses the alphabetical sort order.

For those not used to GoPro, a small sample of file names in chron order would be:
  • GX010327.MP4
  • GX020327.MP4
  • GX010328.MP4
  • GX020328.MP4
  • GX010329.MP4
  • GX020329.MP4
  • GX030329.MP4

Normal sorting rules would have GX010328 before GX020327, but in the GoPro universe I've made the list be in GoPro order.

Sure would be nice if I could do this in just a few steps.
Thanks
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Marc Wielage

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Re: bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeli

PostTue Oct 04, 2022 6:36 am

As far as I know, every editing program on earth would sort camera files in alphabetical order. If it had embedded time-of-day timecode (which GoPros do not), then you could sort them by timecode and then get them laid out on the timeline in chronological order.
marc wielage, csi • VP/color & workflow • chroma | hollywood
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Dave Shortman

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Re: bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeli

PostTue Oct 04, 2022 8:40 am

On my older GoPro there is a date and time value in the file attributes (PC not powered up so can't remember specifics) which corresponds to when the video started recording, just not an embedded timecode.

I just order by this date and time in the edit page
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Ashton Lamont

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Re: bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeli

PostTue Oct 04, 2022 9:01 am

I've always found the Gopro naming conventions to be a real pain.

What I do sometimes is rename the files by adding a three digit prefix to the existing filename. If I am using more than one Gopro I may add a second prefix after the first numeric one to easily identify which camera is which.

It is very easy to rename outside of Resolve in a number of apps. I use Adobe Bridge. That is free and it is the only Adobe product I still run. You simply drag and drop the appropriate thumbnails into the order you want and then rename. You can save batch renaming to use again in future. In Bridge Preferences you can have up to four lines of metadata under thumbnails. These include Date Created and Date Modified so it is easy to identify which file is which.
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RikshaDriver

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Re: bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeli

PostTue Oct 04, 2022 11:46 am

Marc Wielage wrote:As far as I know, every editing program on earth would sort camera files in alphabetical order. If it had embedded time-of-day timecode (which GoPros do not), then you could sort them by timecode and then get them laid out on the timeline in chronological order.


Actually GoPros do have Time of Day support. There are also features which can be enabled via the official GoPro Labs enhancements. Some examples...

LTC: https://gopro.github.io/labs/control/ltc/
Custom Naming: https://gopro.github.io/labs/control/basename/

Best solution would be to sort the files by date/time to load in bulk.
GitHub Projects: https://github.com/xtremestuff/
Commercial Plugins: https://xtremestuff.net/store/
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Peter Cave

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Re: bulk (easy) load of multiple GoPro files onto the timeli

PostWed Oct 05, 2022 4:01 am

When editing to the timeline, Resolve adds multiple clips by the bin sort order. If you sort by file creation date/time in Resolve list view, you should be able to edit them all into a timeline with the correct order. It's easy to see if the clip names are in the preferred order after changing sorting to creation date.
Resolve 18.6.6 Mac OSX 14.4.1 Sonoma
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