Blackmagic Forum

I've been using the same three cameras for a few years now, an a6500, GoPro 10, and AX700. I have always renamed the files to "camera name" + "video subject" + numerical number when transferring off of the SD card. I edit in chronological order. I've had the same workflow since switching to Resolve in 2019. This is not a workflow issue. This is not a GoPro issue, as the firmware has never been updated. I'm editing on a Windows PC with every Windows Update feature manually turned off via registry edits. The only change was upgrading to DR20, which I like a lot other than this bug.

The Date Created for my GoPro files constantly changes to some random, arbitrary number after importing to DR20. It's not a time zone or "summer time" setting issue in the camera. It only happens on my GoPro files. Windows Explorer and Directory Opus show the correct Date Created. Sorting by Date Modified is better, but still not the solution. The Date Modified is essentially the Date Created plus the length of the video file, which should more accurately be referred to as "Date Completed."

The following image shows the correct Date Created in Windows and a Date Created in Davinci Resolve that is 5 hours, 10 minutes, and 44 seconds off. That's not just a time zone issue. That's such a random abstract change.



Another GoPro example. This time, Davinci Resolve changed the Date Created by 5 hours, 0 minute, and 1 second. Why?



And finally, a file from a different camera.



This issue is simple but incredibly frustrating, as I now have to manually place all of my GoPro files in the correct chronological order. If someone from Blackmagic could address this, it would be appreciated. Date Modified sorting is not a solution; it is a band-aid that has its own sorting problems.

"This time, Davinci Resolve changed the Date Created by 5 hours, 0 minute, and 1 second. Why?"

Did five hours elapse between the time you took the video and the time you moved it to your PC?

A change of almost exactly 5 hours smells like timezones to me.

The exact 5 hr ones seem like timezone, yes. But the other change of "5 hours, 10 minutes, and 44 seconds" does not seem like a timezone issue.

I got curious and tested. with a gopro, synchronized via https://gopro.github.io/labs/control/precisiontime/

Windows doesn't agree with Davinci on Date Created, but the time in Davinci matches up with the Time Code in the file, so my question is: Is that the same for you Jay?

Broader when is Date Created?
1) When the file is created on the camera according to the time setting on the camera.
2) When the file is created on a local drive.

jaybates86 wrote: The Date Created for my GoPro files constantly changes to some random, arbitrary number after importing to DR20. It's not a time zone or "summer time" setting issue in the camera. It only happens on my GoPro files. Windows Explorer and Directory Opus show the correct Date Created. .

Are you comparing like to like? With Windows (and some other systems like IOS), when you copy a file for working on, the Created date on the copied file is changed to the date and time of the copy operation. The Modified date should remain unchanged. This is a major nuisance for the exact reasons you stated. However if you are comparing the exact same file (not a copy) and its Created date is different In Resolve, then I'm afraid I have no idea.

But it's pretty common that one, both or neither date gets changed during copy operations depending on the platform, the copy application used, whether the files were local or from the internet, or copied off a network drive - all of which can mess up the dates. This can be gotten around using special copy apps like TeraCopy which can preserve the original file dates when copying.

I never copy files on the card. I always cut and paste. It's probably an open invitation to lose a file if a power outage occurs. But it works for me. And like I said, I've had the same workflow with the same cameras for a while with no issues at all, until DR20. I never work with "copied" files, but always with the originals that have been moved.

I cut and paste because I don't like to format the cards in the camera, as I'm prone to losing track of whether I've moved the files to the computer or not. So, cut/paste eliminates me accidentally formatting files that are on the card (if they are "not available" to play from the card in the camera, I know I've got them on my PC), and also keeps the file numbering from resetting. Sony resets the file numbers when the card is formatted. I hate this. My old Canon t3i always issued a higher number file name regardless of the card status.

SteveW wrote:"This time, Davinci Resolve changed the Date Created by 5 hours, 0 minute, and 1 second. Why?"

Did five hours elapse between the time you took the video and the time you moved it to your PC?

No, I moved the files the next day.

Mads Johansen wrote:I got curious and tested. with a gopro, synchronized via https://gopro.github.io/labs/control/precisiontime/

Windows doesn't agree with Davinci on Date Created, but the time in Davinci matches up with the Time Code in the file, so my question is: Is that the same for you Jay?

Broader when is Date Created?
1) When the file is created on the camera according to the time setting on the camera.
2) When the file is created on a local drive.

1. The date created is the current time in the camera when the record button is pushed to start recording.

Interesting find. Previously, the time shift was not consistent. I installed Labs firmware on my GoPro and synced the time according to the link you provided. Now, all of my files are consistently 5 hours off, which confirms that it is now a time zone issue. I'm in the Central Time Zone, or UTC/GMT-05:00. At least now it makes sense with all of the files shifting by 5 hours. I have no idea why they were not all shifted 5 hours before the GoPro firmware change.

jaybates86 wrote:I never copy files on the card. I always cut and paste. It's probably an open invitation to lose a file if a power outage occurs. But it works for me.

I just tried this on my Win 11 box, and was surprised to learn the following when getting files from an SD card to the hard drive:

• ✘ Copy/Paste: the copied file gets a new Created date with the original Modified date
• ✘ Drag from SD card to new location: same as Copy/Paste
• ✅ Cut/Paste: the file retains the original Created date with the original Modified date
• ✅ Shift+drag (known as Move): same as Cut/Paste

So it seems that Cut/Paste or Move retains both dates in Windows, which was a surprise to me. Live and learn! But it still doesn't explain why the OP has a problem in Resolve 20 with Created dates. That said, I wouldn't use Cut/Paste myself for the risks you outlined. TeraCopy or similar applications will do this in a much safer manner and help avoid potential file loss.

I move stuff from SD card to iPad to SSD drive to my Mac mini all the time, and the Created dates often get hammered somewhere in the process, which is very annoying. So I wrote a small command line app which traverses the final imported media folder on the Mac, reads the file metadata for common photo and video file formats, and corrects the Created and Modified dates back to the original dates.

Nice. Would you share your command line script?

Joe Shapiro wrote:Nice. Would you share your command line script?

Sure, but it's written in Rust, so it needs to be compiled into an app. I've been meaning to publish it on GitHub but got lazy . So I will do this in the next couple of days and post back with a download link.