Folder Name - Content Management Utility

[Ian McElroy]

When I use the Content Management Utility to import clips from my memory card to my PC it puts them in a directory on my PC with the form "18-09-2010". I can not find a setting to enable the directory to be in the much more useful form of 2010-09-18, so I am no constantly trying to remember what date I did a particular import.

Can anyone tell me where the setting might be. If it means changing my PC date structure to this form, then that's fine - but other parts of my computer (such as importing still photo's) seems to do it the right way!!

Thanks in advance.

Ian

[Bill Bryant]

I click the change button next to the import path on the bottom of the import screen and rename the folder manually before importing. It would be nice if there was a way to make the change permanent in the preferences.

[Ian McElroy]

I thought this may be a UK thing since we tend to date things as 18 September 2010 - and I understand that the US (and elsewhere?) prefers September 18 - or 9/18 etc....

But, Brian - I'm guessing this is not a UK problem, since I think you are in the USA?

Renaming files as I import would be rubbish for me, as I am never good at remembering the system I used last time!!

Ian

[Arkady Bolotin]

No Ian, you do need to rename the folder every time you want to import your video clips into it: if the program (the Content Management Utility, I mean) works properly, it should name the folder for import in accordance with the current date automatically.

Therefore, I can presume something’s wrong either with your copy of CMU (like installation, for example), or with your PC or operating system.

To single out the problem, please check first if your OS can put the time stamp correctly.

To do so, open for example MS Word and insert into a blank line the following field code: DATE \@ "dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy". If you see the current date "Monday, September 20, 2010", this will mean the OS and the internal clock of your PC are okay, and therefore you should just reinstall the CMU.

[Ian McElroy]

Hi Arkady

Yes it does correctly date the folder - however it dates them as 28-09-2010 - which becomes pretty useless, as time moves on.

I want it to date them 2010-09-28 so when I sort it does not find all the directories I did on the 28th . . .

thoughts?

Ian

[Ron Evans]

Still photos have the date and time embedded in the still camera so the important issue is to keep the camera clock correct also true for a video camera too. When transferring video to PC with Content Management Utility ( also true for the consumer MBS) a directory is created based on the PC settings for date and time. You can find this in Regional Options in Control Panel.

The video files you transferred will have the date set by the camera so it is only the directory created by Content Management Utility to store files that is controlled by the PC regional options.

Ron Evans

[Arkady Bolotin]

Ian:

I’m afraid to say I do not follow your explanation very well. But maybe this will help.

Every time you want to import your video clips to a PC, the Content Management Utility creates new folder naming it (by default) in accordance with the current date (say 28-9-2010). If such folder already exists, CMU will offer you either to merge the new clips with previously taken ones located in the folder 28-9-2010, or to create a new folder named 28-9-2010 (1), or 28-9-2010 (2), etc.

Certainly, you can also ignore this naming scheme and give the folder any name you want: for this click the button “Change…” next to the location for imported media files.

Unfortunately, CMU cannot name the folder for imported video files according to the date they were taken. Either the date of the folder creation, or manual naming – these only options you have with this utility.

[Ian McElroy]

I'm wanting the CMU to have the date for the folder as the import date - but not with the day month year format that I am getting, which means that I am already hunting round my import directory for the right date, and I've only had the camera for 3 months.

Windows (and other software, such as Canon's Zoombrowser) import files (they happen to be photos) into directories that have the "Year-Month-Day" format.

My question is does CMU always put the directory as Day-Month-Year for the new import? If it does - how do you manage finding video if you have multiple entries starting with the same number. If it does not - how do I get my CMU to provide the (much more useful) Year-Month-Day naming structure.....

There must be users of this camera / software who use this forum and download data every day (or at least much more often than me!). I cannot imagine trying to find something I imported a few months ago by trying to remember which day of the month I imported it. Even finding recent stuff would be annoying with files named 16-03-XXXX, 16-04-XXXX, 16-05-XXXX and presumably next year, I would have two 16-03- entries etc.....

I must be missing something.

Thanks

[Arkady Bolotin]

Now I’ve got it…

What you need is just to change the date format of your copy of Windows (this is what Ron Evans suggested before).

To do so, open Control Panel, go to Region and Language setting. There you can change Short date format from M/d/yyyy locale (which presumably you have now) to yyyy-MM-dd – the format you asked for.

I enclosed a screenshot of this setting to facilitate your task.

[Ian McElroy]

Done. Now I need to check it out. Will let you know it worked.

Thanks!

[Ron Evans]

The CMU and PMB work differently. The CMU needs to store files in a folder( directory) that has been created and then registered with the CMU. The registering part is what is different from the consumer PMB. When one attaches the camera or FMU the CMU will transfer the full clips to the location that it is directed to do so( can be changed to any of the registered locations). For the PMB one can create the directory as part of the transfer process without going through the registering activity of the CMU. That is just the location for the files.
The CMU or PMB will then create a directory with the date created from the PC system dating format representing the date of transfer and then place the transferred files in this directory. Opening this directory later will reveal files that have been dated in the camera so will be in the format set by the camera just like the still images dependent on the clock in the camera not the PC.

Example.
1 Create directory called NX5U in Windows explorer on one of the hard drives.
2 Register this directory in CMU as the location for imported media files.
3 Attach camera for transfer, CMU will want to transfer files to this registered and set directory as location for imported media files.
4 Start transfer and the CMU will create a directory inside the NX5U directory using the current date on the PC, ie 2010-9-28 or what ever is set under Windows format.
5 Transferred files in this dated directory will be named by the camera when they were taken based on the cameras clock and will be in the form 20100913091625

ie short was taken 13th of Sept 2010 at 9:16

I set up my capture directory for each project and keep all files in the directory as I then backup everything to LTO3 data tape.
Ron Evans