Code to automate copying of EXIF metadata from video to framegrabs, specifically to have the video metadata transferred to VLC framegrabs. These are all wildlife shots where I then use the images for iNaturalist, which can read the metadata or species names from the filename.
Framegrabs are taken from videos using VLC, by the Take Snapshot command in the Video menu.
The script takes all framegrabs as .jpg that have a match of the first 8 letters of any of the videos as .MP4. The 8 characters comes from the length of numbered filenames from the goPro camera, e.g. GX010962. For each image with a matching video, a line of a shell script is generated, and written to stdout.
copy_exif_data_to_framegrabs.py -f framegrabs/*.jpg -m working_set/*.MP4 > exif_script.sh
sh exif_script.sh
The goPro videos have many metadata fields, which are not copied to the snapshots.
$ exiftool working_set/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4
ExifTool Version Number : 11.88
File Name : GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4
Directory : working_set
File Size : 97 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2023:03:02 21:16:09+07:00
File Access Date/Time : 2023:03:15 09:56:46+07:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2023:03:15 09:56:28+07:00
File Permissions : rwxr-xr-x
File Type : MP4
File Type Extension : mp4
MIME Type : video/mp4
Major Brand : MP4 v1 [ISO 14496-1:ch13]
Minor Version : 2013.10.18
Compatible Brands : mp41
Media Data Size : 101160310
Media Data Offset : 28
Movie Header Version : 0
Create Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Modify Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Time Scale : 60000
Duration : 8.07 s
Preferred Rate : 1
Preferred Volume : 100.00%
Preview Time : 0 s
Preview Duration : 0 s
Poster Time : 0 s
Selection Time : 0 s
Selection Duration : 0 s
Current Time : 0 s
Next Track ID : 6
Lens Serial Number : LKO1030802400767
Camera Serial Number Hash : 7ad2e98542eca01cbd9aad49fb3ef4ad
Firmware Version : HD9.01.01.72.00
Camera Serial Number : C3441326346455
Camera Model Name : HERO9 Black
Auto Rotation : Up
Digital Zoom : No
Pro Tune : On
White Balance : AUTO
Sharpness : MED
Color Mode : GOPRO
Auto ISO Max : 1600
Auto ISO Min : 100
Exposure Compensation : -0.5
Rate : 2_1SEC
Field Of View : Linear
Electronic Image Stabilization : HS Boost
Audio Setting : STEREO
Device Name : Highlights
Track Header Version : 0
Track Create Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Track Modify Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Track ID : 1
Track Duration : 8.07 s
Track Layer : 0
Track Volume : 0.00%
Image Width : 3840
Image Height : 2160
Graphics Mode : srcCopy
Op Color : 0 0 0
Compressor ID : hvc1
Source Image Width : 3840
Source Image Height : 2160
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Compressor Name : GoPro H.265 encoder
Bit Depth : 24
Video Frame Rate : 59.94
Time Code : 3
Balance : 0
Audio Format : mp4a
Audio Channels : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample : 24
Audio Sample Rate : 48000
Text Font : Unknown (21)
Text Face : Plain
Text Size : 10
Text Color : 0 0 0
Background Color : 65535 65535 65535
Font Name : Helvetica
Other Format : tmcd
Warning : [minor] The ExtractEmbedded option may find more tags in the media data
Matrix Structure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version : 0
Media Create Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Media Modify Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Media Time Scale : 60000
Media Duration : 8.07 s
Handler Class : Media Handler
Handler Type : NRT Metadata
Handler Description : GoPro SOS
Gen Media Version : 0
Gen Flags : 0 0 0
Gen Graphics Mode : srcCopy
Gen Op Color : 0 0 0
Gen Balance : 0
Meta Format : fdsc
Image Size : 3840x2160
Megapixels : 8.3
Avg Bitrate : 100 Mbps
Rotation : 0
When taking a framegrab with VLC, most of this metadata is lost, shown below:
$ exiftool framegrabs/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
ExifTool Version Number : 11.88
File Name : GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
Directory : framegrabs
File Size : 2.2 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2023:03:15 09:56:22+07:00
File Access Date/Time : 2023:03:15 09:56:22+07:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2023:03:15 09:56:22+07:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-r--
File Type : JPEG
File Type Extension : jpg
MIME Type : image/jpeg
JFIF Version : 1.01
Resolution Unit : None
X Resolution : 1
Y Resolution : 1
Image Width : 3840
Image Height : 2160
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Image Size : 3840x2160
Megapixels : 8.3
Running the script copy_exif_data_to_framegrabs.py collects all images -f that have a matching basename with any videos -m, and writes the exiftool commands to a shell script. The commands would appear as below, with the straightforward option -TagsFromFile to copy metadata tags:
exiftool -TagsFromFile working_set/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4 framegrabs/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
This is run as a shell script. It typically produces a warning about some of the metadata fields that cannot be copied for JPEGs.
$ exiftool -TagsFromFile working_set/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4 framegrabs/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
Warning: [minor] The ExtractEmbedded option may find more tags in the media data - working_set/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4
1 image files updated
Fields including camera model and timestamp are then copied:
$ exiftool framegrabs/GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
ExifTool Version Number : 11.88
File Name : GX010962_bluering_angelfish_good.MP4__00_00_01--2023-03-15-09h56m22s014.jpg
Directory : framegrabs
File Size : 2.2 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2023:03:15 10:00:42+07:00
File Access Date/Time : 2023:03:15 10:00:42+07:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2023:03:15 10:00:42+07:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-r--
File Type : JPEG
File Type Extension : jpg
MIME Type : image/jpeg
JFIF Version : 1.01
Exif Byte Order : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
Camera Model Name : HERO9 Black
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Resolution Unit : None
Modify Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Y Cb Cr Positioning : Centered
Exif Version : 0232
Create Date : 2023:03:02 14:16:00
Components Configuration : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Exposure Compensation : -1/2
Flashpix Version : 0100
Color Space : Uncalibrated
White Balance : Auto
Lens Serial Number : LKO1030802400767
Camera Serial Number : C3441326346455
XMP Toolkit : Image::ExifTool 11.88
Audio Bits Per Sample : 24
Minor Version : 2013.10.18
Audio Sample Rate : 48000
Video Frame Rate : 59.94
Font Name : Helvetica
Image Width : 3840
Image Height : 2160
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Image Size : 3840x2160
Megapixels : 8.3