No location data (GPS) in imported video files

[BallsBirds]

Lightroom Version

Lightroom Classic version: 12.1

Operating System

1. macOS 12 Monterey

My apple cellphone sends position data to the camera. Either Canon R5 or R7. I can see the Lat Long presented in one of the menus to confirm this.
When I take a photo, the Lat Long shows up in the GPS section of the metadata, but if I take a video, the GPS information is not entered in the GPS section.

 

[johnbeardy]

Describe precisely how the video gets from the cellphone into LR. Via LrMobile, or some other way.

 

[BallsBirds]

Describe precisely how the video gets from the cellphone into LR. Via LrMobile, or some other way.

The videos and photos are imported to LR directly from the Canon camera.
The cellphone is connected to the camera via Bluetooth and supplies the coordinates that are supposed to populate the gps box in the metadata for each photo or video.
When I import the photos and videos that are taken in the same time period of that outing that day, the photos have the gps metadata but the videos don’t.

 

[johnbeardy]

So the videos are imported at the same time as the photos? That would rule out the possibility that a metadata template could be setting blank GPS coordinates.

Can you examine the videos in Finder, File Info, to see if they have the GPS? Also what file type are they?

 

[Jim Wilde]

I would think that might be a Canon issue, not a Lightroom issue. I tend to use the GP-E2 GPS receiver when shooting with my R5 or R7, rather than use Canon's Camera Connect app on my iPhone, and that does not record the GPS coordinates into the MP4 video that I occasionally shoot. So it wouldn't surprise me if the Camera Connect app doesn't send the GPS data for videos either.

Videos shot with the iPhone, however, do have the GPS coordinates embedded, which are correctly read by LrC.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Something odd that I don't understand. Comparing metadata from a standard raw file to the metadata of the MP4 video, both captured at the same time with the GPS receiver in use, in LrC using Jeffrey Friedl's Metadata Viewer plug-in shows that BOTH files appear to have the GPS coordinates....but the metadata viewer presents the data differently. For the standard CR3 file, this is how the GPS data is presented:



Note that the GPS coordinates are flagged as being in the standard image EXIF section, with some other fields flagged as "Derived".

When I examine the MP4 video, this is the relevant portion of the display:



Note that only the GPS Time and Date stamp are flagged as being in the EXIF portion of the file. All the coordinate data is only flagged as "Derived" again (but derived from what/where isn't clear to me), so I assume this difference is why LrC doesn't show the coordinates of the video. Whether that's an LrC bug, or not, I can't say.

 

[johnrellis]

Can you upload a sample video to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here? I can put the file under the microscope to see exactly what's going on. The Metadata Viewer plugin doesn't show all the necessary detail.

 

[Jim Wilde]

Can you upload a sample video to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here? I can put the file under the microscope to see exactly what's going on. The Metadata Viewer plugin doesn't show all the necessary detail.

John, here's a Dropbox link to the test video I shot this morning using the GPS Receiver:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/01366p5hsdny0rw/20230202_JWR56183.MP4?dl=0

However, the OP's issue may be different, so I suggest they also upload one of their own videos for you to examine.

 

[BallsBirds]

So the videos are imported at the same time as the photos? That would rule out the possibility that a metadata template could be setting blank GPS coordinates.

Can you examine the videos in Finder, File Info, to see if they have the GPS? Also what file type are they?

No John, the file info dialog doesn't have the GPS data. The videos are all .MP4 file type.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Other members have some ideas now, including Jim who also has the same camera.
I'll look at what they have come up with now and let's see what we can find out......

 

[BallsBirds]

I would think that might be a Canon issue, not a Lightroom issue. I tend to use the GP-E2 GPS receiver when shooting with my R5 or R7, rather than use Canon's Camera Connect app on my iPhone, and that does not record the GPS coordinates into the MP4 video that I occasionally shoot. So it wouldn't surprise me if the Camera Connect app doesn't send the GPS data for videos either.

Videos shot with the iPhone, however, do have the GPS coordinates embedded, which are correctly read by LrC.

Thanks Jim, I will be supplying a google drive link shortly, as a reply to John. Let's see what he finds....

 

[BallsBirds]

Can you upload a sample video to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here? I can put the file under the microscope to see exactly what's going on. The Metadata Viewer plugin doesn't show all the necessary detail.

Thanks John. Here is a link to a 3 second test video, and I confirmed that a photo taken close by, with the same Canon R5, 10 minutes later showed the GPS data.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14H27XIuxRhx8FgLhFY7QmiAloiwtubrJ/view?usp=sharing

 

[BallsBirds]

Something odd that I don't understand. Comparing metadata from a standard raw file to the metadata of the MP4 video, both captured at the same time with the GPS receiver in use, in LrC using Jeffrey Friedl's Metadata Viewer plug-in shows that BOTH files appear to have the GPS coordinates....but the metadata viewer presents the data differently. For the standard CR3 file, this is how the GPS data is presented:

View attachment 20285

Note that the GPS coordinates are flagged as being in the standard image EXIF section, with some other fields flagged as "Derived".

When I examine the MP4 video, this is the relevant portion of the display:

View attachment 20286

Note that only the GPS Time and Date stamp are flagged as being in the EXIF portion of the file. All the coordinate data is only flagged as "Derived" again (but derived from what/where isn't clear to me), so I assume this difference is why LrC doesn't show the coordinates of the video. Whether that's an LrC bug, or not, I can't say.

Yes Jim, it seems evident that the photo and video world have a completely different set of standards that have grown separately throughout history.
this is understandable, as each platform has had its own problems to solve over time.
As we have seen since the earliest versions of lightroom, it has basic functionality for video, but has not been improved or kept up with the times.
For example, I notice that 8K video clips do not show up in the lightroom Import dialog.
I don't suppose Adobe really wants to spend resources on video functionality when they have their own top of the line video editing product- Premiere Pro.
It makes it hard though, from a digital asset management perspective, as Lightroom does a very good job of this with its Catalog and underlying database.
Also, 'Hybrid' cameras like the Canon R5 are very capable of producing high quality photo and video that users will want to at least upload and organize, all in one smooth workflow.

 

[johnrellis]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/01366p5hsdny0rw/20230202_JWR56183.MP4?dl=0

It looks like this video stores GPS coordinates in a very unusual way which I'm pretty sure doesn't conform to any standard, though I'm not expert in video metadata. Exiftool shows:

[EXIF]      GPS Version ID      : 2.3.0.0
[EXIF]      GPS Time Stamp      : 10:14:08
[EXIF]      GPS Status          : Measurement Active
[EXIF]      GPS Date Stamp      : 2023:02:02
[QuickTime] Location Information: (none) Role=shooting Lat=51.07053 Lon=-0.34731 Alt=44.20 Body=earth Notes=

I haven't seen the QuickTime:LocationInformation tag used in videos before, and I'm unable to determine if it's standards conforming. The Exiftool tag documentation says, "(string in the form "XXXXX Role=XXX Lat=XXX Lon=XXX Alt=XXX Body=XXX Notes=XXX", used in 3gp videos)", suggesting it's not conforming. But that .mp4 is not in 3gp format.

The ISO MP4 spec costs $220, which I'm not about to pay (ISO, an organization whose mission is to propagate standards, has a very old-fashioned business model). The Apple Quicktime spec, from which MP4 was derived (and is very similar), doesn't reference that tag.

Further, the GPS coordinates are represented using both EXIF and Quicktime tags, which isn't standards-conforming.

 

[BallsBirds]

Can you upload a sample video to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here? I can put the file under the microscope to see exactly what's going on. The Metadata Viewer plugin doesn't show all the necessary detail.

Thanks John, I guess we will have to put up with this non- standardized format.
I’ve since downloaded Canons own ‘Photo Professional software’ which hardly anyone uses, as it doesn’t have many features.
However, at least it allows more metadata to be viewed than Lightroom.
I confirm that the GPS data is in the video file.

Perhaps those that are interested could find a way to make some sort of preset to find the gps data and insert it into the gps field that is available in Lightroom.
Thanks very much for the help John.

 

[Jim Wilde]

It looks like this video stores GPS coordinates in a very unusual way which I'm pretty sure doesn't conform to any standard, though I'm not expert in video metadata. Exiftool shows:

Thanks for checking and providing the explanation, John.

 

[BallsBirds]

No John, the file info dialog doesn't have the GPS data. The videos are all .MP4 file type.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Other members have some ideas now, including Jim who also has the same camera.
I'll look at what they have come up with now and let's see what we can find out......

So the videos are imported at the same time as the photos? That would rule out the possibility that a metadata template could be setting blank GPS coordinates.

Can you examine the videos in Finder, File Info, to see if they have the GPS? Also what file type are they?

John, I finally downloaded Canon Digital Photo Professional software and its info panel shows that the gps info is included in the video file. So, as we see in Johns explanation, the data is saved in a non standard way inside the MP4 file, so lightroom doesn't pick it up.
Thanks for your help.

 

[johnrellis]

The only workaround I can think of is to use Exiftool to copy the GPS coordinates into the standard EXIF or Quicktime locations. I know from past experience that this involves a fair bit of obscure Exiftool expertise. The Exiftool forum could probably help.

 

[BallsBirds]

The only workaround I can think of is to use Exiftool to copy the GPS coordinates into the standard EXIF or Quicktime locations. I know from past experience that this involves a fair bit of obscure Exiftool expertise. The Exiftool forum could probably help.

Thanks, I’ll check it out.