[OFFICIAL] Please Comment - Breaking Change for XMP Handling in IMatch 2021

[Mario]

For IMatch 2021, I have decided to switch the default storage location for XMP metadata from sidecar files to embedded for these formats: .MP4, .QT and .MOV.
This means, IMatch now by default embeds XMP metadata in the video itself (like it does for HEIC/HEIF files).
This is just how the industry standard has evolved and what works best across platforms and applications. It's better.

Unfortunately, there is no automagick IMatch can perform for users working with these formats.
A manual migration step is required: importing XMP metadata from XMP sidecar files into the video file itself. Once.

IMatch 2021 has a new command specifically for this purpose: Edit > File > Extras > Import XMP metadata. It works on all currently selected files.
Affected users need to run this only once and afterwards the XMP data is safely embedded in the video. The XMP sidecar file is automatically deleted if there is no other file in the same folder which uses it.

I will of course explain this in the Upgrading to IMatch 2021 documentation that will displayed by IMatch 2021 when it first runs and also link to this help topic in the "What's new in IMatch 2021" announcement and web site.
Unfortunately, many users don't read release notes or important information like Upgrading to IMatch 2021...

[vsammy]

Great!!! 

[Jingo]

How about including a step in the first time you load IM2021 to ask if you want to run the import?  With a "never show again" box for those that don't ... but kinda of like a forced stopping point like when you need to update the database during upgrade.

[Aubrey]

How about including a step in the first time you load IM2021 to ask if you want to run the import?  With a "never show again" box for those that don't ... but kinda of like a forced stopping point like when you need to update the database during upgrade.

I suspect it has to be done on a folder by folder basis.
I don't have many movie files, but I would prefer to do it on a folder by folder basis.

[Mario]

How about including a step in the first time you load IM2021 to ask if you want to run the import?  With a "never show again" box for those that don't ... but kinda of like a forced stopping point like when you need to update the database during upgrade.

Problems: Off-line media, read-only media, users not having control over the process, user in a hurry, clicking away the message without reading, users with hundreds or thousands of video files, ...

Hence I decided to make this a more deliberate process. I want the user to know about it and to control it. This is not a typical automatic upgrade/migration IMatch often does when a new version opens a database for the first time.

The user can run the XMP migration it at his/her leisure, can check the log file when the new command reports errors or other problems etc.

[Mario]

I suspect it has to be done on a folder by folder basis.
I don't have many movie files, but I would prefer to do it on a folder by folder basis.

You can do this in any way you wish. Folder by folder. Or, by searching the database for .MP4 files, on all your videos at once.
It does not take long, unless the video files are huge and/or on a slow (remote) media.

[Ron_S]

+1.   Looks good to me.

[mastodon]

+1 a feature I wanted for a long time

[jch2103]

Sounds very reasonable. Always good to adhere to whatever standards exist.

[thrinn]

+1
Although I do not have many files of these types, it sounds reasonable to me.

[PandDLong]

+1

[loweskid]

+1

PS - Having come a cropper a long time ago through not reading release notes (not IMatch) I always read them now for any and every program upgrade..!

[Mario]

+1

PS - Having come a cropper a long time ago through not reading release notes (not IMatch) I always read them now for any and every program upgrade..!

That's remarkable and very smart of you 

[javiavid]

I think it's a good idea.  I prefer to avoid xmp.  I have a lot of video files on a NAS.  I don't mind that it takes a long time in the initial process, but I have a question.  If I change something in the metadata of a large file, do I have to rewrite the entire file?  Does it take the same time as copying it?

[Mario]

ExifTool, for safety reasons, use a streaming approach. This avoids damage to the original file in case of a problem, ExifTool crash, network failure etc.
IMatch will have to 'stream' your videos over the network, which is basically the same time it takes to copy them. It all boils down to how fast the disk/network storage is.
This importing needs to be done only once, though.

[javiavid]

As it can be a slow process if you modify many files, is it possible to do it in the background while you continue using the program?

[Mario]

No. You decide when to run it, and on how many files. Then you have to wait.
How many thousand videos do you have? Or is your NAS / network super slow?

[javiavid]

I have a lot of videos, but no problem.  I don't often change the metadata of videos.  I can also use the 10Gb connection to speed up the process.

[Carlo Didier]

Great idea!

[JohnZeman]

+1

[Tveloso]

+1

[ben]

+1

[javiavid]

Mario, I like the idea of ​​keeping the metadata in the videos and I have thinking about using it but I have some doubts of how slow the process can be ..
I was watching and I have about 5000 videos. Many are 4K or higher and have a large size.

Is it a problem to leave this new option optionally?

[Mario]

Is it a problem to leave this new option optionally?

Keep in mind that storing XMP in (some) video files and HEIC/HEIF is now the industry standard. This is why I made the switch and this is the new default.
As usual you can force IMatch to be non standard-compliant via the File Format settings in Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2.

I don't know how often you need to change the metadata in your video files. Usually I set it once for my videos and then never again.
Unless your video files are several GB in size or on a very slow drive, your computer should cope just fine. It's basically as fast as reading and writing the video once.

[javiavid]

Thanks