Writing rating not possible - for some files

[Dirk Funhoff]

Hi Everybody,

I just encountered some weird behaviour: I have a folder with 16 nef files. They were developed in LR 6, rated and then imported into IMatch (newest version). The ratings by LR did not show up except in 1 file. Ok, I re-scanned, made a database diagnosis - everything fine. Then I set the ratings in IMatch, wrote the pending meta-data - ratings are gone. Ok, I removed the folder from IMatch, re-scanned again - the same. Except in one file, where I could change the rating and it stays. The xmp-files look fine to me, the ratings used in IMatch are there and LR does read them as well.

Hmmmh - I am really confused. Any idea?

Many thanks for your input, Dirk

BTW: in other folders on the same level it works as expected - may there be any command working only on folder-level which I don't know and accidentally may have activated?

[Mario]

1. Make sure you have configured LR to write metadata to files in the catalog preferences

2. LR writes metadata in a kind of lazy fashion, which means that it writes metadata at some time, in the background. Not necessarily immediately after you changed it.
(This I gathered from observation, Adobe does not document anything of this)

3. When IMatch detects modified files and imports them, it by default protects 'unwritten' metadata (See: Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2). This is to prevent you from loosing changes to metadata you have made in IMatch when you also modify metadata in other applications.

4. To control if and which metadata IMatch is writing when you change the rating and then click on the pen or use one of the write-back commands from the Command menu, open the ExifTool output panel (View menu > Panels).

5. When LR is open, it may keep files locked, thus preventing IMatch from writing to these files. Adobe applications are not designed to be cooperative.
Usually IMatch displays yellow warning icons in the file window for affected files.

6. The log file (see IMatch help) also may contain additional info about which files were written, if there were any errors etc.

[Dirk Funhoff]

1. Make sure you have configured LR to write metadata to files in the catalog preferences - yes

2. LR writes metadata in a kind of lazy fashion, which means that it writes metadata at some time, in the background. Not necessarily immediately after you changed it.
(This I gathered from observation, Adobe does not document anything of this) - not applicable, rating in xmp written

3. When IMatch detects modified files and imports them, it by default protects 'unwritten' metadata (See: Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2). This is to prevent you from loosing changes to metadata you have made in IMatch when you also modify metadata in other applications. - files already added to IMatch

4. To control if and which metadata IMatch is writing when you change the rating and then click on the pen or use one of the write-back commands from the Command menu, open the ExifTool output panel (View menu > Panels). yes - seems ok to me, I checked the xmp-file - rating is changed

5. When LR is open, it may keep files locked, thus preventing IMatch from writing to these files. Adobe applications are not designed to be cooperative.
Usually IMatch displays yellow warning icons in the file window for affected files. - not applicable as LR is closed

6. The log file (see IMatch help) also may contain additional info about which files were written, if there were any errors etc. - I don't know, this is not really my language... ;-)

Many thanks for the answer - my comments above. But I am sorry, the problem exists somewhere within IMatch: the ratings are not visible in IMatch, but in LR. I can change rating in IMatch, it is written into the xmp and LR does recognise the changed rating. But not IMatch: you see the rating vanishing. But good news: I just found out, that this problem is only existing for nef files made with my Nikon J1 - therefore it may be detectable/solvable. I will send you an zipped nef including its xmp via email. Funny enough, the zip-file shows the rating in IMatch...

[Mario]

1. When you send me an email, please always include the link to the topic you refer to. I cannot remember everything and searching the forum for posts your email might refer to costs time.

2. Don't post questions in the Tips & Tricks board. This board is for giving other users tips, not for asking questions.
If in doubt, read the description for each board. Post questions in General Discussion and Questions.

I will move this post accordingly.


Your problem:

Your NEF file contains am embedded XMP record with Rating=0.

LR does not support embedded XMP data in NEF files.
IMatch of course does. And by default, embedded XMP data overrides XMP data read from the sidecar file.
You can either remove the XMP data from the NEF file using the ECP in IMatch, or you configure IMatch to ignore embedded XMP data for NEF files under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2 > File Formats.

Better: Configure your camera not to write embedded XMP data. Ask Nikon how to do that (they will probably not respond, so be prepared).

[Dirk Funhoff]

Very well - many thanks - it works (after adjusting the preferences).

It is really strange what Nikon thinks about including something like this in exif. And I asked them, we will see what the answer is.

In any case, the problem is understood and can be dealt with. Very well again, many thanks for your support.

Dirk

[Mario]

It is really strange what Nikon thinks about including something like this in exif. And I asked them, we will see what the answer is.

The rating is not in EXIF metadata. Your camera writes an XMP record into the NEF file, with only the Rating tag. Probably your camera allows you to rate your images, and when you don't rate them, the camera writes Rating=0.

Rating=0 is a valid XMP rating, which means "no rating". And this is what comes out in the end when IMatch merges the external XMP data with the embedded XMP data.

[Dirk Funhoff]

Really - indeed. I just checked on the camera, rating is possible. Never used it. I did not find any option to turn it off though. I asked Nikon, we will see what the answer is.
Thanks again for your help and explanations.
Dirk

[jch2103]

You're not the only one to run into this problem; it occurs, for example, on my Nikon 1 V1 (and may occur with other makes/models as well). The easiest solution that I've found is to run the ExifTool Command Processor to delete the in-camera XMP data. This is the command I use:

-overwrite_original_in_place
-xmp=
{Files}

After you do this, the XMP ratings in the .xmp sidecar should show up in IMatch.

[Dirk Funhoff]

Hi John,

many thanks for your suggestion. I will try that at the next opportunity.

All the best, Dirk

[jch2103]

As always, try it on test images first...!

[Dirk Funhoff]

Dear colleagues,
finally I received a final answer by Nikon - it is as Mario explained - they write rating=0. Here is the answer, but in German:

"Wir haben inzwischen eine Rückmeldung von höheren Stellen erhalten. Das Bilddateiformat unterscheidet sich von Kameramodell zu Kameramodell. Ratings scheinen bei aktuellen Modellen automatisch gespeichert zu werden, Labels jedoch nicht. Wir haben die D5 und die Nikon 1 V3 überprüft und können Folgendes bestätigen (die Resultate sind bei den beiden Modellen ähnlich):
D5:
Die aufgenommenen Bilder können über das Kameramenü mit Ratings versehen werden. Wenn keine Ratings gegeben wurden, wird automatisch <xmp:Rating>0</xmp:Rating> gespeichert. Im Handbuch werden Labels nicht erwähnt.
Bei aktuellen Nikon Kameras besteht das Rating Tag, so dass Ratings angewandt werden können, und wenn diese nicht benutzt werden, wird automatisch 0 gespeichert. Das Label Tag existiert im Dateiformat selbst nicht.
Ihre Hinweise können wir somit bestätigen, jedoch handelt es sich hierbei um Spezifikationen, für die eine Änderung derzeit leider nicht in Planung ist."

Ok, so be it... but the suggested solution within IMatch works nicely.
All the best, Dirk

[Mario]

Well, at least Nikon support spent time to figure it out and to send you a useful reply. That's already something these days!