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GH2 Clip Filenames - Hack feature request
  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    I've been thinking about small, realistic, easily implementable features that would help the usability of the GH3 based on my use of the GH2. One thing that I would love would be clip filenames that are more unique than "Clip #1" etc. This would make post-production much easier on projects shot on multiple cameras or even just multiple SD cards. I imagine it would only take a few hours of engineering time to implement if Panasonic decided it was a worthy feature.

    Then I realized, this might just be simple enough to include in a future hack of the GH2 firmware. The file naming routines all seem to be in the camera for the stills files.

    Would anyone else find this useful?

  • 3 Replies sorted by
  • christianmailandchristianmailand

    +1 here

    For now, I made a small automator action(mac os) which takes the mts file, add year month day time of original filecreation and put that in front of the 000001 etc. This way I can mix several cameras without getting filename mess ups, and they get sorted chronological without having to keep file structures within avchd folder

    PM if you wan't the script.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Thing here is that it does not simple make individual files, they all must be correct in avchd files structure.

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev - Thing here is that it does not simple make individual files, they all must be correct in avchd files structure.

    Right, but each associated file has the same clip filename with a different file extension and position in the directory structure. I expect there's a programming routine that looks for the existing clip with the highest filename and then increments it by 1. If no file or AVCHD directory is found on the card then the initial filename is currently set to "Clip #1". Other routines take care of making sure each file has the right extension and directory tree placement based on that filename.

    What I think would be ideal would be if a version of the hacked software could simply change the program logic of what happens if no clip or AVCHD directory tree is found on a card. In that case, instead of creating one that says "Clip #_" I would much rather see something unique. Either a pseudo-random 4-character prefix or better, something that encodes the date and/or a user bit that can be set when the firmware is created.

    I would love to look at my directory and know that file 0425B001.mts was shot on April 25th with my B camera. It wouldn't be perfect because 0425B010.mts might be shot days later, but the group of files would still be more unique and identifiable when I'm loading multiple cards and cameras or when I'm looking for footage months or years later.

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