Canon R5 Video Clip Exif Data not Retrievable in FCP

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Level 1

17 points

Canon R5 Video Clip Exif Data not Retrievable in FCP

This question has popped up a few times over the last several years and to date hasn't seen a resolution as far as I know.

FCP provides a comprehensive batch of metadata fields that can be displayed for video clips. I have shot video on my Canon R5 and although I have selected key EXIF data I would like to be able to review for my videos in the metadata configuration dropdown, none of the EXIF metadata that is with the videos is displayed (i.e., ISO, f stop, shutter speed, and many others). I have imported several video clips into Adobe Lightroom and all of this data is available and viewable in that application, but obviously Lightroom is not my video editor. Is there some reason Apple provides these fields in FCP, but the app doesn't read this metadata from my Canon MP4 files? Is there a fix in the works or is this something the Apple FCP developers aren't going to include despite making the fields available in the application?

I would be interested in reading other folks input as well as Apple's response as to why the metadata fields are available, but seemingly unable to read the data from the Canon produced MP4 video files.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.2

Posted on Jan 16, 2025 9:41 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 17, 2025 8:09 PM in response to hwobs

I wasn’t aware camera manufacturers didn’t follow a standard for encoding metadata.

There is an article (metadata: time code) about the MP4 format that I read a long time ago. Due to old information, the link destination of the article is unknown. I recorded the past events because I felt they were important.

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In 2013, Apple advised camera manufacturers and software developers to standardize the MP4 container as a future issue, but it went unheeded. Due to the lack of compatibility to this day, even if MP4 contains timecode, a problem occurs where FCP cannot be read.

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Answer 2

Jan 17, 2025 8:29 PM in response to LocaAlicia

Due to old information, the link destination of the article is unknown.

I remembered! This is an article by joema!

⚫︎255340680

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Answer 3

terryb

Level 4

2,784 points

Jan 16, 2025 11:43 AM in response to hwobs

If you haven't already, let Apple know what you're seeing via Final Cut Pro->Provide Final Cut Pro Feedback... or use this link Feedback - Final Cut Pro - Apple

My understanding is that camera manufacturers don't adhere to any standard for metadata encoding. Perhaps this is something that Canon could benefit from using the new Media Extension in FCP11? Import third-party formats with media extensions in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 4

hwobs Author

Level 1

17 points

Jan 17, 2025 6:01 AM in response to terryb

Thanks for that. I wasn’t aware camera manufacturers didn’t follow a standard for encoding metadata. Adobe Lightroom seems perfectly capable of reading all of the EXIF from these canon files so I’m not sure if it’s truly problematic or not. Perhaps Apple just isn’t reading and filtering that data from Canon video files? Not sure, but I appreciate your thoughts. I’ll check out the link you posted and see if I can resolve my issue. Thanks.

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Answer 5

hwobs Author

Level 1

17 points

Jan 17, 2025 9:57 AM in response to terryb

Another review of your reply got me thinking about EXIF standards. In fact it is a standard that the manufacturers adhere to and the fact that Lightroom is able to read the correct EXIF data from both my Canon R5 photos and videos attests to the fact that all of the information is present and readable. FCP actually does read the EXIF information correctly for imported photos from my R5 so this seems to be a miss on FCP developers to have not included this capability properly in their coding. Again, thanks for your reply. I've submitted my concerns to the FCP developers as per your suggestion so hopefully I will see some feedback or resolution sometime down the road. Of note, this doesn't really impair my video editing, but as many other video editors have noted, they would like to see this information made available to them in FCP.

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Answer 6

hwobs Author

Level 1

17 points

Jan 17, 2025 9:02 PM in response to LocaAlicia

I don’t think the time code issue is the same as the EXIF problem I’m observing. FCP actually reads all of the EXIF data from Canon R5 still photo files, but not the EXIF data from the MP4 files. Timecode data seems to transfer correctly for the MP4 files though. To be sure, I’m no expert, but I believe the problem you are pointing to is different than what I’m describing.

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Answer 7

Jan 17, 2025 11:43 PM in response to hwobs

Sadly movie metadata is still a nonstandard mess. There is no standard for embedding EXIF data in a movie but that has not stopped a lot of camera makers from forcing it into the file. For example some Canon models clumsily embed EXIF inside ThumbnailImage. I usually ignore EXIF in movies. If some app grabs some erroneous data from movie EXIF, it is possible to edit or delete it with exiftool.

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Answer 8

Jan 17, 2025 9:15 PM in response to hwobs

I believe the problem you are pointing to is different than what I’m describing.

We have shown that there are common reasons why "metadata cannot be read accurately".

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