Issue with Video Trimming and Chronological Order in Photos App

Question

Issue with Video Trimming and Chronological Order in Photos App

Hello friends!

I’ve noticed an issue with the Photos app when trimming videos and saving them as new clips. The trimmed videos are treated as new files and are assigned the date and time of when they were edited, rather than retaining the original creation date. This disrupts the chronological order of my library, making it harder to organize and find videos. I understand that "Save Video" preserves the date, but this option overwrites the original video.

Is there a way to keep the trimmed version, and retain the original video's metadata (date and time)?

The trimmed video becomes the “most recent”, which I do not want. I want to save storage space on my iCloud by trimming videos that I have, so just “saving video” without it being a “new clip” is no good.

Thanks for the help!

Posted on Nov 17, 2024 10:54 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 17, 2024 12:19 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Appreciate the reply! That I now understand, but doesn’t quite answer my question. I guess to be more explicit:

Is there a way to make the “new clip” not be the most recent video in the photo app?
If I just save the trimmed video (not as a “new clip”), does it save storage space? —> I ultimately just want to save space.

Thanks!

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Answer 2

Nov 17, 2024 2:39 PM in response to flying_turtles

flying_turtles wrote: …I ultimately just want to save space.

Saving a clip makes two videos, so that way is more space. The clip is smaller than the original, so if you delete the original and replace it with the clip, it will take less storage.

I hope your backups preserve the originals.

Here is a 27 second video:

Here is a 9 second clip from that video:

You can see that the dates are the same.

Are you comparing the same sorts of things? If you export either of these videos, then a File Manager like Mac's Finder or Windows Explorer will show the date the file was created, not the date that the video was created. If you look at these in an Image Manager like Photos, then it will show the created date. What are you looking at?

Honestly, I just quickly made these. You could do the same, yourself, and compare.

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Answer 3

Nov 17, 2024 11:12 AM in response to flying_turtles

flying_turtles wrote: … I understand that "Save Video" preserves the date, but this option overwrites the original video.

Actually, no. The original Photos and videos in Photos are never changed. Photos is a non-destructive editor. Photos remembers the edits you make and applies them when you to see them. If you look a a "saved video" you see that the entire video is there, it just offers a restricted view. A shortened "new clip" is useful if you don't want anyone to see the deleted parts, or the original date.

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