Get Quicktime Media DateEncoded Exif data

get_dateencoded_exif.py

'''	
These are 5 different methods that attempt to retrieve the Quicktime property metadata "Media DateEncoded" from an 'mp4' file.	
'''

import os
import re
import struct
import subprocess as sub
from datetime import datetime
from hachoir.parser import createParser
from hachoir.metadata import extractMetadata
from win32com.propsys import propsys, pscon

# Download ExifTool from https://exiftool.org/
EXIF_TOOL = "exiftool.exe"

def method_1(fpath):
    # On Windows ctime means "Creation time", on Linux "Changed time"
    ctime = os.path.getctime(fpath)
    dtime = datetime.fromtimestamp(ctime)
    return dtime.strftime("%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S")

def method_2(fpath):
    '''
    Requires Hachoir installed. For Python3 run:
        >> pip3 install hachoir==3.1.1
        >> pip3 install hachoir-parser

    The property key 'Creation date' is a filesystem metadata, but
    it was the only one returned by Hachoir. What I really need is
    the Quicktime key 'Media_DateEncoded', which Windows Explorer
    calls "Media Created"
    '''
    parser = createParser(fpath)
    with parser:
        metadata = extractMetadata(parser)
    exif_dict = metadata.exportDictionary()['Metadata']
    return exif_dict['Creation date']

def method_3(fpath):
    '''
    Runs this shell comand:
        >> exiftool.exe -h VID_20190106_162804.mp4

    ...which returns an HTML like string from stdout.
    So using regular expression, we look for this section:
        "Media Create Date</td><td>2019:01:07 00:28:08</td></tr>"
    '''
    p = sub.Popen(
        [EXIF_TOOL, '-h',fpath],
        stdout=sub.PIPE,
        encoding='utf8')
    res, err = p.communicate()
    pattern = re.compile(
        r'Media Create Date\</td\>\<td\>(\d{4}:\d{2}:\d{2}\s\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2})'
    )
    match = re.findall(pattern, res)
    if match:
        return match[0]

def method_4(fpath):
    '''
    Here we look for the Quicktime property key: Media_DateEncoded, which
    Windows Explorer calls "Media Created"
    '''
    fpath = fpath.replace('/', '\\') # Windows api does not work with posix paths
    properties = propsys.SHGetPropertyStoreFromParsingName(fpath)
    dtime = properties.GetValue(pscon.PKEY_Media_DateEncoded).GetValue()
    return dtime.strftime("%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S")

def method_5(fpath):
    ATOM_HEADER_SIZE = 8

    # Difference between Unix epoch and QuickTime epoch, in seconds
    EPOCH_ADJUSTER = 2082844800

    # open file and search for moov item
    f = open(fpath, "rb")
    while 1:
        atom_header = f.read(ATOM_HEADER_SIZE)
        if atom_header[4:8] == b'moov':
            break
        atom_size = struct.unpack(">I", atom_header[0:4])[0]
        f.seek(atom_size - 8, 1)

    # found 'moov', look for 'mvhd' and timestamps
    atom_header = f.read(ATOM_HEADER_SIZE)
    if atom_header[4:8] == b'cmov':
        raise Exception("moov atom is compressed")
    elif atom_header[4:8] != b'mvhd':
        raise Exception("expected to find 'mvhd' header")
    else:
        f.seek(4, 1)
        creation_date = struct.unpack(">I", f.read(4))[0]
        dtime = datetime.utcfromtimestamp(creation_date - EPOCH_ADJUSTER)
        return dtime.strftime("%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S")