Problem with tagging Canon "CR3" files

[dig]

I discovered a problem with Canon "cr3" files.
After tagging and untagging a cr3 file it is impossible to tag this file again. Furthermore, it is not possible to ad star-rating / color-rating for that file.
If I press the "T" key very quickly (or use quick mouse clicks) tagging (+ star / color rating) is sometimes possible.
I observe this behavior only with cr3 files. Everything else works perfect.
Has someone similar problems or is it due to my installation?
Desktop + Laptop with WIN 10, PM 5 newest build 19711 (d006a74)

dig

[Kirk Baker]

I discovered a problem with Canon "cr3" files.
After tagging and untagging a cr3 file it is impossible to tag this file again. Furthermore, it is not possible to ad star-rating / color-rating for that file.
If I press the "T" key very quickly (or use quick mouse clicks) tagging (+ star / color rating) is sometimes possible.
I observe this behavior only with cr3 files. Everything else works perfect.
Has someone similar problems or is it due to my installation?
Desktop + Laptop with WIN 10, PM 5 newest build 19711 (d006a74)

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  We'll investigate.

-Kirk

[dig]

Maybe it has something to do with the XMP data.
Normally (with i.e. cr2 files) no sidecar files where written and all information is embedded in the RAW file. That´s how I want it to be.
But with cr3 files PM writes XMP sidecar files and logs every change to the photo in an extra XMP file.
Attached you find my PM XMP preferences.
Is there a chance to get rid of the (unwanted) sidecar files?

Thanks,
dig

[dennis]

Maybe it has something to do with the XMP data.
Normally (with i.e. cr2 files) no sidecar files where written and all information is embedded in the RAW file. That´s how I want it to be.
But with cr3 files PM writes XMP sidecar files and logs every change to the photo in an extra XMP file.
Attached you find my PM XMP preferences.
Is there a chance to get rid of the (unwanted) sidecar files?

Hi dig,
The CR3 format is very different from other RAW formats like CR2.  Most RAW formats are TIFF-based formats.  The CR3 format is based on the ISO Base Media File Format (e.g. MOV) and therefore PM requires the use of an XMP sidecar.  PM will not modify the CR3 file.
It looks like there was a small bug in the recent build that is causing PM to pay attention to the TIFF-based RAW preferences for CR3 when it should be ignoring them.  I've fixed this issue and the fix will be in the next build of PM5.  In the meantime, I recommend that you change your preferences to read the XMP sidecar first, then embedded XMP.  I definitely do NOT recommend ever reading embedded IPTC first (this is a legacy capability).  It looks like with your IPTC/XMP write settings you never create sidecar files for CR2, so these files shouldn't be affected.

HTH!

--dennis

[dig]

Hi dennis,

thanks for your quick clarification!
So I have to live with the extra XMP files while shooting Canon CR3-RAWs. Somewhat inconvenient but no big deal...

dig

[Whit]

Hello:  I have been searching around the web and on this forum (just got access to reply here) regarding what seems to be automatically generated XMP sidecar files for the Canon CR3 raw files (just got the new R6 body).  The comment in this thread posted by "dennis" saying, "The CR3 format is very different from other RAW formats like CR2.  Most RAW formats are TIFF-based formats.  The CR3 format is based on the ISO Base Media File Format (e.g. MOV) and therefore PM requires the use of an XMP sidecar.  PM will not modify the CR3 file."  Is this still true with PM6?  Is there now ALWAYS a separate XMP file created for any CR3 raw files that are tagged?  No way to omit this XMP?

I just downloaded the PM6 trial because my PM5 would not read the CR3 files properly.  I took screenshots of all options in the Preference drop down menu for both PM5 and PM6 to compare and make sure I had the correct boxes checked, etc. I couldn't find anything off per se, aside from some options being in a different place, though some that seem to be missing (e.g. in the "IPTC/XMP" option, the box on the left titled "When reading IPTC/XMP:" is missing).  Separate XMP files were never created when I used PM5 for my Canon CR2 raw files -- I prefer no separate XMP file.  I only use PM to cull:  open a folder of raw images, tag them (typically hitting the 1-key to make pink, due to its convenient keyboard location), then move the pink selects into another folder, which gets imported into Lightroom for editing.  For a recent shoot and what has prompted my post here, after I tagged the file pink, I moved the automatically created XMP files to a different folder (to eventually delete) and imported the selects into Lightrooom and all seems to be okay and I can edit as I usually do.  But I just want to make sure I can delete that auto-generated XMP (the only data it holds is the pink tag, correct?), and then carry on as usual with my editing in Lightroom... ?

Thanks for your help in understanding these new quirky CR3 files (new to me at least, and quirky compared to CR2 files)!

Modification: new to this forum and just read a note that said I should include this info as well:  Photo Mechanic 6, Build 6245 // macOS Catalina, Version 10.15.7

[dennis]

We are still looking at adding the ability to embed updated XMP into CR3 files, but this is a proprietary RAW format and is different than most TIFF-based RAW formats (e.g. CR2).  In the meantime, we will follow the "Adobe way" and not modify the CR3 files themselves, and put the XMP into a separate sidecar file.

If we can safely update CR3 files and not cause other software to have issues with modified CR3 files then we may add the ability to embed updated XMP into CR3 files.  We don't have a timeline on this.

--dennis

[Whit]

Okay great, thanks for explaining, Dennis.  I'll stay tuned and check this forum periodically.  The "Adobe way" is a tad annoying, eh?  I don't understand why they would have made it proprietary and required the XMP sidecar.  I'll just delete the XMP file for now, since it only holds the pink tag data for me at the moment.

Thanks again, Dennis!  Love PM, long time user.
Whit