NO Sequential File Numbering After File Transfer

[TroyMich]

Now as far as I know all cameras have the ability to remember the last file number and hence they allow you to start a new file with a number that continues the sequence after you transfer files off the installed card. Not the EVO! I checked and it seems that this has been a problem since day one. It demands then if you unload your daily mission files to your computer and then go out again the Evo starts all over again. This then forces you to change the file numbers manually to maintain a historical sequence.
Why? What is the valid purpose for this? None that I can see. Maybe they can't fix it? But it does seem like a software adjustment might do it.

Is it just me? This is a pain.

 

[Ansia]

My DJI drones does exactly the same. The only difference between DJI and Autel is that DJI can put up to 999 photos in a single folder and Autel creates a new folder after 120.

 

[TroyMich]

Thanks for your comment. But if you are putting many gigs of video per flight on a card and you have a 32 or 64 gig card, the card is going to fill up pretty quickly. You have to off load. Then,on your next flight your file number starts over. Although I understand there is a great deal more room on the card if you are just taking photos, the principal is the same. I don't think any camera should default to zero each time. If Sony, Canon, Nikon and others thought this was a great idea they would be doing it. They're not. I don't think DJI or Autel should either.

 

[wernerjb]

Thanks for your comment. But if you are putting many gigs of video per flight on a card and you have a 32 or 64 gig card, the card is going to fill up pretty quickly. You have to off load. Then,on your next flight your file number starts over. Although I understand there is a great deal more room on the card if you are just taking photos, the principal is the same. I don't think any camera should default to zero each time. If Sony, Canon, Nikon and others thought this was a great idea they would be doing it. They're not. I don't think DJI or Autel should either.

Yeah this has been a PITA on all my drones. I change the card after every flight just in case I have a crash. At the end of the day I have 4 to 5 times the same numbers on each card and need to covert them before importing to LR.

 

[G_G]

My DJI drones does exactly the same. The only difference between DJI and Autel is that DJI can put up to 999 photos in a single folder and Autel creates a new folder after 120.

Actually, all DJI aircraft let you sequentially increment the file numbers across as many flights as it takes to reach 999 files, before starting over again at DJI_0001, unlike Autel, which starts over again at 0001 after each and every card format*, which I do after every battery change! DJI should have made it 9999 files, and Autel should have made it at least 999! Autel has been repeatedly asked to enable sequential file numbering, since before the original EVO, but has steadfastly refused to enable it. Must be part of one of their many patent disputes, in case anyone else "copies them" by not incrementing! ?

*edited to correct the counter reset trigger is a card format rather than a battery change

 

[TroyMich]

Well, G_G that is an interesting bit of info. Autel does not start over at each battery change though. Only after a file transfer to my computer does it start over when beginning to record again in the field. Don’t see it as a patent issue as all and I mean all camera manufacturers allow picking up where you left off in sequential number after transfer. Maybe engineers at Autel don’t own personal cameras?

 

[G_G]

Well, G_G that is an interesting bit of info. Autel does not start over at each battery change though. Only after a file transfer to my computer does it start over when beginning to record again in the field. Don’t see it as a patent issue as all and I mean all camera manufacturers allow picking up where you left off in sequential number after transfer. Maybe engineers at Autel don’t own personal cameras?

Well, maybe they listened, when I complained about it 16 months ago. However, I doubt it. At that time, every flight started over again at 0001 when I reformatted the card, as I always change cards upon changing batteries, and I then also immediately format the card in the aircraft, which is what you are doing by formatting the card in the computer, after all flights from multiple batteries on one card are copied off. I edited my post above to clarify it is the formating of the card that resets the Autel counter, rather than just an aircraft reboot.

I was being facetious about the patent issue. Autel recently sued DJI over Autel's claimed patent on the silver and black color coded props that cannot be installed on the wrong motors, which is why the new Mavic Air 2 props can now, in fact, be put on the wrong motors, as they lack that safety feature! Autel lost the attempt to get an injunction against DJI for selling any of the prior DJI aircraft in the U.S. with the safety feature, but DJI proactively removed that safety feature from the MM and the MA2, just in case.

In any event, the guys at Autel support last year thought it was silly as well, that the engineers wouldn't allow the sequential file numbers. Engineers can be stubborn, if their lame programming never affects them! ?

 

[Rubik3x]

Why reformat the microSD card after each use? I haven't reformated my card since it was new. I simply delete all files except the last one after downloading onto my computer. This keeps the number sequence going. I fly Typhoon H now but have EVO II Pro on order. Does the EVO require frequent reformatting?

 

[sunflower]

When I started recording files the dates were meaningless. Now the dates are correct. How did that happen? I do not have a smartphone connected. Does the drone pickup a time signal? The hour clock seems to be Greenwich time.

 

[waltermitty]

I've been using a utility program for years which I've found to be abso-freaking-great: Bulk Rename Utility out of the UK. It allows you to quickly rename files en masse, substitute parts of the names using wildcard, etc. So with respect to this thread discussion, I would offload the Evo files into a separate directory, turn on Bulk Rename Utility, and instruct it to replace the numbers in the new file to become sequentually numbered where the old files left off. it renames hundreds of files quicker than prunes through a goose i.e. it is FAST under MS Windows

 

[G_G]

Why reformat the microSD card after each use? I haven't reformated my card since it was new. I simply delete all files except the last one after downloading onto my computer. This keeps the number sequence going. I fly Typhoon H now but have EVO II Pro on order. Does the EVO require frequent reformatting?

What you are presenting is a good workaround under a specific set of circumstances, to Autel's failure to increment file numbers in the camera when a new card is inserted and formatted. However, most of us fly multiple flights back to back, and learned a long time ago to always change cards when changing batteries. Otherwise, all your prior flights are lost if the aircraft becomes unrecoverable. For your method to work, you can't fly more than one flight, without risking all flights. You also have an extra file that is not part of the current flights that you must keep track of. It has nothing to do with a need for reformatting, but formatting a card in the device makes sure the file format is correct for the device, and cleans the card for reuse. It does no harm to the card.

 

[Rubik3x]

What you are presenting is a good workaround under a specific set of circumstances, to Autel's failure to increment file numbers in the camera when a new card is inserted and formatted. However, most of us fly multiple flights back to back, and learned a long time ago to always change cards when changing batteries. Otherwise, all your prior flights are lost if the aircraft becomes unrecoverable. For your method to work, you can't fly more than one flight, without risking all flights. You also have an extra file that is not part of the current flights that you must keep track of. It has nothing to do with a need for reformatting, but formatting a card in the device makes sure the file format is correct for the device, and cleans the card for reuse. It does no harm to the card.

You are right, since I'm a recreational flyer, if the aircraft becomes unrecoverable, loosing the files on the card is the least of my worries. In fact, that happened to me last summer. I was able to use the lower resolution files saved on the controller to document the incident. But, I see where you are coming from. You would like the camera to apply unique numbers in a continuous sequence regardless of the memory card. That could use a protected area on the internal memory of the camera. A useful numbering sequence would be the date and time (yyyymmddhhmmss).
I still don't see much benefit in reformatting vs. just deleting (or moving) the files, unless you do a deep, thorough (slow) reformat each time.

 

[G_G]

You are right, since I'm a recreational flyer, if the aircraft becomes unrecoverable, loosing the files on the card is the least of my worries. In fact, that happened to me last summer. I was able to use the lower resolution files saved on the controller to document the incident. But, I see where you are coming from. You would like the camera to apply unique numbers in a continuous sequence regardless of the memory card. That could use a protected area on the internal memory of the camera. A useful numbering sequence would be the date and time (yyyymmddhhmmss).
I still don't see much benefit in reformatting vs. just deleting (or moving) the files, unless you do a deep, thorough (slow) reformat each time.

It has been standard practice from years of digital cameras to always format the card in the camera before use, to start clean. Doing anything else incurs a level of risk, no matter how small. The camera will always format it correctly for its own use. Formatting it elsewhere, or deleting or moving files in any other device may or may not work, when the card is later used in the same camera. Professionals minimize risk.

 

[TroyMich]

Thank you all for comments. But Rubik3x's comment about leaving the last file on the sd card after transferring (moving) the others is what I think is the real answer to my question in a simple enough workaround. I will definitely use this method. Simply taking a extra picture at the end of my flying will do it! Also, there is no need in my many years of hobby photography to format the card after every use. Never had a problem in just transferring the photos, putting the card back in the camera and your off. For the EVO II I don't take the sd card out but use the USB C transfer which works like a charm!

 

[SURV69]

Now as far as I know all cameras have the ability to remember the last file number and hence they allow you to start a new file with a number that continues the sequence after you transfer files off the installed card. Not the EVO! I checked and it seems that this has been a problem since day one. It demands then if you unload your daily mission files to your computer and then go out again the Evo starts all over again. This then forces you to change the file numbers manually to maintain a historical sequence.
Why? What is the valid purpose for this? None that I can see. Maybe they can't fix it? But it does seem like a software adjustment might do it.

Is it just me? This is a pain.

IT"S NOT JUST you Holystone HS550 stores files thusly YYYYMMDD???SSSSSS ... 2021 1231 ??? SSSS.SS
Date speaks for itself ... ???, are three numbers ... sometimes different on same day, sometimes increased on a later day/sometimes decreased on a later day
SSSS.SS, is the time, in seconds elapsing from powerup

SO, as in my case, if I have two small areas to play with ... 24 minute battery, and use 10 minutes on, then 10 minutes in another(involving a power down) ... upon power up, I get the same date, virtually always the same ???, and the newly elapsed time in second, from my next power up.

Now my Holy Stone has rarely(very rarely), recorded the date of "real", correctly, and almost all my files ... placed in a correctly dated folder(computer), never agree.

THUS, I find all photos, for different sites interspersed and completely un-usable by 3D programs

I am so mad ......