Batch rename *and* copy or move the files in one go?

I am working with video and copy memory cards with video files to the hard drive. Each memory card is copied to a unique folder on the computer. Often i want to rename the files from let´s say Clip0001.MXF to A001_Japan_20170421.MXF. This can be done very easy with the Rename feature in Opus.

But, is there a way to batch rename the files and at the same time either copy or move the files from the source folder to a new destination folder and at the same time leaving the original clips untouched?

In Adobe Bridge i can batch rename files and at the same time copy or move them from the source folder to a selected destination folder. The neat thing here is that the files in the source folder is untouched, iow they are not renamed. The last thing may sound wierd, but sometimes it is great to have the original clips intact for future use.

Is there a way to achieve the same results using Opus, iow batch rename clips, copy them to a new folder, leaving the original files untouched and un-renamed?

Here is a screen dump from Adobe Bridge:

The COPY AS command looks powerful enough (Help: "Using Wildcards when Copying")

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Here's on way to do the example specified:

Copy PATTERN "Clip0*.MXF" AS "A*_Japan_{date|YYYYMMdd}.MXF"

Input filenames and results shown:

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For me that kind of worked... (See the attched image for my result)

Apparently i don´t have the knowledge and i am back in Adobe Bridge since it is more convinient and it has preview of the result. I would be glad if a feature like that could be added in the Rename dialog in Opus though it can be done with the right knowledge in the Save As dialog.

I am not sure what happened there. What did you do with the command line above?

The command should go into a toolbar button, or a hotkey or menu item, to give you a button you can push to copy the files while renaming them in a special way.

See here for how to add commands from the forum to your toolbars:

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I copied the text and pasted it into New name in the Save As dialog. (blushing slightly... )

I was not aware of the need to use it for a button. Will try again. :slight_smile:

Leo, that worked as expected. :slight_smile:

The problem i face now may be due to that i was not as clear when i started the thread. The button i create rename the files the way i want, but since i have several memory cards and with video files filmed on different days i need a way to edit the button easily. Easily as in not having to go to Settings > Customize Toolbars > Right click on the button > Edit > change the text in Function > Click OK > Click OK.

For example, in Adobe Bridge i press Ctrl+Shift+R to bring up the Batch Rename dialog with all values ready to edit directly.

Example:
I have ten memory cards. I will use one card/day and will thus have the need to rename files as this:
A001_Japan_20170501.MXF
B001_Japan_20170502.MXF
C001_Japan_20170503.MXF
D001_Japan_20170504.MXF
E001_Japan_20170505.MXF
F001_Japan_20170506.MXF
G001_Japan_20170507.MXF
H001_Japan_20170508.MXF
I001_Japan_20170509.MXF
J001_Japan_20170510.MXF

That´s why i need a dialog i can bring up and just change what´s need to be changed. Edit a button each time feels to cumbersome especially since i use the video camera often, iow renaming files will be done often with different dates.

You can have Opus prompt you for how to rename the file.

This might do what you want:

Copy PATTERN "Clip0*.MXF" AS "{dlgstring|Enter new name pattern|A*_Japan_{date|YYYYMMdd}.MXF}"

If not, I'm not sure there is enough detail yet.

How would you want to specify the filenames/patterns, exactly?

Are the input names always "Clip0xxx.MXF" where xxx are the three digits you want to keep?

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Bingo! :open_mouth:

Yes, that does exactly what i want and it is even better/more convinient than Adobe Bridge. The only downside is that if the source files are named RA1234.MXF nothing happens. But, that is easy enough to change so it´s really a minor downside. Now when i know what to change it´s easy. :slight_smile:

It would be great if i could use one (1) string and get output files named A001_Text_Date.MXF no matter if the original source file is named Clip1234.MXF, RA1234.MXF or RA123456.MXF. Is that even possible?

It should be possible by changing the wildcard slightly, or using scripting if it came to it.

I'm not sure how you would map RA1234 to A001 though. Where does the 4th digit go if it isn't always 0?

It's best to fully define what you want to do first, else we'll keep iterating instead of simply solving the whole problem at once. Some requirements may mean the problem is better solved in a completely different way, so iteration can waste a lot of time.

Leo, i am really happy with how it works today. I don´t use the camera that names files as RA1234.MXF so much anymore. I have files from it on my HDD but it was esy enough to manually change the wildcard to RA1*.MXF to make it work. Once i got the solution i am comfortable to edit it. Memories from MS DOS start to pop up after many years without using it. :slight_smile:

For now i am happy and grateful for you help! :slight_smile:

Is it possible to escape the content of dlgstring so I can type *_{date|YYYYMMdd}.* in the dialog box itself and it will be parsed afterwards by Copy itself?

You could do that using scripting.

I'm considering this option too. However I have hard times reproducing the same dialog
image

The layout that script gives differs and it's less compact
image

I'm also curious why dlgstring doesn't work with control codes though. Even extracting it into a variable doesn't help

@set name {dlgstring|Enter new name pattern:}

Is this something you want to type every time you use the command?

No, that's why I'm asking: I use different date format every now and then, so I want to have an ability to specify one manually once I need.

You could have a separate command button for each date format, or use a script that lets you change both the date format and the new name.