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ChronoLocus Naming Guide

Examples, templates, and folder naming patterns to help you get predictable filenames.

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What the names look like
Scenario 1 — For IMG_1001.HEIC in folder Paris:
Basic 2016-08-16___001___08.22.31__IMG_1001.HEIC
Advanced 2016-08-16___001___Paris___08.22.31__IMG_1001.HEIC
Scenario 2 — For IMG_1001.HEIC in folder Paris___Eiffel_Tower:
Basic 2016-08-16___001___08.22.31__IMG_1001.HEIC
Advanced 2016-08-16___001___Paris___Eiffel_Tower___08.22.31__IMG_1001.HEIC
Automatic Markers
  • ▦
    Global ordering across all subfolders
    All files sorted by date and time; index resets to 001 each day (zero-padded)
  • +
    Automatically appended markers (when available)
    Panorama → ___PANO · Live Photos → ___LIVE · Video duration → ___HHMMSS
    Example: LIVE 2016-08-16___012___Paris___Eiffel_Tower___08.22.31___LIVE__IMG_1012.HEIC
      2016-08-16___012___Paris___Eiffel_Tower___08.22.31___LIVE__IMG_1012.MOV
    Example: PANO 2016-08-16___013___Paris___Eiffel_Tower___08.22.59___PANO__IMG_1013.HEIC
    Example: Video 2016-08-16___518___Paris___Seine_River_at_Night___20.51.58___000122__DSC_4017.MP4
Folder name is parsed as Location/Event and Moment input  (Advanced only)
  • EVENT
    Paris  or  01_Paris
    Location/Event. Use 01_ prefix when you want an event-index (recommended for template A3).
  • MOMT
    Paris___Eiffel_Tower
    Location/Event + Moment, separated by ___ (triple underscore).
  • SORT
    20160816_Paris
    Date prefix (YYYYMMDD_) is ignored during parsing — it only helps you sort folders.
Spaces are converted to -; unsupported characters are removed.
Naming templates
Basic edition
B1
2016-10-01___001___08.00.01__IMG_0001.HEIC
B2
2016-10-01___08.00.01__IMG_0001.HEIC
Advanced edition
A1
2016-10-01___001___Paris___Eiffel_Tower___08.00.01__IMG_0001.HEIC
A2
2016-10-01___001___Paris___08.00.01___Eiffel_Tower__IMG_0001.HEIC
A3
2016-10-01___01_Paris___001___Eiffel_Tower___08.00.01__IMG_0001.HEIC
Field legend
Date YYYY-MM-DD — primary sort key
Index Per-day sequence number for Explorer ordering
Location/Event From folder name (Advanced)
Moment From folder name (Advanced)
Time HH.MM.SS
Original Original token retained for traceability
Examples:
IMG_1234.HEIC → ORIGINAL = IMG_1234
IMG_E1234.HEIC → ORIGINAL = IMG_E1234 (common iPhone edited/export variant)
PXL_20240628_082231123.jpg → ORIGINAL = PXL_20240628_082231
DJI_0420.MP4 → ORIGINAL = DJI_0420
WeChat_2020-06-28_082231.jpg → ORIGINAL = WeChat_2020-06-28_082231 (fallback)
Folder-date as fallback
When capture-time metadata is missing (for example, from older cameras or files with stripped metadata), you can still rename files by using a folder date prefix.
  • REM
    20160816___Paris
    Folder-date fallback: the date (YYYYMMDD___) is used for renaming and indexing.
Supported Media Formats & Devices
ChronoLocus detects supported media by file extension.
  • PHOTO
    Supported photo formats
    .jpg, .jpeg · .heic, .heif · .png, .gif · .bmp · .tiff, .tif
  • VIDEO
    Supported video formats
    .mov, .mp4 · .avi, .mkv · .mpg, .mpeg · .webm
  • SRC
    Common supported sources
    iPhone / iPad (Photos, Live Photos) · Android phones (including Google Pixel) · Digital cameras (Canon / Nikon / Sony / Fuji) · Action / drone cameras (GoPro / DJI)