GoPro video has no timestamp? How to add the date and time

Where a GoPro keeps the time

Every GoPro clip carries the moment recording started, but there are two traps:

• The camera clock is stored as if it were UTC. GoPro writes its local clock time but labels it UTC, so many tools show it several hours off.
• The camera clock may be wrong. It drifts, and it doesn’t always follow daylight saving. When GPS was on, the clip also contains the satellite time, which is accurate to the second.

Check the recorded time (free)

Open the clip in the free MediaInfo app and look for Encoded date. On a GoPro this is the camera’s own clock, even though it says UTC. If GPS was on, the more accurate time is in the clip’s GPS data, which MediaInfo doesn’t show.

Add a running date and time with Video Stamp

1. Copy the clips straight off the SD card (or with a card reader) to your PC. Keep those originals untouched.
2. Drag the clips into Video Stamp. It uses the GPS time in the clip when there is one, and otherwise reads the camera clock correctly in your time zone. It shows you which one it used.
3. Pick the date and time format, the position and the look.
4. Click Stamp Video. You get a new copy with a running date and time that stays in step for the whole clip; the original stays exactly as it was.

It works the same way for phone, DJI drone, camcorder and dashcam footage, in one program.