Database Info

Camera Burst Mode Folder Structure

I can't figure out how the phone decides where to place a string of photos taken in burst mode. When I connect my phone to USB and look in the folder where the burst photos are located, there are multiple folders that have already been created. Within those random folders are where my burst photos are located, but in no particular order. This makes it a pain to go through and transfer them all to my PC b/c I'm constantly having to hunt down the photos in random folders.
I hope I'm just being ignorant to how it works, but any help is appreciated.

BradBot said:
I can't figure out how the phone decides where to place a string of photos taken in burst mode. When I connect my phone to USB and look in the folder where the burst photos are located, there are multiple folders that have already been created. Within those random folders are where my burst photos are located, but in no particular order. This makes it a pain to go through and transfer them all to my PC b/c I'm constantly having to hunt down the photos in random folders.
I hope I'm just being ignorant to how it works, but any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems to be the way it works. From what I can tell, the storage is meant to be temporary...you're supposed to pick the best shot after the burst, then it dumps the rest. I guess if you want them all, you have to do a little hunting.

Lame-o
Not the answer I was looking for, but I'm afraid you're right.

BradBot said:
Lame-o
Not the answer I was looking for, but I'm afraid you're right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use dropbox to auto upload my pictures, and it also uploads all the burst pictures in order. Makes it easy to keep all pics or select just the ones I want to keep on the PC.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

If they have a common naming convention, then you could hook up your phone to a computer and do a search via filename (or date) then copy the images elsewhere

Delete files .Thumbdata3 - 19xxxx (710MB!)

Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?

MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably the thumbnail data for your pictures. I'm assuming you have quite a few...?

I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB

MarkAndroid said:
I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the first reply already stated, this is a thumbnail file that is generated on the basis of all pictures on your device. Deleting all thumbnails doesn't really help, because the thumbnail cache will regenerate itself. If you want to diminish it in terms of size, you'll have to remove the actual pictures on your device (be it wallpapers, family pictures, Reddit downloads or porn). Only that will lessen the numbers of thumbnails generated and thus the size of this file.

As I said I deleted all the real pictures and not just the thumbnails!
When I open the gallery there is no picture or video!
I also raised the MicroSD to make sure there were no photographs or video to generate thumbnails.

Yes, I see what you mean. I have two, each about 600 Mb, one from 08/07/2012 and one from 19/10/2012. These appear to be the Thumbnail files from the media players.. So until you clear the librarycache from those, they'll keep reappearing.

I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?

MarkAndroid said:
I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About 40gb internal, and another 40ish on SD's.

We are different!
My internal memory 45GB free!
MicroSD removed

Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.

Yes, obviously we're different. :cyclops:
MartyHulskemper said:
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... I'm not paying for my Eweka payserver in the spirit of charity.

MartyHulskemper said:
Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I manually clear the cache?

Usually through the settings in the apps themselves.

OK. So what application should I see? Gallery app or all photos and videos app? (Example QuickPic, Mxplayer)

All of them.

MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem...my files was 1.6GB. I believe it has to do with thumbnails database off all pictues that have been on your phone or gallery, and even if you delete it, they keep track of the all and then recreates the thumbnails file.
My solution was to create a empty folder with the exact same name of the file, in the same location (after deleting the big file first)...did not need to change permissions or anything, just an plain empty folder with the same name replacing the file. I´ve rebooted several times/took lots of pictures and seems to prevent the file to re-create. Has worked so far.
Hope that helps

It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS

MarkAndroid said:
It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any abnormalities with your device since? Like opening the camera app, taking photos, accessing Gallery, and FCs?

I noticed this type of behavior back with my Motorola DROID. I realized that when I performed Factory resets it would not delete these files off of the SDCard, an I had 4 or 5 of them (when I was trying every ROM under the sun before CM7 was released).
I finally figured out that just deleting them would allow the apps to recreate what they needed - but yeah, some photos that I had moved to a 'hidden' location still had thumbnails showing. I finally figured out what ShadowLea is saying - you have to clear the cache components of the applications themselves and then let them rebuild. From there it is a piece of cake.

solved for Galaxy S3
Hello,
I had the same problem on my Samsung S3. The file was allways created with 1,74 GB and growed. when i deleted it by hand it was created a few minutes later again.
Here the solution that worked for me
1) copy file name
2) delte the file
3) create a folder with the filename (not a file!) *
4) take away all possible permissions for this folder (with total commander for andriod for example)
After that my camera and my picture viewer still works fine. the only "problem" i have is that i dont see a preview of my old pictures in the down left corner of the camera app.
*I also tried to create a file with the name and took the permissions from it but it was overwriten by the camera anyway.
cheers!

[Q] Gallery doesn't show all photo's

Hi All,
The gallery doesn't show all photo's which i've made...just a few photo's ( 30 ).
When i am mannually searching in the DCIM folder using a file manager, i see 74 photo's....
My S6 isn't rooted or something like that.
Anyone else who has this problem?
Cheers,

dawism1987 said:
Hi All, The gallery doesn't show all photo's which i've made...just a few photo's ( 30 ). When i am mannually searching in the DCIM folder using a file manager, i see 74 photo's.... My S6 isn't rooted or something like that. Anyone else who has this problem? Cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed. Gallery shows 96 photos and there are 105 in the DCIM folder. That's odd and not cool.

dawism1987 said:
Hi All,
The gallery doesn't show all photo's which i've made...just a few photo's ( 30 ).
When i am mannually searching in the DCIM folder using a file manager, i see 74 photo's....
My S6 isn't rooted or something like that.
Anyone else who has this problem?
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've been having the same issue since day one. tried wiping data and cache from both "media storage" and "gallery" and then rescaning everything with media scanner app but it didn't work. hope someone will find a fix for this. i'm using quickpic for now.

Haven't done anything to test this. But have you checked to see if any of the photos in the gallery are burst shots? Gallery groups them as a single shot. I'm assuming DCIM folder shows them all individually. Just a thought and I could be totally wrong.

iNiREALiZED said:
Haven't done anything to test this. But have you checked to see if any of the photos in the gallery are burst shots? Gallery groups them as a single shot. I'm assuming DCIM folder shows them all individually. Just a thought and I could be totally wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good call. Tested. That is exactly what is happening with mine. I didn't even realize burst was enabled - I must have shot some bursts without realizing it.

iNiREALiZED said:
Haven't done anything to test this. But have you checked to see if any of the photos in the gallery are burst shots? Gallery groups them as a single shot. I'm assuming DCIM folder shows them all individually. Just a thought and I could be totally wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, None of them are burst shots...
But when i am using quickpic, i am able to see all the photo's. Even the photo's like whatsapp images's/downloaded photo's.
It's just with the gallery that i'm not able to see all photo's, just a few photo's....I have sorted the photo's as "time". When i'm sorting the photo's as "album" it is the same ( not able to see all of the photo's).... really strange.

Out of curiosity, if you use the Google "Photos" app, do you see all of them?

DevonSloan said:
Good call. Tested. That is exactly what is happening with mine. I didn't even realize burst was enabled - I must have shot some bursts without realizing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You enable burst by just holding the shutter button, there is no burst function in the menu. Thats why a lot of people take burst shots without even knowing.

flu13 said:
Out of curiosity, if you use the Google "Photos" app, do you see all of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i am using google photo's it's the same! I only see a couple of picture's... (The same pictures)

helloooooo! !!
I fixed the problem! !!
first, plug it into a computer, and manually erase the .nomedia file.
second, go to app manager, clear cache/data from Gallery, and force stop it.
now, open the app again, and you must be able to see all pics and videos again

How unlimited google photos works

Hi, just ordered a Pixel 2 and hoping someone can clarify some things for me:
If I copy pictures from my computer onto the phone then use Google Photos to back up said pictures, will they be max quality or will they be recognised as not being taken on the actual phone?
Or better yet, will my Google account be associated with the phone so I can just upload photos using the Photos app directly from my computer keeping the max quality?
Thanks for your help!

Did you find the answer to this? I'm also wondering.

mew1033 said:
Did you find the answer to this? I'm also wondering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been told that it's based off the EXIF data on the Pixel 2. I don't know for sure if that's true, but what I've been told when asking a similar question.

I'd talk to the 24/7 Google support that you can use in the settings.

Thanks for your responses. I could also give it a try when the phone arrives and compare the file sizes

It's only photos taken on the phone. So much for using Google photos as my main backup service

I copied all the digital pictures I've ever taken (50GB+) onto my pixel 2 and they all uploaded at original image size without taking up any space.... only took a week to do

st3v3ntehl33t said:
I copied all the digital pictures I've ever taken (50GB+) onto my pixel 2 and they all uploaded at original image size without taking up any space.... only took a week to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only I had the time... I've got well over 500GB of photos and videos already backed up to Google Photos and can't imagine the time it would take to transfer them this way.

Wilchie said:
It's only photos taken on the phone. So much for using Google photos as my main backup service
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can back up photos to Google photos from any amount tied to your Google account. But original size photos from pixel. Otherwise it's reduced size
Sent from my Pixel 2 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

I backed up images from 10+ devices and they were all original image sizes. 14MB+ files from my Lumia 1020 are still 14MB+ files on google drive and they are taking up 0MB space. You just have to copy the folders into the dcim folder on your phone and let it back them files up.

[APP] GCam Tool - Automatically move photos taken by Google Camera to gallery

I love taking portrait photos on Google Camera app. But non-Pixel users like me can only use the modded version of Google Camera and one major annoyance is that it takes portrait photos only in burst mode. You then need to open gallery, find the sub-folder which it created for burst mode, copy the portrait image and delete the rest. And you have to do this every time you take a portrait photo.
With GCam Tool, all this happens in the background. After you take a photo with Google Camera, you will find it in your camera roll when you open Gallery. You can:
Choose source and destination folders
Move portrait or regular or both photos
Delete sub-folders created by Google Camera every time
By default the app copies photos to your photo gallery. If you buy the $1 upgrade, it also deletes the files and sub-folders (thereby actually moving the photos instead of copying).
Your upgrade will help an indie developer like me survive. Please spread the word and let me know your thoughts.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptuners.gcamtool

I will this app could move photos from the default internal storage folder used by gcam to a folder in the external SD card!

@Apptuners
really good app, does exactly what it promises. As this was something I was looking for since quite some time now, I purchased the Pro version. Keep up the good work :good:

Thank you very much for the support, Portgas D. Ace.
I just pushed an update (1.02) that adds manual batch moving feature. If you don't want the app to monitor in the background, you could just open the app once in a while, click the Batch Move option and move all files in one go to the chosen target folder.

if the possibility also to port folders with DNG(RAW) format?, because GCam also creates a separate folder

Apptuners said:
I love taking portrait photos on Google Camera app. But non-Pixel users like me can only use the modded version of Google Camera and one major annoyance is that it takes portrait photos only in burst mode. You then need to open gallery, find the sub-folder which it created for burst mode, copy the portrait image and delete the rest. And you have to do this every time you take a portrait photo.
With GCam Tool, all this happens in the background. After you take a photo with Google Camera, you will find it in your camera roll when you open Gallery. You can:
Choose source and destination folders
Delete sub-folders created by Google Camera every time
By default the app copies photos to your photo gallery. If you buy the $1 upgrade, it also deletes the files and sub-folders (thereby actually moving the photos instead of copying).
Your upgrade will help an indie developer like me survive. Please spread the word and let me know your thoughts.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptuners.gcamtool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever I try to move any images from internal to SD Card, it moves zero images. I have also sent out an email to the support. I'm using Galaxy S8 btw.

Uralku said:
if the possibility also to port folders with DNG(RAW) format?, because GCam also creates a separate folder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the app already does that now.
casao01 said:
Whenever I try to move any images from internal to SD Card, it moves zero images. I have also sent out an email to the support. I'm using Galaxy S8 btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I just replied to your email. I am posting it here as well.
The app only moves (for now) images taken in Portrait Mode. Could you please try and let me know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

This is what i was looking for from many days... thankyou so much..it works great

Hi Dev. Great work! I've been looking for that for a long time. Any chance this will work with regular (non portrait) photos? It will be great to be able to automatically move photos to sd card... A suggestion: is it doable to have an option to rename the file to whatever pattern you want before moving it? This way it could match other photos names in the gallery. Thanks again for the very useful app!

Good and helpful app and I would like to support your work.
But how do I buy the pro version?
Clicking on "upgrade" button brings up a window and then clicking on "Upgrade to pro" does nothing..?

Great app! But every reboot I'm getting a notification. Tapping on it just opens the app and then when I open the settings and back out the notification goes away. Any ideas why?

I think I'm doing something wrong because this app isn't working for me. I have the photo storage paths set, and have the option checked for it to delete sub folders. But none of the photos ever move and they stay in the burst folders.
Sorry to be that guy, but could you provide a step by step for me, or point out some kikind of error I may be making?
Thanks for your hard work. This app will be fantastic once I get it working because those burst folders drive me nuts.
Edit: maybe I'm misunderstanding part of what this app does. I went into my gallery app and the photos are all there and not in any sub folders, but when I go to my pictures through the google camera app they are still in the burst folders.

I have some issue with moving non-portrait photo into another folder. As soon as the non-portrait photo is moved. The original portrait photo is gone. I no longer see it from my camera folder and cannot see it from Google Photo.
Even worse, I did the batch moving and now all my portrait photos are gone. Is this the right behavior?

same thing with the restarts , nokia 7 plus here

Are you aware your app is no more on the store? It was the life and I even bought the pro version :c

bisio971 said:
Are you aware your app is no more on the store? It was the life and I even bought the pro version :c
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77665451&postcount=44
To @Apptuners: paid for the app, no regrets. Even with it taken down. Don't worry

Apptuners said:
I love taking portrait photos on Google Camera app....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you manage to copy the portrait only photo to DCIM/Camera. delete the original folder and (non portrait) photo and still have google photos backup the moved photo normally?
When I do this manually with a script, google photos doesn't beackup the portrait photo and it still shows a burst of two photos, the portrait and the non portrait, with this one showing only a grey thumbnail, and it never back ups.
Can you shed some light? Do you change anything in the EXIF of the moved portrait photo?

TCattd said:
FYI https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=77665451&postcount=44
To @Apptuners: paid for the app, no regrets. Even with it taken down. Don't worry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man
fjsferreira said:
How do you manage to copy the portrait only photo to DCIM/Camera. delete the original folder and (non portrait) photo and still have google photos backup the moved photo normally?
When I do this manually with a script, google photos doesn't beackup the portrait photo and it still shows a burst of two photos, the portrait and the non portrait, with this one showing only a grey thumbnail, and it never back ups.
Can you shed some light? Do you change anything in the EXIF of the moved portrait photo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I don't modify EXIF for "photo move" feature. EXIF is modified only when selfie flipping is prevented.
As for how GCam Tool manages to do it, I believe it is all about speed. If the photos and subfolders stay long enough in the source folder, Google Photos will back up it. I don't know how fast your script is, but when you take a photo with Google Camera, GCam Tool instantly jumps into action, moves the required files and deletes the unwanted ones (and sub-folders). It all happens in like 3-4 seconds and sometimes more depending on how long it takes on your phone for Google Camera to do the HDR+ processing and save the files.
Also once the move is done, GCam Tool rebuilds the thumbnail gallery and runs MediaScanner as well to notify the system regarding file move, which could be another reason. And most people have DCIM/Camera as their target folder, which is already being monitored by Google Photos. So as soon as GCam Tool moves the files into DCIM/Camera, Google Photos backups it.

Apptuners said:
Thanks man
No I don't modify EXIF for "photo move" feature. EXIF is modified only when selfie flipping is prevented.
As for how GCam Tool manages to do it, I believe it is all about speed. If the photos and subfolders stay long enough in the source folder, Google Photos will back up it. I don't know how fast your script is, but when you take a photo with Google Camera, GCam Tool instantly jumps into action, moves the required files and deletes the unwanted ones (and sub-folders). It all happens in like 3-4 seconds and sometimes more depending on how long it takes on your phone for Google Camera to do the HDR+ processing and save the files.
Also once the move is done, GCam Tool rebuilds the thumbnail gallery and runs MediaScanner as well to notify the system regarding file move, which could be another reason. And most people have DCIM/Camera as their target folder, which is already being monitored by Google Photos. So as soon as GCam Tool moves the files into DCIM/Camera, Google Photos backups it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, so much for me to thinker. Love it! Bought your app, it's as useful as water for me
Sent from my OnePlus 5 using XDA Labs

fjsferreira said:
Thank you, so much for me to thinker. Love it! Bought your app, it's as useful as water for me
Sent from my OnePlus 5 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. Thank you very much for the kind words.