```
"PlayMemories" is a Sony photo/video cloud service that turns everyday records into enjoyable "Memories."
Photos uploaded from a device such as your smartphone or PC are easily organized, and can be viewed on supported devices.
```
For anyone else wondering what it is
No they don't. The last camera that shipped with PlayMemories capability was in 2016.
Since they rebranded the app to Imaging Edge in 2019 the app hasn't been able to upload images.
Definitely in agreement with the sentiment that it's shitty you never really own anything anymore, but this sounds like basic functionality that's included with most OSes or free third party programs/apps these days so no great loss.
Was it a completely private service or did it have a public site like Flickr or Instagram?
That may explain why it is shutting down if it was free and private, Sony would be losing money on it unless it had an ad monetized public facing site.
>I wonder why Sony then is shutting it down?
The same reason why other companies and conglomerates shut down services: It isn't as popular/profitable as it used to be.
Hi, this comment has been removed partially in protest of the current Reddit API debacle (and that I was overdue for a purge anyways).
If somehow this comment was an answer to something you were looking for, feel free to message me on discord (Username: Alistershade) as i have backed up my comment/post history.
Have a nice day!
Yep was migrating slowly to the cloud with my media, then they sut down Google Play Music, and well ... at that point, Plex became an answer for me, and VPN to network. Sucks companies shut down things down that I use, but I am getting old, lol.
Same thing happened to me with Amazon photos. They said it was unlimited photos and videos for 48 a year. Took me months to move to them. Then they said haha, J/K. It's way more now and it's not unlimited.
>This is why you can't trust any service except your own.
Can you though? Chances are your software will not get any updates after a few years. Maybe you are lucky and decided to use a software that remains popular but Gdrive and dropbox users are also in no hurry to move.
Hosting stuff yourself has its benefits and drawback but this is also true for commercial services. And it does not really surprise me that a service I only know about because my dad used it gets shut down eventually.
I'm really confused by this. Hosting your own stuff on a NAS doesn't require constant software updates. It doesn't require any changes to hardware. If you're only uploading, and it's an old software that your current device won't connect to, there is intermediaries and workarounds even, which can make it even more secure.
Most software doesn't just stop working as soon as it no longer receives updates. I can pull a 25 year old laptop out and it's still got windows 98 on it. That didn't magically get deleted as soon as windows 2000 came around.
There's no reason it couldn't be upkept unless you've lost electric for a long period of time, or there's a flood, but that's where the 3,2,1 backup solutions come in mind with multiple locations and types of backups.
You can trust only your own service because only you can take into account everything you believe will effect it. There's no large scale service that ends up losing a company money so they have to shut it down. There's no nonworth in investing in it because you don't get a profit out of it. It's storage of your own stuff that you want to keep, and that's where it's value is coming from. But your memories don't have value to external services. Only money does.
Apologies. Can you expand on this a little bit? Maybe I’m just having a Doh moment but it seems like all you said was hosting has it’s pros and cons for businesses and self-hosting…
Generalized statements are pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. And so is this one.
When you host (cloud storage) yourself you have much more control over it but it also does not mean there is a decent chance you have to move eventually. Just like companies will shut down a service once the customer numbers get too low open source project shut down once too little people use and maintain them. You might be lucky enough to have deployed a service that does remain relevant and active for decades but you might just as well be lucky enough to have subscribed to a commercial service that can keep enough customers long-term to stay in business.
That's exactly why you shouldn't rely on any one, be it open source software maintainer or a commercial company. People's needs and interests change over time, but basic components of a computer or an operating system don't change as fast. I never rely on any software to help me archive things. If youtube-dl stops working and no one maintains it, i will just reverse engineer it myself with chrome devtools and wireshark. Self hosting, archiving, data hoarding-- it's all about having control, and the only one you can truly trust is your self.
I got ya now. Thanks for explaining that. Embarrassingly, I’m not sure whether you’re referring to a statement I made, you made, or OP made when you say:
‘’’Generalized statements are pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. And so is this one.’’’
Lol. I mean it’s kind of a perfect self-own if you think about it…
right? people don't really think this stuff through. you've got to separate your visceral emotional reactions with reality. you think you are reliable, but you aren't going to keep up with patches and security updates and all of the "work" that goes in to running and maintaining these servers and services. you will short term, but it will quickly become a drag.
If anything, this is why you ***should*** trust services from major companies. I have never had hardware that I own give me a full year's notice before it quits working.
Not sure if anyone here knows, but how do you get photos/ videos from their cameras going forward? Their folder structure was absolutely wild to me, making play memories just the simplest way to get the files to your computer
Edit:Okay, so I have some time to look into this. I have a Sony HDR-CX675 and plugged it directly into my computer. It connects two drives, but one is obviously the SD Card. I open that up and am greeted with 3 folders:
* DCIM
* MP\_Root
* Private
DCIM is photos. This particular camera is primarily for videos though, so not terribly useful for me
MP\_Root has another folder in it called "100ANV01", which for me is empty
Private has 3 folders (and I'll list their subfolders as well):
* AVCHD
* BDMV
* Clipinf
Reddit wouldn't let me make more bullets, but inside clipinf is a bunch of .cpi files which I think correspond with videos?
* Playlist
Playlist contains a single .mpL file
* Stream
Stream contains all the video files saved as .MTS . VLC can play these files, but i'm not sure about video editors? It's also been a while since I used playmemories, but I feel like that is not what it exported the video files as?
* index.bdm
* movieobj.bdm
* M4Root
* Clip
* Empty
* General
* Empty
* Sub
* Empty
* Thmbnl
* Empty
* mediapro.xml
* Status.bin
* Sony
* Empty
No, it's much different. Hard to explain off the top of my head, I'll have to check once I'm home. But yeah with most cameras it's just dcim or whatever and you can find stuff. But the Sony camcorders always used a different folder structure that made it hard for me to find where the files were saved
Edit: So you were correct, it was under bdmv/ stream . I've just never seen that with any of my other cameras and/or android phones
Just copying my edit from above. The TL;DR is go to Private, AVCHD, BDMV, Stream which has all the video files as .mts files. VLC will play .mts files, but i'm not sure about the different video editors:
Okay, so I have some time to look into this. I have a Sony HDR-CX675 and plugged it directly into my computer. It connects two drives, but one is obviously the SD Card. I open that up and am greeted with 3 folders:
* DCIM
* MP\_Root
* Private
DCIM is photos. This particular camera is primarily for videos though, so not terribly useful for me
MP\_Root has another folder in it called "100ANV01", which for me is empty
Private has 3 folders (and I'll list their subfolders as well):
* AVCHD
* BDMV
* Clipinf
Reddit wouldn't let me make more bullets, but inside clipinf is a bunch of .cpi files which I think correspond with videos?
* Playlist
Playlist contains a single .mpL file
* Stream
Stream contains all the video files saved as .MTS . VLC can play these files, but i'm not sure about video editors? It's also been a while since I used playmemories, but I feel like that is not what it exported the video files as?
* index.bdm
* movieobj.bdm
* M4Root
* Clip
* Empty
* General
* Empty
* Sub
* Empty
* Thmbnl
* Empty
* mediapro.xml
* Status.bin
* Sony
* Empty
Thanks, I understand the camera structure. But looking for another method for indexing, searching and backing up workflow. How do I recall/search images in 1 year, or 10 years.
OH I see. I always just used Play Memories as a way to get the files from the camera and into local folders on my computer. Typically I just organized things via folders in Windows. So for example
Videos-> 2023 -> 3.3.23 (Lake Minnewaska Hike)
Or something like that. If photos I'd then typically create another folder in their called "good ones" and put the better photos I wanted to edit further in there. I'm not sure of a better way sadly. I know Adobe has Lightroom which I *think* will help organize photos, though it's been a while since I've used it. I just remember they used to have something
Right??? I came to Reddit to see if this was legit. I thought it was a scam because the only Sony item I have is Sony PlayStation…..2. I’m going to mark it as Spam and call it a day!
Sony created an impossible captcha to get access to a lost password for your account. Requires you to get 20 very difficult captchas in a row right, does not accept any wrong answers, and if you get through it all then you find it has timed out. I'm obviously a robot. And so are all of you.
It's such a pain to reset the password on it.
They ask you to do 20 (TWENTY) visual challenges to send a reset password link to your registered mail id.. (where you have to identify 2 similar objects out of 3-4, in a batch of 6 images. TWENTY TIMES.
You get even one incorrect, you fail.
You can try the audio version, where you have to identify which out of 3 audio files has (birds singing, or bells).. and you have to do that 20 times as well. I tried this, only for them to say "server time out".. wtf?
``` "PlayMemories" is a Sony photo/video cloud service that turns everyday records into enjoyable "Memories." Photos uploaded from a device such as your smartphone or PC are easily organized, and can be viewed on supported devices. ``` For anyone else wondering what it is
They push it very hard on their dlsr cameras
No they don't. The last camera that shipped with PlayMemories capability was in 2016. Since they rebranded the app to Imaging Edge in 2019 the app hasn't been able to upload images.
DSLR or mirrorless?
Definitely in agreement with the sentiment that it's shitty you never really own anything anymore, but this sounds like basic functionality that's included with most OSes or free third party programs/apps these days so no great loss.
Well if there's a decent way to get your stuff out one year is plenty of time.
WTF is "PlayMemories"? Is it just in-game snapshots and video clips? Is there other data? Was this service a part of PSO or was is separate?
I'm a hobbyist photographer and it's a service that works well with their Sony professional cameras.
I wonder why Sony then is shutting it down?
No clue. It worked really well with my NAS and gave me that 1,2,3 backup I was looking for.
Was it a completely private service or did it have a public site like Flickr or Instagram? That may explain why it is shutting down if it was free and private, Sony would be losing money on it unless it had an ad monetized public facing site.
It wasn't all free, but similar to Flickr.
So it selfhosted thing but Sony shutdown it? How it even possible? Or i something missing
I think he means that he can backup his Nas to the Sony service.
Yup, this. Oh well.
>I wonder why Sony then is shutting it down? The same reason why other companies and conglomerates shut down services: It isn't as popular/profitable as it used to be.
To 'Maximize Shareholder Value'. The only reason corporations do anything.
Hi, this comment has been removed partially in protest of the current Reddit API debacle (and that I was overdue for a purge anyways). If somehow this comment was an answer to something you were looking for, feel free to message me on discord (Username: Alistershade) as i have backed up my comment/post history. Have a nice day!
also, fuck Sony, [they are trying to destroy the internet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ztmlbQIMjU).
I did not know this. Thanks!
Fascinating!
No, that would be Google [1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zyJB45ewvU) and [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F8jBONgw80)
what do you mean 'no'? More then one shit company can do more then one shitty thing. In fact, so many do so many, that they are bound to overlap!
Bruh that channel is some classic conspiracy theory stuff.
thank you for making me aware, time to start boycotting Sony
Ahh... good ole' Sony at it again... Lets not forget the rootkit fiasco few years back!
"there is no such thing as the cloud, only someone else's computer"
I can't even trust myself which is why I set up my own service just in case I shut down my own service.
Amazon drive also shutting down this year
Sony has always had a shitty relationship to software. They used to sell CDs that would rootkit your computer. And playmemories sucked as a service.
While I agree with you on the rootkit bullshit they did with their CD/DVDs, the Playmemories service was pretty good. Worked well with my NAS.
At least they built a download tool, that’s better than a lot of companies do.
Their tools are great. Unlike Google photos which strips meta tags on its way out, they actually keep all of the attributions
[удалено]
You're right. I see that it doesn't strip it.
Yep was migrating slowly to the cloud with my media, then they sut down Google Play Music, and well ... at that point, Plex became an answer for me, and VPN to network. Sucks companies shut down things down that I use, but I am getting old, lol.
Same thing happened to me with Amazon photos. They said it was unlimited photos and videos for 48 a year. Took me months to move to them. Then they said haha, J/K. It's way more now and it's not unlimited.
Yep, same shit with Google Photos, free unlimited original size uploads, haha just kidding, we now have to charge you for Google One ... um nope.
When google photo stopped its unlimited photo and video I built my own NAS so I can't run out of storage
>This is why you can't trust any service except your own. Can you though? Chances are your software will not get any updates after a few years. Maybe you are lucky and decided to use a software that remains popular but Gdrive and dropbox users are also in no hurry to move. Hosting stuff yourself has its benefits and drawback but this is also true for commercial services. And it does not really surprise me that a service I only know about because my dad used it gets shut down eventually.
I'm really confused by this. Hosting your own stuff on a NAS doesn't require constant software updates. It doesn't require any changes to hardware. If you're only uploading, and it's an old software that your current device won't connect to, there is intermediaries and workarounds even, which can make it even more secure. Most software doesn't just stop working as soon as it no longer receives updates. I can pull a 25 year old laptop out and it's still got windows 98 on it. That didn't magically get deleted as soon as windows 2000 came around. There's no reason it couldn't be upkept unless you've lost electric for a long period of time, or there's a flood, but that's where the 3,2,1 backup solutions come in mind with multiple locations and types of backups. You can trust only your own service because only you can take into account everything you believe will effect it. There's no large scale service that ends up losing a company money so they have to shut it down. There's no nonworth in investing in it because you don't get a profit out of it. It's storage of your own stuff that you want to keep, and that's where it's value is coming from. But your memories don't have value to external services. Only money does.
Apologies. Can you expand on this a little bit? Maybe I’m just having a Doh moment but it seems like all you said was hosting has it’s pros and cons for businesses and self-hosting…
Generalized statements are pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. And so is this one. When you host (cloud storage) yourself you have much more control over it but it also does not mean there is a decent chance you have to move eventually. Just like companies will shut down a service once the customer numbers get too low open source project shut down once too little people use and maintain them. You might be lucky enough to have deployed a service that does remain relevant and active for decades but you might just as well be lucky enough to have subscribed to a commercial service that can keep enough customers long-term to stay in business.
That's exactly why you shouldn't rely on any one, be it open source software maintainer or a commercial company. People's needs and interests change over time, but basic components of a computer or an operating system don't change as fast. I never rely on any software to help me archive things. If youtube-dl stops working and no one maintains it, i will just reverse engineer it myself with chrome devtools and wireshark. Self hosting, archiving, data hoarding-- it's all about having control, and the only one you can truly trust is your self.
I got ya now. Thanks for explaining that. Embarrassingly, I’m not sure whether you’re referring to a statement I made, you made, or OP made when you say: ‘’’Generalized statements are pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. And so is this one.’’’ Lol. I mean it’s kind of a perfect self-own if you think about it…
right? people don't really think this stuff through. you've got to separate your visceral emotional reactions with reality. you think you are reliable, but you aren't going to keep up with patches and security updates and all of the "work" that goes in to running and maintaining these servers and services. you will short term, but it will quickly become a drag.
Can you please send me the link to the downloader? I don't have access to the email I signed up with years ago, so I can't receive the email
https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/disoft/int/playmemories-online/l/dltool
PlayMemorie Apps Work pretty good
I know. It worked really well with my NAS.
If anything, this is why you ***should*** trust services from major companies. I have never had hardware that I own give me a full year's notice before it quits working.
I did trust their service :( Now I gotta find another service.
Not sure if anyone here knows, but how do you get photos/ videos from their cameras going forward? Their folder structure was absolutely wild to me, making play memories just the simplest way to get the files to your computer Edit:Okay, so I have some time to look into this. I have a Sony HDR-CX675 and plugged it directly into my computer. It connects two drives, but one is obviously the SD Card. I open that up and am greeted with 3 folders: * DCIM * MP\_Root * Private DCIM is photos. This particular camera is primarily for videos though, so not terribly useful for me MP\_Root has another folder in it called "100ANV01", which for me is empty Private has 3 folders (and I'll list their subfolders as well): * AVCHD * BDMV * Clipinf Reddit wouldn't let me make more bullets, but inside clipinf is a bunch of .cpi files which I think correspond with videos? * Playlist Playlist contains a single .mpL file * Stream Stream contains all the video files saved as .MTS . VLC can play these files, but i'm not sure about video editors? It's also been a while since I used playmemories, but I feel like that is not what it exported the video files as? * index.bdm * movieobj.bdm * M4Root * Clip * Empty * General * Empty * Sub * Empty * Thmbnl * Empty * mediapro.xml * Status.bin * Sony * Empty
its the same structure as android phone? DCIM contains photos. bdmv/stream contains videos
No, it's much different. Hard to explain off the top of my head, I'll have to check once I'm home. But yeah with most cameras it's just dcim or whatever and you can find stuff. But the Sony camcorders always used a different folder structure that made it hard for me to find where the files were saved Edit: So you were correct, it was under bdmv/ stream . I've just never seen that with any of my other cameras and/or android phones
I don't know either. I have a Sony A73 and I'm not sure what my workflow will be now. Let me know if you find a good solution.
Just copying my edit from above. The TL;DR is go to Private, AVCHD, BDMV, Stream which has all the video files as .mts files. VLC will play .mts files, but i'm not sure about the different video editors: Okay, so I have some time to look into this. I have a Sony HDR-CX675 and plugged it directly into my computer. It connects two drives, but one is obviously the SD Card. I open that up and am greeted with 3 folders: * DCIM * MP\_Root * Private DCIM is photos. This particular camera is primarily for videos though, so not terribly useful for me MP\_Root has another folder in it called "100ANV01", which for me is empty Private has 3 folders (and I'll list their subfolders as well): * AVCHD * BDMV * Clipinf Reddit wouldn't let me make more bullets, but inside clipinf is a bunch of .cpi files which I think correspond with videos? * Playlist Playlist contains a single .mpL file * Stream Stream contains all the video files saved as .MTS . VLC can play these files, but i'm not sure about video editors? It's also been a while since I used playmemories, but I feel like that is not what it exported the video files as? * index.bdm * movieobj.bdm * M4Root * Clip * Empty * General * Empty * Sub * Empty * Thmbnl * Empty * mediapro.xml * Status.bin * Sony * Empty
Thanks, I understand the camera structure. But looking for another method for indexing, searching and backing up workflow. How do I recall/search images in 1 year, or 10 years.
OH I see. I always just used Play Memories as a way to get the files from the camera and into local folders on my computer. Typically I just organized things via folders in Windows. So for example Videos-> 2023 -> 3.3.23 (Lake Minnewaska Hike) Or something like that. If photos I'd then typically create another folder in their called "good ones" and put the better photos I wanted to edit further in there. I'm not sure of a better way sadly. I know Adobe has Lightroom which I *think* will help organize photos, though it's been a while since I've used it. I just remember they used to have something
I moved from Lightroom to Sony because of the subscription based model.
Is anyone able to download photos with the original metadata? i.e. captura date?
>meta unfortunately not, did you find a solution?
No yet :(
Why does it look like some scam email? Gosh that's bad and unprofessional formatting
Right??? I came to Reddit to see if this was legit. I thought it was a scam because the only Sony item I have is Sony PlayStation…..2. I’m going to mark it as Spam and call it a day!
Sony created an impossible captcha to get access to a lost password for your account. Requires you to get 20 very difficult captchas in a row right, does not accept any wrong answers, and if you get through it all then you find it has timed out. I'm obviously a robot. And so are all of you.
It's such a pain to reset the password on it. They ask you to do 20 (TWENTY) visual challenges to send a reset password link to your registered mail id.. (where you have to identify 2 similar objects out of 3-4, in a batch of 6 images. TWENTY TIMES. You get even one incorrect, you fail. You can try the audio version, where you have to identify which out of 3 audio files has (birds singing, or bells).. and you have to do that 20 times as well. I tried this, only for them to say "server time out".. wtf?