Backbone.js - proper model initialization

Questions: What is the proper way to initialize a backbone.js model when there are attributes that need to be stored in specific ways? Do i need to map the attributes that don't need any special formatting? I thought backbone.js did some kind of auto-mapping.

Example:

var MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({

    initialize: function (options) {

        // These attributes need to be stored in a different format
        // Dates
        this.startYear = new Date(options.startTime).getFullYear();
        // Rounding numbers
        this.wholeNumber = Math.Round(options.numberWithDecimals);
        // Storing empty strings as nulls
        if (options.fullName == null || options.fullName == "") {
            this.fullName == null;
        } else {
            this.fullName = options.fullName;
        }

        // These are fine as they are
        this.fieldA = options.fieldA;
        this.fieldB = options.fieldB;
        this.fieldC = options.fieldC;
    },
});