camToMP4

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camToMP4 processes a folder with .media or similar files and converts them to mp4 and optionally a single merged .mkv file.

Before you start

You probably have an microsdcard inside the cam, so take it out and bring it to a machine running linux/mac/wsl, capable of executing a bash script and first mount the sdcard:

Run lsblk or blkid -o list

blkid -o list
...
/dev/mmcblk0                           (not mounted)               
/dev/mmcblk0p1                         (not mounted)

Then do something like:

sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /media/sdcard

Now you can browse your sdcard under /media/sdcard. To unmount, do sudo umount /media/sdcard

You will probably have something like so under /media/sdcard:

DCIM
├── 2023
    ├── 03
        ├── 05
        |   ├── 1678051436_0120
        |   ├── 1678051556_0120
        |   ├── ...
        ├── 06
        ├── 07

Now you can do:

camToMP4.sh /media/sdcard/DCIM/2023/03/05/ -m allmp4s -c merged --prog -q

Above will create folder called allmp4s inside 05, place the .mp4 files along with a single merged.mkv file

Usage

/bin/bash /path/to/camToMP4.sh /path/to/parentFolder/ -m allmp4s -c merged --prog -q

• Make camToMP4.sh executable and add it to $PATH if you want to omit the /bin/bash:

  cd camToMp4
  chmod +x camToMP4.sh
  export PATH=$PATH:$(pwd)
  

• camToMP4 will recursively look for directories inside parentFolder and process .media files inside these directories by default.
• For every sub directory under parentFolder, files will be sorted and then concatenated into .mp4 file per sub directory
• After all .mp4 files are generated, they will be moved (-m) to a folder called allmp4s under parentFolder
• Finally, all the moved .mp4 files will be sorted and concatenated (-c) into a single .mkv file called merged.mkv
• During the entire process, mkvutils and ffmpeg warnings and messages will be suppressed (-q) and a progress bar will be shown (--prog)

Options

camToMP4.sh --help

> ˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅
> 03-2023 - Ibrahim Tanyalcin - MIT LICENSE
> version 0.0.1
> -m --mv --move      : Move the generated .mp4 files to specified folder. If merge
>                       option is given, also move the generated .mkv file to there
> -c --merge --combine: Concat the resulting .mp4 files to a single .mkv file
> -n --num --number   : Max amount of directories to be processed
> -e --ext --extension: Extension of input files. Defaults to "media"
> --hex               : If input files names are not unix epoch, append a random
>                       hex string to differentiate
> --dryRun            : Do not do anything, just preview
> -p --pat --pattern  : A pattern to filter folder basename. Only folders with
>                       basename matching the pattern are processed.
> --progress --prog   : Show progress bar
> --noinfo            : Do not show info on what is being done
> -q --quiet          : Suppress "ffmpeg" and "mkvmerge" messages/warnings
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Example Directory Structure of a parentFolder

cd parentFolder
tree -d
.
├── 1678402800_0120
├── 1678402920_0120
├── 1678403040_0121
├── 1678403161_0120
├── 1678403281_0120
├── 1678403401_0120
├── 1678403521_0121
├── 1678403642_0120
├── 1678403762_0120

• If the folder names have _*, that part is removed.
• If the remaning part matches the regex [1-9]+([0-9]), then it is assumed to be time since Unix Epoch and converted to YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.
• If the above is not the case with the folder names, then the names are left as is. If --hex option is specified, the folder names are appended with an underscore, followed by a hexadecimal string. This is useful with the -m option, as all the resulting .mp4s are moved to a folder, it prevents name collusions.

Example Structure of a sub directory

tree 1678488437_0120
1678488437_0120
├── 0000.media
├── 0011.media
├── 0021.media
├── 0032.media
├── 0042.media
├── 0053.media
├── 0063.media
├── 0074.media
├── 0084.media
├── 0095.media
├── 0105.media
└── 0116.media

• By default, .media files are sorted and then processed. The -e option can be specified to another string to process instead of media.

PRs and Issues

There is a shortened, commented version of the script inside chatGPTcomments folder. If you have any suggestions/features etc., send a PR.