Media File Pre-Processing System

A modular system for pre-processing media files from various sources, including DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone, Sony A7 IV camera, and DJI RC Pro controller screen recordings.

Overview

This system analyzes input files using exiftool to extract metadata, renames files, and organizes them in a structured way to help with post-processing.

Features

• Analyzes media files from different sources
• Extracts metadata and creation timestamps
• Renames files based on configurable patterns
• Organizes files into photos/YYYY/YYYY-MM/YYYY-MM-DD and videos/YYYY/YYYY-MM/YYYY-MM-DD folder structure
• Handles various file types (JPEG, RAW, MP4)
• Provides source-specific processing for different devices
• Detects and skips previously processed files
• Special handling for Sony ARW (RAW) files with proper timestamp extraction

Supported Sources

• DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone (photos and videos)
• Sony A7 IV digital camera (photos and videos)
• DJI RC Pro controller (screen recordings)

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/preprocess-input-media.git
   cd preprocess-input-media

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Ensure exiftool is installed on your system.

Usage

The system provides two ways to run the preprocessing:

Command Line Interface

Use the process_media.py script to process files with command-line options:

# Basic usage with default parameters
./process_media.py

# Specify custom input and output directories
./process_media.py --input /path/to/media --output /path/to/output

# Process recursively with timezone specification
./process_media.py --input /path/to/media --output /path/to/output --recursive --timezone UTC

# Dry run to show what would be done without processing
./process_media.py --dry-run

# Remove files after successful processing
./process_media.py --input /path/to/media --output /path/to/output --remove-processed

Alternative Usage

You can also use the Python module directly:

python -m src.main --input /path/to/input/directory --output /path/to/output/directory

Command Line Parameters

Parameter	Short	Description
--input	-i	Input directory containing media files
--output	-o	Output directory for processed files
--timezone	-tz	Timezone to use for timestamps (default: system local timezone)
--recursive	-r	Recursively process files in subdirectories
--dry-run		Show what would be done without actually processing files
--remove-processed		Remove successfully processed files from the input directory

Directory Structure

The system organizes processed files into the following structure:

output/
├── photos/             # All image files (for use with Luminar Neo)
│   ├── 2025/
│   │   └── 2025-06/
│   │       └── 2025-06-04/
│   │           └── 2025-06-04-153000-DJI-Mavic3Pro-24mm.jpg
├── videos/             # All video files (for use with DaVinci Resolve)
    ├── 2025/
    │   └── 2025-06/
    │       └── 2025-06-04/
    │           └── 2025-06-04-153000-4K-60p-01m24s-DJI-Mavic3Pro.mp4

This separation allows you to:

1. Point Luminar Neo directly to the photos directory without seeing any video files
2. Point DaVinci Resolve to the videos directory for your video editing workflow
3. Maintain timestamp-based organization within each media type

Project Structure

preprocess-input-media/
├── process_media.py    # Main command-line entry point
├── src/
│   ├── core/           # Core system components
│   ├── processors/     # File type specific processors
│   ├── sources/        # Source specific handlers
│   └── utils/          # Utility functions for file handling, timestamps, etc.
├── tests/              # Test suite
│   └── data/           # Test data files
├── samples/            # Sample files from different sources
├── venv/               # Virtual environment
├── requirements.txt    # Project dependencies
└── README.md           # This file

License

MIT License

Live command line example

cd preprocess-input-media
source venv/bin/activate                                     
python3 process_media.py -i /path/to/input/directory -o /path/to/output/directory --remove-processed

Test run example command

source venv/bin/activate && python process_media.py --input samples --output output --dry-run