DNG Sequence Converter

A Bash script for automated batch conversion of DNG photo sequences to PNG and ProRes video. Designed for processing drone photography and timelapse sequences into professional video formats.

Features

• Automated processing of DNG sequences in multiple subdirectories
• High-quality DNG to PNG conversion using dcraw
• Professional ProRes 422 HQ video output
• Maintains 4K resolution (3840x2160)
• Organized output structure with separate PNG and ProRes directories
• 23.976 fps video output

Prerequisites

The script requires the following tools to be installed:

• dcraw (for DNG conversion)
• ffmpeg (with ProRes support)
• Basic Unix tools (find, basename)

Installation of Dependencies

For Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dcraw ffmpeg

For macOS (using Homebrew):

brew install dcraw ffmpeg

Usage

1. Make the script executable:

chmod +x dng_sequence_converter.sh

2. Edit the BASE_DIR variable in the script to point to your source directory:

BASE_DIR="/path/to/your/dng/sequences"

3. Run the script:

./dng_sequence_converter.sh

Directory Structure

The script expects and creates the following directory structure:

BASE_DIR/
├── SEQUENCE_1/
│   ├── *.dng files
│   ├── png/
│   │   └── converted png files
│   └── prores/
│       └── output.mov
├── SEQUENCE_2/
│   ├── *.dng files
│   ├── png/
│   │   └── converted png files
│   └── prores/
│       └── output.mov

Configuration

Default settings in the script:

• Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K)
• Frame Rate: 23.976 fps (24000/1001)
• ProRes Profile: HQ (profile:v 3)
• Pixel Format: YUV422 10-bit (yuv422p10le)
• dcraw Quality: High (q 3)

Customization

To modify the output settings, adjust the following parameters in the script:

• Frame rate: Change -framerate 24000/1001
• Resolution: Modify -s 3840x2160
• ProRes profile: Adjust -profile:v 3
• PNG conversion quality: Edit dcraw -q 3

Error Handling

The script creates required directories automatically. If a directory already exists, it will use the existing directory without overwriting it.

Performance Considerations

• Processing large DNG sequences requires significant disk space for PNG intermediates
• ProRes encoding is CPU-intensive
• Consider available disk space before processing large sequences

Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository and submit pull requests for any improvements.

Acknowledgments

• dcraw for high-quality RAW conversion
• FFmpeg for professional video encoding capabilities