Python scripts to convert .tdms video files from mantis to .mp4

Installation

Open your anaconda prompt and use the following commands to create an environment to use the convert [or use a pre-existing one].

conda create -n tdmsconverter python=3.7

Once the environment is created activate it with conda activate tdmsconverter and install with:

pip install git+https://github.com/BrancoLab/tdmstovideo_converter.git

Don't forget to clone this repository somewhere.

All done!

Usage

Command line usage

In anaconda prompt with the environment activated, you can use it with:

tdmstovideo_converter  path_to_video path_to_metadata

And if unsure, get help with:

tdmstovideo_converter  -h

Single file

The simplest way to use the converter is with this command (in the anaconda prompot with tdmsconverter environemnt activated):

  cd path_to_where_this_repo_is_cloned
  python converter.py path_to_video path_to_metadata

converter.py takes two arguments: path_to_video should be the path to the video.tdms you need to convert while path_to_metadata should be the path to the metadata.tdms file produced by mantis.

If you want to specify the path where the video.mp4 should be saved you can use the -op argument. Otherwise the file will be saved as ../tdmsvideo.mp4.

Batch processing

You can use the converter to process multiple videos at once. The converter expects that your files are organised like so:

  folder
    subfolder1
        videoname.tdms
        metadataname.tdms
    subfolder2
        videoname.tdms
        metadataname.tdms
    ...

If that is the case, then you can use:

  cd path_to_where_this_repo_is_cloned
  python batch_converter.py path_to_folder videoname metadataname

If you wish you can pass the additional argument --dest-fld path_to_dest_folder to specify a folder where the videos will be saved. Alternative each video.mp4 file will be saved in its respective subfolder. The video.mp4 files will be saved as: ../subfoldername_videoname.mp4

Other

If you forget what the arguments to each script are you can always to something like: python converter.py -h to get a reminder.

For any issue/feature request get in touch or submit an issue.