Thermal Image Converter

Original Author: Alexis Suero (alexis.esmb@gmail.com).
Enhancements: Philipp Tandler (philipp.tandler@protonmail.ch).

This repository contains a Python script that converts thermal JPEG images captured by DJI drones into TIFF format containing a single layer with temperature values in Celsius. The converted images are saved in the "output_images" folder.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
• Example
• Author

Requirements

• DJI Thermal SDK (not included in repository)
• exiftool (included in the repository, consider downloading the latest version)
• Python 3.11.x or later
• The following Python libraries:
  • rasterio
  • dji_thermal_sdk
  • tqdm

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/philipptandler/thermal-image-converter-djiSDK.git
   cd thermal-image-converter-djiSDK

2. Create a virtual environment:

   • Create a new environment with Python 3.12.4 or later:

    conda create --name thermConv python=3.12.4

3. Install the required Python libraries:

   • Install dji_thermal_sdk package:

    pip install dji_thermal_sdk

   • Install rasterio package:

    pip install rasterio

   • Install tqdm package:

    pip install tqdm

4. Make sure ExifTool is available to your computer:

   • You can download exiftool from here (recommended) or use the zipped version in tools\exiftool-13.40_64 as fallback. After download or extraction, it should look like this:

   exiftool-version_64/
   ├── exiftool_files/
   ├── exiftool.exe (you might have to remane it from exiftool(-k).exe to exiftool.exe)
   └── README.txt
   

   • You can place exiftool either in a general location of your computer (recommended) or in the root directory of the repository:

     • To run exiftool from a general location, place place the exiftool folder in a location such as C:\Users\username\exiftool-version_64 or (if you have admin permissions) in your program files C:\Program Files\exiftool-version_64. Make sure to add the exiftool folder in your path variables (Windows Key -> Edit environment variables -> Path -> Edit, where you add the location, e.g. %USERPROFILE%\exiftool-version_64 or C:\Program Files\exiftool-version_64).

     • Alternatively, you can place the exiftool_files/ folder and the exiftool.exe directly in the root directory of the repository. Be aware that this will add roughly 40 MB storage space to your repository. You can avoid this by adjusting the .gitignore file to exclude exiftool_files/* and exiftool.exe*.

   • To test the installation, run from the project root (or anywhere really) exiftool+Enter, which should display the documentation of exiftool. Press q to exit.

   • To see where the exiftool is located, use:

   where exiftool

5. Download DJI Thermal SDK and place its files in dji_thermal_sdk folder:

   • You can download DJI Thermal SDK from here.

   • dji_thermal_sdk folder should look like:

     dji_thermal_sdk/
     ├── dataset/
     ├── doc/
     ├── sample/
     ├── tsdk-core/
     ├── utility/
     ├── History.txt
     ├── License.txt
     └── Readme.md
     

     Place it in the root directory.

6. Check your setup

   • Your root directory should look similar to this:

     thermal-image-converter-djiSDK/
     ├── .git/
     ├── dji_thermal_sdk/
     ├── (exiftool_files/, if you decide to work with local exiftool)
     ├── tools/
     ├── .gitignore
     ├── dji_thermal_converter.py
     ├── (exiftool.exe, if you decide to work with local exiftool)
     ├── LICENSE
     ├── Readme.md
     ├── sort_images.py
     └── wrapper.py
     

   • To test the exiftool installation, run from the project root:

   exiftool

   • This should display the documentation of exiftool. Press q to exit.

Usage

This is the most basic workflow:

1. Prepare your input images:

   • Place all thermal JPEG images (with _T.JPG suffix) in the input_images folder, create if required.

2. Run the script:

   python dji_thermal_converter.py

3. Find your converted images:

   • The converted TIFF images will be saved in the output_images folder.

You can also specify the input directory:

1. Run the script:

   python dji_thermal_converter.py your/directory/with/JPEGfiles

2. Find your converted images:

   • The converted TIFF images will be saved in the your/directory/with/JPEGfiles/output_images folder.

As well as specify an input and output directory:

1. Run the script:

   python dji_thermal_converter.py your/directory/with/JPEGfiles your/directory/for/the/outputfiles

2. Find your converted images:

   • The converted TIFF images will be saved in the your/directory/for/the/outputfiles folder.

If you have many directories to process, you can use the wrapper.py script and add the directories you want to batch process:

1. Run the script:

   python wrapper.py "some/particular/input/directory/with/JPEGfiles" "some/other/input/directory/with/JPEGfiles" "some/third/input/directory/with/JPEGfiles"

2. Find your converted images:

   • The converted TIFF images will be saved in the outputfiles folder for each speciefied directory.

The script sort_images.py is useful when you have a folder with hundreds of both Thermal JPG files (*_T.JPG) and Wide angle RGB files (*_W.JPG) and you want to sort them in separate folders:

1. Run the script:

   python sort_images.py path\to\folder\you\want\to\sort

Example

Here's an example of how to use the script:

1. Place your thermal JPEG images in the input_images folder:

   input_images/
   ├── image1_T.JPG
   ├── image2_T.JPG
   └── image3_T.JPG
   

2. Run the script:

   python dji_thermal_converter.py

3. Check the output_images folder for the converted TIFF images:

   output_images/
   ├── image1.tif
   ├── image2.tif
   └── image3.tif
   

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.