A python script to loop through a directory's video files to create .mp4 files (using HandbrakeCLI)

create_mp4.py

#!/usr/bin/python
#
# A simple python script to convert a directory full of avi, mp4, and mkv to
# iPad compatible videos
#
# Copyright Leo Mendoza (2012), released as is.
#

import glob
import os
import re
import sys
import argparse

extensions = ['avi', 'mp4', 'mkv']
transcoder_options = ' --preset "iPad" --format "mp4"'

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Batch convert avi/mp4/mkv to mp4")
parser.add_argument("input_dir", action="store", help="Where to find the files")
parser.add_argument("--output_dir", dest="output_dir", action="store", default="", help="Where to output the files (if empty, defaults to input_dir)")
parser.add_argument("--hbcli", dest="hbcli", action="store", default="/Users/lmendoza/bin/HandBrakeCLI", help="HandbrakeCLI location")
parser.add_argument("--delete_old", dest="delete_old", action="store_true", help="Delete processed files")
args = parser.parse_args()

def main():
    transcoder = '%s %s' % (args.hbcli, transcoder_options)
    if not args.output_dir:
        args.output_dir = args.input_dir

    targets = []
    target_dirs = ['%s/*.%s' % (args.input_dir, ext) for ext in extensions]
    for t in [glob.glob(d) for d in target_dirs]:
        targets += t

    if len(targets) == 0:
        return

    for d in targets:
        basename = os.path.basename(d)
        if re.search('sample', basename):
            continue

        out_file = '%s%s.mp4' % (args.output_dir, os.path.splitext(basename)[0])
        print "---"
        print "Transcoding %s to %s" % (basename, out_file) 
        os.system('%s --input "%s" --output "%s" > /dev/null' % (transcoder, d, out_file))
        print "Completed %s!" % (out_file)

        if args.delete_old:
            print "Deleted %s" % d
            os.unlink(d)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()