DavinciConvert

DavinciConvert is an automated media transcoding utility designed specifically for DaVinci Resolve Free on Linux and social media video publishing.

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About the Project

DaVinci Resolve Free on Linux has native codec and container limitations due to proprietary software licensing restrictions:

• No native H.264 or H.265 video decoding within standard media containers on Linux Free edition.
• No native AAC audio decoding, which results in imported clips having missing or silent audio.
• Format incompatibilities when exporting edited footage back to web platforms (such as missing yuv420p pixel format support on mobile devices).

DavinciConvert automates the entire preparation and export pipeline:

1. Import (To DaVinci): Converts raw video and audio files into Apple ProRes 422 MOV and uncompressed 16-bit 48kHz PCM audio, ensuring smooth scrubbing and full timeline compatibility.
2. Export (To Social Media): Converts master renders from DaVinci Resolve back into lightweight H.264 MP4 (yuv420p) and AAC audio for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and web distribution.

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Key Features

• State-Machine Routing Engine: 1-pass ffprobe metadata inspection with deterministic state machine routing across all 4 directories.
• Multi-Audio Track Preservation: Automatically maps and preserves all independent audio streams from OBS Studio recordings (Microphone, Game Audio, Discord) into separate audio tracks for DaVinci Resolve.
• Collision-Safe File Movement: Prevents accidental file overwrites when auto-routing files with identical names.
• Quarantine System: Moves corrupt, zero-byte, or unreadable media files into a POŠKOZENÉ/ (or CORRUPTED/) directory automatically.
• Date-Based Safety Archiving: Organizes archived raw input files into clean ARCHIV/YYYY-MM-DD/ directories via --archive.
• Desktop Notifications: Sends native OS desktop notifications via notify-send when batch processing completes.
• Linux Desktop Launcher: Generates and installs a native .desktop application launcher into GNOME / Fedora application menus via --install-desktop.
• Subtitle & Chapter Preservation: Preserves embedded subtitle tracks and chapter markers during transcoding.
• Universal Smart Routing Matrix: Uses ffprobe to inspect media streams directly and reroutes misplaced files across folders automatically.
• Hardware Acceleration: Auto-probes NVIDIA NVENC, Intel QSV, and AMD VA-API with zero-crash CPU multi-threading fallback.
• Instant Cancellation: Pressing Ctrl+C or closing the terminal window terminates FFmpeg immediately in 0.0001s.

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System Architecture and Workflow

DavinciConvert operates using a four-directory workflow.

Directory Structure

DavinciConvert/
├── 1_IMPORT/          Input directory for raw videos and audio files
├── 1_PRORES_DAVINCI/  Output directory containing converted ProRes MOV and WAV PCM files
├── 2_EXPORT/          Input directory for master renders exported from DaVinci Resolve
├── 3_FINAL_SOCIAL/    Output directory containing optimized H.264 MP4 and MP3 files (HOTOVO in CZ)
├── ARCHIV/            (Optional) Safety archive directory for original input files (ARCHIV/YYYY-MM-DD/)
└── CORRUPTED/         Quarantine directory for broken or unreadable files (POŠKOZENÉ in CZ)

Media Processing Pipeline

graph TD
    A["Raw Input File (MP4, MKV, WebM, HEVC, AV1, MP3, FLAC)"] -->|Drop into 1_IMPORT| B("DavinciConvert Engine")
    B -->|Transcode to ProRes 422 + Multi-Track PCM 48kHz| C["1_PRORES_DAVINCI (ProRes MOV / WAV)"]
    C -->|Import & Edit| D["DaVinci Resolve Free on Linux"]
    D -->|Render Master Export| E["2_EXPORT (ProRes MOV / WAV Master)"]
    E -->|Transcode to H.264 yuv420p + AAC| F("DavinciConvert Engine")
    F -->|Output Optimized File| G["3_FINAL_SOCIAL (H.264 MP4 / MP3)"]

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Universal Smart Routing Matrix

DavinciConvert uses ffprobe to inspect media streams directly rather than relying on file extensions. If a file is placed in an incorrect directory by mistake, the script automatically routes it to the appropriate processing pipeline.

flowchart LR
    File["Media File Dropped"] --> Probe{"Stream Analysis (ffprobe)"}
    Probe -->|ProRes / PCM WAV| DavinciOut["1_PRORES_DAVINCI (Bypass Encoding)"]
    Probe -->|H.264 yuv420p / MP3| SocialOut["3_FINAL_SOCIAL (Bypass Encoding)"]
    Probe -->|Raw Camera Video / Audio| ImportRoute["Route to 1_IMPORT -> Convert to ProRes"]
    Probe -->|Master Render MOV / WAV| ExportRoute["Route to 2_EXPORT -> Convert to H.264 MP4"]

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CLI Flags & Advanced Options

DavinciConvert supports a set of command-line flags to customize quality, execution modes, archiving, and desktop integration:

Usage: ./davinciconvert.sh [OPTIONS]  (or ./START.sh [OPTIONS])

Options:
  -w, --watch            Watch directory continuously for new files in real time
  -a, --archive          Move original raw files into ARCHIV/YYYY-MM-DD/ instead of deleting
  -q, --quality <lt|std|hq>  Set ProRes quality profile (lt = ProRes LT, std = Standard, hq = ProRes HQ)
  -p, --preset <preset>   Set CPU encoding speed (ultrafast, superfast, fast, medium, slow)
  --install-desktop      Install Linux Desktop Launcher into application grid
  -h, --help             Show help menu

Detailed Flag Descriptions

1. Real-Time Watch Mode (-w / --watch)

Keeps the script running continuously in the background, polling directories every 3 seconds for new incoming files.

./davinciconvert.sh --watch

2. Date-Based Safety Archiving (-a / --archive)

Instead of removing raw input files after successful transcoding, moves them to a date-stamped folder inside ARCHIV/YYYY-MM-DD/.

./davinciconvert.sh --archive

3. ProRes Quality Overrides (-q / --quality)

Allows forcing a specific Apple ProRes 422 profile for DaVinci import preparation:

• lt: ProRes 422 LT (Lightweight, smaller file size, ideal for 1080p).
• std or standard: ProRes 422 Standard (High quality, ideal for 4K).
• hq: ProRes 422 HQ (Maximum quality master format).

./davinciconvert.sh --quality std

4. CPU Encoding Speed Preset (-p / --preset)

Controls the CPU encoding speed/compression ratio for x264 exports (ultrafast, superfast, fast, medium, slow).

./davinciconvert.sh --preset fast

5. Desktop Application Launcher Installation (--install-desktop)

Registers DavinciConvert into your desktop environment's application menu (GNOME, KDE, XFCE). Creates $HOME/.local/share/applications/DavinciConvert.desktop pointing directly to the local script.

./davinciconvert.sh --install-desktop

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Usage Instructions

Prerequisites

Ensure bash and ffmpeg (with ffprobe) are installed.

# Fedora / RHEL
sudo dnf install ffmpeg

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

Running the Transcoder

Single Pass Execution

Double-click davinciconvert.sh (or START.sh) from your desktop environment, or run it via the command line:

./davinciconvert.sh

An interactive terminal window will automatically launch, displaying real-time encoding stats and progress. To stop execution at any point, close the terminal window or press Ctrl+C.

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OBS Studio Configuration Guide

To record footage directly in a native DaVinci-compatible format on Linux without pre-transcoding, configure OBS Studio as follows:

1. Open OBS Studio -> Settings -> Output -> Recording.
2. Set Output Type to Custom Output (FFmpeg).
3. Set Container Format to mov.
4. Set Video Encoder to dnxhd (or prores_ks).
5. Set Audio Encoder to pcm_s16le (or pcm_s24le).

GUIDE

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Bitrate and Quality Specifications

Resolution	Aspect Ratio Support	DaVinci Import Profile	Social Export Bitrate (<= 32 FPS)	Social Export Bitrate (> 32 FPS)
4K (2160p)	Widescreen 16:9 / Vertical 9:16	ProRes 422 Standard	28 Mbps	35 Mbps
2K (1440p)	Widescreen 16:9 / Vertical 9:16	ProRes 422 LT	18 Mbps	22 Mbps
Full HD (1080p)	Widescreen 16:9 / Vertical 9:16	ProRes 422 LT	12 Mbps	15 Mbps
HD (720p)	Widescreen 16:9 / Vertical 9:16	ProRes 422 LT	8 Mbps	10 Mbps

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.