DJI Drone Telemetry Overlay Scripts

Scripts to overlay telemetry from DJI SRT files (e.g. DJI Neo 2) onto drone video as a green HUD burn-in.

Prerequisites

• Python 3 (standard library for HUD/export; optional folium for flight map)
• FFmpeg (with libx264, libass, AAC support)

Setup

Optional but recommended: use a virtual environment so the flight-map script can install folium without touching the system Python.

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Linux/macOS
# or:  venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows

pip install -r requirements.txt

(requirements.txt only adds folium for srt_to_map.py; the HUD and CSV scripts need no extra packages.)

Input Files and Base Name or Directory

You pass either a base name or a directory (no default):

• Base name (e.g. DJI_20260217162018_0009_D): the scripts append .srt, .mp4, .m4a for inputs and create BASE_HUD.ass and BASE_HUD.mp4.
• Directory: the scripts look in that directory for one file with extension .srt, one with .mp4, and one with .m4a. The three files must share the same base name (e.g. DJI_20260217162018_0009_D.srt, .mp4, .m4a). Extensions are matched case-insensitively (.srt/.SRT, etc.). Use --no-audio to skip the .m4a requirement and use audio from the MP4 instead.

Extension	Used for
.srt	Telemetry input (per-frame GPS, orientation, exposure, etc.)
.mp4	Video input and HUD output
.m4a	Audio input (optional with --no-audio; uses MP4 audio when skipped)

Example with base name DJI_20260217162018_0009_D:

• Inputs: DJI_20260217162018_0009_D.srt, .mp4, .m4a
• Outputs: DJI_20260217162018_0009_D_HUD.ass, DJI_20260217162018_0009_D_HUD.mp4

Example with directory: ./render_hud.sh /path/to/my_clips uses the single .srt in that folder to get the stem, then expects matching .mp4 and .m4a there.

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Green HUD Overlay

Burns a green, text-based HUD into the video (timestamp, position, altitude, speed, climb, attitude, heading).

Quick start

# Make the script executable once
chmod +x render_hud.sh

# Base name (scripts append .srt, .mp4, .m4a)
./render_hud.sh DJI_20260217162018_0009_D

# Or a directory that contains one .srt, .mp4, .m4a with the same stem
./render_hud.sh /path/to/clips (e.g. ./render_hud.sh ./altitude_test)

# Imperial (feet, mph)
./render_hud.sh DJI_20260217162018_0009_D --imperial
# or
./render_hud.sh /path/to/clips -i

# Skip external .m4a and use MP4 audio (when MP4 already has audio)
./render_hud.sh DJI_20260217162018_0009_D --no-audio
# or
./render_hud.sh /path/to/clips -n

Output: BASE_HUD.mp4 (e.g. DJI_20260217162018_0009_D_HUD.mp4).

HUD contents

• Time (seconds to one decimal)
• Latitude, longitude; relative N/E from start (feet or meters)
• Altitude (MSL) and AGL (above ground level)
• Camera: shutter, f-number, ISO
• Speed (horizontal, smoothed) and climb rate (vertical speed, smoothed)
• Roll, pitch, heading (0–360°)

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Flight path map

Creates an interactive HTML map of the flight from the SRT’s GPS track (OpenStreetMap + optional satellite layer). Requires the venv and pip install -r requirements.txt (folium).

Quick start

source venv/bin/activate   # or venv\Scripts\activate on Windows

python srt_to_map.py altitude_test/DJI_20260217162018_0009_D
# → altitude_test/DJI_20260217162018_0009_D_flight_map.html

# Custom output path
python srt_to_map.py BASE -O my_flight.html

# Long flights: use every 30th point (~1 per second at 30 fps)
python srt_to_map.py BASE --downsample 30

Open the .html file in a browser (double-click, or File → Open file in Chrome).

Map contents

• Blue line – flight path
• Green marker – start
• Red marker – end
• Layers – switch in the top-right between OpenStreetMap (streets) and Satellite (Esri World Imagery)

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Summary

All commands take BASE_OR_DIR: base name (scripts append .srt, .mp4, .m4a) or a directory that contains one .srt, one .mp4, and one .m4a with the same stem.

Goal	Command
HUD video (metric)	./render_hud.sh BASE_OR_DIR
HUD video (imperial)	./render_hud.sh BASE_OR_DIR --imperial
HUD video (MP4 audio only, no .m4a)	./render_hud.sh BASE_OR_DIR --no-audio
Flight path map (OSM + satellite HTML)	python srt_to_map.py BASE_OR_DIR (requires venv + folium, see Setup)