makedng(1)

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about makedng(1) — it's from the General Commands Manual and it's genuinely one of the most lowkey useful little tools out there. 💖

✨ NAME ✨

makedng — pack raw sensor data into a dng file with metadata 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

makedng [OPTIONS] input-file output-file

OPTIONS := { -w width | -h height | -p pixfmt | -m make,model | -s
software | -o orientation | -n r,g,b | -b r,g,b | -e program }

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the vibe: it reads your raw sensor data from a file, and it generates a DNG 1.4 compliant file with all the metadata you need to actually render that file correctly. That's it. That's the whole job. And it does it flawlessly. 💅

---

💜 OPTIONS 💜

• -w width, -h height, --width width, --height height — sets the width and height of your source data. This is a required option, no skipping it bestie.
• -p pixelfmt, --pixfmt pixelfmt — sets the pixelformat for the source data. It takes a V4L2 fourcc code, or the V4L constant name like "RGGB" and "SRGGB8". Also required. Yeah. Both of them. Required required.
• -m make,model, --model make,model — sets the camera Make and Model as a comma separated string. 🎀
• -s software, --software software — sets the name of the camera software that was used to take the picture.
• -o orientation, --orientation orientation — sets the orientation of the image data, as a number from 1-8 straight out of the DNG specification.
• -c dcp-file, --calibration dcp-file — loads a DCP calibration file and appends the color profile onto the final DNG. glow up unlocked ✨
• -n red,green,blue, --neutral red,green,blue — sets the neutral whitepoint for the picture as the 3 floating point gain values.
• -b red,green,blue, --balance red,green,blue — sets the analog sensor gain for the three color channels, as three comma separated floats.
• -e program, --program program — sets the exposure program in the EXIF data, using one of the program numbers from the DNG spec.
• -t seconds, --exposure seconds — sets the exposure time for the picture in seconds (eg. 0.01 for 1/100).
• -i iso-speed, --iso iso-speed — sets the ISO speed rating for the picture.
• -f fnumber, --fnumber fnumber — sets the aperture size, aka the f-number, of the picture (2.2 for f/2.2).
• -l focal-length,crop-factor | -l focal-length, --focal-length len,crop, --focal-length len — sets the focal length for the lens. And listen: if you don't supply a crop factor for the system, it just assumes a 35mm full-frame sensor. iykyk.

---

🌈 PIXEL FORMATS 🌈

The pixel format argument accepts the following values:

💫 8-bit bayer formatted data, this matches with MIPI RAW8:

• RGGB, SRGGB8: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• GRBG, SGRBG8: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• GBRG, SGBRG8: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• BGGR, SBGGR8: BG,GR bayer pixel data

💫 10-bit bayer formatted data. transmitted as 16-bit format in 8 bytes:

• RG10, SRGGB10: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• BA10, SGRBG10: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• GB10, SGBRG10: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• BG10, SBGGR10: BG,GR bayer pixel data

💫 10-bit bayer formatted data packed into 5 bytes, this matches with MIPI RAW10:

• pRAA, SRGGB10P: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• pgAA, SGRBG10P: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• pGAA, SGBRG10P: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• pBAA, SBGGR10P: BG,GR bayer pixel data

💫 12-bit bayer formatted data, transmitted as 16-bit format in 8 bytes:

• RG12, SRGGB12: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• BA12, SGRBG12: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• GB12, SGBRG12: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• BG12, SBGGR12: BG,GR bayer pixel data

💫 12-bit bayer formatted data packed into 6 bytes, this matches with MIPI RAW12:

• pRCC, SRGGB12P: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• pgCC, SGRBG12P: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• pGCC, SGBRG12P: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• pBCC, SBGGR12P: BG,GR bayer pixel data

💫 16-bit bayer formatted data:

• RG16, SRGGB16: RG,GB bayer pixel data
• GR16, SGBRG16: GR,BG bayer pixel data
• GB16, SGBRG16: GB,RG bayer pixel data
• BYR2, SBGGR16: BG,GR bayer pixel data

---

👑 EXPOSURE PROGRAMS 👑

The defined exposure programs in the DNG specification are:

• 0: Undefined exposure program (default)
• 1: Full manual program
• 2: Full auto program
• 3: Aperture priority
• 4: Shutter priority
• 5: Creative program
• 6: Action program (fast shutter)
• 7: Portrait program (Large aperture)
• 8: Landscape program (Small aperture)

ok that's literally the whole page bestie, go make some DNGs, you got this 🫶

---

makedng 💖 version stamped 2025-11-11, and yeah the footer says makedng(1) again because it's iconic like that. mwah 💋 periodt.