Step 5: Organizing camera trap photos and videos

Camera trap media should be organized carefully as soon as SD cards are downloaded.

We recommend organizing all media within a single project folder, with folders for each Monitoring Session, and camera folders inside each Monitoring Session.

Take this project folder as an example:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/

Inside the project folder:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/
├── MS01/
├── MS02/
└── MS03/

Each Monitoring Session folder then contains a folder for every camera included in that session:

MS01/
├── LC1/
├── LC2/
└── TC5/

Camera folders should use the same camera ID recorded in the deployment data.

For example, the folder:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/MS01/LC1/

corresponds to:

monitoringSessionID: MS01
cameraID: LC1
deploymentID: MS01-LC1

Example folder structure

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/
│
├── MS01/
│   ├── LC1/
│   │   ├── IMG_0001.JPG
│   │   ├── IMG_0002.JPG
│   │   └── ...
│   │
│   └── LC2/
│       ├── IMG_0101.JPG
│       └── ...
│
├── MS02/
│   ├── LC1/
│   │   ├── IMG_0001.JPG
│   │   └── ...
│   │
│   └── TC5/
│       ├── IMG_0301.JPG
│       └── ...
│
└── MS03/
    └── TC8/
        └── ...

In this example:

• Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project is the project.
• MS01, MS02, and MS03 are Monitoring Sessions.
• LC1, LC2, TC5, and TC8 are cameras.
• MS01-LC1, MS01-LC2, MS02-LC1, MS02-TC5, and MS03-TC8 are deployments.

The same camera can therefore appear in several Monitoring Sessions without creating ambiguity:

MS01/LC1/ → deploymentID MS01-LC1
MS02/LC1/ → deploymentID MS02-LC1

Copying files from SD cards

Photos and videos can normally be copied directly into the appropriate camera folder.

For example:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/
└── MS01/
    └── LC1/
        ├── IMG_0001.JPG
        ├── IMG_0002.JPG
        └── IMG_0003.JPG

However, some cameras create multiple folders on the SD card.

If there are two or more folders containing media on a single SD card, preserve those folders exactly as they appear on the SD card instead of combining their contents.

For example:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/
└── MS01/
    └── LC1/
        ├── 100MEDIA/
        │   ├── IMG_0001.JPG
        │   └── ...
        │
        └── 101MEDIA/
            ├── IMG_0001.JPG
            └── ...

Do not combine duplicate camera folders

Many cameras name files using a sequence such as:

IMG_0001.JPG
IMG_0002.JPG
...
IMG_9999.JPG

After the camera reaches the end of the numbering sequence, it may create another folder on the SD card and begin using the same filenames again.

If the contents of these folders are combined, files can be overwritten or automatically renamed to filenames such as:

IMG_0001 (1).JPG

This creates serious problems later when determining whether images are duplicates or reconstructing where the original files came from.

When a camera creates multiple media folders, copy those folders into the camera folder without changing their internal structure or filenames.

What if a camera has two deployments in the same Monitoring Session?

The normal folder structure assumes that each camera has one deployment per Monitoring Session.

If a camera is retrieved and redeployed during the same Monitoring Session, create separate deployment folders so that media from the two deployments cannot be mixed.

For example:

Upper_Jatapu_Camera_Trap_Project/
└── MS01/
    └── LC1/
        ├── 01/
        │   └── ...
        └── 02/
            └── ...

These correspond to:

MS01-LC1-01
MS01-LC1-02

For most projects this additional level should not be necessary.