MotionExtract

A command-line tool to split Google Motion Photos into separate photo and video files.

What are Motion Photos?

Motion Photos (on Google Pixel phones) store a short video clip inside a JPG file. This tool extracts them into separate files.

Usage

Process a folder

# Windows
MotionExtract "C:\Users\YourName\Pictures\MotionPhotos"

# Linux/macOS
./MotionExtract "/home/user/Pictures/MotionPhotos"

Specify output directory

# Use --output or -o to specify where to save extracted files
MotionExtract "C:\Photos" --output "D:\Extracted"

# Short form
MotionExtract "C:\Photos" -o "D:\Extracted"

# Without --output, files are saved to <source-directory>/output (default)

Interactive mode

# Run without arguments to be prompted for a directory
MotionExtract

Get help

MotionExtract --help
# or
MotionExtract -h

Check version

MotionExtract --version
# or
MotionExtract -v

Output

Files are saved to an output subdirectory:

• <filename>_photo.jpg - The still photo
• <filename>_video.mp4 - The video clip

Example:

Input:  C:\Photos\PXL_20220613_003727701.MP.jpg
Output: C:\Photos\output\PXL_20220613_003727701.MP_photo.jpg
        C:\Photos\output\PXL_20220613_003727701.MP_video.mp4

Sample Output

Scanning for files in: C:\Photos
Found 15 file(s)
Output directory: C:\Photos\output

[1/15] IMG_1234.bmp... ⚠ Skipped (not JPG)
[2/15] PXL_20220613_003727701.MP.jpg... ✓
[3/15] PXL_20220614_120000123.MP.jpg... ✓
...

Summary:
  Total processed: 15
  Extracted: 12
  Skipped: 3

Exit Codes

• 0 - Success (all files processed without errors)
• 1 - Errors occurred during processing

Requirements

• .NET 8.0 SDK or runtime

Installation

# Build
dotnet build -c Release

# Executable will be in: src/MotionExtract/bin/Release/net8.0/

Developer Commands

# Run tests
dotnet test

# Run application
dotnet run --project src/MotionExtract -- "C:\path\to\photos"

# Format code
dotnet format

# Clean
dotnet clean

How It Works

Searches for the MP4 ftyp signature and JPG end marker (FF D9) to split the embedded files.

Based on this solution.