diff --git a/acatcher/convert_audio.sh b/acatcher/convert_audio.sh
index 71accdb..fc0dab3 100755
--- a/acatcher/convert_audio.sh
+++ b/acatcher/convert_audio.sh
@@ -3,62 +3,134 @@
 #
 # use "play" command to play back audio
 
-# store location that this script is in
-D="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
-RAW_DIR="$D/audio/raw"
-COOKED_DIR="$D/audio/cooked"
-FLAC_DIR="$D/audio/cooked/flac"
-MP3_DIR="$D/audio/cooked/mp3"
+#SOURCE_DIR="$D/audio/raw"
+#OUTPUT_DIR="$D/audio/cooked"
 
-if [ "$1" = "-m" ]; then
-  ENCODE_TO_MP3=YES
+ENCODE_FLAC="NO"
+ENCODE_MP3="NO"
+FLAC_ARGS="-8"
+LAME_ARGS="--preset studio"
+
+while getopts ":s:o:fmF:M:h" opt; do
+  case $opt in 
+    s)
+      SOURCE_DIR="$OPTARG"
+      ;;
+    o)
+      OUTPUT_DIR="$OPTARG"
+      ;;
+    f)
+      ENCODE_FLAC="YES"
+      ;;
+    m)
+      ENCODE_MP3="YES"
+      ;;
+    h)
+      echo "Insert usage message here." >&2
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    \?)
+      echo "Error: invalid option \`-$OPTARG'" >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+    :)
+      echo "Error: option \`-$OPTARG' requires an argument" >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [ -z "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: source directory must be specified."
+  exit 1
 else
-  ENCODE_TO_MP3=NO
+  # make into an absolute path
+  SOURCE_DIR="`cd \"$SOURCE_DIR\"; pwd`"
+  if [ ! -d "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: source dir \`$SOURCE_DIR' does not exist." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
 fi
 
-cd "$RAW_DIR"
+if [ -z "$OUTPUT_DIR" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: output directory must be specified."
+  exit 1
+else
+  # make into an absolute path
+  OUTPUT_DIR="`cd \"$OUTPUT_DIR\"; pwd`"
+  if [ ! -d "$OUTPUT_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "ERROR: output dir \`$OUTPUT_DIR' does not exist." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+WAV_DIR="$OUTPUT_DIR/wav"
+FLAC_DIR="$OUTPUT_DIR/flac"
+MP3_DIR="$OUTPUT_DIR/mp3"
+
+echo "Source directory: $SOURCE_DIR"
+echo "Output directory: $OUTPUT_DIR"
+
+echo -n "Encoding FLAC? $ENCODE_FLAC"
+if [ "$ENCODE_FLAC" = "YES" ]; then
+  echo " (arguments: $FLAC_ARGS)"
+else
+  echo
+fi
+echo -n "Encoding MP3? $ENCODE_MP3"
+if [ "$ENCODE_MP3" = "YES" ]; then
+  echo " (arguments: $LAME_ARGS)"
+else
+  echo
+fi
+
+cd "$SOURCE_DIR"
 for DIR in *; do
-  if [ ! -d "$FLAC_DIR/$DIR" ]; then
+  if [ ! -d "$WAV_DIR" ]; then
+    mkdir -p "$WAV_DIR/$DIR"
+  fi
+  if [ "$ENCODE_FLAC" = "YES" -a ! -d "$FLAC_DIR/$DIR" ]; then
     mkdir -p "$FLAC_DIR/$DIR"
   fi
-  if [ "$ENCODE_TO_MP3" = "YES" ]; then
-      if [ ! -d "$MP3_DIR/$DIR" ]; then
-      mkdir -p "$MP3_DIR/$DIR"
-    fi
+  if [ "$ENCODE_MP3" = "YES" -a ! -d "$MP3_DIR/$DIR" ]; then
+    mkdir -p "$MP3_DIR/$DIR"
   fi
   cd "$DIR"
-  echo "working in $DIR"
+  echo "working in directory: $DIR"
   for INFILE in *.raw; do
-    echo "working on $INFILE"
+    echo "...working on file: $INFILE"
     FIX="`echo $INFILE | sed -e 's/^\[.*\] //g'`"
     BASENAME="`basename \"$FIX\" .raw`"
-    TEMP_OUTFILE="$BASENAME.wav"
-    echo "...converting to intermediate format $TEMP_OUTFILE"
-    #sox -r 44100 -e unsigned -b 8 -c 1 <RAW_FILE> <TARGET_FILE>
-    sox -r 22050 -e signed -b 16 -L -c 1 "$INFILE" "$TEMP_OUTFILE"
-    if [ -f "$FLAC_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.flac" -o -f "$MP3_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.mp3" ] ; then
+    RAWNAME="$BASENAME.raw"
+    if [ -f "$RAWNAME" ]; then
+      echo "......filename conflict detected, adding some randomness"
       FUDGE="$RANDOM"
-      FLAC_FILE="$FLAC_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME-$FUDGE.flac"
-      MP3_FILE="$MP3_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME-$FUDGE.mp3"
-    else
-      FLAC_FILE="$FLAC_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.flac"
-      MP3_FILE="$MP3_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.mp3"
+      BASENAME="$BASENAME-$FUDGE"
+      RAWNAME="$BASENAME-$FUDGE.raw"
     fi
-    if [ ! -f "$FLAC_FILE" ]; then
-      echo "...converting it to FLAC: $FLAC_FILE"
-      flac -s -8 "$TEMP_OUTFILE" -o "$FLAC_FILE" 
-    else
-      echo "...already converted"
-    fi
-    if [ "$ENCODE_TO_MP3" = "YES" ]; then
-      if [ ! -f "$MP3_FILE" ]; then
-        echo "...converting it to MP3: $MP3_FILE"
-        lame --quiet --preset studio "$TEMP_OUTFILE" "$MP3_FILE"
+    echo "......renaming to $RAWNAME"
+    mv "$INFILE" "$RAWNAME"
+    WAVNAME="$WAV_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.wav"
+    echo "......encoding to WAV: $BASENAME.wav"
+    sox -r 22050 -e signed -b 16 -L -c 1 "$RAWNAME" "$WAVNAME"
+    if [ "$ENCODE_FLAC" = "YES" ]; then
+      FLACNAME="$FLAC_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.flac"
+      if [ ! -f "$FLACNAME" ]; then
+        echo "......converting it to FLAC: $BASENAME.flac"
+        flac -s $FLAC_ARGS "$WAVNAME" -o "$FLACNAME" 
       else
-        echo "...already converted"
+        echo "......HUH? already converted?"
+      fi
+    fi
+    if [ "$ENCODE_MP3" = "YES" ]; then
+      MP3NAME="$MP3_DIR/$DIR/$BASENAME.mp3"
+      if [ ! -f "$MP3NAME" ]; then
+        echo "......converting it to MP3: $BASENAME.mp3"
+        lame --quiet $LAME_ARGS "$WAVNAME" "$MP3NAME"
+      else
+        echo "......HUH? already converted"
       fi
     fi
-    rm -f "$TEMP_OUTFILE"
   done
   cd ..
 done