Creating Timelapse

[Ironheadchop]

Hello all, I am wanting to make take timelapse video/pictures.

From reading it looks like i could do it several ways but not sure on what the easiest/best way to go about it is. Going to be having some activity going on near one of my cameras and would like to document it through timelapse pictures and video.

 

[TonyR]

@sdkid , can you chime in here? Your timelapse videos with BI are always good looking, IMO.

 

[Alaska Country]

Have used Blue Iris to generate the still images and then a free program to combine into an MP4.

Prior to going into the 'how to', are you using BI?

 

[Ironheadchop]

Have used Blue Iris to generate the still images and then a free program to combine into an MP4.

Prior to going into the 'how to', are you using BI?

I am using BI yes.

 

[Alaska Country]

BI is a plus.

The overall process is to use BI to generate the still images from your selected camera.

1) In BI GIU, click on the camera of interest.

2) In the menu that pops up click on "Camera Settings".

3) In the "Show Camera" box select "Record".

4) Check the box for "JPEG".

5) In the next box over from "JPEG" select "Continuous".

6) The next box will be listed as m:ss.s. For one image every 30 seconds the completed box should be 0:30.0. Change as needed.

7) Under "Folder" place images in desired location. Usually on your non SSD drive. My setup uses the "Stored" folder as it is not being used for anything else.

8) For "Quality" like to have a file size of about 1 meg or so depending on what final output quality is desired. Overall image file size will dependent on camera and lighting conditions. On this end for my camera this was set at 90%. Adjust as needed.

9) When finished click "OK" at the bottom of the form.



Also check the properties of the "Stored" folder to make sure that it is NOT set to auto delete, etc. (Gear icon > Storage > Stored) if using the "Stored" folder.

Set "Limit Size", "Limit Clip Age", "Delete" "Recycle". etc as needed. Then "OK"

When all of the images are captured convert into a MP4 movie using the free "Shutter Encoder" program.

Shutter Encoder free professional video|audio|image converter

Open source software without any restriction - converter all formats professionals codecs and standards

www.shutterencoder.com

 

[Alaska Country]

Here is an example of a timelapse over an 8 hour period condensed to 29 seconds to demonstrate the final result. This is using BI to take the images a Dahua camera and Shutter Encoder to produce the MP4.

View attachment timelapse.mp4














It generally takes longer to transfer the files from BI to the office computer using a thumb drive than it takes to encode the video. Encode times can be in the range of 10 seconds to 1 minute depending on settings, number of images, quality and computer.

 

[Ironheadchop]

Here is an example of a timelapse over an 8 hour period condensed to 29 seconds to demonstrate the final result. This is using BI to take the images a Dahua camera and Shutter Encoder to produce the MP4.

View attachment 182923














It generally takes longer to transfer the files from BI to the office computer using a thumb drive than it takes to encode the video. Encode times can be in the range of 10 seconds to 1 minute depending on settings, number of images, quality and computer.

How many seconds or minutes per picture was that video?

 

[Alaska Country]

This one was most likely taken at 10 second intervals using BI for 1200 to 1800 images. The fps is settable (Shutter Encoder) and for this sequence could be anywhere from 20 to 150 fps.

It is best to try various settings, and adjust as needed to fit your requirements as it depends on your overall goals for the timelapse.

 

[Alaska Country]

From the Shutter Encoder GUI.



The frame rate is set at 18 fps.

 

[Swampledge]

The easiest/best way might depend on how long a period of time you want to condense. It is possible to do it in the BI clip export GUI directly if you have video already captured in a .bvr file.

 

[Ironheadchop]

BI is a plus.

The overall process is to use BI to generate the still images from your selected camera.

1) In BI GIU, click on the camera of interest.

2) In the menu that pops up click on "Camera Settings".

3) In the "Show Camera" box select "Record".

4) Check the box for "JPEG".

5) In the next box over from "JPEG" select "Continuous".

6) The next box will be listed as m:ss.s. For one image every 30 seconds the completed box should be 0:30.0. Change as needed.

7) Under "Folder" place images in desired location. Usually on your non SSD drive. My setup uses the "Stored" folder as it is not being used for anything else.

8) For "Quality" like to have a file size of about 1 meg or so depending on what final output quality is desired. Overall image file size will dependent on camera and lighting conditions. On this end for my camera this was set at 90%. Adjust as needed.

9) When finished click "OK" at the bottom of the form.

View attachment 182920

Also check the properties of the "Stored" folder to make sure that it is NOT set to auto delete, etc. (Gear icon > Storage > Stored) if using the "Stored" folder.

Set "Limit Size", "Limit Clip Age", "Delete" "Recycle". etc as needed. Then "OK"

When all of the images are captured convert into a MP4 movie using the free "Shutter Encoder" program.

Shutter Encoder free professional video|audio|image converter

Open source software without any restriction - converter all formats professionals codecs and standards

www.shutterencoder.com

So if i set one of my cams up like that i would be missing out on video coverage of the area. Could i not clone one of my cameras so that it just snaps jpegs?

 

[Ironheadchop]

The easiest/best way might depend on how long a period of time you want to condense. It is possible to do it in the BI clip export GUI directly if you have video already captured in a .bvr file.

Where is the option to export as a timelapse?

 

[TonyR]

Could i not clone one of my cameras so that it just snaps jpegs?

yes

 

[Alaska Country]

So if i set one of my cams up like that i would be missing out on video coverage of the area. Could i not clone one of my cameras so that it just snaps jpegs?

No need to clone the camera as best I can tell.

My setup is doing both video coverage plus JPEGs at the same time without a cloned camera. The video BVR files are placed in the "New" folder with the JPEG's placed in the "Stored" folder. However, one can use any folder for the JPEG files. But since "Stored" was not being used it was the perfect place for my needs as it uses the same hard drive that stores all of the video files from Blue Iris.

If using Shutter Encoder, then just drop the entire folder into that program for conversion to an MP4. Then setup as needed. However, I like to make a copy of the JPEG files just in case.

 

[Swampledge]

Where is the option to export as a timelapse?

Just check the box when you export

 

[gwminor48]

BI is a plus.

The overall process is to use BI to generate the still images from your selected camera.

1) In BI GIU, click on the camera of interest.

2) In the menu that pops up click on "Camera Settings".

3) In the "Show Camera" box select "Record".

4) Check the box for "JPEG".

5) In the next box over from "JPEG" select "Continuous".

6) The next box will be listed as m:ss.s. For one image every 30 seconds the completed box should be 0:30.0. Change as needed.

7) Under "Folder" place images in desired location. Usually on your non SSD drive. My setup uses the "Stored" folder as it is not being used for anything else.

8) For "Quality" like to have a file size of about 1 meg or so depending on what final output quality is desired. Overall image file size will dependent on camera and lighting conditions. On this end for my camera this was set at 90%. Adjust as needed.

9) When finished click "OK" at the bottom of the form.

View attachment 182920

Also check the properties of the "Stored" folder to make sure that it is NOT set to auto delete, etc. (Gear icon > Storage > Stored) if using the "Stored" folder.

Set "Limit Size", "Limit Clip Age", "Delete" "Recycle". etc as needed. Then "OK"

When all of the images are captured convert into a MP4 movie using the free "Shutter Encoder" program.

Shutter Encoder free professional video|audio|image converter

Open source software without any restriction - converter all formats professionals codecs and standards

www.shutterencoder.com

Did you have to rename all those files? I get BI to create the snapshots but when I try to convert, say 100 jpgs, I get 100 individual mp3 files. I'm missing something, haven't quite figured out what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Alaska Country]

If you are using Shutter Encoder, then no on file renaming.

Are you using BI to create the timelapse or Shutter Encoder?

Also tried BI to create the timelapse, but no luck on getting it working. Thus stayed with Shutter Encoder to process the individual JPEG files into a timelapse MP4 movie.

 

[gwminor48]

I'm using BI to take the jpegs, starting out trying 1 per minute as a test and importing them into Shutter Encoder. I end up with a mp4 file for each jpeg. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but haven't found my mistake yet. I'm trying to learn how to do this so I can do timelapse in April during total eclipse in my area.

 

[Alaska Country]

Looks like you are on your way to success with Shutter Encoder. Your first steps are working, but will review just in case.

Add your JPEG files to the window by selecting the desired files or just drop the folder containing the needed JPEG files generated from Blue Iris.



Under "Choose Function" select H.264 under "Editing Codecs".



With the files loaded and H.264 selected a new window will open with additional settings.

On the right side "Bitrate Adjustment" can be left as VBR as the output file size will be smaller than CBR. If CBR is desired click on VBR to change.



On the right side select "Image Sequence" and a sub menu will list three options. Check the first selection "Activate the image sequence to:" which defaults to 25 FPS. (This is the timelapse setting)



Change to your requirements with the drop down menu or enter in your specific FPS. It appears any value from 1 to 250 is appropriate.



On the left side, when all settings are completed select "Start Function". If a different output file format is needed, then change mp4 in the drop down menu to mov or avi, etc.

It is also possible to crop your image to perhaps remove the image time stamp. Another feature that works will is to take a BI generated mp4 and run it through Shutter Encoder using the default settings to reduce the file size. Most useful for attaching a video to an email that is limited to files sizes less than 25 megs.

Plus the brightness, saturation, contrast, etc can also be altered as needed.

Good luck on the total solar eclipse on April 8th. Hopefully the day will be clear.

 

[gwminor48]

Aha, I did not even see the Image Sequence. I will try that and see how it goes, thanks for your help!