DIY time-lapse photography
Creating Time-Lapse Movies
Once you've transferred photos from the SD card to your machine, you should rename them to make sure that they will be assembled in the correct order.
You'll find several renaming utilities in the official software repositories of your Linux distribution, including pyRenamer, GPRename, and KRename. The latter is a perfect choice if you happen to use KDE as your preferred graphical desktop environment. To replace default file names with sequential numbers, use the renaming rule in Figure 3.
Once the photos have been renamed, you are ready to assemble them into a time-lapse movie. The avconv
tool, which is part of the libav-tools package, can help. To install libav-tools on Debian or Ubuntu, run the
apt-get install libav-tools
command as root. Although the avconv tool supports a wide range of parameters, you can start with a simple command, as follows:
avconv -y -r 30 -i %3d.jpg -vcodec libx264 timelapse.mp4;
This command uses the H.264 video codec to create a movie in the MP4 format with a 30fps frame rate.
Instead of using the KRenamer and avconv combination, you can opt for an alternative method: Run the
ls -1tr > files.txt
command in the directory containing photos to generate a list of files sorted by modification date in reverse order. Next, install the mencoder tool (on Debian and Ubuntu, run the following as root):
apt-get install mencoder
and use the following command:
mencoder -nosound -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 \ -o timelapse.avi -mf type=jpeg:fps=30 mf://@files.txt
This command generates a time-lapse movie without sound, but you can use the -audiofile
parameter to add a music track to the movie:
mencoder -audiofile "/path/to/foo.mp3" -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4 \ -o timelapse.avi -mf type=jpeg:fps=30 mf://@files.txt
Wait until the tool finishes generating the movie, open the resulting .mp4
file, and behold the created time-lapse video in all its beauty.
Infos
- Wikipedia article on time-lapse photography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse_photography
- Ordning egg timer: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30066725/
- Sugru: http://sugru.com
- CHDK wiki: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
- STICK utility: http://zenoshrdlu.com/stick/stick.html
- CHDK-SVN autobuild: http://mighty-hoernsche.de/
- Time-lapse photography uBasic script: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/UBASIC/Scripts:Time_Lapse_Photography
- Scripting Layer for Android: http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting
- Make your own ACK-DC30: http://techwatch.keeward.com/geeks-and-nerds/make-your-own-ack-dc30-adapter-kit-for-canon-camera-with-a-nb-5l-battery/
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs