Automatic and Custom Time-lapse Videos

Sensera Systems MC-Series cameras provide users with an automatically created time-lapse video generated daily. You can also generate a separate custom time-lapse video to your specifications.

Part I:  Automatic Time-lapse Videos

• Watch the camera’s automatic time-lapse video from within SiteCloud or public access pages
• Download the automatic time-lapse video to your computer for additional management and viewing

Please Note:  If “Play Time-lapse Video” or “Download Time-lapse Video” are not available for selection, there are not enough images available yet The automatic time-lapse videos offers a certain level of modification that ranges from duration to exclusion of dark images.  To access these options simply do the following:

1. Within SiteCloud click on the “View” page on the top right-hand navigation
2. Click the clock button and select “Configure Time-lapse Video“

• • “Use FPS” is the default setting and allows administrators to choose the number of frames per second their video displays
  • Total length of a video is determined by the number of time-lapse images on your camera
  • You may also choose a 1, 2, or 5 minute duration in this field.  SiteCloud will then create your video based on those inputs, automatically adjust the frames per second, and select the set of images used
• Time Span:  Allows users to control how far back the automatic time-lapse video goes. Please Note:
  • “Since Beginning” is the default setting and would include all time-lapse images on your camera
  • Options for “Last Month” or “Last Two Months” are also available for users interested in recent time frames
• Exclude Dark Images:  If selected, SiteCloud will exclude pictures that are less than a given brightness percentage
  • If selected, a brightness scale with a percentage will appear that tells SiteCloud how dark the images must be before they’re excluded.  The default 25% is the recommended value but can be adjusted, as needed

Important:

• Automatic Time-lapse Videos are updated once per day and overnight.  Any changes to these settings will not propagate until the following day
• Automatic Time-lapse Videos are generated at a resolution of 480p (720×480).  Higher resolution videos should be done through Custom Time-lapse Video

Part II:  Custom Time-lapse Videos

Automatic time-lapse videos (see above) ensure users have a recent video for your project, whereas the custom time-lapse video provides more flexibility when it comes to managing video quality and date range.  Custom videos are available within minutes of submitting the SiteCloud request.  To create a Custom Time-Lapse Video, do the following:

1. Within SiteCloud, click on the “View” page on the top right-hand navigation
2. Click the clock button and select “Create Custom Time-lapse Video” and the below dialogue will appear:

• Start/Stop Date:  Select the range you’d like to use for time-lapse images
• Duration:  Determine the length of your video in seconds and SiteCloud will compute the necessary frames per second to set that duration  Please Note:
  • 10 seconds is the minimum duration
  • Maximum duration is determined by the number of time-lapse images on your camera
  • Selecting too short of a duration means SiteCloud will not use every image and the dialogue will say “subsampled” as shown in the screenshot above
• Video Size:  Determines the frame size of the video with 480p, 720p, and 1080p as options, depending on camera model
• Quality:  Determines overall quality of the video.  Please Note:
  • Higher quality videos are much larger in size and take longer to generate.  If a smaller video file is preferred, choose a lower quality
• Compatibility:  Allows a user to select which version of the h.264 protocol to use on your video.  Please Note:
  • Older computers may be unable to play videos that use h.264
  • Select “Legacy” for a video that almost any computer can play
  • Select “Cutting Edge” for a video that uses the best available version of h.264 (provides better quality)
• Add Informative Intro:  If selected, the video will start with a three-second title page before the time-lapse begins
• Exclude Dark Images: If selected, SiteCloud will exclude pictures that are less than a given brightness percentage
  • If selected, a brightness scale with a percentage will appear that tells SiteCloud how dark the images must be before they’re excluded.  The default 25% is the recommended value but can be adjusted, as needed

• Depending on the number of images in a video, it can take anywhere from 20 seconds to an hour for it to render
• When a video is completed, a notification will display in SiteCloud, letting you know the file is ready for download
• The video will be created whether you’re logged into SiteCloud or not