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
Once a time-lapse schedule is in place, your Sensera camera automatically takes these images and creates one comprehensive time-lapse video, via SiteCloud. Provided there are at least 20 new images taken since the previous update, the video updates nightly. You can also:
- 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:
- Within SiteCloud click on the “View” page on the top right-hand navigation
- Click the clock button and select “Configure Time-lapse Video“
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- “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:
- Within SiteCloud, click on the “View” page on the top right-hand navigation
- 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