Settings for 2 second timelapses

[rixonreed]

What would the daytime settings be for slower timelapses such as 1 or 2 second intervals? Are there any limits (apart from file space)?

For night timelapses, what are the limitations? Can I have still have 2 second intervals? Thanks in advance.

[EricClaeys]

Daytime and nighttime are the same.

Can you explain more what your question is?

• What is a "slower timelapse" ? One that take longer to display, e.g., 2 minutes versus 1 minute? Or one where the action changes more slowly?
• When you say "interval", are you referring to the Delay setting in the WebUI?

File space is the main limit, but CPU can also be a limit.
For daily timelapses, CPU power, unless very slow, isn't really a limit. It'll take longer to create a timelapse on a slow Pi, but since it's done in the background it's not a big deal.
For mini-timelapses, the CPU determines how many images you can put in a timelapse and how often you create them.

See the Explanations -> Timelapse page for more info.

[rixonreed]

Is the allsky delay the interval setting? I want to slow down the Timelapses so they playback slower and thus play for a longer period of time. For a 12 hour period (overnight), 2 second intervals create a longer Timelapse vs a 15 second interval, if there is no limit to the length of a Timelapse.

What is the default interval time for allsky? And how short of an interval can I use?

[EricClaeys]

@rixonreed,
I understand your question now.
There are two things that determine how long a video is (any video, not just a timelapse):

1. The number of images (called "frames" in a video). You can increase the number by 1) taking shorter exposures with a higher gain setting, although quality suffers as gain goes up, or 2) decreasing the interval between images. Depending on the speed of your Pi, the size of each image, and how much processing of the image you do (e.g., how complex your overlay is, if you crop or stretch the image, etc.), you may be able to get by with a Delay setting of a second or two (1000 - 2000 ms). Try it and check for errors. And make sure you disable the Consistent Delays Between Images setting. The default Delay setting is 30 seconds, which for most people, is a good compromise of disk space.
2. The Frames Per Second (FPS) the video plays at. Lowering this number increases how long a video is. For example, if you have 2000 images, using the default FPS setting of 25 will produce an 80 second video (2000 ÷ 25). Using an FPS of 5 will produce a 400 second video. A couple things to consider: 1) will anyone watch a 400 second video of the sky? I wouldn't. Around a minute is when you start losing people. 2) the lower the FPS is, the "choppier" the video is. Film movies, like in a theater, are 24 fps, TV is 30. Gamers like their monitors at 60 or 120 fps for a smoother look. You can play around with the FPS setting to see where your lower limit is. Use the generateForDay.sh --timelapse command, changing the FPS between each run.

[rixonreed]

Thanks Eric, Exactly what I needed. I'll try this the next clear night we have.