How To Make A Timelapse From Sequential Images (Again)

https://d.tube/v/kiwibloke/oj5qedja9wl

about
This type of timerlapse (some call it a drivelapse) is something I've always wanted to try but never got around to creating one. The actual timelapse is from the 10sec mark to the 46sec mark, after this I describe how I created this on my Linux Mint machine.

This is a BASH script update where I've added some help lines at the end of the script.

thoughts
A drivelapse would be more suited to a longish country road ride, driving in a suburb or city makes the resulting video a bit too cluttered.

I need a new microphone!!

technical
Camera/Phone
- Sony HDR-CX405: showing the Sony mounted on the Windscreen
- Sony FDR-X3000: Video recording - 4K images at 1sec intervals.

Software
- OBS for Linux: Screen capture
- Rendered with kdenlive for Linux Mint

my external links
Bash Script (3002.txt):
https://mega.nz/#!LMsyiChJ!1NxZREiISKChKtPPuc4yFp5ZZ6ct2l4v_N1v7jydQjk

- rename 3002.txt to 3002.sh
- move 3002.sh into /bin/ folder
- open terminal in /bin/ folder as root
- in terminal type chmod +x 3002.sh
- PS this didn't work for me, therefore I right clicked an 3002.sh then changed the properties/permissions and made it executable

- you may get further errors due to missing external programs, run these next lines in the terminal
- sudo apt install mencoder
- sudo apt install imagemagick-6.q16

- if all is well, type 3002.sh in any folder that contains your sequential images
- on some linux distros I had to
  -> type sudo 3002.sh

**ATTENTION**

I've just noticed my script only works on .JPG file extension, there is 3 ways to resolve this problem

1. (Best) use the bash script to recognize the extension (jpg JPG jpeg png bmp etc) then continuing to process the timelapse as per normal taking into account the image extension.

2. (Terrible but all my cameras do this) Only use cameras that output .JPG files LoL.

3. (for .jpg only) in terminal type -> rename 's/.jpg/ .JPG/' *

My Huawei P8lite creates .jpg images so when I get to update the script for option 1, option 3 will do for now.

Friend me on Endomondo: https://www.endomondo.com/profile/35696393

**D.tube Exclusive**

d.tube: What is this ?

D.Tube is the first crypto-decentralized video platform, built on top of the STEEM Blockchain and the IPFS peer-to-peer network.

Basically another video platform like Youtube, Bitchute.

If you want more detailed information visit this link https://about.d.tube/

I've been part of the Steem Blockchain for a while now, I still have no idea how this works but it is about time I use it's video platform.

All STEEMs applications seemed to be inter-linked, which is a good thing.
Upload video onto d.tube, it automatically appears on my steemit blog.

My thoughts on all 3 platforms - Youtube, Bitchute, d.tube:-

Youtube
massive user base, well supported
searching works well
over censored
video quality is downgraded to improve the stream

Bitchute
small user base
best place to find CCL music to use in your videos
video quality is downgraded to improve the stream

d.tube
small user base:- vlogs here are more personal and engaging
searching sucks
video quality is downgraded to improve the stream BUT will stream source
- eg upload a 1080p5fps mp4, you have the option to watch it at this speed
- default view of 480p is really good.
huge problem - cannot play the videos from the site on my Android phone!

Here's my 1st upload to d.tube https://d.tube/v/kiwibloke/3qlm8m3c
The same "My Wainui Training Cycle Loop" as found on Youtube

So I'm going to use this exclusively for the next few months, then see how I feel about it.

Backup FireFox Bookmarks and Favorite Extensions

Yes this seems to be an obvious option to find, but for years I have been using an extension called FEBE with FireFox which now no longer exists. So I finally used DuckGo to find the solution and here it is :-) So now when I change my hardware everything can easily be moved to the new machine. It's a shame I cannot export FireFox passwords but I guess that is a good thing, I also use Keepass2 which works just as good.

These extensions I cannot live without, especially the NoScript which is my all time favorite.

Linux Mint 18.3 Dual Monitor Problem

Should really add a third monitor, two doesn't cut it anymore.

This has bugged me for a few months now, not being able to use a second monitor that I have been accustomed to for many years is unacceptable. Recently I came across a work-around solution from the Linux Mint forums.

"dpm" support, must be selected at boot (via radeon.dpm=1) and is only supported on R6xx and newer asics.

Which then suggested the following modifications

To test this when the grub menu appears press e (for edit) then replace the nomodeset (if there) with radeon=dpm=1. Press f10 to boot this session with the change.
Of course to make the change stick you must edit, as root, /etc/default/grub and change the
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= line to include radeon.dpm=1
eg GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="radeon.dpm=1 quiet splash"
Then run sudo update-grub.

Upon doing these changes followed by a reboot it didn't work. The funny thing was I remember a few years ago someone else had this exact same problem, who suggested after the reboot, save the session, log out, then log in.

It worked, both monitors fired up with Linux Mint logo shown on each. Going through the monitor settings each monitor was identified correctly.

Here's the problem:
It's not a permanent solution, if the computer reboots/shutsdown for any reason, you lose the dual monitor display once again, unless you log out, log in again. A minor inconvenience but knowing it's a temporary solution just doesn't sit right with me.


Now from that Forum post it referred to the Radeon website where he found the solution. This suggests to me that this particular Linux Mint distribution didn't compensate for this particular problem on its release for this grapics card. I really don't have a problem with this because with each release there is bound to be bugs/errors. Creating a Linux distribution is huge and involves a lot of time and people, it's just that waiting for the next upgrade can take months.

References:-

Post from the Linux Mint Forums

Mentioned Radeon Link

In the mean time, I'm looking at trying a different distribution called MX Linux, there has been some good reviews on YouTube about this. Check out their homepage: https://mxlinux.org/.

Small Demo fo Burgulus Streamed on Twitch

The fourth day into streaming my Aardwolf game play via Twitch, it really is pretty easy to setup and so far, I've been enjoying myself. Notice how this isn't a YouTube video but a direct upload into blogger.

I am extremely impressed with blogger.com playback quality, I'm surprised I never tried uploading here before. Sharing this on Twitter using the Icon below only displays the URL and not a thumbnail of the Video, Pity.

Minds.Com & Creative Commons Attribution

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly licensed projects.

The Best CC License that suits my purpose and will apply to all the videos/music I create. Read the explanation here: tohatoha.org.nz/licences.

I'm still not convinced using BitChute to showcase my video's. The resulting 480p viewing experience while just passable on  mobile phones, is really disappointing on desktop/laptop monitors.

I've just noticed https://www.minds.com now allow media uploading including videos so a little experiment seems to be in order here. It's a shame blogger doesn't allow a player view of videos originating from minds.com.

https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/846423352863223808

Now the player on minds.com suggests it plays back at 720p, I'm not convinced on this either. Finding an alternative to YouTube who offers 4K uploads will probably never happen.

Steepshot & Steemit

As you can see I have become active on:-
- Steepshot, this is an alternative to Instagram.
- Steemit is a Blogging platform that I have already been with but never used.

These 2 work together, ie in order to use steepshot you must already be signed up to steemit.

If you upload an image file to SteepShot, on Steemit adds this image and any comments you make onto the Steemit Blog. Which is super handy.

Does hot linking from SteepShot work ?
- if I put the steepshot link into another app/program with it display image

WhatsApp: NO
- just displays the URL

Twitter: YES

Discord: NO

Blogger.com: NO

- shame

Thoughts:

The big question that now comes to mind, do I need another Blogging Platform ? Should I stay with blogger.com and move completely over to Steemit. My future plans is to use neither, I'm in the process on running a Wordpress blog on a paid webhost server.

As for SteepShot, I'll keep using it for a while. I have no idea what CryptoCurrency is and that really doesn't bother me at all.

Discord & Twitch, What Are These & Can I Use Them ?

Twitch:
So yesterday I installed Twitch, why ? well not really sure but my grandson said he streams on Twitch. And now that it's installed he won't give me his Stream name, which is probably a good thing, I'd hate to see him play because I don't want to see my angelic wonderful grandson turn into a demon right on my monitor.

In the mean time I get to learn what Twitch is, how to buy BITS (not sure what this does but I can cheer streamers with it) example - cheer10 hello. For the curious it costs $2.50NZ for 100 bits.

Thoughts:
I think I can use this platform, not to stream games but to stream me constructing various stages of electronic projects. It may be possible to complete a whole project, I've seen some streamers go well over 5 hours in 1 session. To make this work it would have to be done on a strict schedule; ie 1 stream a week.

Discord:
This one I am really excited about. Long before the WWW era, I lived my life online in the age of IRC, and this Discord claims to be similar. I was extremely pleased this works with Linux Mint and if you've ever had a IRC server with a Channel BOT, you can see how similar discord is.

This image shows the main program running on Linux Mint, briefly create your own channels, user roles etc etc. I've even added a free BOT from

https://www.dynobot.net/

I'm still fine tuning this and fast track learning how to use the setup and so far, I'm impressed. As you can see I've added the Discord widget onto my blog, which displays who's currently online on my Discord Server.

Just in case you haven't noticed, my handle on these platforms is JustABlokeNZ

Thoughts:
Really excited about this!

BitChute vs YouTube for VLogging

Bitchute, is this my new YouTube alternative. I really do miss VidMe, that platform was perfect for small content creators.

If you have a YouTube channel, BitChute gives you an option to copy your newly uploaded from that platform to this one. This may seems like a great idea but I want to move away from YouTube completely.

Here's where I have concerns:-

• when you upload to YouTube, they process your video to improve viewing speeds, which also reduces the viewing quality. Everyone has accepted this because the content is more important than viewing quality.
• BitChute then copies this lower quality here, and then further processes this video to suit it's own streaming quality.
• I did an experiment, using my latest video 1920 x 1080 50 fps 9.4GB, uploaded directly to Bitchute, waited for their processing to finish, then downloaded the video. VLC reports the following file information for this video 786 x 432 24fps 739.3MB.

The quality of the direct upload to BitChute is immensely better than sending the video via YouTube.

YouTube: viewer chooses viewing quality 480p 720p 1080p 4k
BitChute: 480p? only; if you directly upload it is better than YouTubes 480p

VLC Capture 786x432

VLC Capture 1920x1080

 Am I happy with this lower quality, because as the content creator I need to be comfortable with this, and does this still get my message across ?

I feel I need to get some feedback, and what a great way to add a POLL to my Blog. I'll set this up for my next BitChute Exclusive video. :-)

A New Start (once again)

From a Users point of view, this platform really suited me, I easily found content creators that I connected to and enjoyed the video's they produced. It really is a shame the website closed down.

So once again my Blog gets a reboot, out with the old and in with the new :-)

In some ways things have resurfaced, once again I'm interested in Aardwolf, but not as intensive as before, maybe 3 times a week there and no scripting (apart from minor tweaks because things must've changed drastically since I've last visited there)

I'm really excited about this new Sony FDR-X3000 Action camera, it makes a great companion to my Sony HDR-CX405 Handycam, they both produce 1080p50fps.