Setting up a webcam (no not that kind!)

I recently moved house and have a nice view of a glacier out of my kitchen window. I was thinking it would be cool to make some timelapse footage of the glacier sliding down the hill (apparently it moves at 1m per day).

I was wondering what kind of kit I would need to do this. It would need to be mains connected so the batteries don’t need to be changed all the time (or have a massive car battery powering it). I guess it only really needs to take a photo every hour or so (and only during daylight).

It doesn’t want to be wide-angle (like a gopro) as then I’d mainly get a picture of my neighbour’s garden.

It would be good if it was internet connected so it can be shared publicly and played back as a timelapse.

This is the view from the window (taken on a phone with 2x digital zoom).

If you came here to make us jealous of your view then you have succeeded.

It looks like you just need to give it a few months and that glacier’ll be in your garden 😁

have a nice view of a glacier out of my kitchen window.

Don’t we all?

How to Go Live on OnlyFans

Truly Minty 🐻‍❄️

sounds like a Raspberry Pi project (if that’s something you’re up for!)

I’d probably livestream the camera to YouTube (as this would avoid any charges or having to use your own bandwidth & have people connect to your network). Not sure if/how a live Timelapse would work though 🤔

This fella automatically compiled a Timelapse video for the previous day and then automatically uploads it to YT:

(I think I’d do every minute not every hour otherwise your daily video would only be 24 frames!)

Automated YouTube Channel for Timelapse Videos using two Raspberrys
byu/jarvick257 inraspberry_pi

I was wondering what kind of kit I would need to do this. It would need to be mains connected so the batteries don’t need to be changed all the time (or have a massive car battery powering it). I guess it only really needs to take a photo every hour or so (and only during daylight).

I’d go with 1 image a day wit the timer just after dawn (or just before sunset, whichever gives the nicest light/shadows on the hill) on the winter solstice.

That way the light and shadows will change through the year.

Watching back a timelapse of 365 days would be a bit strobey as the brightness peaked every midday.

Watching back a timelapse of 365 days would be a bit strobey as the brightness peaked every midday.

that is a good point, although I’d still err on the side of taking one photo per minute as it’s very easy to remove unwanted frames from the video afterwards but impossible to add in missing ones!

that is a good point, although I’d still err on the side of taking one photo per minute as it’s very easy to remove unwanted frames from the video afterwards but impossible to add in missing ones!

Easier just to work backwards from the length of footage you want.  At 12fps you’d get a 30second clip each year which is about right for a video clip.

The other fun way would be to start it at spring equinox at dawn, then set each frame at 24h + 4min.  That way you get a day and a night over a year (4min = roughly 24h/365) corresponding to summer and winter, and things like shadows will still move around the shot in a consistent way.

The good thing about timelapse is that with a decent camera you can adjust the exposure so the night is still well lit.  Something like a really old DSLR (I’m thinking £50 Cannon EOS 350D with a ~60mm lens (e.g, I think they came with a 50-200 as a kit?) stopped down a bit and set to aperture priority and full frame metering) would be best because it’ll swing from 1/4000 in summer to 30s in winter nightime.

that is a good point, although I’d still err on the side of taking one photo per minute as it’s very easy to remove unwanted frames from the video afterwards but impossible to add in missing ones!

Somewhere in the world a producer just uttered those words, a DIT bought a new car with the overtime and the edit assistant cried and went into therapy.

That’s (at a full 25fps) ~350 hours of footage and even on a basic 8megapixle camera that’s the equivalent of 4k, and assuming a file size of 24mb each (assuming 24bit colour, and it’s iframe because you don’t get the advantage of longgop compression) it’s the equivalent of 4800megabit/s.  For context terrestrial TV broadcasters ask for 50-100Mbs depending if it’s news or drama, then compress it to about 2-6Mbs for broadcast.

Even just storing that, and assuming only 12 hours a day, it’s over 6 terrabytes…..

Editing that lot down it probably beyond the average laptop and windows movie maker 😂

it’s more brag brag than humble brag, it lacks the woe is me factor 😉

GoPro can do it. My ex-boss used one to show us his house being built. Your brag is better than that though 💪

Even just storing that, and assuming only 12 hours a day, it’s over 6 terrabytes…..

true, maybe just 1 an hour then 😂

Thanks @thisisnotaspoon and @zilog6128 that’s some useful input.

So I need to get myself a raspberry pi and an ancient DSLR. Anyone know if there is a sensible way of joining the two together so the pi gets the data and the DSLR gets power?

The roof has a ~80cm overhang, so the camera can probably live in a box outside mounted under and sheltered by that (though might need something to keep it warm in winter?).

Sorry for the brag.

there was a “Show your view” thread once upon a time for proper legit bragging 😉

Anyone know if there is a sensible way of joining the two together so the pi gets the data and the DSLR gets power?

never done it, but if your camera is supported by this software it should be fairly straightforward

http://www.gphoto.org/proj/libgphoto2/support.php

you’d need to be able to get an AC adapter kit for the camera to power it I’d imagine.

otherwise you can actually adjust the exposure in software with one of the official RPi cameras. They do a high-quality one with a Sony sensor that takes proper lenses (including Canon/Nikon with an adapter). Never forked out for one personally but they’re supposed to take very good pics!

Pi & camera are powered by a single USB supply of sufficient amps.

Sounds like buying a raspberry pi camera module + adapter + lens might make more sense than buying an ancient DSLR. Less likely to go wrong and less faffing with software?

yeah definitely less hassle. Will be way lighter/more compact also which will make for easier installation. I’d only go DSLR route if you already had (a spare) one or could get hold of one very cheap/free. High-quality Pi camera module plus lens or adapter/lens will probably run you £100 or so.

I’m also thinking that for winter if only the camera module is outside in the cold maybe I don’t need to worry about keeping things warm. Is there anything in one of these camera modules that will stop working in, say, minus 20°C (very unusual to get colder than that here) as long as it’s dry?

For a DSLR I can’t imagine it would like that kind of temperature.

Totally outside my field of experience! Specs for both Pi & camera are 0+ degrees.

case-study of them being used successfully at -30 in Antarctica tho!: https://arribada.org/2021/12/16/three-years-in-antarctica-affordable-and-durable-time-lapse-monitoring/#:~:text=This%20camera%20is%20unique%20because,winter%20when%20sunlight%20is%20scarce.

I suspect keeping them dry is the key and avoiding moisture/condensation. Their unit looks well sealed. Also they are using the standard camera not the Hi-quality, don’t know if that would make any difference though.

if you do mount the Pi inside, bear in mind the camera connects via a ribbon cable which is about an inch wide, rather than a normal sort of cable.

it’s more brag brag than humble brag, it lacks the woe is me factor 😉

A bumptious  brag if you will.