SkyStudio Pro is a freeware time-lapse capture & motion detection application for Windows®. It allows you to capture high-res time-lapse footage at any size, any speed with any capture device or web cam.
SCREENSHOT
SkyStudio Pro screenshot
DEVICE SETUP
– select video capture device, any Windows device, capture card or webcam will do
– select audio device, not really needed for time lapse video
– video capture dialog to access your driver settings
– audio capture dialog to access your driver settings
– capture size, e.g. 640×480
– capture resize, allows you to take huge frames from your webcam and resize them on the fly for better sharpness.
– frame rate, allows you to take slow shots from webcams, will enhance light quality at night. Lower frame rate means more light
notes:
– all settings are stored by video device. Changing the video device will open its codec, time-lapse and motion settings.
– recorded avi will have either the selected captured frame size, OR if resize is checked, the resized frame size.
SAVING, RECORDING
– storage folder: root dir for saving movies. Subfolders will automatically be created by date.
– Live codec: codec used for live capture.
– Time-lapse codec: seperate codec can be selected for time-lapse movies. Use as high as possible quality here.
Personally I favor FFDShow codec at 95% quality. Relatively small movies, great quality & sharpness.
– config buttons open the codec config dialog.
note: live video uses lot of cpu, make sure your codec is suitable for live recording
TIME LAPSE
– preview display shows how your time lapse will look. Click to pause/resume. Below are two bars: the upper shows current playback, the lower shows current frame being recorded.
– current date/time, frame rate and frame number is added to each frame (top left)
– interval: gap between each frame taken from your capture device. 5 sec means every 5 seconds a snapshot is taken and added to the movie
– Fps: the final avi will run at this frame rate. Recommended: 25fps
– auto-save: saves the movie and starts a new one after x frames. Purpose: if your pc crashes for whatever reason, you’ll still have most of your movie.
– recording: check to record, uncheck to stop recording
notes:
– with a 1 sec interval and 25fps, your final movie will be 25x faster than reality, playing 25 seconds of real captured time per second in the final movie.
– with a 5 sec interval and 25fps, your final movie will be 125x faster than reality and so on.
– you can change the fps during recording, but it will only have effect on the next recorded movie.
– at the start of every recording, the frame size and fps of the recorded video is set, and does not change during recording
MOTION DETECTION
– check/uncheck to activate/deactivate
– noise filter needs no explanation other than that it uses some cpu
– proportional: sets a baseline for the motion values, and outputs motion as a “relative” value. As opposed to “absolute”.
– slider: if the motion value is above the slider, it triggers a “motion event”.
– Autom.treshold: sets the treshold slider about 10 points above the average motion of the last 25 frames.
– ON MOTION: if the motion value is above the treshold, a motion event is triggered. Two options: start recording live video, or speed up the current time-lapse.
The latter creates a nice “bullet time effect”. Imagine your time lapse showing clouds speeding by… when an object triggers a motion event the time lapse slows down to real speed. When the object is gone, the video speeds up to time-lapse speed again!
Operating System & requirements
– this program is provided “as is” – no warrantee or guarantee. I developed it for my own use, if it works for you too: great.
– this program has been developed and tested under Windows 7 (x64).
– it will probably work fine under XP and Vista, feel free to test and feed back.
– faster PC, better results. Time-laps does not use much CPU, motion detection does, especially at high frame rate.
LICENSE
This software is freeware for non-commercial use. It uses Mitov’s components for Delphi: AudioLab, VideoLab, VisionLab. Many thanks and credits to him for making these components available for non-commercial use. You can find his website at http://www.mitov.com/
The SkyStudioPro software is developed by DjSadhu – https://www.djsadhu.com
For questions or suggestions: dst [a t] djsadhu.com.
