i saw some footage of the lunar eclipse sped up to 200x this weekend and decided that i would like to set up my not-in-use webcam to take time-lapse footage, if it didnt cost too much or wasnt excessively difficult. i would need a few things: 1. software to create a time-lapse video file from the images 2. software to take pictures at regular intervals [believe my camera junk already does this, though the program kindof sucks] 3. attachment to either wirelessly transmit the usb signal [already have a wireless network] or perhaps a repeater in the USB cable, if i just use an extention. i would prefer to set this up somewhere that gives me good outdoor footage and in a place that wont be buried by snow. my options are looking like somewhere on a tree so it points at my house. my ideal time-lapse footage would be over a year's time in about 3 minutes. my guess is that i would set it to snap a shot at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, & 5pm daily for 365 days and use 8 images per second [2 days per second, 120 days per minute, so 3 minutes]. i would have to fashion some type of water-tight box with clear 'lens' and consider buying a better camera; however, dlink's [makes my wireless network equip., so where i look first] cheapest wireless webcam would set me back $100. that's a little steep for my purposes. they do sell a wireless usb adapter for $50, but i dont believe that's what i'm looking for. any ideas, my comrads?
hmm... I think a good place where little precipitation would fall would be in the corner between the outer wall, and the roof of the house. You might be able to run cables from it to your computer, depending on a few conditions. I have to ask, since you mentioned the camera being buried in snow. Are you in northern Michigan?
i say just put the camera in a bird house i like this, http://www.holoweb.com/cannon/treeswal.gif i also say that you should wrap the whole box in plastic sheeting to keep out the elements, like this, http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...cts_2/Paint & Wall Coverings&MID=9876&pos=n13 you shold point the camer down on a street conner, if you live it the city, or maybe on a cafe' like this, or like this, http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/stcroixvalley/Downtown/NewRichm-web-lg.JPG
actually i live in the southern portion of michigan, and i live in a more rural area. my best bet would be to either do it of weather, like clouds or seasonal occurences. it is, however, a possiblity that i set it up at my dad's office building downtown, consider getting a webcam that doesnt need a computer, just ethernet, and *possibly* see if it works through one of my older camera lenses. but... they're on the 7th floor btw, that homedepot link failed oh, lol, i dont want birds nesting in it, so i'm not sure how well an open hole would do [though birds near my house don't understand what glass is, either.
i see. interesting idea, fairly inconspicuous [though a watertight box INSIDE the bird house may be more inconspicuous and protective] but i still worry about those birds regardless, the important issue is the webcam, the extention choice [cable, wireless?], and software, plus, of course, $$$ my friend has a fat spool of cat5, and we're wondering if we could "mod" a usb adapter onto it. we are concerned about signal loss though, and we dont know what to do in regards to that.
you could put a small conputer, http://www.mini-itx.com/ , in tghe bird hous and network it to a base.
you could also put the bird house in place and run a short cord to the ground into a juck pc networked to your good one. i'll look for an adapter thingy, maybe a bluetooth thing, maybe some nanny cam thingy.
one last thing tonite, about the birds... at a local bank they have these spike thingies on the drive up atm to keep birds from crapping on the buttons, like these http://birdbgone.com/birdspike2000.htm the plastic is wraped aroung the electronics with all the seems around the camera lens, and maybe a fan hole( you could throw it over like a tarp
interesting bird post, dont know if i'll need it. about the minitx, that might be a tad expensive i think we're going to make a usb-ethernet adapter [2 of them, removable] and test this, since he has long enough cabling.
not posts SPIKES, keeps the bird away, and some onlookers. as for the ethernet cord you should spray paint it flat black to look like tv cable i also sugest painting the bird house to blend in with the background an obvious bird house, makes less onlookers. when you first test it post some inital stills, ok
Here is how I would do it. Step 1: Get a DECENT, but not too $$ webcam (since it can get stolen/destroyed). Step 2: Mount it in a peice of tupperware with a GLASS "lens" (you can get round flat glass at a hobby store) glued onto the front over a cut-out. Step 3: Get THIS from IoGear. It will let you run USB 1.1 up to 150ft over Cat5, cheaply. Step 4: ??? Step 5: Profit! Or You could just get THIS for $99 and be done with it. Just run Cat5 to it.
In terms of software, on MSDN there is an XP powertoy that uses the webcam to take shots every x mins......sounds perfect- and free! Edit: Here
the $100 wireless dlink camera? i dont see your point - that camera is probably better than the one i have AND takes care of the connection issues. dont forget, i believe it has a $30 rebate if you look closely. agent
