As opposed to the traditional baby monitor, I've decided to put together something of my own system, in that Linux hacker do-it-yourself sort of way :-)
Here was my check-list:
- Cobble together a little desktop machine from some scrap hardware laying around
- Install Xubuntu 11.10 with automatic login
- Add a Logitech C910 HD web camera
- Install Skype
- Create a new Skype account
- Set it to automatically accept calls from Kim and I (only!)
- Set it to automatically enable video
- Disable all of the annoying notifications and sounds
And there we have it ... a high definition baby monitor that Kim or I can check from my Laptop, PC, Android phone or tablet! I would prefer using Google+ Hangouts for this, but I haven't quite figured out a way to have it auto-answer incoming hangout requests...ideas?
In any case, the high-def video monitor in the room sparked another idea -- to create the time-lapse video of us putting the finishing touches on the baby room you see above :-)
I recorded this in 1280x720 webm format using Cheese, over the course of about 35 minutes, while we assembled a simple crib and rearranged some furniture.
I then spent 4+ hours trying to figure out how to resample the frame rate and fit it down to a 1-2 minute video. I struggled and fought (violently) with:
I recorded this in 1280x720 webm format using Cheese, over the course of about 35 minutes, while we assembled a simple crib and rearranged some furniture.
I then spent 4+ hours trying to figure out how to resample the frame rate and fit it down to a 1-2 minute video. I struggled and fought (violently) with:
- OpenShot - slowing it down rendered it very choppy
- Pitivi - doesn't support modifying the frame rate
- Avidemux - should have worked, but the result wasn't very smooth and the colors were painfully distorted
- SlowmoVideo - never got it to work
Alas, all I needed was a trusty old command line utility that I hadn't used in years (not since my Mythbuntu days)...mencoder!
This command rendered the video you see below in about 5 seconds:
This command rendered the video you see below in about 5 seconds:
mencoder -fps 195/1.001 \
-ovc copy \
-audiofile soundtrack.mp3 \
-oac copy input.webm \
-o output.webm
My input file was 32:59, and I wanted my output file to be exactly 2:14, to match up with my chosen soundtrack, so I used a frame rate multiplier of 195/1.001. It look a little toying to get it right, but it worked out very well, I think!
Enjoy!
:-Dustin
