Is there any information available about using the Wyze time lapse feature in V2 generation cameras.
I used a Wyze Can Pan V2.
Specifically, I have questions about:
Setting the frame rate. Am I correct the the slowest recording rate is 1 frame every 3 seconds? This is far too fast to be of any use in recording people.
Maximum length of recordings.
I set a schedule to run from 8:15pm to 1:15am, but it only recorded untill 11:55pm, then it stopped. The recording length was only 59 seconds.
The card shows 1Gb of free space, but i was under the impression that the continuous recordings are deleted to make room for new recordings.
No, that is the fastest interval. The slowest interval is one shot every 59 hours. Mine is on a PanV1 though.
If you have any rules running that reset the cam or power cycle it… Or otherwise mess with the recording, it will stop. Not sure if that may have been the case, but it is worth a check to see what stopped it.
I think I used the wrong wording.
I want to record myself cooking. I want the finished video to play at about 4 to 5 times faster than real time. So an hour in real time can be watched in about 12 to 15 minutes.
So at 3, am I recording 3 frames per second or per minute?
If it’s per minute, then 10 minutes will go by in one second.
The “interval” set when setting up the time lapse isn’t measured by frames per second or frames per minute. It is measured in seconds between frames captured. If the interval is set at 3 seconds it will take a snapshot once every 3 seconds or 20 snapshots per minute, 1200 per hour. At 3 minutes, you get 20 snapshots per hour.
It isn’t considering the length of the end product video at all.
To make a Timelapse that is 12 minutes long of a 60 minute event, you would need to know the frames per second of the end product video player.
I don’t know what that is for the video that is produced by a Wyze Time Lapse, but I’m going to ask some really smart users to take a look to find that answer.
As an example… If the player plays 1 frame (snapshot) per second (arbitrary number for demonstration only), you would need 60 shots per minute, or 720 frames for a 12 minute video. To condense a 60 minute event down to a 12 minute timelapse at that frame rate, you would need 720 shots in 60 minutes (3600 seconds) or one shot every 5 seconds for 60 minutes… An interval of 5 seconds for a duration of 60 minutes. But, this is only an example.
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So I asked around and did a deep dive on the frame rate of the video produced by the Time Lapse compiler.
The standard frame rate is 30fps. That means 30 still shots played in one second. I tested and confirmed this by recording for 15 minutes (900 seconds) at a 3 second interval = 300 images. When compiled, the MP4 video played in the Wyze App and in an external player for exactly 10 seconds. 30fps x 10s = 300 frames.
That means The video needs 1800 frames per minute (30fps x 60s). If you want a 15 minute video, 27,000 still shots (1800 x 15).
At the minimum shortest interval available of a shot every 3 seconds, a final 15 minute compiled video sequence would need to be shot over a 22.5 hour period to get the 27,000 images for the 15 minute time lapse compilation ([27,000 x 3] Ă· 3600)
I doubt you want to cook for 22.5 hours.
It seems like the 3 second minimal interval isn’t low enough for you. Even at a 1 second interval playing at 30fps you still would need a 7.5 hour time span to make a 15 minute video.
For you to hit your target 4x speed (1 hour Timelapse in a 15 minute compiled video) the interval has to be 0.1333 seconds, or 7.5 still shot captures every second. You are better off taking the MP4 recorded video and speeding it up x4 using a video editor.
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Exactly! I’ve messed around with it in the past, and I couldn’t see any way to do what I wanted.
Other than shooting a building construction video, I don’t know what the Wyze time lapse function is good for. Using it to try and catch a suspect breaking in would be almost useless.
Thanks for taking the time!
Many users it for landscape scenery, construction, star movement, agriculture growth, etc.
Time Lapse is intended for creating a short video showing changes to a static FOV over a very long period. It isn’t intended for security use to video possible threats. That is what the SD Card Recorded Continuous Video is for.
You’re probably right. I sometimes forget what these were originally designed for.
Still, how hard would it be to add a few faster frame rates?
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Don’t know what programming that entails. It is probably more difficult than perceived as the cam has to take, and save, an individual snapshot for every interval. The shorter the interval, the faster it has to save each image before the next one comes in. The processor chip or SD Card may not be able to keep up with that kind of data and speed for a sustained tens of thousands of individual snapshot images.
When the cam is recording video at 20fps, it takes and compiles these frames together without saving the individual frame snapshots and only saves the single one minute MP4 video once a minute. That data write interval is sustainable before the next one minute MP4 comes in a minute later.
When shooting a time lapse it saves all the individual snapshots seperately and only compiles them to the video once you hit the download button in the album.
I would hate to see what it would do to the tiny processor in the cam if it had to save a bunch of snapshots to the SD in less than a second. Might just crash it.
I’m feeling dense with a new camera I’d like to set up and leave during a construction build project. I’d like a frame recorded every 15 min. When I look at the app, I only see options for duration for 0, 1, 2 min (not anything for seconds – what do I choose if I only want a frame?), and interval 5 min, 10 min, 1 hour (with no other choices – I want 15-30 min choices).
Also, if I want to do a multi-day shoot, I don’t see an option to limit it to sunrise/sunset for time lapse?? I will be leaving town, and with a 128 sandisk, am I being optimistic that I could sample for 10 days from sunrise to sunset with a sample photo each 15 min (how to calculate?).
Am I missing something - ???
Interval: time between frames You said you wanted 15 seconds, this is where you would choose the 15 seconds.
Duration: How long you want the timeapse to run for, you stated you want your duration to be 10 days.
There is no choice to do it sunrise-to sunset.
Thanks. The interval I want is 15-30 min but there is no such option? It is 10 min or 1 hour???
Unfortunately, this option isn’t available. Nearest option is 10 minutes or 1 hour. This is the Interval Setting. Capture a frame every…
The Duration setting is for how long you want it to run from the start point.
There is currently no way to only run the schedule between sunrise and sunset only during a multiday shoot. The only way for this to happen is to schedule a single day Timelapse starting at X time for Y hours and then schedule another every day until finished. You will then need to use 3rd party software to edit and stitch the resulting Timelapse videos together.
this comment makes me feel like I’m not understanding the right function. I bought sd cards for recording a construction video. is there a preferable way – i was assuming wifi would be riskier for disruption in signal, etc.
You have that right. It’s good for construction projects, knowing that there are some limits to interval and duration.
These cameras are very wifi/internet dependant so they need that signal first to be able to perform all their functions.
As a security cam, for near instantaneous notification to your phone of some potential threat, sustained stable WiFi is a must.
Some users use the cam more for historical recording to the SD card so that they can go back and review what was recorded to the SD Card. This utilizes the SD Card Continuous Recording feature. This does not require sustained stable WiFi. Only when the cam boots and loads it’s operational settings (WiFi required at every boot load \ power cycle). After that, the cam records to the SD Card.
If you are using the cam specifically for recording time lapse construction videos, you will want to disable the continuous recording feature and format the card before every time lapse scheduled recording, but after any previously recorded time lapse videos are already successfully downloaded. The space available on the card to record long time lapse videos is affected by other files already taking up space. If the continuous recording is running concurrent to a time lapse or has already recorded a large volume of MP4 files, it will significantly diminish the space available for the time lapse since the time lapse will not delete recorded footage to open up space.
If the card runs out of space while recording a time lapse, the video will not finish.
I’m not sure about the cam needing WiFi to initiate the time lapse schedule. I don’t know if the schedule is saved to the server or the cam. But, once the scheduled time lapse commences, I don’t think sustained stable WiFi is needed.
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Thanks – will try it out.
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At one frame every 15 mins I believe you’ll end up with one second of video for every 5 hours (assuming it plays back at 20fps). That’s less than 5 seconds of video per day, or a total of less than one minute of video for the 10 days.
Time lapse video is compiled at 30fps.
Every minute of compiled Time Lapse video requires 1800 frames.
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At an interval of 1m, you would need 30 hours duration to result in 1 minute of compiled time lapse video.
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At an interval of 5m, you would need 150 hours duration to result in 1 minute of compiled time lapse video.
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At an interval of 10m, you would need 300 hours of duration to result in 1 minute of compiled time lapse video.
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At an interval of 1h, the next available selection, 1800 hours of duration to result in 1 minute of compiled time lapse video.
However, if another model cam is available, like the V3, it has much finer interval control selections (able to select single digit increments in s, m, h) than the one being used, which looks from the screenshot to possibly be an OG Cam.
V3:
