With my Raspberry Pi, I have chosen to compete a project using the computer’s camera module ability. I wanted to create a time-lapsed animated GIF. This being a looped video composed of pictures taken over a certain time interval. As for the topic of the pictures, I used a candle melting as my main focus.
My first move was downloading the software ImageMagick to my raspberry pi, which would take the time-lapse pictures taken and automatically turn them into a looped GIF. But to make this happen I had to create and run a script stating each of the command. For this I used the Python coding language in the terminal of the Thonny program. To make the whole process happen, I would need to script each step, which would include taking 10 pictures in a span of 10 minutes, send those pictures to my file library, take the pictures from there and send them to ImageMagick to be created into a looped GIF. The final product from this process is a looping GIF.
To complete a project such as this, I needed to check out the Raspberry Pi Kit from Delta’s library. Included in this kit was:
- HDMI cable
- Quick start guide
- GPIO header quick reference
- Micro-SD card reader guide
- Micro-SD card
- USB Micro-SD card reader
- Raspberry Pi Case
- Raspberry Pi Computer
- Micro USB Power Supply
- Wireless mini keyboard
- Pi on/off switch
Along with these, I had to check out a few additional items specific to my project. These items were:
- USB computer mouse
- Raspberry Pi camera module
When I was doing research to try and learn how to complete a project like this, I stumbled across these two websites. They were the most helpful to me during the entire creation process, and I found them to be very detailed.
- “Raspberry Pi Zero Time-Lapse Camera” https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/raspberry-pi-zero-time-lapse-cam/7
- “Time-Lapse Animations with a Raspberry Pi” https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/timelapse-setup/7
With the raspberry pi I was able to create a time-lapsed GIF with ease. Using Python, I was able to script a command that will take time-lapsed pictures and transform them into a short looping video. I used a candle for my point of focus, but the options are endless. I saved the code I used to the raspberry pi’s desktop, so it could be used as many times as needed.
Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome of my project. Being a beginner in programming, I was surprised at what I’ve learned and accomplished. The time-lapse animation GIF is a great project for beginners.
1 Comment
Skate Prof · November 20, 2020 at 3:43 am
This is great Konnar!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the project and got something out of it!