Video Lip-sync: WiFi Vs Ethernet

Its one of those little things that drives me crazy.

 

I just can’t tolerate watching the News, a film or even Flog It! when the speakers lips don’t move accurately in time with the spoken word.

BirdNet-Pi: export audio recordings as video

Posting audio detection recordings for others can be tricky.

 

It seems that apps like Facebook don't support audio files.

So I was looking for an easy way around this issue.

Two Hogs Sharing Our Hedgehog Box

I'd suspected something funny was going on.

 

We knew we had two hedgehogs of similar size visiting the feeder.

 

But the camera monitoring the hog box entrance confirmed my suspicions.

the Hog is back!

After an absence of 4 or 5 years, the hedgehogs have returned to our garden.

Well, one hog, at least that's a start.

So now we need to give this little guy a helping hand.

Bat Camera: just a wild idea!

What if I triggered a camera from my bat detector?

I'm not looking for prize winning bat photos, just a possible aid to identification.

Would the system capture anything recognisable?

Gambas Video Reverser

I recently needed to reverse a video clip, to make the action run backwards.

I couldn't find a Linux video editor with this feature built in, so I ran a series of command line instructions...

...then I decided it would be useful to wrap these instructions into a GUI application.

Looking for a Linux Video Editor?

I'm a bit of a sucker when it comes to video editors.

Although I don't do a great deal of video work (except during the bird box season) if I stumble across a video editor, I have to install it.

And so it was a couple of days ago when I discovered Shotcut.

Whatever happend to the web browser?

It is over 20 years ago that Mosaic and Netscape opened our eyes to the internet.

By the end of the 1990's it looked like a tick-in-the-box. There were lots of different graphical web browsers and they all seemed to work and show web pages in much the same way.

So what a surprise to find in the 2010's that so many of the leading brands are just, well, broken!

Bird Feeder Etiquette

I use to think that there was a definite pecking order around our bird feeders, with smaller birds always giving way to larger species.

But closer observation over recent years leads me to believe that the situation is far more complicated.

And by slowing down the video captured by my RaspberryPi camera system, I can observe detail that I would have missed if just watching from my kitchen window.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: open the box

Although the great tits left this nest box a few weeks ago, I decided to leave the box undisturbed until June.

The system has been triggered four or five times since then, but I suspect this was only caused by flying critters like bees, moths and large flies, as their visits were too brief to result in any useful video capture.

So today I took the box down and opened it up...

Portable PiCam: more video

With lots of activity at our bird feeders, it seemed like a nice sunny day to play with my portable PiCam.

Now we are into June, many of our garden birds are bringing their young to the apple tree that supports our collection of hanging bird feeders.

This invariably leads to a certain amount of conflict between different species, and also between grumpy members of the same group.

Simple Video Editing with Avidemux

Avidemux is a relatively simple to use video editor. It is cross-platform, free open source software (FOSS), so you can use it on Linux, Windows or a MAC box.

Illustrations in this post are from Avidemux running on Lubuntu Linux.

Before we start, there are a few points which need clarification.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: the box falls silent

It always seems strange to me, once the blue or great tits have left the nest, that the nest falls silent.

After 10 weeks of activity inside the nest box, 10 weeks of checking video recordings & watching "live" when we get the chance, the last chick leaves, and the screen displays a static view of moss, dried grass and dog hair.

And the view inside the box will probably remain largely unchanged (apart from the addition of more cobwebs), until next spring.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Almost time to go!

The first of our great tit chicks hatched 22 days ago, so it's almost time to go for our two remaining youngsters.

The female is still doing a great job feeding her chicks without any help.

And, even more amazingly, my Raspberry Pi powered system is still going strong.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: two chicks & video quality

It must be a bit unpleasant sharing the nest with eight dead siblings.

But the two remaining great tit chicks seem to be doing OK, with mum making frequent visits to the nest to feed them and keep the place tidy.

There are now more flies buzzing around inside the nest, and I've noticed

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Where's my daddy?

I do hope I'm wrong, but it looks like our great tit chicks have lost their daddy.

If I'm right, then its going to get tougher for mum and the chicks.

Thursday evening was a rare opportunity for me to observe our great tit family, both inside and outside the nest.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: for the love of Graphs

As my RaspberryPi powered bird box collects data, I feel obliged to harvest it, compile it, try to make sense of it, and present it.

But sometimes data can raise more questions than it answers.

Something a little strange happened on Monday, but we were not at home to witness it.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Factors affecting image quality

The RaspberryPi camera (RaspiCam) is capable of high definition photos and video.

But there are a number of factors which influence the quality of the images that I can view and capture using my system.

This post describes some of the photographic challenges.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Chicks in the nest

Things are really kicking off now, as chicks have started to hatch in the great tit nest box.

Dad brings in most of the food, as mum still has the job of keeping chicks and remaining eggs warm.

This is generally seen as the final, and most interesting stage of the process.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Eggs in the nest

On Monday the female left the nest, and rather carelessly, she didn't bother to cover the eggs.

Since then the female has started the incubation stage, and we have been able to get a better look at the clutch.

This short post is just a progress report.