Free Video Software For The Volcanocam Team? 39
nogreenthumbnerd writes "The guys who run the website of the VolcanoCam on Mount St. Helens are having to resort to using Windows Movie Maker to make the movies of the eruptions. Their requirement is that the software be free and easy to use and takes still images and turns them into movies. And I'm sure Windows is their software platform. Can we help these guys out or not, Slashdotters?" (Read on for more.)
nogreenthumbnerd continues "Here is what they say on the website:Check here for the vidz in WMV format."'The VolcanoCam recorded its first-ever images of Mount St. Helen erupting. We have five sets of images as well as VolcanoCam movies of these eruptions available for downloading. All images are in the .jpg file format. The movies are in the .wmv file format. We offer the movie in two download versions:
- A self-extracting .exe file (containing the .wmv movie) that runs only on Windows O/S systems.
- A zipped file (containing the .wmv movie).
We would like to offer the VolcanoCam movies in other file formats. However, we have no funding for the VolcanoCam, and we have been unsuccessful at locating any freeware software that will create movies from our still images. We apologize for the inconvenience.'
Easy (Score:5, Informative)
I will let you in on part of the secret though, Image Magick.
Re:Easy (Score:1)
Oh well, it's all good.
Re:Easy (Score:3, Insightful)
Put up a link to a torrent! Then you can throttle the bandwidth at something pretty low and let the downloaders take up the burden.
Re:Easy (Score:1)
Re:mencoder (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/dload.
Note fourth entry in the table under "Source and Binaries".
Virtualdubmod (Score:3, Informative)
Both are free, and are hosted on sf
To produce normal "divx" movies, just add in xvid and lame - also both free.
Re:Free video software (Score:1)
http://suprnov.org/Adobe.Premier.Hacked.Cracked
Uh it was a joke guys..
Again, if they can use linux... (Score:5, Informative)
It's under active developement [litech.org].
Follow directions. (Score:2)
No, read the story again, they aren't looking for a Linux application. They need a win32 app.
Re:Follow directions. (Score:1, Insightful)
ImageMagick (Score:5, Informative)
Re:ImageMagick (Score:4, Informative)
Finally, mpegs created with image magick convert are headerless. Meaning that if you have a cat command, you can cat two mpegs together making a whole movie. Kinda cool if you ask me.
Like I said, I have the whole thing running on my webserver, and I could be persuaded to give out the source of the scripts.
Re:ImageMagick (Score:1)
Uhm, VirtualDub? (Score:2)
mjpegtools. (Score:5, Informative)
the basic command was be something like:
Not all of those switches are necessary and ive left out other that might be needed. but thats what man pages and experimentation are for. Mjpegtools, though not particularly easy to use, is capable of making finely tuned and broadly portable video.
Either transcode or mencoder might be easier or better for you; look at them too.
AviSynth (Score:2, Informative)
MakeAVI (Score:4, Informative)
Re:MakeAVI (Score:2)
Is that all they got? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Is that all they got? (Score:1)
Here you go (Score:2, Informative)
AAGGLL Re:I Don't Do Windows. (Score:1, Informative)
As said earlier in this thread, VirtualDub is an ideal solution for the problem at hand.
Fact is
the Windows tools are available, and working... Why kludge around with a second OS?
Re:AAGGLL Re:I Don't Do Windows. (Score:2)
MSH VolcanoCam Movies - Update! (Score:5, Informative)
For those who offered constructive comments, thank you. But please allow me to offer some insight in working for a federal agency (and some background info as well):
1) It is not my decision that Windows is our O/S. I have no say in that. It is an agency, if not Department decision, out of Washington, DC. I must work with what I have.
2) The VolcanoCam is an NTSC camera producing a live image 24/7. Every five minutes the web server up at Johnston Ridge takes a
3) We use the equipment that we can afford. Only the camera and video card are new. Everything else in the food chain is surplus government equipment. Yup, hand-me-down toys.
4) The VolcanoCam has no funding. Period. If Mount St. Helens were to toss a pumice chip our way and knock out the VolcanoCam, we're dead in the water. Unless we have a donation (cash and/or equipment), we cannot replace it. The volcano's happy dance is a real boon for the VolcanoCam, but this should not be considered an automatic response rate from folks willing to donate cash and/or additional cameras (I have a wish list!).
5) If you sent me an email and I have yet to respond, bear with me. I'm averaging several hundred emails a day just about the VolcanoCam. I have lots of ordinary work to do, as well as the VolcanoCam, and I'm kinda busy. Unless your email is about aliens, that damn mutant fly (or the new spider), or sacrificing virgins, you should get a response from me.
6) Our VolcanoCam viewers are a tough, but supportive lot, and they don't miss a beat. I get hit every time there's a typo in an update. But they are also an extra sets of eyes and we think we scored a VolcanoCam coup. Several emailed me about a weird glow in the night images of late. I took their concerns/theory to a USGS geologist, along with a number of images, and the professional opinion is the glow is either the incadescent reflection of new lava bouncing off the steam cloud above the new dome, or the new dome itself. When I asked for a response from viewers today to send me an email stating the first time they saw the glow, I received 500+ emails in less than four hours! Once we have the data we need, we'll turn it over to the USGS. That will help them in defining when the magma burst through to the surface and is now called lava. It's not much, but score one for the VolcanoCam and its web visitors!
Gotta go. If you have a question or two, you know where you can find me (I don't surf here much).
Re:MSH VolcanoCam Movies - Update! (Score:3, Interesting)
Thanks for your hard work. I mean that honestly.
How can we donate equipment, money, and software, or time to the VolcanoCam efforts?
As a Portland, OR resident, I am quite interested. I am sure others would be as well. I have given money to the observatories and visitor centers (in addition to the entrance fees) every time I have visited. But it would be nice for myself and all of the other slashdotters to be able to
Re:MSH VolcanoCam Movies - Update! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:MSH VolcanoCam Movies - Update! (Score:2, Interesting)
If you other Portlanders feel like taking a group trip, I'd be willing to do the planning.
Re:MSH VolcanoCam Movies - Update! (Score:1, Funny)
But not to busy to read/post on
I have an open source utility they can use or mod (Score:3, Informative)
In reality, it simply gets an image from any web-enabled camera, does robust error correction for 24x7x365 operation, and creates a daily movie of the resulting images.
It's open source, and they can easily modify it any way they need to (or ask me to incorporate the changes they need).
Videomach (Score:2)
Also, it's free for non-commercial use.
use mplayer / mencoder (Score:1)
or even better publish simply mpeg files, these run on windows, linux, apple and whatever more