Missing image files in hourly movies

[kp3]

Searching the forum for others with this problem is difficult without nailing the right words. So here goes. Problem first, details below that.

PROBLEM:
     All the Hourly Movies are missing 3 to 13 minutes at the beginning of each hour. Thus, each Daily Movie has a very noticeable skip in the movie every hour.

BACKGROUND:
     I am one of the niche who's highly interested in the movement of clouds during interesting weather phenomena. I record with an Axis M1034-W 720p camera @ 1280x720, and record daily. I annually review (most years since 2012), pitch the boring days, and archive the good ones. Yeah I know, I'm eccentric.

The WC webcam settings are:
Image Source; URL
Capture time - 5 seconds
Source size - 1280x960
Movie size - 1280x960
Length/Hr - 10 sec
Dissolve - 0

     I didn't review 2019 and just now noticed that since mid 2019 all the hourly recordings are missing 3 to 13 minutes of each hour. Thus, the Daily Movie has a very noticeable skip in the movie. It seems to have begun with v3.0.3 but I am not sure about that. The lack of ability to find anyone with a similar problem leads me to think its a computer/task/busy problem not an app bug.

DETAILS:
     Logs show creation of the Daily Movie at the top of the 11th hour but at 11:09 things look odd, plus it shows the writing is first complete then. The resultant file for the 10am hourly movie shows a creation time of 11:09 in the finder. The 11am Daily begins at 11:09 (here is the skip). Each hour file follows the similar pattern.
See attached.

I'd really like to solve this. It didn't happen in years prior to 2019, tho I had to create the time lapse movies myself. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

  -Rob


 

[xairbusdriver]

Although I'm not sure why things are happening at 11:09, I suspect your machine is laboring with some very large video files. I'm capturing higher resolution images but not nearly as often. I capture an image only every 3 minutes at 1280 x 1024 and that gives my hourly files of ~3.75 MB (last 9 hr avg) for a 15 sec MP4. That includes a inter-frame dissolve of 25%.

What size are your hourlies?
Can you live with fewer captures?

[elagache]

Dear Rob X-Air, and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

. . . . .
PROBLEM:
     All the Hourly Movies are missing 3 to 13 minutes at the beginning of each hour. Thus, each Daily Movie has a very noticeable skip in the movie every hour.
. . . . .

I'm not sure what your problem is, but I see this line in the log file that I think must have something to do with your problem:

Code: [Select]

2020/04/21 11:08:49:977  DEBUG: Create daily movie - File webcam_11_09_54.jpg not now day
I think if you could get an explanation for this error message that would probably go a long way toward solving your problem.   I think at this point you should contact WeatherCat technical support.  The instructions on how to do that can be found on this webpage:

https://trixology.com/contact-us/

Unfortunately, our fearless leader Stu (Stuart Ball, WeatherCat developer) was badly overwhelmed by his day job before COVID-19 hit.  So he might not be able to respond to your question for while.  So please be patient.

Cheers, Edouard

[kp3]

What size are your hourlies?
Can you live with fewer captures?

Hourlies average  around 10mb. Yes I can live with less captures. The resultant files of the hourlies have always shown one image per minute (time stamp in corner ON). Which has been acceptable. Haven’t tried dissolve yet and still won’t, thinking it’d add to the suspected problem.
First step I guess is I will try 1 minute captures and see if it appears to chew less making the dailies. I’ll post results.

[mcrossley]

I know nothing! But some thoughts...

That error in the log file, assuming that the file name incorporates the hh-mm-ss is dated in the future so was ignored?

What creates that filename?
Is it a clock sync issue 'tween camera and 'puter?

[kp3]

Is it a clock sync issue 'tween camera and 'puter?

Hmmmm🤔. All my cameras, including the subject one, get their time from a Synology NAS, which gets it from time.nist.gov.
The computer hosting WC is (well-was-I’m changing it now) getting time from time.apple.com.
Thanks mcrossley! This could be the problem or another piece.

[Blicj11]

Did changing the time server fix your issue?

[kp3]

Did changing the time server fix your issue?

Yes, it apparently has! Thanks, mcrossley!
The hourlies all start at the hour and have a frame for every minute, matching the set capture rate in prefs. My length is set at 12sec/hr with no dissolve. File sizes are 5-11mb (this is a bit odd).
Another note - Before this correction with the clocks, the DailyMovie would store itself in the same folder as the hourlies for that day in addition to storing it in the Movies folder of the mac user account. And yes, both had the missing time bits problem. Now, since the clock fix and it’s proper capturing, there is an empty (zero bytes) WeatherCatDailyMovie.mp4 file in the Daily folder and the real DailyMovie is found in the Movies folder as expected. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Hey it’s working. I’m not complaining. Now to tweak it for smoothness.

[Blicj11]

Thanks for reporting back. We like to know when something works.

Your movies storage thing is a bit weird. On my setup the current daily movie is stored in the Today folder, along with today's sequential versions of it. It is also stored in the Movies folder. I can't explain the 0 byte thing you are seeing. However, I'm glad the missing frames have been "found."

Mark Crossley: This is not the first time you have solved an issue for us on this Forum. For someone who does not use WeatherCat, you are a delightful resource. Thanks for helping out and thank your for your brilliant SteelSeries Gauges option for WeatherCatters.

[kp3]

Oooo. Mark built the steel gauges? I use those. Thanks Mark! You are a wise and generous man!

[wurzelmac]

Mark Crossley: This is not the first time you have solved an issue for us on this Forum. For someone who does not use WeatherCat, you are a delightful resource. Thanks for helping out and thank your for your brilliant SteelSeries Gauges option for WeatherCatters.

Signed!