jQuery + WebCam = Time Lapse

Let me start off by saying we wont be using this to create a Tom Lowe masterpiece. Nonetheless, TimeLapse photography is pretty cool.

For those not familiar with timelapse, video runs at 30 frames per second. This means there are 30 individual frames taken per second of video. With regard to timelapse, we introduce a delay after each image is taken, thus time seems to go by faster.

I had previously looked into finding software that would allow me to do some TimeLapse stuff using my webcam, but I primarily found commercial products and eventually just gave up. So when I saw Gunnar Piepman’s post regarding the use of a jQuery webcam plugin to snap a photo via webcam, I was pretty excited. With a few changes, we could use it to take a series of images and later convert those images into a movie using VirtualDub.

Here is my first test timelapse:

I have included the complete project here. But I wanted to highlight a few things.

• Currently only Logitech HD Webcam C525 based webcams are supported.
• If you plan on using VirtualDub there is a tutorial here on building the timelapse.
• Keep in mind that VirtualDub requires the files to be numbered in sequential order. 

If you make a timelapse, we would love to see it!