However, my big heartache is that the facility does not
seem to support the 24-hour time notation, hence the fidgeting with the AM/PM suffixes; this
is not only a pain in the neck, but also makes the alphabetic order of filenames different from the
chronological order of the files. Furthermore, the value of seconds is not available in the
Modification Time script variable, therefore seconds cannot be included in the filename timestamp
with this simple method. Pity, pity, pity...!)
Watermark Factory
This powerful, yet very easy-to-learn shareware is capable
of placing texual or graphic watermarks on images, with a whole host of selectable
properties. As one of its major strengths, Watermark Factory can handle a large number of files
en masse through watermarking templates called "profiles", which came particularly handy in
the making of the Taubman Center Movie. Among the kick-rear features also leveraged in this project
is the software's ability to include date and/or time information in the watermark, which is
based on either the file's creation time or the picture's shooting time (the latter is
extracted from the Exif metadata inside the picture
file, if any).
Note: The savvy reader may notice that there is no need for the
filenames to contain the exact date and time a live cam picture was captured, because the Watermark
Factory gets this info from the file creation date. Indeed, the timestamping of filenames is only
necessary to make sure that the consecutively downloaded files will not overwrite each other.
Timestamping is a very convenient way to generate unique filenames, without any heavy-duty script
programming. However, because of the aforementioned limitation of Windows
scripting (<), the method only works if at most 1 file per minute is produced.
Note #2: On a slightly related topic; this is an opportune moment
to recognize another very handy tool, a freeware by Tempest Solutions:
Stamp
This program can also timestamp filenames, but unlike webdump.bat,
the time information can also come from a file's creation time (including seconds!), or from
a host of different time values that are part of the Exif metadata included in digital camera
files (images being the most prominent example, albeit not the ones produced by ordinary webcam
applications). Sadly, the utility does not seem to support command line execution, so it could not
be utilized in the movie project. However, it is a very useful tool, making the otherwise arduous
task of organizing digital camera photographs a cake-walk.
Windows Movie
Maker
The hundreds of captured and watermarked live cam pictures were put together into a WMV
movie file using Windows Movie Maker v2.1, which is available for download with Windows XP Service
Pack 2. It is a simple but very decent tool supporting the most common tricks (e.g.
transitions, titles & credits, etc.). It was also able to cope with the challenge posed by the
Taubman Center Movie project; my only major issue with the tool was that once a picture is dragged
on the Timeline, its duration in the movie cannot be adjusted with the same increments as offered by
the Options dialog. This often results in uneven picture durations once the Timeline was messed
with, and it cannot be [easily] undone.
Paul W. at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
The em-cee of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was WJR celeb
Paul W. Smith, who was very kind to agree to
take a picture with me!
|
| Click on the picture for full view |
The only snag is that my tie got snagged under my shirt buttons; oh well... :-)
