Lapsed Beta

UPDATE 12/3/11 New beta time!

UPDATE 31/1/11: The currently release Lapsed Beta will expire and stop working tomorrow. There’s no new version as yet, as the latest release of Qt 4.7/Mobility 1.1 for Symbian, in the 1.1 SDK TP breaks QCamera, so Lapsed won’t start. It’s not just my code – the Nokia supplied mobility examples also fail. Sorry timelapse fans – you’ll have to wait for Nokia on this one :-(

So my timelapse app, Lapsed, that I’ve been writing to have a go with Qt is reaching a more polished stage. So I’ve decided to release a more public beta version. It’ll time-expire in a couple of weeks, but that’s enough time for folk to try it out and let me know how they find it. I might release on the Ovi store eventually, still debating it (and I can’t till Qt 4.7/Mobility 1.1 hit release).

However, please bear in mind this is still early software, written to satisfy my own curiosity.

First up, here’s a video I made with Lapsed:

New Features

So, if you tested the previous version, you want to know what’s new. In no particular order:

• Application icon.
• Won’t allow you to start recording unless you have focus.
• Each new timelapse is saved in its own directory. Specifically E:\Images\lapse\DATE..TIME\dir1 etc. No overwriting!
• Stopping  recording and starting a new sequence starts it in a new directory (it was more of a pause and continue behaviour before).
• A counter for the number of photos taken.
• Help info.
• Resolution selection.

Known Bugs

All the bugs I know about seem to stem from immature Qt camera implementation. They manifest themselves as various UI oddities. I lay the blame at the door of QCamera, as if I don’t initialise the camera the bugs go away. Similarly, identical UI code works fine in test apps with no camera widgets. The bugs you might see are:

• Starting the app in portrait, the viewfinder is rotated.
• Once you interact with any UI item, the “back” button from the help screen will vanish.

Annoyingly I have example code that works fine, where Lapsed does not. Yet I can see no differences in the code or UI files. It’s maddening! Hopefully this will be fixed for release versions of Qt 4.7/Mobility. If anyone’s an expert in these two and has ideas what my problems might be, get in touch!

Gimme the Beta!

First up, I suggest you read the original Lapsed post. It contains install and use instructions, links to the Qt development libraries needed and advice on compiling time lapse into video.

It’s tested (personally) on the N8. It should work on other Symbian^3 devices. I’d appreciate reports from S60 5th devices – I’ve none to test on. Older S60 3rd devices tend to have built in time-lapse functionality (though if you test on one, let me know how that works out).

LINK REMOVED, BETA EXPIRED.

If you’re looking for timelapse ideas, maybe check out my article on N8 camera mounts, including a cheap DIY timelapse panning mount.

Feedback!

I’d love feedback. Good and bad, useful and useless – fire away in the comments. If you make any videos with the app, link them below.

Thanks!