This allows us to shoot at 720×480 instead of 320×240. We also use a Canon ZR800 MiniDV camera instead of the old VHS camera with the USB digitizer.

This allows us to unplug it from AC power, move it, and plug it in again without having to reboot. My friend Matt Gauger supplied his old PowerBook G4, which actually has a working battery. This brings us to our latest Time Lapse Bot… Version 3. Version 2 is still around, as it was an upgrade to Version 1, and was used at BarCampMilwaukee5 alongside Version 3. Luckily, the iBook was much lighter than the iMac, so that was a bit of a win in the weight department. Sadly, since the iBook had a dead battery, we had the same issues. One of the issues we had with version 1 was that it had to stay plugged into AC power, otherwise it would shut off, and you’d need to boot it up again, reset the clock, and restart EvoCam. The second incarnation of Time Lapse Bot swapped out the heavy iMac for an iBook I got on craigslist for around $40. (It should be noted that a similar setup was used in 2007 at BarCampMilwaukee2, though I had no rolling base, and used a really cheap webcam.) The first Time Lapse Bot debuted in 2009 at BarCampMilwaukee4, and consisted of an old iMac on the base of an office chair, with my old video camera and USB digitizer. I did spend $30 on EvoCam, but most of the hardware was either donated or acquired very cheaply.

I’ve never really put much money into the project. One of the goals of Time Lapse Bot has been to create a device that can do long time lapses using whatever equipment is on-hand. Each new version adds something different, usually in the form of upgraded equipment. As of 2011 we’re actually up to version 3 of the Time Lapse Bot.

I cover all the customization settings for drawing arrows (including all the types of arrowheads or markers) in this tutorial.Time Lapse Bot has been around since 2009 in various stages of existence. Arrows are a great way to add eye-catching graphics to your projects, while also serving a more functional role of drawing viewers’ attention to a particular item or making a connection between objects. In this Inkscape basics tutorial, I take an in-depth look at how to draw arrows using the pen tool and “markers” feature inside the Fill and Stroke dialogue.

Inkscape drawings time lapse