Clone this project down to /opt/blink_time_lapse

Create the venv (tested with 3.9 and 3.11 also works on raspbian/arm)

python3.9 -m venv .env
source .env/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

create the credentials file

cd /opt/blink_time_lapse
source .env/bin/activate
python create_token.py

Test the job (expects camera named "Front Garden"), schedule this in cron.

Will output .log and .jpg in current working directory.

cd /opt/blink_time_lapse
source .env/bin/activate
python run_blink.py

Add a cron job

Suggested cron frequencies for time lapse (During Daylight Only):

1. Every 6 hours (2xday) : 8 AM and 2 PM Good for slow changes

2. Every 4 hours (3xday) : 8 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM More natural flow, captures morning/midday/evening light

3. Every 2 hours (7x/day) : 6 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM, 4 PM, 6 PM Very smooth, excellent for fast plant movements like flowers opening

0 8,12,16 * * * cd /opt/blink_time_lapse && /opt/blink_time_lapse/.env/bin/python3 run_blink.py

create the H264 video file (after collecting lots of jpgs from your cron)

bash make_video.sh

install nginx and add a location to your nginx config for the directory

   location /blink_time_lapse {
     alias /opt/blink_time_lapse;
          autoindex on;
          autoindex_exact_size off; # Optional: Show human-readable file sizes
          autoindex_localtime on;   # Optional: Show file times in server's local time
        }

now open the location /blink_time_lapse/video.html on your server.

filtering the log

JSON

jq '{iso_time,temperature_c,battery_voltage}' front_garden.log

CSV

jq -r '[.iso_time, .temperature_c, .battery_voltage] | @csv' front_garden.log