Sunrise ..

Time lapse videos seem to be my latest addiction. Here’s one video of a Sunrise taken today from Elliots Beach.

Couple of photos from today’s early morning walk can be found at http://caughtonlens.wordpress.com/

My First Time-Lapse Video

I came to know about CHDK recently, which has given my Canon Powershot A540 a complete makeover. I decided to try out a time-lapse video which resulted in this:

My New Photo Blog

Here’s the beginning of another long journey.

http://caughtonlens.wordpress.com/

First post:

http://caughtonlens.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/the-beginning/

Versatile CSS

Today, I learnt that CSS could make this:

Out of this:

background-image:url("data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhDwAPALMAALOzs/j4+MTExN7e3vDw8MzMzLy8vP///9XV1efn5wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAHAP8ALAAAAAAPAA8AAARH8MhJq70S6M07KAR2DIWWGMmFCIF2EEVKIUUGSIQwSEFRBDaKAHEoCGQH16EnMDhpMmVht9q1UhqCYWeBETQxkdZD3ojO6AgAOw==") ;

Movies for Mobile Phones / iPods

Want to watch your favourite movies on your iPod or mobile phone ? (Great for long journeys) And are you a Linux user ? Read on.

(Windows / Mac users might as well use the software that comes with the mobile phone / iPod)

Most of the phones / iPods play videos in MPEG - 4 format and sounds in AAC format. So, all we we need to do is to convert a video into MPEG - 4 with sound encoded as AAC.

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Step 1: Get ffmpeg code

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According to the ffmpeg project website, “SVN snapshots work really well 99% of the time so people are not afraid to use them”. So, we checkout their SVN repository

$ svn checkout svn://svn.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg/trunk ffmpeg

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Step 2: Compile

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Before compiling, we need to set proper compile options.

$ cd ffmpeg/
$ ./configure –enable-gpl –enable-pthreads –enable-libvorbis –enable-liba52 –enable-libgsm –disable-debug –enable-shared –enable-libfaac –prefix=/usr/local

Now, compile

$ make
$ sudo make install

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Step 3: Convert

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Convert the video file of your choice to the MPEG -4 / AAC format.

$ ffpeg -i some_video.avi -s 320x240 -ab 32000 -b 64000 output.mp4

• 320×240 is the screen size for my mobile phone (Nokia 6233) and for a standard iPod (I think)
• -ab 32000 signifies the the output audio bitrate.(32 kbits/s)
• -b 64000 signifies the output video bitrate (64 kbits/s)

You can experiment with the two features above. I found these to be the ideal values, the opposing factors being quality and file size.

You can use the following command for a Widescreen format movie. (16:9 types)

$ ffpeg -i some_video.avi -s 320x180 -padtop 30 -padbottom 30 -ab 32000 -b 64000 output.mp4

Suppose the audio doesn’t get encoded in AAC format by default, one can also try adding the option -acodec libfaac or -acodec aac.

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Step 4: Transfer

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Transfer the the output video to your phone / iPod and enjoy!

English Today

What has excessive chatting and texting done to today’s youth? This formal letter explains it all.

Initially, I laughed at this. But now, I feel this is something serious. People should realize that such language is not ok, even if it’s all around us. Tch. Sad.

The Eighth Chennai Photowalk

The Eighth (first for me) Chennai Photowalk started from Panagal Park and went into Pondy Bazaar. Here are some of the shots that I took.

Thanks to Chandru for organising the walk. I hope to be a regular photowalker from now on. It’s so much fun, you know!

All the other photos that I took during the walk, can be found in the album linked below. Do leave a comment if you like a photo.

Eighth Chennai Photowalk

Pretty Flowers

I guess this would be my best macro shot so far. (Click on the picture for the full size photograph ~ approx 325 KB)

If you’d like to have this your wallpaper,

• 1024 x 768, Size 104 KB
• 1280 x 1024, Size 126 KB
• 1280 x 800 (Widescreen), Size 103 KB

Here’s one more shot that looks nice. (Click on the picture for the full size photograph ~ approx 301 KB)

Again, if you’d like to have this your wallpaper,

• 1024 x 768, Size 80 KB
• 1280 x 1024, Size 124 KB
• 1280 x 800 (Widescreen), Size 101 KB

(Photos shot by Prasanna using Canon Powershot A540. For further exposure information, please take a look at the EXIF data)

Some of my photos can be found here.

Software blooper

Phone numbers aren’t supposed to be written in scientific notation

Smiling Tambura