Simple stop motion video using stills and Final Cut Pro

For a simple stop motion video using stills and Final Cut Pro just follow the steps on Instructables

https://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-movie-from-stop-motion-frames-in-Final-Cu/

The power of ffmpeg

Editing Recordings (on Mac OS)

ffmpeg comes with homebrew https://brew.sh/. Install brew and then use brew to install useful packages.

brew install ffmpeg

or if you have a python distribution installed you can use pip

pip install ffmpeg

The zeroth step... you probably should install Xcode (sadly Xcode is massive and uses up to 20GB of disk).

The man page contains descriptions of commands

$ man ffmpeg

Example: Extract audio from a video (mp4) quicktime file.

Using QuickTime Player. File > Export

From the menu choose Audio Only. Name the file and click Export. The file will be exported as a 256kbps AAC audio file (m4a). A selection converting mp4 or m4a files to mp3 from the command line...

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 output.mp3

ffmpeg -i input.m4a output.mp3 

m4a is an Apple format, lossless compression. mp3 is the most common audio format, lossy compression.

Example: Converting and manipulating video formats like mov and mp4

Screen capture using QuickTime and manipulate with Trim (in QuickTime) and ffmpeg (from the command line)

ffmpeg -i EpicKartJump.mov EpicKartJump.mp4

Is it possible to speed up a video? https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/18469/is-it-possible-to-speed-up-a-video-using-handbrake

ffmpeg -i EpicKartJump.mov -vf "setpts=(PTS-STARTPTS)/10" -crf 18 EpicKartJumpFast.mp4

Example (best): How to join  and audio file (mp3) with a video file (mp4)?

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i audio.mp3 -c:v copy -c:a copy output.mp4 

Note: the syntax is -i for input file, -c:v copy; for convert video, in this case 'copy' means no stream format conversion, it just copies; -c:a copy; and to convert audio -c:a aac would convert the audio file to aac format.

Example: To remove audio track from mp4 video file

ffmpeg -i input_file.mp4 -an -vcodec copy output_file.mp4

Example (?): To join multiple files into a single file (can be audio or video)

ffmpeg -i "concat:audio1.mp3|audio2.mp3|audio3.mp3" -c copy output.mp3

or 

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i FileList.txt -c copy mergedVideo.mp4 

Where FileList.txt contains paths in the local dir, something like:

file 'FirstFileInSequence.mp4'
file 'SecondFileInSequence.mp4'

Example: To speed/timelapse the video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "setpts=0.5*PTS" output.mp4

Example: To slowmo the video

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -filter:v "setpts=2*PTS" output.mp4

Example: To add blur effect to video

ffmpeg -i intro.mov -vf "boxblur=5:1" intro-blur.mov

Example: ffmpeg can make mp4 smaller by varying the Constant Rate Factor, using:

ffmpeg -i $infile -vcodec libx264 -crf 23 $outfile

Example (best): fmpeg can make mp4 smaller by changing the video screen-size (for example to half its pixel size), using:

ffmpeg -i $infile -vf "scale=iw/2:ih/2" $outfile

Writing NFC tags

In this example we want to write NPCs for Animal Crossing to an NFC tag which will be read by Animal Crossing in-game on the Nintendo Switch console.

Requirements:
Android device + file system viewer for Android
1x blank NTag215 card
1x NFC writer software
1x NFC dump zip file, unzipped on Android device

Procedure:
Use the NFC writer software to prep NTag215 card
Unzip the NFC dump zip file to a folder on the Android device
Use the NFC writer software to open selected files
Use the NFC writer software to copy to blank NTag215 card
Scan/read NTag215 card in Animal Crossing in-game on the Nintendo Switch console.

Thesis Template using Word + Zotero

Requirements:

Cover page for all written work

The Thesis must have a cover page that includes the following clearly displayed information:
Title
Name of Student
Student Number
Degree programme
Supervisor

Date of submission (see deadline in Key Dates table) All pages (except the cover page) should be numbered.

Sections of the paper to be

Summary
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

In-text Citations and the Bibliography (i.e. References section)

Paper to use referencing and citation style consistent with OIKOS Journal standard

Zotero group and shared library

Q: How to move from Google doc to Word while preserving zotero references?
A: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/moving_documents_between_word_processors
Q: How to insert page numbers into the citation with zotero?
A: Click on the citation entry (blue) in-tool to activate the options panel for that citation (illustration below). Enter key on keyboard to process the entry.

Zotero citation options in action

Q: Can zotero automatically apply `ibid' to successive references to the same citation?
A: No, but you can replace the text to suit. However this disconnects the entry from zotero and it will not have successive updates applied (e.g. switching to another reference style).  See the help page for more detail https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_usage

Satellite surveys for sustainable ecosystems

detecting puffin poo from space in order to track bird colonies, nest site occupation and extent, occupation use, population viability growth or collapse. Also see mapping guano from space.

An article that discusses the background to the need for this kind of research - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/8/140827-seabird-puffin-tern-iceland-ocean-climate-change-science-winged-warning/



Is it possible to use satellite imaging for detecting and surveying bat habitats and flyways from space?

How is satellite imaging used for mapping bird migration routes and correlation with en-route recovery habitats, forest and wetlands?

Correlating areal photography, satellite imaging, with ground survey to measure bog extents, health and regeneration.

Mapping connected terrestrial ground cover, wetlands, wilderness and forest habitats from space.
Identifying disconnected habitats, mapping micro to macro fragmentation of biosphere due to human barrier interventions from paths to roads, walls, through to cities and mega engineering projects.

Detecting greenhouse gas emission sources. Remote detection of environmental methane outgassing events and satellite observations of ground based methane sources from industrial sites.

Articles discussing this topic:
https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/images/88245/imaging-a-methane-leak-from-space
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2019/11/27/detection-of-methane-leak-from-space-could-herald-a-revolution/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/climate/methane-leak-satellite.html