Timelapse photography is used in many applications to capture action that takes place over long timescales.  The “Timelapse” mode in Browning Trail cameras is designed for a specific use of timelapse photography, typically for hunting.  In this post, I describe several enhancements I have added to the Browning Timelapse mode to enable a broader set of applications.  These enhancements are available for Browning Edge, Elite-HP4, and Elite-HP5 trail cameras.

Custom firmware images with these features can be found on my GitHub Site. Note that installing this firmware may void the manufacturer warranty. The GitHub site also includes factory firmware images, and instructions for re-installing factory firmware if the camera requires warranty service.

Browning Timelapse Mode

The Browning Timelapse Mode (sometimes called “Plot Mode”) is designed to survey a large area for groups of animals, especially deer.  In this application, the individual animals may be too far away to trigger the PIR sensor, so capturing images “every so often” is a better alternative.  

Since the animals are far away, the flash is also not likely to be effective.  To save power and reduce the number of “empty” images, the factory firmware works hard to only take photos during the day.  

Timelapse Period

The “Timelapse” Period menu is used to set the daylight times that the timelapse mode is active.   The periods of “1, 2, 3, 4” hours are all referenced to sunrise and sunset.  For example, with a Timelapse Period of 3 hours, the camera will take periodic photos starting at sunrise for 3 hours, and then continuing 3 hours before sunset to sunset.  A setting of “All Day” will take periodic photos for the complete interval between sunrise and sunset. 

There is some adaptive behavior in the firmware to track sunrise and sunset.  The algorithm starts by assuming sunrise is at 6:00 am, and sunset at 6:00 pm.   It adjusts these values by 15 minutes each day based on the light level at the current estimate of sunrise and sunset.  

Timelapse Storage Format

Timelapse images are stored in a series of “*.TLS” files in a folder on the SD card called “TLS”.   Browning provides a PC-based application called “Timelapse Viewer Plus” which can parse the TLS files. The app can present them as a movie, or as individual frames.  The application also has some ability to detect frames with animals in them.  

The .TLS file format is the same as one of the several .AVI formats.  This is why simply renaming the file from *.TLS to *.AVI allows other video viewing applications (including those on Mac) to view the timelapse files.   

New Timelapse Features

I’ve added three new features to Browning Edge, Elite-HP4, and Elite-HP5 Trail cameras.

Shorter “Timelapse Frequency”

The factory firmware supports timelapse “Frequency” settings down to 5 seconds.  In some timelapase usage models, users may want a more precise timestamp for animal activity.  For this reason, I added “Timelapse Frequency” settings of 1 and 2 seconds.  In conjunction with the addition of a “seconds” field in the info-strip, this gives second-resolution timing information for timelapse images.  

Timelapse File Format

In some applications, it is useful to process timelapse files as a series of .JPG image files, rather than as an aggregated .TLS file.  This makes it easier to process the individual photos in a custom AI tool flow.  It also provides a precise timestamp in the EXIF data (the .TLS file does not save the capture time of each frame, except on the info strip).

Note that the Browning “Timelapse Viewer Plus” application can also process a bunch of .JPG images. This is done by choosing the “camera” icon rather than “movie reel” icon in the top left corner of the splash page.

All Day/Night Timelapse Period

I added a menu item in the “Timelapse Period” menu for “All Day/Night”.  This causes the camera to take timelapse photos as long as the time is within the time-of-day specified in the “Active Menu”.  This defaults to 24 hours/day.  

When the “Timelapse Format” menu is set to generate *.TLS files, timelapse photos taken at night will be in color. The camera will not use the flash.  This mode could be useful, for example, to capture the aurora borealis, sunrise, or sunsets, or in sets where there is an external night-time light source.

When the Timelapse menu is set to .JPG, timelapse photos taken at night will be in black and white. The camera will use the flash.  This mode could be useful, for example, when tracking the 24-hour growth of plants deep in the Everglades, far away from night-time ambient light.  

Feedback

Let us know if you find any uses for these Timelapse feature enhancement in comments below.