Buck Watch Timelapse Viewer Plus Web User Guide · User manual

Overview and user controls

Buck Watch Timelapse Viewer Plus quickly plays timelapse recordings and large folders of JPEG photographs. This guide covers opening files, playback, activity search, and saving images or video clips.

OPEN IMAGES opens a folder of still photographs. OPEN TIMELAPSE FILES opens a timelapse file. REWIND / PAUSE / PLAY control reverse playback, pause and play. ACTIVITY SEARCH finds frames with movement. SETTINGS changes viewer/search settings. IMAGE ADVANCE steps forward or backward. ZOOM zooms in or out. SHARE/SAVE saves/shares photographs or exports video clips. HELP opens operating instructions.

Installation and opening timelapse files

The original describes inserting the installation CD supplied with the camera and following the automatic setup prompts. If no CD is available, check the download library or contact support.

1. Insert the SD card containing timelapse files into the computer’s card slot or a card reader.

2. Double-click the Buck Watch Timelapse desktop icon.

3. In the opened viewer, click OPEN TIMELAPSE FILES at the upper left.

4. Open the SD card’s T_LAPSE folder. Double-click a file with the .TLS extension to import it.

Timelapse playback controls

REWIND plays the timelapse backward. PAUSE pauses the current file. PLAY initially plays at 1x; repeated clicks increase playback to 2x, 4x and 8x.

IMAGE ADVANCE moves forward or backward one image at a time. ZOOM magnifies or reduces the displayed image. When zoomed in, use the side and bottom scroll bars to pan.

The progress bar beneath the picture shows the current image number and total number of images in the clip. Click or drag it right or left to move quickly through the recording.

Activity search area and sensitivity

ACTIVITY SEARCH skips images without activity and displays frames containing changes, making long timelapse files quicker to review. Click SETTINGS to open the search parameters.

Click and drag a rectangle on the image to select the search area. Only changes inside that region are examined, which can exclude unwanted cloud movement or other changes. Delete Regions clears selected regions in the illustrated settings window.

Use SELECT SENSITIVITY LEVEL to choose sensitivity. The original says HIGH detects small movements, but also says LOW yields more results and may include wind-blown grass or branches. Because that explanation is ambiguous, compare HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW on your actual file when choosing a setting.

Click OK to save and return to the main viewer.

Running activity search

Click the right ACTIVITY SEARCH button. The viewer scans frames for changes and stops at the next frame containing activity. Red dots highlight the changes, helping reveal small subjects such as birds or squirrels. Click once in the picture to remove the red highlights.

Click the right ACTIVITY SEARCH button again to find the next event. Repeat until the progress bar reaches the end. Use the left ACTIVITY SEARCH button to search backward. You can change SETTINGS and rerun the search at any time.

Still playback and export formats

The viewer also plays JPEG photographs as a slideshow, allowing hundreds of images collected over several weeks to be reviewed without opening each separately. Click OPEN IMAGES at the upper left, select the DCIM → 100_BTCF photograph folder, then click Open.

During still-picture playback, REWIND, PAUSE, PLAY and IMAGE ADVANCE are active. ACTIVITY SEARCH and its settings are inactive.

You can export an individual image or a short part of a timelapse. Available formats are .TLS for the Buck Watch viewer, .JPEG for still images, .WMV for compatible PC/Mac players and .AVI for QuickTime-compatible players. These are legacy player references; confirm codec support on a current system. The illustrated export window describes TLS as retaining original image resolution and WMV as compressing clips for smaller email/upload files.

Saving video clips and still images

Save a video clip

1. Pause the main viewer on the first frame to include.

2. Click SAVE on the control panel.

3. Select the video type: TLS, WMV or AVI.

4. Drag the slider beneath the preview to select the last frame.

5. Click EXPORT at the bottom.

6. In the next window, enter a file name, select a save location and click SAVE.

Save a still image

1. Pause the main viewer on the frame to export.

2. Click SAVE.

3. In the export window, select Current Image (*.jpg).

4. Click EXPORT.

5. Enter the image name, choose a location and click SAVE.

For assistance, contact support.