Digital Sight ACT-1 for L-1 Software
Timer Panel Functions
The time-lapse photomicrography capabilities of the Digital Sight camera system are configured and enabled through settings made in the Timer panel, one of five settings panels displayed in the main window of the ACT-1 software. To capture images by time-lapse photomicrography, the time-lapse mode must be turned on and the number of images and time interval between them must be specified. Clicking on the Timer panel tab (Figure 1) displays the panel at the front of the settings panel group for access to its control features.
The time-lapse photomicrography imaging mode is engaged by clicking the Enable Timer checkbox at the top left of the Timer panel. Clicking the box again removes the check mark and turns the time-lapse mode off. The exposure button, which normally displays a green CAPTURE indication (Figure 2(a)), changes to a stopwatch icon and is labeled START (Figure 2(b)) when time-lapse mode is enabled. Images captured by time-lapse photomicrography are automatically saved, regardless of the setting of the auto save function in the File settings panel. They are saved according to the file naming specifications, format, and storage location set for image saving in that panel. In addition, images captured in time-lapse mode are given file names with the date and time appended to the end of the assigned file name. The ! character (exclamation point) is inserted between the original file name and the capture time, shown as year, month, day, hours, minutes, and seconds. For example, time-lapse image capture begun at 9:12 A.M. on April 28, 2000, with the assigned file-naming variables Img_$###, would generate images beginning with the file name Img_001!000428091200.
The interval at which images are to be captured is entered in the Interval Time text box of the Timer panel, in hours, minutes, and seconds, as illustrated in Figure 1. By clicking first in the text field area, the numbers can be entered directly, or the arrow buttons may be utilized to increase or decrease the values in steps. An important consideration in setting the interval time is that very short intervals may not be achievable due to the time required to acquire and transfer images over the network and to save the files, particularly when file formats producing larger file sizes are employed. The total number of images to be acquired in the time-lapse sequence is registered in the Total Shots entry field, either by entering the number directly after clicking in the text box or by using the arrow buttons on the right-hand side of the box to increase or reduce the current setting.
After the interval time and number of images have been entered, the Timer panel displays the approximate total time for completing the sequence, as well as the total combined file size (in bitmap format) of the images. Clicking on the exposure (START) button initiates the time-lapse imaging sequence. During the process, a Time-Lapse Operation dialog box appears (illustrated in Figure 3), which displays information about the sequence being photographed, including the current image number within the series and the approximate remaining time for completion. In addition, a Cancel button is provided that may be clicked to interrupt image capture before the time-lapse sequence is complete.
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