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Generate time steps and file names for an animation of movements

Source: R/fun_animate_data.R
atl_time_steps.Rd

This function creates a sequence of time steps based on a given datetime vector and time interval. It also generates corresponding file names in a provided folder path for each time step. The function also gives a message showing the total number of frames (also saves this as text file, to be used when plotting a progress bar) and how long the animation would take, giving a set fps (frames per second).

Usage

atl_time_steps(
  datetime_vector,
  time_interval = "10 min",
  output_path,
  create_path = FALSE,
  fps = 24
)

Arguments

datetime_vector

A vector of datetime values (POSIXct or similar). Can be a min and max or simple a full vector from the data

time_interval

A character string specifying the time interval (e.g., "30 sec", "10 min", "1 hour").

output_path

A character string specifying the directory of the folder where the files will be saved.

create_path

A logical value. If TRUE, the function creates the directory if it does not exist.

fps

A numeric value specifying the frames per second (fps). Only used to calculate the duration of the final animation. The frame rate needs to be specified in ffmpeg.

Value

A data.table with two columns:

  • datetime: The generated time steps.

  • path: Corresponding file paths for each time step.

Author

Johannes Krietsch

Examples

library(tools4watlas)

# load example data
data <- data_example

# create time steps
ts <- atl_time_steps(
  datetime_vector = data$datetime,
  time_interval = "10 min",
  output_path = tempdir(),
  create_path = FALSE
)
#> Number of frames: 139 - Animation duration: 5.79 sec (0.1 min) with 24 fps
ts
#>                 datetime
#>                   <POSc>
#>   1: 2023-09-23 01:00:00
#>   2: 2023-09-23 01:10:00
#>   3: 2023-09-23 01:20:00
#>   4: 2023-09-23 01:30:00
#>   5: 2023-09-23 01:40:00
#>  ---                    
#> 135: 2023-09-23 23:20:00
#> 136: 2023-09-23 23:30:00
#> 137: 2023-09-23 23:40:00
#> 138: 2023-09-23 23:50:00
#> 139: 2023-09-24 00:00:00
#>                                                               path
#>                                                             <char>
#>   1: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/001.png
#>   2: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/002.png
#>   3: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/003.png
#>   4: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/004.png
#>   5: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/005.png
#>  ---                                                              
#> 135: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/135.png
#> 136: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/136.png
#> 137: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/137.png
#> 138: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/138.png
#> 139: C:\\Users\\JKRIET~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\RtmpEpYdj7/139.png