Python picamera module: Interval photo capture while recording video

Question

So I've been trying to figure this out for a while now, without success. I am using a RPi Zero Rev 1.3 model and have connected it to the 8MP RPi camera along with a PIR motion sensor. What I'm trying to do is capture images at 2 second intervals (the first capture taking place 1 second after the PIR sensor has been triggered, and then capturing images every 2 seconds afterwards until no more motion has been detected. I can capture the first image (1 second after the PIR sensor has been triggered, and the video records successfully until motion stops, but I can't get it to capture any more still images after the first one.

My code is longer, but this is the relevant part for the sequence I'm trying to figure out.

#!/usr/bin/env python

from gpiozero import MotionSensor
from picamera import PiCamera
from datetime import datetime
import subprocess
import time
import os

camera = PiCamera()
pir = MotionSensor(4)
camera.resolution = (1920,1080)
camera.hflip = True
camera.vflip = True
camera.iso = 1600
camera.awb_mode = 'auto'
camera.exposure_mode = 'night'
vid_directory = '/home/pi/camsecurity_vids/'
pic_filepath = "/home/pi/camsecurity_stills/"

try:
    print 'PIR Motion Triggered Video Capture'
    time.sleep(10)
    print 'Ready'

    while True:
        pir.wait_for_motion()
        h264_filename = vid_directory + datetime.now().strftime("%m%d%Y_%H%M%S.h264")
        only_filename = datetime.now().strftime("%m%d%Y_%H%M%S.mp4")
        mp4_filename = vid_directory + only_filename
        pic_filename = datetime.now().strftime("%m%d%Y_%H%M%S.jpg")
        pic_path = pic_filepath + pic_filename
        camera.start_recording(h264_filename, quality=10)
        camera.wait_recording(1)
        camera.capture(pic_path, format='jpeg', quality=100, use_video_port=True)
        print "Captured %s" % pic_filename
        pir.wait_for_no_motion()
        camera.stop_recording()
        subprocess.call("MP4Box -fps 30 -add %s %s" % (h264_filename, mp4_filename), shell=True); os.remove(h264_filename)
        print "Recorded %s" % only_filename
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    print 'Quit'

I've tried various things like putting another camera.wait_recording after the camera.capture command, but nothing I try seems to work. I've successfully created a program that solely does interval photo capture triggered by the sensor, but I can't seem to figure out how to make it work when combining photo capture while capturing video. Do I need to create a nested WHILE loop in my code to make this work, or is there a simpler way to accomplish what I want?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I think you're on the right track - perhaps just using the timeout parameter in the wait_for_no_motion function you can get what you're looking for

I would suggest changing this code:

pic_filename = datetime.now().strftime("%m%d%Y_%H%M%S.jpg")
pic_path = pic_filepath + pic_filename
camera.start_recording(h264_filename, quality=10)
camera.wait_recording(1)    
camera.capture(pic_path, format='jpeg', quality=100, use_video_port=True)
print "Captured %s" % pic_filename
pir.wait_for_no_motion()

To this - adding your new loop - and using a 2 second interval waiting for motion before taking the next picture

camera.start_recording(h264_filename, quality=10)
camera.wait_recording(1)    
while pir.motion_detected:
    pic_filename = datetime.now().strftime("%m%d%Y_%H%M%S.jpg")
    pic_path = pic_filepath + pic_filename
    camera.capture(pic_path, format='jpeg', quality=100, use_video_port=True)
    print "Captured %s" % pic_filename
    pir.wait_for_no_motion(2)        

Note how the file naming line is put into the loop