slow-movie-player.py is a Python program used to play movies at a greatly reduced speed. Movies can be played at specified frame per unit of time (e.g., one frame per second, one frame per minute, etc.). When played at these rates a typical movie can take days or months to display. When used with a small 7" or 10" display this makes for an interesting desk display.
This program wasd inspired by Tom Whitwell's slow movie player (https://github.com/TomWhitwell/SlowMovie) that used a Raspberry Pi and an e-Ink display. This version is a rewrite that is designed to display on a standard HDMI display.
slow-movie.py can be executed from the command line, inside a shell script, or automatically started at boot (instructions below).
Before running the program, make sure to be in the slow-movie-player-python directory and have activated the virtual environment:
cd ~/slow-movie-player-python
source venv/bin/activate
python3 slow-movie.py -h
usage: slow-movie.py [-h] [-d DELAY] [-f FRAMES_INCREMENT] [-i INITIAL_FRAME] [-n] [-x] [-t] [-m [MP4] | -p [PLAY_DIRECTORY] | -r [RANDOM]]
Plays movies frames much slower than normal play or can play random frames from random movies. Great for small displays mounted on a wall or sitting on a desk.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-d DELAY, --delay DELAY
delay between frames in seconds
-f FRAMES_INCREMENT, --frames_increment FRAMES_INCREMENT
frame increment (frame=1 means play every frame, frame=10 means play every 10 frames)
-i INITIAL_FRAME, --initial_frame INITIAL_FRAME
initial frame to display when playing the first movie in non-random mode
-n, --no_scale Do not scale movie frames to fit display
-x, --debug Display debug messages
-t, --test_mode Test mode: delay between frames: 1 second; frame increment: 10; scale image; random off; play directory off; debug mode on
-m [MP4], --mp4 [MP4]
file name of movie to play
-p [PLAY_DIRECTORY], --play_directory [PLAY_DIRECTORY]
Play every mp4 in the specified directory in order and repeat forever
-r [RANDOM], --random [RANDOM]
Display random frames from random files in a directory
More information and source code at https://github.com/makeralchemy/slow-movie-player-python
Note that you can only specify one of the --mp4, --random, and --play_directory options. They are mutually exclusive and you will get an error if you try to specify any combination of them.
Play movie.mp4 with one frame every minute
python slow-movie.py --mp4 movie.mp4 --delay 60
Play every 10th frame of movie.mp4 every second
python slow-movie.py --mp4 movie.mp4 --delay 1 --frames_increment 10
Play every 10th frame of movie.mp4 every second starting at frame 42
python slow-movie.py --mp4 movie.mp4 --delay 1 --frames_increment 10 --initial_frame 42
Play movie.mp4, one frame every minute, with the debug messages (time to play, current frame, total frames, percent played)
python slow-movie.py --mp4 movie.mp4 --delay 60 --debug
Once a minute display a random frame from a random .mp4 file found in the folder video1
python slow-movie.py --random video1 --delay 60
Play all movies in sequence over and over from folder video5 with a three second delay between frames
python slow-movie.py --play_directory video5 --delay 3
Play movie.mp4 in test mode (delay between frames: 1 second; frame increment: 10; scale image; debug mode on)
python slow-movie.py --mp4 movie.mp4 --test_mode
When running, the slow movie player takes over the display. To stop the movie, press ESC on the keyboard.
These instructions assume you have installed the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS. WiFi should be enabled. If you are going to run the slow movie player on a small display without a keyboard and a mouse, you should enable SSH and VNC so you can make changes.
Before installing the libraries, you should run the standard updates:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Make sure you are in your home directory:
cd ~
Install the slow movie player code:
git clone https://github.com/makeralchemy/slow-movie-player-python.git
Go to the directory of where the code is now stored:
cd slow-movie-player-python
Create the virtual environment:
python -m venv venv
Activate the virtual environment:
source venv/bin/activate
Install the required packages:
pip install -r requirements.txt
Test to make sure everything is working:
python slow-movie.py Test-2s.mp4 --debug --delay 1
To setup automatic start you need to edit two files "smp.sh" and "smp.desktop".
First edit "smp.sh":
-
Replace the two places that say {your user} with your user name. For example, if you setup your Raspberry Pi with the user name "makeralchemy", you would replace {your user} with makeralchemy.
-
Replace the arguments on the python command line what you want the slow movie player to do.
-
Save the file.
-
Make the file executable with the command:
chmod +x smp.sh
Next edit "smp.desktop":
-
Replace the two places that say {your user} with your user name.
-
Save the file.
-
Put the smp.desktop file on your desktop, using this command and substituting your user name for {your user}.
cp /home/{your user}/slow-movie-player-python/smp.desktop /home/{your user}/Desktop/smp.desktop -
Go to your desktop and you should see an icon called "Slow Movie Start". Double click that icon to verify that you have everything configured properly.
-
If everything works, enable autostart on boot for the Raspberry Pi (raspbian 2023-10-10 64 bit), by copying the "smp.desktop" file to the autostart system folder using the command (subsititute your user name for {your user}):
sudo cp /home/{your user}/slow-movie-player-python/smp.desktop /etc/xdg/autostart
On your next reboot, your movie should automatically start playing!
This project is licensed under the MIT license.