Snapshot Target

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The Snapshot Target periodically captures images of the scene and saves them to disk. This is useful for creating timelapse recordings, monitoring broadcasts, generating thumbnails, or archiving key moments from a live production.

Snapshots are saved to the Snapshots folder in the Composer application directory. The filename format is [ProjectName]-snapshot-[DateTime].[extension], where DateTime uses the format yyyy-MM-dd HH-mm-ss.

Image

Configuration

Autostart when application starts - Check this option to enable the target at application launch. For autostart of targets, the Autostart target options must also be activated on the application level (See the chapter Runtime Performance).

Snapshot interval - Determines how often a snapshot is captured. Available options:

Interval Description
Every 10 seconds High-frequency capture for detailed monitoring
Every 30 seconds Frequent capture with moderate storage usage
Every minute Standard interval for most use cases
Every 10 minutes Reduced capture frequency
Every 30 minutes Low-frequency capture
Every hour Hourly snapshots
Every 2 hours Extended interval
Once a day Daily snapshot only

Delete snapshots older than - Configures automatic cleanup of old snapshot files. Available options:

Retention Description
One minute Very short retention, useful for testing
10 minutes Short retention for temporary monitoring
One day Keep snapshots for 24 hours
One week Keep snapshots for 7 days
One month Keep snapshots for 30 days
One year Long-term archival

Image format - Select the output image format:

  • PNG - Lossless compression, larger file size, supports transparency
  • JPEG - Lossy compression, smaller file size, no transparency

JPEG quality - When using JPEG format, this setting controls the compression quality (1-100). Higher values produce better quality images but larger file sizes. Default is 85.

Commands

Start - Start capturing snapshots at the configured interval.

Stop - Stop capturing snapshots.

Open snapshots folder - Opens the Snapshots folder in Windows Explorer.

Performance & Properties

Capture state - Displays the current state of the snapshot target:

  • Stopped - Not capturing
  • Starting - Initializing capture
  • Running - Actively capturing snapshots
  • Stopping - Shutting down capture

Last snapshot saved - Date and time when the most recent snapshot was saved.

Last snapshot filename - The filename of the most recently saved snapshot.

Snapshots saved - Total number of snapshots saved during the current session.

Save queue size - Number of snapshots waiting to be written to disk. Under normal conditions, this should be 0 or 1. A consistently high value may indicate disk write performance issues.

Next snapshot in - Countdown timer showing time until the next snapshot will be captured.

Storage Location

Snapshots are stored in: [Composer Application Folder]/Snapshots/

The project name is automatically retrieved from the current project file. If no project is loaded, "Project" is used as the default name.

Example filenames:

  • MyLiveShow-snapshot-2024-09-15 14-30-00.jpg
  • MyLiveShow-snapshot-2024-09-15 14-31-00.jpg

Note: The automatic cleanup only deletes snapshots that match the current project name. Snapshots from other projects stored in the same folder will not be affected.

Performance Considerations

  • The Snapshot Target uses a separate background thread for saving images to disk, minimizing impact on the main render loop.
  • Cleanup of old snapshots runs automatically based on the retention setting:
    • For 1-minute retention: cleanup runs every 30 seconds
    • For 10-minute retention: cleanup runs every minute
    • For longer retention periods: cleanup runs every hour
  • Cleanup only removes snapshots matching the current project name, leaving snapshots from other projects untouched.
  • When using high-frequency intervals (10 or 30 seconds) with PNG format, consider storage space and disk write performance.
  • JPEG format at quality 85 provides a good balance between image quality and file size for most monitoring use cases.

Use Cases

  1. Broadcast Monitoring - Capture periodic snapshots to create a visual log of the broadcast for quality assurance review.

  2. Timelapse Creation - Use short intervals to capture frames that can be assembled into a timelapse video.

  3. Thumbnail Generation - Capture snapshots at regular intervals for use as preview thumbnails in web interfaces.

  4. Compliance Archival - Keep a visual record of broadcast content for regulatory compliance.

  5. Remote Monitoring - When combined with file synchronization services, snapshots can be used to monitor broadcasts remotely.