v2024.10.01 - Video Combination Functionality

This release focuses on adding video combination functionality with the option to delete or retain original video files, improvements in environment variable handling, and updating documentation for better clarity and management.

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Key Changes in Version 2024.10.01

1. Addition of combine_videos Method:

   • Introduced the ability to group and combine video files from the same camera, sorted by timestamp.
   • The combined output file retains the name of the first video file, with -combined appended.
   • Example:

     Front Door Cam (16c2) - 2024-10-02 - 12.24.34-0500.mp4
     Front Door Cam (16c2) - 2024-10-02 - 13.00.00-0500.mp4
     

     Will be combined into:

     Front Door Cam (16c2) - 2024-10-02 - 12.24.34-0500 - combined.mp4
     

2. New Flag UPEM_KEEP_SPLIT_FILES:

   • New environment variable UPEM_KEEP_SPLIT_FILES added, allowing users to choose whether to delete or keep the original split video files after they have been successfully combined.
   • Default behavior is to keep the original files.
   • Set UPEM_KEEP_SPLIT_FILES=false to delete the original files after combination.
   • Handled in the __init__ method for consistency across the application:

     self.KEEP_SPLIT_FILES = os.getenv("UPEM_KEEP_SPLIT_FILES", "true").lower() == "true"

3. Video Grouping by Camera Name:

   • Videos are now grouped based on the camera name (extracted from the file name) and then sorted by the timestamp extracted from the file name.
   • This ensures that videos from the same camera are grouped and processed in the correct order.