OctoPrint VS Octolapse

The cheapest way is to use OctoPrint. Octoprint itself is free, and although it's often run on a Raspberry Pi, it can be installed on many things, such as an old laptop runing Linux or even Windows, or a small single-board computer. OctoPrint would connect to the printer using a USB cable, and you'd send the slicer output to Octoprint over your WiFi.

Octoprint

2023-11-08 14:10:57,263 - octoprint.util.connectivity.connectivity_checker - INF O - Resolving octoprint.org is working

- Two LibreELEC (https://libreelec.tv/) mediaplayers in house (yes, one is not enough in my big family).

- One for hosting low usage applications at home network (Unifi controller and some more).

- Octoprint (https://octoprint.org) connected to the 3d-printer.

- One on my desk for hardware hacking – mostly as just a PC with GPIO.

- Some Raspberry Pi Zeros as security cameras.

Really quite easy, especially if you have ever dealt with a raspberry pi before. Once installed & set up, you manage everything over a web interface. I even added a webcam to it in order to see what's going on. Check out https://octoprint.org/

For other devices it can be harder, there are guides for installing on Linux on the octoprint website (I use an old laptop running Linux Mint). If using an old Android phone look for Octo4A.

I’d just get Octoprint setup and a camera for it

Here's an older tutorial on having Octolapse call on gPhoto2 to get the DLSR images - https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/wiki/V0.4---Configuring-a-DSLR

"Installing plugin from https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/releases/tag/v0.3.4... Error! Could not install plugin from https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/releases/tag/v0.3.4, was neither a plugin archive nor a single file plugin"

Try installing from the plugin manager by clicking 'get more' and using this url: https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/archive/refs/heads/devel.zip

If you get an error when installing it like I did, this page was helpful. You can download the zip and install it from the plugin manager. https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/issues/787

Have you gone through the Octolapse guide? https://plugins.octoprint.org/plugins/octolapse/. There’s a lot of info in there with suggestions. It mentions the wiki. That’s a great resource too: https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/wiki

This is the link to the instructions for enabling Custom Image Preferences.

Trying to install octolapse, so far its the only plug in giving me issue, all the others work fine.. I just get this - Installing plugin "Octolapse" from https://github.com/FormerLurker/Octolapse/archive/master.zip...

Some stringing is unavoidable (especially for bowden setups), but excessive stringing is usually settings related. If you have not done so, go through this guide and make sure 'automatic slicer settings' are used and correctly configured. If you are using Prusa Slicer, make sure you enable 'verbose gcode'. The smart layer trigger is usually your best bet, or 'snap to print' if you are more interested in quality vs a perfect timelapse. Lastly, check out this official guide on print quality. Good luck!