My mom sent me this link, to make mosquito traps that work quite well: http://www.instructables.com/id/Mosquito-Killing-Ovitrap/
I made some today, and took some pictures after I completed each, and then stitched them together into a video. Hope you enjoy! [Edit: added costs at the end.]
Note that the last two images I added just because I thought it was neat -- I had cut a template out of that piece of paper, after tracing the circle of the top of one of the cups on it. I tossed the paper aside on the table, and it ended up wrapping neatly around a vase. So the first picture is above it, then the second beside it to better show the cut-out piece. :)
Also note that I would have benefited from a tripod! That way the background would have stayed the same, and each new cup would have just appeared in place.
Oh, also I didn't add captions for "make small holes for the hanging wire, and a larger drainage hole that will be below the screen level", but that's also a part of the process (see above link for the entire process).
All that's left is for me to fill a bucket with stagnant water (there's a prime source just beyond the drainage ditch we're building! :) ), then fill each cup from it, and hang them around the garden and the yard. Mosquitoes will be gone in a couple weeks!
To help other content creators, here was my process:
- Did a search on "make video from series of photos", and found this video, which also has the instructions in text form in the Description (which was helpful).
- Put that video (its Description, really) on the left side using WindowsKey+LeftArrow, then open Windows Movie Maker, and put it on the right side using WindowsKey+Right. This way I have both the instructions and the work space on-screen together.
- Created a folder for the photos and copied them into it. Note that my current folder structure is e.g. Documents\Steemit, under there I have one folder for each post I've done, and a "TODO" folder which currently has 8 folders under it. :)
- Apparently that video was from an older version of Movie Maker, so had to figure out the new interface.
- Clicked "Add video and photos", then selected all the photos in the "Making mosquito traps" folder, and clicked "Open".
- Once they've loaded, click the Edit tab, and then in the Duration change it from 7.00 to 2.50 seconds.
- I've gotten two spam posts on my videos yesterday, both of which were offering free music, so I figured I'd check them out. I will not advertise for the spammers, as they're collecting others' content. However, I will share the creator of the music that I chose: "Rewind Remix"[1] -- in its Description it gives a download link, so I followed that and downloaded the music, then added it to the video via the "Home" tab, then "Add Music", then select the download.
- Went to the new "Music Tools Options" tab that appeared after the last step, and set "Fade out" to "Medium".
- Played it and verified it looks and sounds good. At this point I spent some time tweaking the transition time, ending up at 3.4 seconds, so that the "beat" occurs as the image transitions.
- Add captions to each image. For each caption, I set the color to black, then set the Outline size to the smallest, and finally the Outline color to the one under the white box (first column, second row).
- Watch again, tweaking until I like it.
- File, Save Movie, select YouTube, then save it in the same folder as above.
- Upload to YouTube, get frustrated when it never finished processing (actually never started, was at 0% for ten minutes!), so delete and upload again (thanks, YouTube!).
Please give me feedback on my video, and process? Thanks!
Costs
Best part is how inexpensive it was! It was $4.84 for the Gorilla Glue silicone sealant; $6.28 for 12 pairs of socks; $20.74 for far more metal screening than I need (42" x 7'); and $11.99 for 50 of the black cups (not Solo cups, they're a little smaller, and deform much easier -- putting the sock around the mouth was difficult, and in two cases I pulled the sock off, but was able to re-glue it and it dried before I got to them).
Totaling $43.85; I made 22 of them (why not 24? I decided to try a pair of the socks, and liked them so much I kept that pair, and decided not to use the other set of 12 pairs I had bought for traps, as 22 traps is more than enough for our yard -- which brought the average price up somewhat).
Average price for each trap: $1.99.
Had I made 50, the total would have increased by $6.28 to $50.13, meaning each trap would have been slightly over $1.
The article said they had made them for 40 cents each -- I think the screening was the difference.
[1] -- It was from this video:
