going in the right direction.

helper.py

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import contextlib
+import time
+import cv2
+
+
+def create_video_writer(video_cap, output_filename):
+
+    # grab the width, height, and fps of the frames in the video stream.
+    frame_width = int(video_cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FRAME_WIDTH))
+    frame_height = int(video_cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FRAME_HEIGHT))
+    fps = int(video_cap.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FPS))
+
+    # initialize the FourCC and a video writer object
+    fourcc = cv2.VideoWriter_fourcc(*'MP4V')
+    writer = cv2.VideoWriter(output_filename, fourcc, fps,
+                             (frame_width, frame_height))
+
+    return writer
+
+
+def iter_frames(video_cap):
+    while 1:
+        ret, frame = video_cap.read()
+        if not ret:
+            return
+        yield frame
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def time_tracker():
+    start = time.monotonic()
+    yield
+    end = time.monotonic()
+    print(f"Time to process 1 frame: {(end-start) * 1000:.0f} milliseconds")