diff --git a/4-seasons.sh b/4-seasons.sh
index d917fb1..03c825e 100755
--- a/4-seasons.sh
+++ b/4-seasons.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ yesterday=$(date --date="yesterday" +%Y-%m-%d)
 echo "Processing: $yesterday"
 
 # ── Season / movement info from astronomical calculation ──────────────────────
-eval "$(python3 "$SCRIPT_DIR/season_info.py" "$yesterday")"
+_season_info="$(python3 "$SCRIPT_DIR/season_info.py" "$yesterday")" || {
+    echo "Error: season_info.py failed — check Python dependencies (suntime pytz)"
+    exit 1
+}
+eval "$_season_info"
 # Provides: SEASON  MVT_NUM  DAY_OF_MVT  DAYS_IN_MVT  MVT_START  MVT_END
 #           IS_LAST_DAY  ASTRO_YEAR
 echo "Season=$SEASON  Mvt=$MVT_NUM  Year=$ASTRO_YEAR  Day=$DAY_OF_MVT/$DAYS_IN_MVT  LastDay=$IS_LAST_DAY"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e127a4..006c5b1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ Automated sky / timelapse camera scripts that produce:
 | Dependency | Notes |
 |---|---|
 | `ffmpeg` + `ffprobe` | Encoding, capture, audio recording, duration probing |
-| `python3` | `ephem` package for sunrise calculation, `requests` for Mattermost upload |
+| `python3` | `suntime pytz` for sunrise calculation, `requests` for Mattermost upload — `pip3 install suntime pytz requests` |
+| `fonts-dejavu` | DejaVu fonts for text overlays — `sudo apt install fonts-dejavu` |
 | `bc` | Shell arithmetic (floating-point speed factors) |
 | `fontconfig` (`fc-match`) | Font detection for overlays — optional, falls back to hardcoded paths |
 | IP camera with RTSP stream | `capture.sh` pulls frames directly — no NVR software needed |
diff --git a/bootstrap.sh b/bootstrap.sh
index 0c015b9..8bb45ea 100755
--- a/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/bootstrap.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ mv "sky-cam-$BRANCH" "$TARGET"
 
 echo ""
 echo "Done. Next steps:"
-echo "  1. pip3 install suntime pytz requests"
+echo "  1. Install system packages (if not already present):"
+echo "       sudo apt install ffmpeg bc fonts-dejavu"
+echo "       pip3 install suntime pytz requests"
 echo ""
 echo "  2. Edit $TARGET/sky-cam.conf"
 echo "     — SCRIPT_DIR   full path to the directory you'll run scripts from"
@@ -29,6 +31,8 @@ echo "     — MUSIC_DIR    path to your Vivaldi Four Seasons audio files"
 echo "     — CAMERAS      list of camera names, e.g. (sunrise)"
 echo "     — SUNRISE_CAM  which camera faces east (gets the sunrise video job)"
 echo "     — LATITUDE / LONGITUDE / TIMEZONE   your location"
-echo "     — Mattermost credentials (mattermost_url, access_token, channel_id)"
 echo ""
 echo "  3. cd $TARGET && ./install.sh"
+echo "     This generates .env.example — copy it to .env and add credentials:"
+echo "       cp $TARGET/.env.example $TARGET/.env"
+echo "       \$EDITOR $TARGET/.env"
diff --git a/capture.sh b/capture.sh
index c447971..a85e007 100755
--- a/capture.sh
+++ b/capture.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
 source "$SCRIPT_DIR/sky-cam.conf"
 export TZ="$TIMEZONE"
 
-CAM="${1:-$CAM_NAME}"
+CAM="${1:-$SUNRISE_CAM}"
 
 rtsp_var="CAM_RTSP_${CAM}"
 RTSP_URL="${!rtsp_var:-}"
diff --git a/daily_sunrise_video.sh b/daily_sunrise_video.sh
index 5e32e14..a259fc1 100644
--- a/daily_sunrise_video.sh
+++ b/daily_sunrise_video.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ current_date=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
 output_date=$(date +%Y-%m)
 
 image_dir="$BASE_DIR/$CAM_NAME/$current_date"
-output_dir="$BASE_DIR/movies/$CAM_NAME/$output_date/sunrise-only"
+output_dir="$MOVIES_DIR/$CAM_NAME/$output_date/sunrise-only"
 mkdir -p "$output_dir"
 
 # ── Sunrise time ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/montage-mvt.sh b/montage-mvt.sh
index d55b10c..9fc08a1 100755
--- a/montage-mvt.sh
+++ b/montage-mvt.sh
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ ATTR_FADE="$MONTAGE_ATTR_FADE"
 
 # ── Season / movement info ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 DATE_ARG="${1:-}"
-eval "$(python3 "$SCRIPT_DIR/season_info.py" ${DATE_ARG:+"$DATE_ARG"})"
+_season_info="$(python3 "$SCRIPT_DIR/season_info.py" ${DATE_ARG:+"$DATE_ARG"})" || {
+    echo "Error: season_info.py failed — check Python dependencies (suntime pytz)"
+    exit 1
+}
+eval "$_season_info"
 # Provides: SEASON  MVT_NUM  DAY_OF_MVT  DAYS_IN_MVT  MVT_START  MVT_END
 #           IS_LAST_DAY  ASTRO_YEAR
 echo "Season=$SEASON  Mvt=$MVT_NUM  Year=$ASTRO_YEAR  (ref: ${DATE_ARG:-today})"
diff --git a/sunrise.py b/sunrise.py
index 2646b44..5d2fbc1 100644
--- a/sunrise.py
+++ b/sunrise.py
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ def _read_conf(path):
 
 conf = _read_conf(_here / 'sky-cam.conf')
 
+for _key in ('LATITUDE', 'LONGITUDE', 'TIMEZONE'):
+    if _key not in conf:
+        raise SystemExit(f"sunrise.py: {_key} not set in sky-cam.conf")
+
 latitude  = float(conf['LATITUDE'])
 longitude = float(conf['LONGITUDE'])
 tz        = pytz.timezone(conf['TIMEZONE'])
diff --git a/sunrise2mm.py b/sunrise2mm.py
index c404eb7..af2357e 100755
--- a/sunrise2mm.py
+++ b/sunrise2mm.py
@@ -28,8 +28,11 @@ def read_config(config_file_path):
         exit(1)
     return config
 
-# Read configuration from the file
+# Read configuration — sky-cam.conf first, then .env overrides (credentials)
 config = read_config(config_file_path)
+_env_path = str(_here / '.env')
+if os.path.isfile(_env_path):
+    config.update(read_config(_env_path))
 
 # Get the values from the configuration file
 mattermost_url = config.get('mattermost_url')