Why timelapse?

Timelapse is interesting, and there´s timelapse almost everywhere.

If you compare 15 seconds timelapse footages, and 15 seconds sped up video footages. Is there much difference?

I know I can shoot it, edit and see for my self, but it takes some time. But I have sped up a lot of footages, and in my head I can´t really see much difference. Except the "toy"-movement.

I have seen a lot of milkyway photographs put together as timelapse. Is it possible to do the same with video?

Most time lapse is done with a good quality digital photo camera, or "DSLR" as photographs. That gives you much higher resolution than video can. So you start with better quality.

The resulting file when that Image Sequence is compiled into a video file is much smaller.

You can do it with video or photos, but photos will give you way better quality. That's about it.

For time lapse you might take one shot every 2 seconds then play it back at 30 FPS for a 60:1 speed up... 60 minutes in 60 seconds. Add some camera movement for effect. Now you could take 60 minutes worth of video and speed it up by a factor of 60, but why? I can take 108,000 frames of video and throw away 90% or U can take 1,800 high(er) quality images and turn the image sequence into a time lapse video.

I use compressor to create a .mov out of the image sequence.

Thank you!

So, image quality and size are the reasons for choosing time lapse.

Knowing that you have a 5D I would also say this: I believe DSLR cameras like the 5D actually have more Dynamic Range when in stills mode than they do in Video mode; so you have extra DR as well as extra resolution (important for sunsets and sunrises where you need all the DR you can get).

Also bear in mind that a DSLR has a video time limit; so you would not be able to record over 12minutes (or whatever the limit is on your camera) in the first place. Overheating is also an issue with some DSLR's on long takes.

To do Timelapse with a 5D you will need to buy an Intervelometer (Canon make an expensive one, but you can get cheaper generic ones). They also can be used as a remote shutter release (handy for doing slow shutter photography). Alternatively, the Magic lantern hack allows you to do time-lapse - if you're willing to risk it.

simonpwood wrote:
To do Timelapse with a 5D you will need to buy an Intervelometer (Canon make an expensive one, but you can get cheaper generic ones). They also can be used as a remote shutter release (handy for doing slow shutter photography). Alternatively, the Magic lantern hack allows you to do time-lapse - if you're willing to risk it.

Why do I need an intervalometer?
Why can´t I just hold my finger on the trigger?

But I do see the advantages of an intervalometer.

But we're talking about doing time-lapse here, right?

You can hold your finger on the shutter and do a 'burst' of photos for a few seconds, but eventually your camera cache will fill up and then start writing the photos to your media (during which time you wont be able to take any more photos).

Doing time-lapse properly allows you to set the interval between each shot (it can be every 10 seconds for cloud time-lapse, or every hour for a flower decomposing etc). Some time-lapse set ups can take hours, or even days to conduct - it could get a bit heavy on the finger, especially when an intervelometer allows you to set everything up, go off and brew a cup of tea, and come back when its all finished....

Yes, we are talking about time lapse.

The reason why I wonder about my finger on the triggers is because of something Sam O´Hare said:

" The camera actually has an automatic cut off after 130 shots, so for longer shots I counted each click and quickly released and re-pressed the shutter release after 130 to keep shooting."

aerofilm.blogspot.no/2010/02/sandpit-sho...ro-director-sam.html

I have no clue why he did that, unless he wanted fast bursts for short times.

Time lapse, we normally thing about things shot over 30 minutes to several hours. You need an invalvometer for that.

Physically holding your finger on the shutter? He must have a super sturdy tripod. Never heard of time lapse shot like that before.

Here's a time-lapse I shot with my 5D two weeks ago. There is no way I was going to stand out there for 8 hours with my finger on the button! :lol:

Sadly I now have a bunch of hot pixels on the sensor. Time for a service.

Oh. and as I learnt here, the very best way to put your time-lapse video together is in Motion. It's fantastic!

Seanus wrote: There is no way I was going to stand out there for 8 hours with my finger on the button!
...in Motion.

1- Wussy!
2- Told you so!

:lol:

Now, if I could find the time to learn my 7D well enough to do night sky shots like that...

Ha ha Yup that's me.

It's actually pretty easy. But you definitely need an intervalometer and a loop to preview your shots.
The main trick is find a patch of sky without too much light pollution.

Here's a beautiful heavenly display. Four hours time-lapse of the Aurora Borealis.


Better than any fireworks...

Wow! Now that's what I call a Wide Shot!

I've only ever seen the Northern Lights once when I was on a job in Kiruna Sweden.
Spectacular!

Interesting that the guys in Alice Springs were claiming that solar flares were responsible for their hot windy days.

Here's a time lapse I did at candlestick park after the 49ers playoff game last year. There is no way you could get a shot this clear at night while shooting video with a DSLR. This was taken with my GH2 and the video would have been really dark and I wouldn't have been able to boost the shadows when color grading.

YouTube Link

Seanus wrote: Oh. and as I learnt here, the very best way to put your time-lapse video together is in Motion. It's fantastic!

What is the workflow of time-lapse in Motion?

Motion can see Image Sequences as movie files or as a group of images. I always convert with Motion. Really nice, able to do any effects, pan/scan, or filtering I want. Out put whatever format I need.

Create a project the frame rate and size and duration you want.
Import the Image Sequence as a movie.
Adjust as desired.
Export.

Oh, good to know!

So can you create an image sequence in Aperture or Pixelmator, and then import that to Motion (I don't have Photoshop)?

Yep. QuickTime Pro 7 (yes, Apple still sells it cheap) can do it, also. But I prefer Motion as I have all those tools at my disposal. See the user manual page about importing image sequences.

help.apple.com/motion/mac/5.0.5/#motn113c95e1

Simon,

in case you have old QT7 on your machine, the last episode of MacBreakStudio is about how to turn image sequences into movies using just that. It's still on fcp.co's landing page. Enjoy!

www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials/1085-...s-in-final-cut-pro-x