Time Lapse Video

[kboonng]

I need someone opinion before editing time lapse video. For making a one minute time lapse video, what is the minimum length of the video when taking?

[AV Guy]

You should be able to work it out yourself:

1) fps x 60 sec = X no. of frames required for 1 minute of video
2) X x Y secs between frames for the time lapse = total shoot time

And I hope you don't have to ask what 'fps' means.

[AaronTan]

What is 'fps' mean?

Wait I'm just joking. The formula is almost there, once you have your answer after multiplying X with Y you need to divide by 60 seconds to get your shoot time in minutes.

This is also only applicable if you have a camera with interval recording. However if you don't have this function in your camera you'll have to shoot the required footage continuously and speed up the footage in edit to the final 60 seconds which you require.

Also if you are shooting a timelapse, it's not always necessary to calculate exactly how long you need to shoot to get the effect. If you know that your final timelapse is gotta be 60 seconds, you can shoot any amount of footage more than that time and speed it up to 60 seconds and technically you have a timelapse. Of course that's not exactly ideal. It also depends on the event/action that you want to timelapse.

[fcuk89]

You should be able to work it out yourself:

1) fps x 60 sec = X no. of frames required for 1 minute of video
2) X x Y secs between frames for the time lapse = total shoot time

And I hope you don't have to ask what 'fps' means.

I don't understand. Can give example or fill in the numbers for me?

Sorry i'm new into video and very i nterested in time lapse video

[hstay123]

thanks for the tips., great

[AV Guy]

Assuming you playback in PAL which is 25 frames per second (fps), therefore -

1. 1) 25fps x 60 sec = 1500 frames are required to play 1 minute of video

If you set your timelapse to capture/expose 1 frame every 5 seconds, then -
2) 1500 x 5 secs between frames for the time lapse = 7500 seconds shoot duration, which is a 125-minute shoot (2 hours 5 minutes). And that's only for 1 minute of video playback.

If you are doing it at night, get mosquito repellent!!

[myd90]

Assuming you playback in PAL which is 25 frames per second (fps), therefore -

1. 1) 25fps x 60 sec = 1500 frames are required to play 1 minute of video

If you set your timelapse to capture/expose 1 frame every 5 seconds, then -
2) 1500 x 5 secs between frames for the time lapse = 7500 seconds shoot duration, which is a 125-minute shoot (2 hours 5 minutes). And that's only for 1 minute of video playback.

If you are doing it at night, get mosquito repellent!!

Forgive me,

is that meant i just leave my d90 on live video mode to record for 15mins or 20.? which software recommended? sony vegas? how about Window movie maker?

please advise

thanks in advance

cheers

[kinteru]

how to set so it takes shots automatically?

[AV Guy]

how to set so it takes shots automatically?

What camera - make, model?

[betterman]

hi all....
there is software named virtual dub which can create a time lapse video...
i usually use this software for timelapsed

[kamarul]

Actually the best way to do time-lapse video is to use your dslr. Shoot it at interval in full manual mode and later combine it to make a movie. You get better resolution and details this way and can can even simulate motion tracking because of the much higher resolution source.

[lurker]

kamarul, could you show some of your time lapse works again?? hehehe!

[sKiZZiT]

Agree with Kamarul that DSLR is the best for time lapse (not that I've got other experience with other kind of time lapse ). With the larger resolution, you can export it to a movie file that's bigger than the usual 1080p. With that, you can do panning and scaling to add a little cool effect to a typical static time lapse. Despite scaling, it'll be max resolution at 1080p because the video before that is bigger than that.

I didn't go about doing much time lapse shots, but you can check out the video here: http://vimeo.com/19015817. It has two time lapse shots.

My usual setting is manual mode on my 550D on a tripod, with a remote. I set it to 5 second interval, taking shots for 20 mins. This will come down to 10 secs in video time, which is perfect for my typical usage. You can check out this YouTube video for more info. I learnt it from there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePWwCw2-LFE and there's also a formula there

Shutter Interval Time = (T x 3600)/(t x n)

where, T = total shooting time (in hours, for me, 20 mins = 0.33 hour)
where, t = video duration (in secs, for me, 10 secs)
where, n = movie frame rate (in frames, for me, 24)

With that, shutter interval time = 5

[sKiZZiT]

I'm using QuickTime 7 on my Mac to convert the image sequences (the shots taken with the remote) to video. Just click File, then Open Image Sequence, then select the first image of that shots taken. It'll automatically pick the images with the following sequence number until the last one, so make sure you don't mix with other images in the same folder

[ashy]

get a canon powershot compatible with CHDK firmware (usually DIGIC II & above)

because timelapse is damn shutter hungry

I am new to timelapse too this is my 1st attempt very excited when I first view it although it's nothing too special!

[abskumar]

im using d90..can u guys help me.how to setting for time lapse for d90...can give me step by step so easy for me to learn.TQ

[AV Guy]

I'm not familiar with the video recording functions of DSLR.
In any case, assuming it is similar to a normal video camera, recording 15 mins of video will not give you a time-lapse because those 15 mins of recording are at 25fps which is normal motion for PAL. You could get a pseudo time-lapse by applying Sony Vegas' speed envelope onto it and speed it up to, say, 250fps ending up with 1.5mins of playback time in fast motion. Windows Movie Maker has no such feature (speed envelope).

If the D90 has an auto-timer feature where it can be set to auto take a picture every x-seconds or minute, that is time-lapse, i.e. time has lapsed/passed before a picture is taken. String all that together and play-back at 25fps, and you have a video where time appears to pass by very quickly, eg. 2 hours of traffic viewed in 30 seconds of 25fps video.

Alternatively, if you are using Windows 32-bit, try http://animatordv.com/ where you hook your pc to the D90, set AnimatorHD to activate the shutter every x-seconds, etc... It is essentially a stop-motion software designed to work with Windows and your D90.

[myd90]

I'm not familiar with the video recording functions of DSLR.
In any case, assuming it is similar to a normal video camera, recording 15 mins of video will not give you a time-lapse because those 15 mins of recording are at 25fps which is normal motion for PAL. You could get a pseudo time-lapse by applying Sony Vegas' speed envelope onto it and speed it up to, say, 250fps ending up with 1.5mins of playback time in fast motion. Windows Movie Maker has no such feature (speed envelope).

If the D90 has an auto-timer feature where it can be set to auto take a picture every x-seconds or minute, that is time-lapse, i.e. time has lapsed/passed before a picture is taken. String all that together and play-back at 25fps, and you have a video where time appears to pass by very quickly, eg. 2 hours of traffic viewed in 30 seconds of 25fps video.

Alternatively, if you are using Windows 32-bit, try http://animatordv.com/ where you hook your pc to the D90, set AnimatorHD to activate the shutter every x-seconds, etc... It is essentially a stop-motion software designed to work with Windows and your D90.

thanks mate!!!

are you using Sony vegas?

[C-Fu]

1. put photo camera on tripod, set position
2. take picture every [insert time]
3. import image sequence into any good video editing program like vegas fcp etc. (the pictures from beginning till the end, preferably with increasing numbers like dsc451.jpg, dsc452.jpg...)
4. render

[myd90]

1. put photo camera on tripod, set position
2. take picture every [insert time]
3. import image sequence into any good video editing program like vegas fcp etc. (the pictures from beginning till the end, preferably with increasing numbers like dsc451.jpg, dsc452.jpg...)
4. render

mate, we are talking about video time lapse, anything do with TAKING picture? correct m if i am wrong


thanks