Hi, was looking through some tech docs on the HVR-A1 which said that an interval record feature ( like the option to shoot 1 sec every 30s) was available under the pict. application menu next to shot transisiton. However on my model ( bought 2 months ago ) I cannot seem to find it. Does anyone out there have it present on theirs???

BTW, I shot my most recent UWOL vid solely on the A1, and it did a great job - http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge7/03_UC7_tempusfugit.mov ( 55mb MOV )

Bob,

The "INT.REC-STL" option is under "PICT.APPLI" when the A1 is in "CAMERA-MEMORY" mode. Too bad we can't us it for video.

BTW, I love the pan effect in tempufugit. I really makes the fast motion look cool. I shoot my challenge (Search for the Real Vampire Duck) using an HVR-A1U.

Hey Victor - ah thanks for pointing that out - it's a shame really, that was one of the features that was so good about the trv900. The A1 is shaping up pretty well - not impressed in low light perf but I was expecting that, but the footage I have captured so far seems to sit alongside output from the fx nicely - i think it'll make a great backup/ on the fly cam.....

Cheers!

Rob

You had my hopes up there for a few seconds.

I desperately need this feature to monitor some bats subject to potential disturbance during building work. My old XM2 would do it in daylight, but doesn't have the infra-red option to shoot bats in a dark cellar.

Any alternative method of doing this, perhaps through a computer program? For once, I will actually be able to connect up to an electricity supply to run the camera and laptop over the necessary period.

Any help would be appreciated here

They do this all the time on MythBusters (or most other Discovery HDV shot series), but it's never shown exactly how they do it. Theories include continuous recording then swapping tapes or a signal to external recording devices.

You had my hopes up there for a few seconds.

I desperately need this feature to monitor some bats subject to potential disturbance during building work. My old XM2 would do it in daylight, but doesn't have the infra-red option to shoot bats in a dark cellar.

Any alternative method of doing this, perhaps through a computer program? For once, I will actually be able to connect up to an electricity supply to run the camera and laptop over the necessary period.

Any help would be appreciated here

Hi Annie, is the video for actual use, or is it just a case of monitoring numbers of bats in and out??? If it were for the former, I think you could perhaps try some security video software on a laptop ( saw this a few years back, not sure of application name ) that would look for any movement on an image and only record when things happened. The prog I saw had a pre-roll facility so that it would actually save 5 seconds of video before the start of the movement event. All you gotta do then is figure some way of keeping the cam switched on permanently......

Hi Rob

I posted similar requests for information on several threads in several sub-forums where this kind of thing was being discussed.

Video for actual use as video is no problem - the Sony A1E takes care of that.

Counting bats in and out is no problem - we have various set-ups to do that.

This particular project was to monitor bat activity within a hibernation site before and during development work being carried out on an adjacent part of the building. The only way I could see to record over a two-day period before work commenced was some kind of time-lapse. The old Canon XM2 could have done it, but it doesn't do infra-red, and this had to be done in complete darkness. The Sony A1E, as you noted, doesn't have a time lapse/interval facility. The Canon XH A1 has neither TL nor IR.

The general suggestions boiled down to using software - power wasn't an issue as we had a mains supply to the building. I was able to hook up the A1E to the laptop and using ScenalyserLive (recommended on another forum) could record over the two-day period.

The issue has become academic now, as the site owner has agreed (yesterday) to wait until the bats leave the hibernaculum before starting the work. So now I have an eco-watch camera set up in the cellar so that I can easily check from time to time if the bats are still there or not.

The software that comes with the eco-watch camera is the type that starts recording when it detects movement. Having used it to see if the badger that moved in under my garden shed was still in residence, I was disappointed in its performance. There is a delay of ten frames before it decides there is enough movement to record, and the results with the badger looked really wierd. The bats are in a tight cluster, and any movement is likely to be very small - too small for the software to record unless the camera is within inched of the bats - not recommended for reasons of potential disturbance which would be illegal.

One program that does save up to 35 seconds (I think) before starting recording is Adobe on-location, though I don't know if it has a motion detection option or if that's just when you decide to press the button!

So, after spending several days trying to work out the best solutions for the recording, and also negotiating with the site owner, I can now get back to some regular work, and just maybe find time to take one of the cameras out to do some filming at some time before the weather breaks again.

Thanks for your suggestion, and if I have time to make further enquiries, I'll see if I can find the security camera software you mentioned. Meanwhile, I've got some catching up to do.

Hi, was looking through some tech docs on the HVR-A1 which said that an interval record feature ( like the option to shoot 1 sec every 30s) was available under the pict. application menu next to shot transisiton. However on my model ( bought 2 months ago ) I cannot seem to find it. Does anyone out there have it present on theirs???

BTW, I shot my most recent UWOL vid solely on the A1, and it did a great job - http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge7/03_UC7_tempusfugit.mov ( 55mb MOV )

Rob, I have just watched your video and think it is exceptionally good. I have only recently started experimenting with time-lapse by shooting 30mins to 1hours worth of footage on a tripod, then speeding up or slowing down in post. Sometimes I do this with the time re-map in FCP or by eliminating frames in Photoshop. The interval record feature on the A1U is something I would like to know more about and will have to experiment with it.

My question to you is: How did you create your time-lapse? and more specifically how did you get the pan effect? Please tell me you didn't pan the camera very slowly over a long period of time, like over 30-40mins (ha ha) or maybe you have a motor of some sort on your tripod. There's me joking there, but maybe you did, I don't know and that's why I am asking. I love that effect.

By the way, the music and titles you used are very good as well and work with that footage. Good Stuff, keep up the good work.

Cheers
Carl (:-})

Hi Carl, actually I spent months muscle training so I could do this by hand - sometimes you get really bad cramps after the first two hours.....

;-)

Actually, I wrote up a little bit about the whole procedure, it's about half way down this page http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=115546&page=2 please feel free to ask me any other questions.. glad you like the film :-)

Hi, was looking through some tech docs on the HVR-A1 which said that an interval record feature ( like the option to shoot 1 sec every 30s) was available under the pict. application menu next to shot transisiton. However on my model ( bought 2 months ago ) I cannot seem to find it. Does anyone out there have it present on theirs???

BTW, I shot my most recent UWOL vid solely on the A1, and it did a great job - http://www.uwolchallenge.com/challenge7/03_UC7_tempusfugit.mov ( 55mb MOV )

How did you do the panning while time lapsing? Great stuff BTW>