Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? at DVinfo.net

Phil Gosselin · January 7th, 2013, 01:38 PM

Hi all,

The title says it all. A bit before Xmas I build a studio for one of my client and did a timelapse with my 60D. It was a last minute decision and I just had time to find out that I could do it manually using my laptop and the included EOS utility.

Googling my issue yield so many solutions, almost all included 3rd party software I do not wish to purchase/install.

What is your workflow for timelapses?

Thanks

Chris Hurd · January 7th, 2013, 01:39 PM

Phil, are you Mac or PC?

Phil Gosselin · January 7th, 2013, 01:48 PM

PC

Oh and I did shoot in RAW

Tools that I have on my comp: Vegas, After Effects, all the programs that came with the 60D

John Wiley · January 7th, 2013, 03:44 PM

First you'll have to convert all the stills to jpeg - you might need to do at least a little colour processing at this point to get it pretty close to how you want it to look in the final product. When you convert them do not rename any of them as you want to keep the original numbering.

It's been many years since I used Vegas so I've forgotten if it can do this also, but in After Effects you can simply import an image sequence as a single clip. Go to file>import and navigate to the folder full of images. Click on the first image in the sequence, & If they all have sequential names & numbers, a checkbox will appear in the bottom of the window saying "Jpeg Sequence." Make sure that is checked and hit import.

You end up with a single clip made up of all your images in sequence, at a default frame rate of 30fps. Create a new comp at your project settings. Interpret the image sequence to the same frame rate as your comp, and drop it into the comp. Now you can crop, reframe and make and make any other necessary adjustments before sending it to Vegas to cut into a project.

Sareesh Sudhakaran · January 7th, 2013, 10:07 PM

In addition to what John has said you could also try to output different 'exposure' versions of the same RAW file to JPEGs, for maximum dynamic range. Blending them could be done in Photoshop and then imported to AE.

Ideally I'd want to work with TIFF images instead of JPEGs, but this will depend on your footage and needs.

If you want to work in RAW, you could convert your RAW files into DNG and import them directly to AE as an image sequence.

Robert Benda · January 7th, 2013, 10:15 PM

In Vegas, you go to "options", then "preferences", then "editing". In that menu you can choose how long each photo will display for. Depending on your time lapse, 0.35 seconds (10 frames per image at 24fps) is a nice starting point. If we shoot with continuous shooting, we'll do it even less time per image and match it up with a song as best we can.

I create title cards first, then add the images to the project media. When you add the images they are already selected so you can just drag it onto your timeline. soundtrack it, and render.

Seth Bloombaum · January 7th, 2013, 10:40 PM

This works:

If stills are raw, use the free and wonderful irfanview to batch convert them. Generally, PNGs are better than JPGs in Vegas.

Then, File | Import | Image sequence in Vegas, noting the prefs Robert mentions above.

However, you have a basic decision to make - if you are going to show the full-frame, you might go ahead and batch reduce the frame dimensions to 1920x1080 or 1280x720 in Irfanview before import to Vegas. Preview will be a lot nicer.

OTOH, if you want to do some camera moves in post, and shooting a timelapse at the max rez on a 60D gives you lots of opportunity to do this, your original-dimension pngs are going to preview like a pig... but in a 1080p or 720p project you can zoom, pan, cut to different framing, and have all kinds of fun.

Phil Gosselin · January 8th, 2013, 11:00 AM

Sareesh = That seems a tad too advance for me, in any case I don't have PS, so there you go

Seth & Robert = Thanks fellas i'll keep your pointers in mind for the timelapse I will make

John = Of course, importing the jpeg as a sequence, why didn't I think of that :)

Although I shot in RAW the cammy also made a duplicate as a high res jpeg, so there is no need for conversion. I also found that I took too many pics and shortened the timelapse by deleting ranges of photos. Irfanview came in handy for batch renaming what remained.

Thanks all !

Evan Bourcier · January 8th, 2013, 01:13 PM

Couple quick thoughts:
If you don't have lightroom or PS there's no reason to shoot in RAW, you might as well just always shoot JPEG.

When I'm feeling lazy I use a free program I got called Time Lapse Assembler, it works fine.

If your time-lapse is too long you're generally better off speeding it up in post rather than deleting frames, as it's easier and will work out better in general.

Charles W. Hull · January 12th, 2013, 09:16 PM

There is a good forum for timelapse at

Timescapes - Digital Timelapse Discussion - Index page

Jordan Hooper · January 14th, 2013, 02:37 PM

Adorama Photography TV - YouTube

James Strange · January 14th, 2013, 09:08 PM

Adjust raw files in adob camera raw ( adjust wb, sharpen, Denoise etc)

Import raw files as an image sequence into AE

Use warp stabals in ae if needed

Drag image sequence into a comp ( I will create a 5k video comp, use the room to reframe if desired
(the extra room also helps with warp )

Change comp settings to 16 bit

From here I scale th comp down to 4k, export a 4k video and a 1080p one

January 7th, 2013, 01:38 PM	#1
Phil Gosselin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 211	Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Hi all, The title says it all. A bit before Xmas I build a studio for one of my client and did a timelapse with my 60D. It was a last minute decision and I just had time to find out that I could do it manually using my laptop and the included EOS utility. Googling my issue yield so many solutions, almost all included 3rd party software I do not wish to purchase/install. What is your workflow for timelapses? Thanks

January 7th, 2013, 01:39 PM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Phil, are you Mac or PC? __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

January 7th, 2013, 01:48 PM	#3
Phil Gosselin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 211	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelapse, now what? PC Oh and I did shoot in RAW Tools that I have on my comp: Vegas, After Effects, all the programs that came with the 60D

January 7th, 2013, 03:44 PM	#4
John Wiley Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Byron Bay, Australia Posts: 1,155	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? First you'll have to convert all the stills to jpeg - you might need to do at least a little colour processing at this point to get it pretty close to how you want it to look in the final product. When you convert them do not rename any of them as you want to keep the original numbering. It's been many years since I used Vegas so I've forgotten if it can do this also, but in After Effects you can simply import an image sequence as a single clip. Go to file>import and navigate to the folder full of images. Click on the first image in the sequence, & If they all have sequential names & numbers, a checkbox will appear in the bottom of the window saying "Jpeg Sequence." Make sure that is checked and hit import. You end up with a single clip made up of all your images in sequence, at a default frame rate of 30fps. Create a new comp at your project settings. Interpret the image sequence to the same frame rate as your comp, and drop it into the comp. Now you can crop, reframe and make and make any other necessary adjustments before sending it to Vegas to cut into a project.

January 7th, 2013, 10:07 PM	#5
Sareesh Sudhakaran Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 1,385	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? In addition to what John has said you could also try to output different 'exposure' versions of the same RAW file to JPEGs, for maximum dynamic range. Blending them could be done in Photoshop and then imported to AE. Ideally I'd want to work with TIFF images instead of JPEGs, but this will depend on your footage and needs. If you want to work in RAW, you could convert your RAW files into DNG and import them directly to AE as an image sequence. __________________ Get the Free Comprehensive Guide to Rigging ANY Camera - one guide to rig them all - DSLRs to the Arri Alexa.

January 7th, 2013, 10:15 PM	#6
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? In Vegas, you go to "options", then "preferences", then "editing". In that menu you can choose how long each photo will display for. Depending on your time lapse, 0.35 seconds (10 frames per image at 24fps) is a nice starting point. If we shoot with continuous shooting, we'll do it even less time per image and match it up with a song as best we can. I create title cards first, then add the images to the project media. When you add the images they are already selected so you can just drag it onto your timeline. soundtrack it, and render.

January 7th, 2013, 10:40 PM	#7
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? This works: If stills are raw, use the free and wonderful irfanview to batch convert them. Generally, PNGs are better than JPGs in Vegas. Then, File \| Import \| Image sequence in Vegas, noting the prefs Robert mentions above. However, you have a basic decision to make - if you are going to show the full-frame, you might go ahead and batch reduce the frame dimensions to 1920x1080 or 1280x720 in Irfanview before import to Vegas. Preview will be a lot nicer. OTOH, if you want to do some camera moves in post, and shooting a timelapse at the max rez on a 60D gives you lots of opportunity to do this, your original-dimension pngs are going to preview like a pig... but in a 1080p or 720p project you can zoom, pan, cut to different framing, and have all kinds of fun. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

January 8th, 2013, 11:00 AM	#8
Phil Gosselin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 211	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Sareesh = That seems a tad too advance for me, in any case I don't have PS, so there you go Seth & Robert = Thanks fellas i'll keep your pointers in mind for the timelapse I will make John = Of course, importing the jpeg as a sequence, why didn't I think of that :) Although I shot in RAW the cammy also made a duplicate as a high res jpeg, so there is no need for conversion. I also found that I took too many pics and shortened the timelapse by deleting ranges of photos. Irfanview came in handy for batch renaming what remained. Thanks all !

January 8th, 2013, 01:13 PM	#9
Evan Bourcier Major Player Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Mashpee, MA Posts: 251	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Couple quick thoughts: If you don't have lightroom or PS there's no reason to shoot in RAW, you might as well just always shoot JPEG. When I'm feeling lazy I use a free program I got called Time Lapse Assembler, it works fine. If your time-lapse is too long you're generally better off speeding it up in post rather than deleting frames, as it's easier and will work out better in general. __________________ DSLR Photographer/Videographer from Massachusetts Portfolio at http://ebourcier.com

January 12th, 2013, 09:16 PM	#10
Charles W. Hull Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Canyon Country, CA Posts: 445	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? There is a good forum for timelapse at Timescapes - Digital Timelapse Discussion - Index page

January 14th, 2013, 02:37 PM	#11
Jordan Hooper Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vernon, BC. Canada Posts: 111	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Adorama Photography TV - YouTube

January 14th, 2013, 09:08 PM	#12
James Strange Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Posts: 309	Re: Ok so i've shot the photos for a timelpase, now what? Adjust raw files in adob camera raw ( adjust wb, sharpen, Denoise etc) Import raw files as an image sequence into AE Use warp stabals in ae if needed Drag image sequence into a comp ( I will create a 5k video comp, use the room to reframe if desired (the extra room also helps with warp ) Change comp settings to 16 bit From here I scale th comp down to 4k, export a 4k video and a 1080p one