XL-2 Time Lapse AND Sunrise/set?

[Joe Desmond]

(i) Would recording a sunrise and/or sunset "burn" or damage the CCD's, the camera, or the lens at all or in any way?

(ii) Time Lapse in 24Pa 16x9 shooting at 1/48.

If anyone has scene REQUIEM FOR A DREAM or ADAPTATION, in terms of time-lapse, how can I get a fairly smooth to super SMOOTH speed-up, fast-motion (without too much blurring) in regards to time lapse? Would shooting at intervals of 30 seconds and 60 frames cut it (is that even possible/realistic?)...

Does the time lapse on this camera work automatically whereas I select it and place the camera on its tripod, click record, and come back x-minutes later?

How would I calculate how many seconds I've recorded? I've been referring to the Wikipedia article @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_lapse especially this picture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:T...posureTime.png) but I'm but already confused.

Thanks in advance. I've searched this forum and only found one other topic covering this, which didn't conclude much. The XL-2 manual states the times and etc but doesn't explain the basics in a way I can understand...

Thanks.

[Jacob Ehrichs]

Just a few things I've looked into before.

The smoothest motion you'll get is if you run the tape continious for 60 min, or run in LP for 80 min. The LP tapes and you can record a loonnngg time.

Alternately, I'm still running Premiere 6, and it has a stop motion capture setting. You can specify how many frames to capture per minute. If it's somewhere were you have power, and is secure enough to leave your camera and perhaps a laptop in place, that's the way I'd go.

I'm sure some sort of filtering is going to be needed. The sun is a little bright. I'm just not sure what is needed. I'd like to do the same with my XL1 but haven't because I'd rather not burn out the chips.

[Nick Weeks]

I've done multiple time lapses of sunrise/sunset... just make sure you use filtering. They make solar filters, but I used the built in 'ND2' filtering on my VX2100 and it produces a nice clear picture, and I haven't had any CCD problems that I've noticed.

Both my XL1s and VX2100 have time lapse setting on them (on the Sony it's called Interval Recording). Not sure about the XL1s, but you set how long it records and how often. FOr example, record for 1 second every minute, or 1.5 sec every 5 min, etc. etc

I can't remember what setting I used, but the shorter the record time between 'takes' will result in a smoother image. I would try recording .5sec every minute. See how that turns out.

[Joe Desmond]

Does anyone else know if the sun can damage the CCD chips?

Would a UV filter cut it or no?

[Andrew Khalil]

I've never shot a timelapse of a sunset, but I have done shooting of sunsets for short periods of time. I would say using the ND filter would make sense - just keep in mind it'll get a lot brighter as the sunrises or dimmer as it sets. Lastly, I think you'd be fine with the timelapse setting at 1 frame/second since the sun isn't moving very quickly.

[Joe Desmond]

Originally Posted by Andrew Khalil

I've never shot a timelapse of a sunset, but I have done shooting of sunsets for short periods of time. I would say using the ND filter would make sense - just keep in mind it'll get a lot brighter as the sunrises or dimmer as it sets. Lastly, I think you'd be fine with the timelapse setting at 1 frame/second since the sun isn't moving very quickly.

For something like someone sitting in there room, getting up, walking around, etc... To do a "time lapse of that" ...What if I just shoot continuously, say 10-15 minutes... I could just speed it up in FCP or Premiere in post couldn't I (or will it not look so nice speeding it up post??)

[Andrew Khalil]

It'll look fine speeding it up in post, but if you want to shoot something that's longer than the tape you're using, it's better to do it in camera to avoid the gap that you'll get when changing tapes, but in some cases, the gap won't be noticable if you're speeding it up a lot.

[Richard Hunter]

Originally Posted by Joe Desmond

For something like someone sitting in there room, getting up, walking around, etc... To do a "time lapse of that" ...What if I just shoot continuously, say 10-15 minutes... I could just speed it up in FCP or Premiere in post couldn't I (or will it not look so nice speeding it up post??)

Hi Joe. The results are usually better if you shoot continuously and then speed it up in post. This is because the frames are sampled at even intervals if you do it in post, whereas the in-camera method captures several frames in realtime and then pauses for a while, etc. (Actually, this can make a nice effect but it's not always what you want.)

However, as Andrew says, there are times when it is best to do it in camera.

Richard

[Nick Weeks]

I did an interval recording of a sunrise at the beach a while back with my VX2100. I woke up at about 5 AM and set my camera on the tripod outside, and went back to sleep. It sat out there for 3 hours and got some decent video using the interval recording feature of the camera. Unfortunately I forgot to apply the ND filter, so it looks aweful, but you can still see how well it worked. I'll see if I can get a clip on here soon so you can see it. I think I did .5 sec every 5 minutes, but I'd have to check again to be sure.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Most of the time I like to lock up the tripod and film a complete sequence of the sun setting (maybe changing between the 16X lens and a Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 to provide both scenic footage and giant red orb footage) and then speed up the sequences during editing in post.
I also find this works great for shooting footage of the moon.

I prefer to use a polorizer filter over the lens to deepen the colours and prevent too many reflections off the water, although the lower ther sun is in the sky, the less there is a need for an ND filter (depending on your set iris opening).

Some of my most stunning sequences tend to be of the setting sun sinking into a river or lake, with reflections of that deep red ball of fire spreading out across the waters.

For longer sequences such as plants or flowers opening etc, it is best to use the normal time-lapse/interval method.

[Joe Desmond]

Cool Nick-- I'd really like to see the clip.

So I assume that if you use a filter, ND or Polarizer, there will not be damage to the CCD's or the camera in any way... What if I don't use the filter?

I'd really like to see what Nick's footage without any filter looks like...

Thanks a lot guys, very useful stuff.

Cheers.

[Ash Greyson]

I did a some time lapse for this sports show opening on an XL1s/XL2:

http://nts001.interplug.com/profiles.mov

I have since gotten a Canon D-SLR and it is 1000 times better. I hook it to my laptop and I can take a frame per second for crystal smoother beyond HD rez time lapse. Lots of fun! You can mess with the shutter and get those great streaking headlights/etc. Easy to compose as well...



ash =o)

[Joe Desmond]

Very impressive footage.

But wait.
Whoa.

The XL-2 with the 20x lens has a BUILT-IN ND filter?

So can I use THAT to get a good-looking sunrise??
Or...???

Confused again :)

[Nick Weeks]

Yea, it has 2 levels... I used it on my VX2100 (can't find my tape, but I'm still looking)

I did a sunset and sunrise. The sunset doesn't look that great because I had my interval set too long and the record time was wayyy too long. It ended up very choppy. Even when I recorded a .5 second at a time it was still choppier than I wanted. If you can spare the tapes it is best to record real time and speed up later, but it all depends on how much you want to "baby" it

When/if I find my tape I'll post a clip... it's short and unimpressive, but it shows you the time lapse, and also shows why you need to use an ND filter...

[Rodney Compton]

Hi Guys

Use manual exposure and ND if necessary, run tape normally, speed up 3000% in FCP. try not to get foliage in foreground if windy.

Best of Luck

Rod C