shooting my first time-lapse... at DVinfo.net

Jerry Neal · June 12th, 2012, 08:50 PM

Hello,

I'm planning on shooting my first time-lapse with my GH-2 this weekend. I just purchased the Olympus 12mm and figured that a wide lens will accentuate the movement, clouds, etc.

I have a few questions:

I purchased a timer/remote control. What time increment should this be set to? How many seconds between each photo to playback as video?

Is there a "best" setting to use when shooting time-lapse photos? I have heard that full auto can cause a "flicker" when you play it back as video.

I plan on shooting the sky above a small river. I'd like to have a little blur in the water. What is the best shutter speed to use for this kind of time-lapse? Or best shutter speed for most time-lapse shots?

Are there any other issues that I need to be aware of?

As always, I greatly appreciate everyone's feedback. This forum provides a wealth of information.

Jerry

Ben Giles · June 13th, 2012, 05:12 AM

Very much suck it and see.

I generally try and go for 20 or 30 sec increment and then ask myself how long I've got to hang around. I usually work at 25FPS, so a 30 sec increment means the camera will need to sit there for 12.5 mins for every second of finished video.

Re the shutter speed, others will be better qualified to talk about length of shutter, but I guess you'll need to consider some ND to get the shutter slow enough to blur movement.

Workflow-wise, I use Quicktime 7 to import stills as an image sequence, don't resize the resulting window and then save as a (large) self contained movie. That will then give you a supersized resolution, from which you can pan and scan across the scene within your NLE (or just crop to the desired composition.) It's a powerful way of using timelapse material.

Have fun.

Ben.

Matthew Roddy · June 13th, 2012, 10:54 AM

Conversely to the above info, I tried my first cloud timelaps at 10 second intervoles and found that to be WAY too fast for the clouds I was shooting (these clouds were scooting along pretty quickly). I went down to 2 second pops and that worked out nicely.
So it really depends on what you're shooting.
If you have the luxury, do a test first.

Clouds are amazing things. Totally wonderful to watch as the pillow, billow, morph and fly. Magical indeed.

Some of the best timelapse can be seen here:
http://www.timescapes.org/
And there's a forum there devoted strictly to timelapse, so that might help.

I've only been at this a few weeks, so I'm a newb, but it's a lot of fun. Just be prepared to settle in and wait while the camera does its work. My only lament was that I didn't bring anything to do, while I waited.

Angelo Ucciferri · June 19th, 2012, 05:31 PM

5 seconds is a very common interval. I always use that and have had a lot of success. You can always speed up the animation - so my theory is that it is better to capture at 5 second intervals and acquire the images - rather than than shoot at longer intervals and miss a lot of good motion detail.

But it also depends on how much motion there is in your images and how long the camera will be mounted. Timelapsing a building being built or seasons changing is a lot different than clouds speeding by.

Assuming your conditions aren't changing much - definitely try to stay all manual. It will provide much more even exposure throughout the animation.

What controller did you get? I use a P-Clix on my Pentax k10d. It's a fantastic controller. Pclix XT | Intervalometer | Time-Lapse Triggering | Canon 5D Recording | Video Camera Triggering

And I use a simple $2 Time Lapse app from the Apple App Store to animate the stills in to a mov. It lets you choose your resolution and frame rate.

Do you have a slider? A super slow slide will provide awesome movement during a timelapse. The real way to do that is with a robotic controller, but if you barely creep the camera on the slider in between frames, you can do it manually.

Good luck!
Angelo

Paul Matwiy · June 30th, 2012, 12:25 PM

If I might horn in on this thread and ask a relevant question? I bought a GH2 to supplement my Canon XH-A1 for specific shots like time lapse. I have a shot in mind that would be night time. I want to get a star field moving against 400 year old illuminated buildings.

Any suggestions on exposure (Aperture, Shutter, or manual). The time interval I can calculate.

June 12th, 2012, 08:50 PM	#1
Jerry Neal Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 121	shooting my first time-lapse... Hello, I'm planning on shooting my first time-lapse with my GH-2 this weekend. I just purchased the Olympus 12mm and figured that a wide lens will accentuate the movement, clouds, etc. I have a few questions: I purchased a timer/remote control. What time increment should this be set to? How many seconds between each photo to playback as video? Is there a "best" setting to use when shooting time-lapse photos? I have heard that full auto can cause a "flicker" when you play it back as video. I plan on shooting the sky above a small river. I'd like to have a little blur in the water. What is the best shutter speed to use for this kind of time-lapse? Or best shutter speed for most time-lapse shots? Are there any other issues that I need to be aware of? As always, I greatly appreciate everyone's feedback. This forum provides a wealth of information. Jerry

June 13th, 2012, 05:12 AM	#2
Ben Giles Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: UK Posts: 145	Re: shooting my first time-lapse... Very much suck it and see. I generally try and go for 20 or 30 sec increment and then ask myself how long I've got to hang around. I usually work at 25FPS, so a 30 sec increment means the camera will need to sit there for 12.5 mins for every second of finished video. Re the shutter speed, others will be better qualified to talk about length of shutter, but I guess you'll need to consider some ND to get the shutter slow enough to blur movement. Workflow-wise, I use Quicktime 7 to import stills as an image sequence, don't resize the resulting window and then save as a (large) self contained movie. That will then give you a supersized resolution, from which you can pan and scan across the scene within your NLE (or just crop to the desired composition.) It's a powerful way of using timelapse material. Have fun. Ben. __________________ www.bengiles.co.uk www.matobo.co.uk

June 13th, 2012, 10:54 AM	#3
Matthew Roddy Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Riverside, Ca Posts: 307	Re: shooting my first time-lapse... Conversely to the above info, I tried my first cloud timelaps at 10 second intervoles and found that to be WAY too fast for the clouds I was shooting (these clouds were scooting along pretty quickly). I went down to 2 second pops and that worked out nicely. So it really depends on what you're shooting. If you have the luxury, do a test first. Clouds are amazing things. Totally wonderful to watch as the pillow, billow, morph and fly. Magical indeed. Some of the best timelapse can be seen here: http://www.timescapes.org/ And there's a forum there devoted strictly to timelapse, so that might help. I've only been at this a few weeks, so I'm a newb, but it's a lot of fun. Just be prepared to settle in and wait while the camera does its work. My only lament was that I didn't bring anything to do, while I waited.

June 19th, 2012, 05:31 PM	#4
Angelo Ucciferri Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 106	Re: shooting my first time-lapse... 5 seconds is a very common interval. I always use that and have had a lot of success. You can always speed up the animation - so my theory is that it is better to capture at 5 second intervals and acquire the images - rather than than shoot at longer intervals and miss a lot of good motion detail. But it also depends on how much motion there is in your images and how long the camera will be mounted. Timelapsing a building being built or seasons changing is a lot different than clouds speeding by. Assuming your conditions aren't changing much - definitely try to stay all manual. It will provide much more even exposure throughout the animation. What controller did you get? I use a P-Clix on my Pentax k10d. It's a fantastic controller. Pclix XT \| Intervalometer \| Time-Lapse Triggering \| Canon 5D Recording \| Video Camera Triggering And I use a simple $2 Time Lapse app from the Apple App Store to animate the stills in to a mov. It lets you choose your resolution and frame rate. Do you have a slider? A super slow slide will provide awesome movement during a timelapse. The real way to do that is with a robotic controller, but if you barely creep the camera on the slider in between frames, you can do it manually. Good luck! Angelo __________________ Ironbird Studios - www.IronbirdStudios.com New Jersey / New York City - Music / Audio / Video Production

June 30th, 2012, 12:25 PM	#5
Paul Matwiy Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Marin, CA Posts: 85	Re: shooting my first time-lapse... If I might horn in on this thread and ask a relevant question? I bought a GH2 to supplement my Canon XH-A1 for specific shots like time lapse. I have a shot in mind that would be night time. I want to get a star field moving against 400 year old illuminated buildings. Any suggestions on exposure (Aperture, Shutter, or manual). The time interval I can calculate. __________________ Paul