Time interval/time lapse at DVinfo.net

Michael De Florio · October 11th, 2003, 08:46 PM

Hi all, l am toying around with the idea of doing some timelapse with my PD-150. I shot some footage while doing a small doco in a tattoo studio and thoought....hmmmm...what if...?.....what if l could get a timelapse sequence with the idea of getting the initial drawing to the actual ink being applied. I was hoping someone could give me some tips on what interval time to set the camera so as to get that time lapsy feel, or in fact am l on the wrong track completely ?
I know there a video recorders that specialise in timelapse aswell as the editing software, but can l set it from the camera and get the same look and can l stop repeating myself like l just did.....
Hope someone can help...regards Michael

Boyd Ostroff · October 11th, 2003, 11:32 PM

How long will the actual event take, and how long do you want the finished sequence to be? If the actual event will fit on a tape (~60 min) then my experience is that you should just shoot in real time, then speed up in post. This will give you the smoothest motion.

I have used the interval function to tape snowfall during an 8 hour period and speed it up to about a 15 second sequence. This worked fine, but if you're filming a shorter event or if you aren't looking for that much speed-up then you may end up with jerky footage using the interval timer.

Michael De Florio · October 12th, 2003, 06:08 AM

Hi Boyd, thanks for your reply. The segment would last for about 8 hours or so...very painful for the person getting the tattoo l can tell you....!! So l was trying to work out that if l found the right interval then l could set the camera up and record the whole show and end up with a one mintue or less segment. If l was to set it for every five minutes it would take some footage then lets say one second every five minutes would give me 12 seconds of footage per hour x 8 give or take or then maybe every ten minutes so about 42 seconds. You see, it's a long process and from intial drawing to actually tattooing and even in ten minutes or so, not alot of ground or skin l should say is covered.....hmmm...l may be getting ahead of myself and nip it in the bud...hmmm..l know there are alot of different situations for different intervals but l thought that maybe there was a standard and then you can adjust it from there....ok well l have confused myself now so regards MIchael

Boyd Ostroff · October 12th, 2003, 08:09 AM

Wow, 8 hours?!... I suggest setting the interval as short as possible such that it will still fit on one tape. This will yield the smoothest motion. Don't have my camera here, but I think the minimum you can set it for is recording 1 second every 30 seconds. That would roll 2 seconds of tape for every minute, so an hour would use up 2 minutes of tape. 8 hours shot at this interval would only fill 16 minutes of tape. Sorry, my recollection of the limits on the interval timer may be wrong, but you get the idea.

Then you could capture this footage and speed it up 16x (1600%) in your NLE to end up with a one minute movie. Your idea of shooting one second every 5 minutes will yield pretty jerky results I think. Remember, you are going to need about 30x60=1800 individual frames in your one minute video. Even using my method of shooting every 30 seconds there will only be 8x60x2=960 different time samples, so there will still be uneven motion, as though you were shooting at about 15 frames/sec.

You might also take a look at what software can do this for you. On the Mac there's a shareware program called BTV pro that can capture timelapse footage. I don't use PC's, but understand there are similar programs there (perhaps Premiere even does this?). Of course you would need to have the camera plugged into a laptop the whole time you're shooting using this approach.

Shawn Legg · February 8th, 2011, 11:53 PM

never mind wrong camera

October 11th, 2003, 08:46 PM	#1
Michael De Florio Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Melbourne Posts: 30	Time interval/time lapse Hi all, l am toying around with the idea of doing some timelapse with my PD-150. I shot some footage while doing a small doco in a tattoo studio and thoought....hmmmm...what if...?.....what if l could get a timelapse sequence with the idea of getting the initial drawing to the actual ink being applied. I was hoping someone could give me some tips on what interval time to set the camera so as to get that time lapsy feel, or in fact am l on the wrong track completely ? I know there a video recorders that specialise in timelapse aswell as the editing software, but can l set it from the camera and get the same look and can l stop repeating myself like l just did..... Hope someone can help...regards Michael

October 11th, 2003, 11:32 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,801	How long will the actual event take, and how long do you want the finished sequence to be? If the actual event will fit on a tape (~60 min) then my experience is that you should just shoot in real time, then speed up in post. This will give you the smoothest motion. I have used the interval function to tape snowfall during an 8 hour period and speed it up to about a 15 second sequence. This worked fine, but if you're filming a shorter event or if you aren't looking for that much speed-up then you may end up with jerky footage using the interval timer.

October 12th, 2003, 06:08 AM	#3
Michael De Florio Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Melbourne Posts: 30	Hi Boyd, thanks for your reply. The segment would last for about 8 hours or so...very painful for the person getting the tattoo l can tell you....!! So l was trying to work out that if l found the right interval then l could set the camera up and record the whole show and end up with a one mintue or less segment. If l was to set it for every five minutes it would take some footage then lets say one second every five minutes would give me 12 seconds of footage per hour x 8 give or take or then maybe every ten minutes so about 42 seconds. You see, it's a long process and from intial drawing to actually tattooing and even in ten minutes or so, not alot of ground or skin l should say is covered.....hmmm...l may be getting ahead of myself and nip it in the bud...hmmm..l know there are alot of different situations for different intervals but l thought that maybe there was a standard and then you can adjust it from there....ok well l have confused myself now so regards MIchael

October 12th, 2003, 08:09 AM	#4
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,801	Wow, 8 hours?!... I suggest setting the interval as short as possible such that it will still fit on one tape. This will yield the smoothest motion. Don't have my camera here, but I think the minimum you can set it for is recording 1 second every 30 seconds. That would roll 2 seconds of tape for every minute, so an hour would use up 2 minutes of tape. 8 hours shot at this interval would only fill 16 minutes of tape. Sorry, my recollection of the limits on the interval timer may be wrong, but you get the idea. Then you could capture this footage and speed it up 16x (1600%) in your NLE to end up with a one minute movie. Your idea of shooting one second every 5 minutes will yield pretty jerky results I think. Remember, you are going to need about 30x60=1800 individual frames in your one minute video. Even using my method of shooting every 30 seconds there will only be 8x60x2=960 different time samples, so there will still be uneven motion, as though you were shooting at about 15 frames/sec. You might also take a look at what software can do this for you. On the Mac there's a shareware program called BTV pro that can capture timelapse footage. I don't use PC's, but understand there are similar programs there (perhaps Premiere even does this?). Of course you would need to have the camera plugged into a laptop the whole time you're shooting using this approach.

February 8th, 2011, 11:53 PM	#5
Shawn Legg Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Hamilton, ONTARIO Posts: 29	never mind wrong camera