Over and under crank and time lapse question

[Yuriko Baba]

Hi guys and gals,

I would have a chance to play with a EX1 for a day somewhere next month. I would like to know more on this camera about the under and over crank . I am totally new to this videography thing.

Can someone explain to me how to I get clips like the way Mr Philip Bloom does. What frame rate do I set the camera at and what shutter speed and what timeline do I cut the footage in FCP6.

Mr Bloom talks about shooting in a 1080 and then dropping it in to a 720 time line and then tracking . What does it mean? How does this work?

Can someone show me a step by step way of what to do and how to do it.
LIKE this both here:

http://exposureroom.com/members/philipbloom.aspx/assets/be6f39e3827e4c969049bdf0d336d877/

http://exposureroom.com/members/philipbloom.aspx/assets/4afebae7ff9b40eea5cbced598212d92/

Like fast motion of clouds passing by, people walking very fast and slow motion of water falling and people walking.

I understand that Mr Bloom uses a motor head with his time lapse in his Japan shorts.
What are the setting of this ? (shutter speed, frame rate ,etc.. and what timeline setting was used to cut this in FCP6. I am working in a PAL environment

Thank you very much in advance . I am looking forward to learning more about this camera.

[doofalot]

Wow, my head is spinning...

[Xtopher]

Wow those films are really cool... I would like to know how to do some of this stuff to so if you could speak in NTSC terms as well that would be amazing.

[kubalsky]

Hi Yuriko,
For timelapse, setup your shot, adjust focus, make sure focus and iris are in manual modes. Foucus should be in FULL manual which requires pulling the focus ring back towards camera body. Set the format to 24p or 25p in either 1080p or 720p. Go into the EX1 menu andscroll down the Camera settings section past gain setup, shutter etc until you come the the EX SLOW SHUTTER setting. Set it to ON and adjsut the exposure period to 16 frames. This will give you a nice streaking effect as people and cars go by while static objects such as buildings will remain crisply focused. It is especially good for lowlight situations because teh longer exposure gives you much more light. Next, scroll to the INTERVAL RECORDING setup and set to ON and Frame rate to 1 frame per second. Then you are good to go.

[Xtopher]

Can this stuff be done with a DVX, HVX or XL2?

[kubalsky]

Can this stuff be done with a DVX, HVX or XL2?

I havent used the HVX but I imagine it has a slow shutter setting. I know it does interval recording to P2 card so it should be able to get very similar results to an EX1.

I think the DVX100 had interval recording but the 100a dropped this feature. I dont know how good it would have been anyway on a tape based system.

[rrrobb]

hey there,
you don't have to drop to 720p to do a timelapse, just keep it on 1080p, find the right slow shutter speed to get the image you want. And set it to interval frame.

If you drop down to 720p in the timeline you can then 'track' the video by moving it to a direction using keyframes (you zoom in on the image because it's at 1080p on a 720p timeline).

I shot this one yesterday with those settings:
http://www.vimeo.com/1216523

good luck!

[kubalsky]

hey Robert, great timelapse. that's a good point you make about making it look like panning if its 1080p on a 720p timeline.
I forgot to mention my vimeo stuff earlier. Here are the test shots I did in Shibuya. Some are with EX Slow Shutter at 16 frames exposure. Using the KD Motor Mount that I got for Phil soon after.

http://www.vimeo.com/932669

[rrrobb]

I will definently have to pick up one of those Motor mounts in japan. Do they fit well on most tripod heads?

[xenno]

rrrobb, when I see the video, there is a pulse in the time lapse, it looks like a missing frame. Is this ow the video was recorded or is this just what I see due to vimeos player?

[rrrobb]

if you are referring to the video not running completely smooth, it's because vimeo encodes all video at 24fps, and us europeans shoot stuff at 25fps

[kubalsky]

I will definently have to pick up one of those Motor mounts in japan. Do they fit well on most tripod heads?

The mount is made for a telescope tripod that has a flat base and a 1/4 inch screw hole at the base so you can actually mount it on your existing tripod head and then mount the camera on that but I prefer to remove the existing tripod head, take a large washer and 1/4 inch bolt thats long enough and attach that from under the well up into the 1/4 inch screw hole at the base of the Motor Mount. Works well but you then rely on adjusting tripod legs to level it.

[Xtopher]

what does a motor head like that cost and can I get it in the US?

[kubalsky]

what does a motor head like that cost and can I get it in the US?

Its called the KD Motor Mount made by Mizar Optics Japan for telescopes originally. Its not sold in the US but if you email Lonnie at mizar@gol.com
he can ship one to you, its justt a bit of a work around because they dont have paypal yet. Its about $150 plus maybe another $50 for shipping. Well worth it. If thats a hassle for you I recommend just going to a telescope shop and asking around. I know there is one out in the US but I doubt it is as solidly built and can take a full HD Camera with adapter etc. The Mizar one can support up to 5kg. Check out Phil Blooms site. I got him one.