Best timelapse settings

awelgraven

awelgraven

Well-known member
I just bought a remote so i can have the 5D take a still every so many seconds. In your experience, how many seconds between exposures would make a good timelapse (I'm looking to do mostly skies, maybe some people or cars moving)
 
timescapes.org may have some hints

its basically doing maths - how long a time do you want represented in how short a time

S
 
A still every second will result in footage (assuming you are working at 24fps) 24 times as fast as normal, a good starting point.

But like Morgan says above, it depends on how fast or slow you want stuff to move.
 
this question is like saying, what's the best style of drawing in the world?!
It's so subjective and dependant on the conditions. All i know is that if you plan to shoot day, get a ton of high quality ND filters with no color cast. or one of those variable ND.
personally i love 15 secs on cars, to get that lovley thin streaks.
if you want your timelapse footage to look like flowing water, long expose. for stroby frantic look, short exposures. I back up morgan moore advice. timescape forum is the ulimate place for timelapse discussions there.
 
If you want the look of film motion blur, you might consider setting your exposure to half your interval length.

Eg: If you're taking a photo every 30 seconds, then try and get your exposure at 15 seconds..... this will give you a film-like motion blur.
 
one sucky thing about dslr for timelapse in looong exposure. is the buffing time. for a 15 sec exposure it takes almost 15 secs to buffer. Zzzzzzzz
 
hyalinejim said:
If you want the look of film motion blur, you might consider setting your exposure to half your interval length.

Eg: If you're taking a photo every 30 seconds, then try and get your exposure at 15 seconds..... this will give you a film-like motion blur.
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A 15 second exposure will look nothing like film motion blur !

Everything that moves will be a wash of motion blur, people passing the lens will be a long streak of colour and tone - absolutely nothing like film !
 
Lee Wilson said:
A 15 second exposure will look nothing like film motion blur !

Everything that moves will be a wash of motion blur, people passing the lens will be a long streak of colour and tone - absolutely nothing like film !
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Yes and no.

No because, if they moved as fast as that in real life, this is what it would look like!

Know what I mean?
 
Then you clearly don't know what I mean, which is surprising to me. :happy:

My suggestion gives a 180 degree shutter effect motion blur.

Frame interval: 30 sec
Frame duration: 15 sec


15 divided by 30 = 0.5

1/50 divided by 1/25 = 0.5

0.5 x 360 = 180


It is exactly the same motion blur you would get on film with a 180 degree shutter, if those cars/people moved 720 times faster than they do.

The point of timelapse is to make stuff go faster. If you want your motion blur to be consistent across clips shot at different frame rates, use the same shutter speed to frame rate ratio.

If you don't mind about differences in motion blur, use whatever shutter speed you wish.

So in the hypothetical example where:

1. I want to intercut some timelapse footage with normal 25p footage shot at 1.50 sec

2. I want consistent motion blur

3. I'm selecting an interval of 30 seconds for the timelapse photos

then I would expose each photo for 15 seconds.
 
the film blur thing is soo funny, 1/48 is 1/48, it's not half the speed of whatever frame rate your shooting will give you the "filmic look", and you don't want a film blur look in the time-lapse anyway.
1/48 will not look like 1/60, or 15 sec exposure, did you ever look at a picture with 15 sec exposure.

by your "180 rule", if you shoot 200fps with 1/400th shutter you will get the same blur made from 1/48 sec.
 
Amr,

that is correct in a comparison where the motion is 8.33 times slower at 1/48 compared to 1/400 (1/48 divided by 1/400 equals 8.3).

Motion blur is determined by two variables, exposure time and amount of motion.

Maybe a simpler way to think of it is this way: when you use the 180 degree rule, then the amount of motion blur will be equal to half the amount of movement between each frame.

So if you are shooting at wildly varying frame rates, and want to keep consistent motion blur, then make sure the shutter:framerate ratio is constant across them.

And I would want a film blur look in the timelapse - if you use a normal (1/50th) shutter speed while shooting timelapse, you're going to end up with a high shutter speed look.

There is no right and wrong, of course, and it does come down to individual preference. However, it is nice to know what your options are. I guess it's better to choose 1/50th for a timelapse because you specifically want the "Saving Private Ryan" motion effect, and not simply because it's the shutter speed you always use.
 
Amr Rahmy said:
the film blur thing is soo funny, 1/48 is 1/48, it's not half the speed of whatever frame rate your shooting will give you the "filmic look", and you don't want a film blur look in the time-lapse anyway.
1/48 will not look like 1/60, or 15 sec exposure, did you ever look at a picture with 15 sec exposure.

by your "180 rule", if you shoot 200fps with 1/400th shutter you will get the same blur made from 1/48 sec.
Click to expand...

You're making yourself look stupid.

What he's saying is, for example, filming a snail; using a 30s frame length with 15s shutter is like filming a human being with 1/25 & 1/50.

Think about it, something might click into place for you eventually!
 
studio1972 said:
You're making yourself look stupid.

What he's saying is, for example, filming a snail; using a 30s frame length with 15s shutter is like filming a human being with 1/25 & 1/50.

Think about it, something might click into place for you eventually!
Click to expand...

No, he is not making himself look stupid, the idea itself is stupid.

A 15 second exposure will never have the same motion blur look as film, a person walking through the frame will be a long streak from one side of the frame to the other, nothing at all like motion blur in film.

Really.
 
hyalinejim said:
I can see this is a contentious issue!

I'll leave you gentlemen to it...

Marquis of Queensbury rules?
Click to expand...



:nads:

no rules, let's keep it dirty !


(Here's a coincidence, as a kid I knew the Marquis of Queensbury - he was my age, his father (Lord Q) was head of ceramics at the Royal College of Art - I would go to their very posh house after school to play and have fun . . . . . and then back to the dump I lived in . . . .happy times)
 
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Some basic rules I follow:

Go for an F-stop of 8+ to ensure sharpness throughout, unless you want shallow DOF.

Landscape, fast clouds -1/2 seconds, 1/100+ shutter.
Landscape, slow clouds - 2-5 seconds, 1/100+ shutter.
Landscape with water - 1-2 seconds. slow shutter.
Anything with people - 2+ seconds and slow shutter (use ND, if need).
Night/stars shots - 5+ seconds, low shutter if you want streaks, high ISO, faster shutter if you want the stars to be pinpoint.
Traffic - 2+ seconds, slow shutter
 
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