Time Lapse

N

Nick

New member
I'm shooting live action with the HVX 200 in 720 24p so my FCP timeline is 24p as well. I am also using the the HVX's interval (time lapse mode). It works very well however it can only capture at 720 60p. I would like to put the timelapse footage into the FCP 24p timeline as well. I know you cannot drop it directly in. When I use my downloaded Panasonic frame converter to convert to 23.97, the resulting footage looks a little noisy in the 24p (23.97) timeline as compared to putting the unconverted 60p into a 60p or 30p (native shall we say) FCP timeline. Is there a "right" way that will work to convert the 60p (59.94) to 24p (23.98)?
 
I should also add that using the frame converter slows the footage down about 1 1/4 times.

Nick
 
Waiting to use the single shot and interval functions myself... a little dissapointed to hear that you can only choose the 60fps time base when doing so, I didn't know that.

I wish I could help, but no HVX, and no Mac/FCP knowledge. :)

A universal last resort would be to export out each frame as a single image in an image sequence and re-import, freely choosing your time base while doing so.

As a fellow Coloradian, when/where did you get your HVX?

Regards,

Jim Arthurs
 
You can use cinematools to convert the files to a 24p timeline. It's instantaneous. The Panasonic converter is garbage. It never worked with the varicam stuff.. Wish I had known before... but I have converted some downloaded 60p stuff and it's so easy to use.

Let us know how the timelapse turns out. I'm excited as hell. Do you have any kind of time/interval calculator? Or know of a website that has something like this?

I'm thinking... like, If I want the timelapse to be so many minutes... and the window of time I'm capturing is such a period of time.. then ever so many seconds/minutes I must shoot a frame. I know you can figure it out, but just wondered if there was an excell program or something for the Palm.

Good luck
 
<<As a fellow Coloradian, when/where did you get your HVX?>>

Ordered it from Abel Cine Tech at NAB last April.

<<You can use cinematools to convert the files to a 24p timeline.>>

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

<<Do you have any kind of time/interval calculator?>>

Just my math challenged gray matter :) Rough calcs in the head work good enough.
 
Justyn said:
I'm thinking... like, If I want the timelapse to be so many minutes... and the window of time I'm capturing is such a period of time.. then ever so many seconds/minutes I must shoot a frame. I know you can figure it out, but just wondered if there was an excell program or something for the Palm.
Click to expand...

I would do some tests and figure out what intervals you like the best, as nothing is worse than someone feeding you a "formula" for this. I've shot hours and hours of 35mm time-lapse, and this stuff becomes second nature pretty quickly. For examples of my time-lapse, here's a site I use to sell left over clips that aren't part of a collection (I've got collections with Digital Vision, Adobe Image Club Graphics, Eyewire and Getty)...

http://www.timelapsesource.com/default.asp

As far as sunsets/sunrises go, intervals of 1 to 8 seconds work nice. In fact, the best (i.e. best selling and most popular) time-lapse cloud clips I've done are in the 1 frame per second range. Just enough movement to look good, not too much to look like they're racing).

Just remember, with the HVX you'll never be able to do;

1.) night exposures with car lights streaking through frame, or star streaks.
2.) shoot directly into the sun (well, you can, but you'll burn your imaging block
 
Jim Arthurs said:
Just remember, with the HVX you'll never be able to do;

1.) night exposures with car lights streaking through frame, or star streaks.
Click to expand...

That sucks why can't you do night exposures?
 
dglasgal said:
That sucks why can't you do night exposures?
Click to expand...

Well, understand that we're talking about LONG time exposures, which are necessary to give that "trails" look. I think the absolute slowest shutter speed is 1/12 of a second (someone with the camera correct me if I'm wrong) and that isn't long enough. I'm sure it has to do with noise issues and integration challenges on getting the chips to a "sweet spot" for live action.

So, unless you can take exposures of 1 or longer seconds, no "trail" effects. Would I have liked longer times? You bet, but not if the chips are noisy and you see "stuck" pixels, etc.

Jim Arthurs
 
Jim,

Thanks for the info. I wasn't able to see the clips on that site for some reason. Anywhere else we can see some stuff?

Have you ever done some stop frame?
 
Justyn said:
Jim, Thanks for the info. I wasn't able to see the clips on that site for some reason. Anywhere else we can see some stuff?
Have you ever done some stop frame?
Click to expand...

Hi Justyn... are you viewing the site from a Mac? My web guy tells me they've had some problems with the preview files (just mpeg 1's) with Macs... BTW, the site really isn't an active selling site, as some of the clips are off-line.

Here's some commercial time-lapse collections I've shot... (copy/paste this link into a browser, then go to the alphabetical listings at the top to search for these collections.

http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/classes/FrameSet.aspx?s=CDSearchState|1|60|27.13.139.2.120.121.18.19||1|1|8|0|B|||0|0|0|1|0&pk=1

-Click on "B" and scroll down to "Bumper to Bumper". This is all traffic time-lapse.
-Click on "D" and find "Drifting Skies" a cloud collection.
-Click on "S" and go to "Storm Clouds"
-Click on "C" and go to "Clouds". (this collection was originally for Adobe Image Club Graphics, and not a week goes by where I don't see shots from this one on the air)

All of these collections were done for different stock houses, but were eventually gobbled up by Getty Images.

And yes, I love stop-motion and have tons of 16mm and 35mm stop motion gear, cameras, single frame 35mm projectors, rotoscope housings, downshooter stands, a vintage serial number 53 B&H 2709 (the model camera Jack Black used in King Kong). All of these were working tools for me up to about '95. I shot 35mm time-lapse until 2002.

Fond though I am of all that stuff, these goodies are in storage now. Long live digital :)

Jim Arthurs
 
Nick said:
I should mention that you can shoot in interval mode in 60p AND 30p but not 24p.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Nick, that's great to know... that's the 30N mode? Or is that 30p over 60p?

Jim Arthurs
 
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