Timelapse Basics please? Also, any dolly timelapse tips? (no motor)

F

FoodDude

Well-known member
I've always wanted to do timelapse, but I have never bought an intervalometer remote yet. I think it is finally that time to get that inexpensive, yet valuable tool

I've done reading here and there so correct me if I am wrong: I think the basics include an SS/exp of half of each interval to get decent blur (ie: 0.5sec exp for every 1 sec, 1sec exp if interval/shot every 2 secs, or 7sec exp for an interval every 14sec, and so on), correct? And also have WB on manual.

Few Q's I am still wondering about?

~Genrally, which mode is best? Ap, Ss, Manual? Use Auto ISO in any of them? (I have ZE/EF lenses with internal Ap, so I can use SS)

~How to shoot sunset/sunrise timelapses? (ie: from really dark nighttime citylights to ending in sunrise bright daytime). I assume the camera is set to one of the auto modes because of the big shift in available light. Info please?

~Is a 3-stop (or maybe 4 stop) ND filter sufficient enough for blur in bright/day/sunny timelapse photography? Not really interested in the Fader-ND, I would rather buy a cheaper, no hassle 3-stop filter for simplicity & ease of use and less things to fiddle with in general run-n-gun shooting.

~How do you do 'Ghetto' dolley/slider timelapses'(no motors)?? I plan to buy a simple DP Slider soon. I do NOT have money and can't afford any of those motorized timed motor pullers for timelapse. I notice there are some timelapse dolley/slider samples on Vimeo using just ordinary sliders/dolleys (no motors). How would one move it in relation to ones' set intervals/SS/exposures? Ie: do you just move it slightly, like a 1/4" every second, etc??

~I read jpeg is more than sufficient for timelapse video as a 1080 video is roughly equiv to a 2mp still image and also to save memory on memory cards. Which setting do you recommend? Jpeg or raw? If jpeg, which setting, L M or H?

~I read/assume after you have all the images and ready to make the video, you simply open/batch on QT and dump it into/export to a 24p file and that is all, correct? (color correction aside)

Any help appreciated.
 
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I've been shooting some timelapse recently; my results are posed on my website here: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=Videos

Always full manual.

Though I have yet to remember to set Manual WB .. AWB hasn't bit me in the butt yet (of course, now that I say that; the timelapse of summer solstice night I'm shooting tonight [as we speak, my car is parked miles away on a beach, with my camera in the back seat] will screw up!)

In one video on that page; I tired Aperture priority, just to see what happened if I let the camera adjust shutter. It didn't work; there's quite a lot of flickering in the image: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=videoplayer&vidfile=NightTimelapse_053010_720p24.flv

The longer your shutter in relation to the interval, the smoother video will be. Though I've found that with longer intervals (I shoot mostly at 10-sec and 30-sec intervals) it's nicer to have nice and sharp frames, instead of motion blur on everything. - Depends on the look you want.

I've found that with night timelapse, if you expose long enough for the stars to start to streak (varies greatly depending on where you are and which way you are looking), then you want to minimise the time your shutter is closed between shots. One of my first timelapses - my first at night - turned out very well with 25 sec exposures, with a 30 sec interval .. so there was only 5 sec between frames without exposure. It made it nice and smooth: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=videoplayer&vidfile=GlacierStarsTimelapse_050810_720_24p.flv

In fact, the smoothest video I get is when my (DIY) timelapse controller battery goes low, and the controller just starts firing rapidly, causing the camera to just shoot the next frame as soon as the previous one finishes. You end up with "no" time between frames. check out the end of: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=videoplayer&vidfile=AdmiraltyTimelapse_050810_720p24.flv at about :7 were the clouds suddenly slow down to a crawl. (also notice how important a good solid base is; the roof of my car wasn't good enough ... and try and keep your friends from sticking their hands up in the shot!)
- With a long shutter, you can still get pretty good speeds: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=videoplayer&vidfile=NightTimelapse_053010_720p24.flv at about :18

For night shoots, you can in fact try just by using a simple remote trigger that you can lock down into the "shoot" position, and having your camera on "continues shooting". It'll just fire long exposures one after the other; you'll get nice smooth video; and you can set your "interval" with your shutter length; then just adjust aperture, ISO & ND to get the exposure you want.
No need for an expensive timelapse controller.


As for dealing with going from day to night. There isn't really a way I've found to do it .. though I am planning on building a controller I can program myself to ramp the exposure times (with the camera in "bulb" mode) smoothly without flicker over a few hours. I have no idea how well that will work.
For now, I've found it's best to just set for good exposure at the "best" part of the shot. I find under-exposing at night works much better than over-exposing during the day. This sunset worked quite well: http://www.mikkowilson.com/?page=videoplayer&vidfile=EveningTimelapse_052910_720p24.flv
Having the clouds, water, and even haze for the sun to light really helped.

With all my timelapse; I fire a few test shots first as I'm setting up to get my settings, then I put my hand in front of the lens once the timer is running to "mark" my first good frame (well, last bad ...).


Most of all with timelapse: It's trial and error (and painfully slow trial and error!). And a good deal of luck.

There are no guarantees that any shot is going to turn out how you hope or plan; so don't stake too much in any one try. Look at what worked and what didn't; and then try again.


Good luck. Have fun!

- Mikko
 
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