Film Division
Active member
Great news, I love this kind of thing..
& Drew your 20D footage is amazing..
& Drew your 20D footage is amazing..
Timelapse???
- Thread starter crs127
- Start date
that is some incredible footage. i thought id post this publicly as well as the pm i sent to you drew.
i am arranging for a 5d with a fisheye lense to do some timelapse. i've played with timelapse a little before on my 350d but im about to do something tough - it has to go for 3 months which means i need a laptop with a 1tb drive attached to it. what is the best option in terms of software to be able to do this?
I've had a shot with dslr remot pro - its pretty good software. one of the serious disadvantages of the laptop option though that i can see is the usb connection. its much slower than the cf card and it affects the frame rate you can shoot in a serious way.
if our budget can't cut it we will probably go for the 30d, as long as they haven't removed any features of the 20d (rare but it can happen sometimes in an "upgrade").
as for the lense i think im looking at the Sigma 15mm F2.8 EX DG fisheye. I'm not sure if its possible to fit nd filters to fisheyes but this would be nice to increase exposure times.
thanks for any advice or information!
i am arranging for a 5d with a fisheye lense to do some timelapse. i've played with timelapse a little before on my 350d but im about to do something tough - it has to go for 3 months which means i need a laptop with a 1tb drive attached to it. what is the best option in terms of software to be able to do this?
I've had a shot with dslr remot pro - its pretty good software. one of the serious disadvantages of the laptop option though that i can see is the usb connection. its much slower than the cf card and it affects the frame rate you can shoot in a serious way.
if our budget can't cut it we will probably go for the 30d, as long as they haven't removed any features of the 20d (rare but it can happen sometimes in an "upgrade").
as for the lense i think im looking at the Sigma 15mm F2.8 EX DG fisheye. I'm not sure if its possible to fit nd filters to fisheyes but this would be nice to increase exposure times.
thanks for any advice or information!
Last edited:
Dethel
Active member
Hey queglay, what are you shooting for 3 months? construction site?
I think the best software right now is Dslr remote pro.
The one that comes with the camera is not that bad, but it sucks because it won't let you start it if the bettery level shows less that full. Or if you start shooting with full battery and then it goes down, the program will stop working and give you the message about the battery.......unless there is an option to stop that, I haven't figure it out.
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You can't use filters on the front of this lens due to the built-in "butterfly" style hood, though I've successfully held Cokin P sized graduated neutral density filters without showing the edges"
got that from this article
http://www.bythom.com/15lens.htm
[/FONT]
Have anything to show from past projects?
later
I think the best software right now is Dslr remote pro.
The one that comes with the camera is not that bad, but it sucks because it won't let you start it if the bettery level shows less that full. Or if you start shooting with full battery and then it goes down, the program will stop working and give you the message about the battery.......unless there is an option to stop that, I haven't figure it out.
"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You can't use filters on the front of this lens due to the built-in "butterfly" style hood, though I've successfully held Cokin P sized graduated neutral density filters without showing the edges"
got that from this article
http://www.bythom.com/15lens.htm
[/FONT]
Have anything to show from past projects?
later
Dethel said:
cheers for the info guys. i read in that article that i can put gels in the back. does that mean i could put nd filters in the back as well? if not its a shame cos i relaly like the look of this lens but im pretty sure i need a fisheye that i can use nd filters with.
the only timelapse i've got online is my very first one that i did with a really old 3mp olympus and a laptop.
http://www.theoriginalqueg.com/design/ripcurl.mov
pretty poxy image quality but i've done some nicer stuff on contract with my 350d. the nd filters are handy for increasing the exposure/blur between frames and if you dont have a timer you can use them to control your frame rate, though you might run the risk in inconsistent frame gaps.
Well I'm heading into dubai to pick up the 5d (cant wait to see it compared to my 350d) and a sigma 15mm fisheye.
we've decided to just hook it up to a computer. i like the capabilities of that tc-80N3 timer remote. the only thing is it only does 99 exposures. it should be able to go forever! or at least until you run out of memory.
we've decided to just hook it up to a computer. i like the capabilities of that tc-80N3 timer remote. the only thing is it only does 99 exposures. it should be able to go forever! or at least until you run out of memory.
Dethel
Active member
Nice, 5D... congrats!!!
I went to the local ritzcamera store here and they had the XTi ( 400D ) and the 5D. Man!!! what a sweet cameras. Nice size display and they look so badass.
you'll flip out and you see your 5D :~)
the number of frames the remote gives you really sucks. I would like to shoot more than 3 seconds without having to check the remote to see if the 99 frames are up.
I like shooting with my laptop, that way I can be sure the everything is focused right and not go by what I see on the tiny display.
That is a nice spot you go made, what is a commercial for tv?
I am working on a collection of timelapse footage right now to see if I can get timelapsedigital.com to start selling them.
you can find some of my other footage here:
http://www.revostock.com/SearchResult.html?&CatType=producers&ID=511
Later......have a fun and safe trip.
I went to the local ritzcamera store here and they had the XTi ( 400D ) and the 5D. Man!!! what a sweet cameras. Nice size display and they look so badass.
you'll flip out and you see your 5D :~)
the number of frames the remote gives you really sucks. I would like to shoot more than 3 seconds without having to check the remote to see if the 99 frames are up.
I like shooting with my laptop, that way I can be sure the everything is focused right and not go by what I see on the tiny display.
That is a nice spot you go made, what is a commercial for tv?
I am working on a collection of timelapse footage right now to see if I can get timelapsedigital.com to start selling them.
you can find some of my other footage here:
http://www.revostock.com/SearchResult.html?&CatType=producers&ID=511
Later......have a fun and safe trip.
I just found this in the dslr remote pro manual -
Bulb Mode and Mirror Lockup
It is not possible to use bulb mode when triggering the shutter release from the PC. This is a limitation of the camera not DSLR Remote Pro. Pictures can still be taken in bulb mode by pressing the camera's shutter release button.
If the mirror lockup custom function (CFn 12) is enabled and the shutter is released from the PC the mirror will flip up and the picture will be taken after a 2 sec delay. A longer delay would have been useful, but unfortunately it is not supported by the Canon SDK.
That means that you can't really shoot star timelapse with this program.
another big limitation that makes it not so good for uber high quality timelapse (with streaks and minimal gaps in between the frames) is that you cant shoot while the image is downloading through the usb interface to your hard disk. so the coninuous shooting mode isn't so continuous. i dont know why you cant do this though. theoretically you could take the images to the camera's memory card consecutively, and copy at the same time.
you know what else would be sweet? if you could control raw parameters throughout an animation sequence in after effects. then you could do things like smooth out any exposure flicker for a sunrise or sunset, correct any over or under exposure, and shift the white balance as the colour warmth changed throughout the shot. that would be nice.
Bulb Mode and Mirror Lockup
It is not possible to use bulb mode when triggering the shutter release from the PC. This is a limitation of the camera not DSLR Remote Pro. Pictures can still be taken in bulb mode by pressing the camera's shutter release button.
If the mirror lockup custom function (CFn 12) is enabled and the shutter is released from the PC the mirror will flip up and the picture will be taken after a 2 sec delay. A longer delay would have been useful, but unfortunately it is not supported by the Canon SDK.
That means that you can't really shoot star timelapse with this program.
another big limitation that makes it not so good for uber high quality timelapse (with streaks and minimal gaps in between the frames) is that you cant shoot while the image is downloading through the usb interface to your hard disk. so the coninuous shooting mode isn't so continuous. i dont know why you cant do this though. theoretically you could take the images to the camera's memory card consecutively, and copy at the same time.
you know what else would be sweet? if you could control raw parameters throughout an animation sequence in after effects. then you could do things like smooth out any exposure flicker for a sunrise or sunset, correct any over or under exposure, and shift the white balance as the colour warmth changed throughout the shot. that would be nice.
i prefer to expose for much longer than that for stars. and animation with long star streaks looks really sweet.
we finally got the 5d with a sigma 15mm fisheye. all i can say is that its friggin sweet.
next step is to try and make my own cable release and try and get some nd filters on there to slow down the exposures in the middle of the day.
we finally got the 5d with a sigma 15mm fisheye. all i can say is that its friggin sweet.
next step is to try and make my own cable release and try and get some nd filters on there to slow down the exposures in the middle of the day.
well I've just gone out and shot a timelapse on my 350d as a trial before i go out again tommorrow with the 5d. its a sunset, which is always tough. the flickering issue with the camera being indecisive about exposure levels is the bane of my existence. the flickering caused by it is minimal, but still noticable enough to prevent the footage from achieving any class.
I want to try the possibility that was suggested of going to full manual mode, and stopping down manually, but then i end up wobbling the camera on the tripod which isn't good. This has other problems too. when shooting timelapse without a computer or timer and just using it on continuous shooting mode, you get almost no opportunity to change the aperture. (i miss the aperture rings on old film cameras, why oh why have the manufacturers got rid of them?). so anyway the other problem is that if im using a computer to shoot the timelapse, because of the download times, you cant shoot a frame more often than once every 3-5 seconds. I need to shoot 1 frame per second.
the only other solution I've thought of which actually works is going through after effects, and changing the brightness of each image. this is godamn painstaking.
if i could program and knew how to use the canon dslr libraries, it would be fairly easy to make sure that the camera only ever stops down, or up, but not both, throughout a sequence. this would make everything so easy.
but i can't do that. have any of you guys got any other ideas?
I want to try the possibility that was suggested of going to full manual mode, and stopping down manually, but then i end up wobbling the camera on the tripod which isn't good. This has other problems too. when shooting timelapse without a computer or timer and just using it on continuous shooting mode, you get almost no opportunity to change the aperture. (i miss the aperture rings on old film cameras, why oh why have the manufacturers got rid of them?). so anyway the other problem is that if im using a computer to shoot the timelapse, because of the download times, you cant shoot a frame more often than once every 3-5 seconds. I need to shoot 1 frame per second.
the only other solution I've thought of which actually works is going through after effects, and changing the brightness of each image. this is godamn painstaking.
if i could program and knew how to use the canon dslr libraries, it would be fairly easy to make sure that the camera only ever stops down, or up, but not both, throughout a sequence. this would make everything so easy.
but i can't do that. have any of you guys got any other ideas?
Justyn
Veteran
You really have to judge your exposure... Set it to what will be the optimal exposure for the duration of the timelapse and then let it go. Adjusting during the shot kind of kills the effect. Overally you have options for compensating for the bright sky by stopping down... but then the landscape goes into silhouette. I really personally want to buy some nice grad filters and maybe a sunset filter.. so that the contrast between the sky and the landscape won't be so dramatic.. and then I'd be able to set a better exposure...
It is kind of a crap shoot though... knowing how to exposure, but through practice and experience you'll get closer to what you want. For about a week straight when I got my HVX.. I did a timelapse at one location... did a variety of exposures and shutter speeds and found out what was the best for that place.. at that time... I learned quickly that adjusting the exposure just a touch really makes a noticable jump and doesn't look good .
It is kind of a crap shoot though... knowing how to exposure, but through practice and experience you'll get closer to what you want. For about a week straight when I got my HVX.. I did a timelapse at one location... did a variety of exposures and shutter speeds and found out what was the best for that place.. at that time... I learned quickly that adjusting the exposure just a touch really makes a noticable jump and doesn't look good .
thanks for the advice. ive actually realised, that even in full manual mode, that canon cameras apparently do something to the brightness of an image that is completely out of your control. i was speaking to a timelapse animator, and she said that after dealing with canon the only solution was to correct the brightness manually in after effects. there must be some little piece of clever software that can average it out.
because im shooting sunset, i have to change the aperture settings throughout the animation.
because im shooting sunset, i have to change the aperture settings throughout the animation.
