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jimmytavino

time lapse video

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any helpful tips or suggestions for shooting time lapse,,, ( interval recording ) footage.???

I would like to compress maybe 8 hours of "real time".. down to maybe one hour...
I plan to tripod mount the video camera.

I have a sony VX 1000 which can do interval recording..... and can be set at various intervals...

i'd like it not to look tooooo choppy and hope the finished video would be catch most of the activity of the "event"...

any suggestions???
thanx

jmy

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It's pretty hard to mess up 8:1 temporal compression (time lapse).

Here is a table that Sony provides to XDCAM users, it's basically the same thing with a VX.
1-5 frames per interval is good, and intervals of every 2 seconds will yield one 60 seconds per hour of content. Since you've got a "short" event of 8 hours, you could shoot 3 fpi, with a 5 second interval and it would be very smooth.
We shot the building of a set a few years ago, shot at 1 frame every 10 mins, and it looked terrific. However, it was a 40 day shoot, too.

The eye adjusts very quickly to whatever cadence you select.

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On the flip side . . .

I've done several very long (some over a year long) time lapse projects. I have one currently going on with Toyota Racing Development on a truck they're building for the SEMA Show coming up at the end of the month.

To do that one, we took a digital still camera and a device called an intervelometer. All of the major camera manufacturers make them and if you do the math properly, you can do MUCH better than HDTV which means you're also free to pan around the picture in the final comp a bit just in case it's not composed "exactly" right.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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I've been using the time-lapse function on my HC-42 to shoot clouds passing by and sunsets lately (on the ground, of course :D). It really works out well in the 1 second mode (so a compression of 30 to one).


"Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

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thanks... sounds encouraging...and DSE , i do pretty good with things that hard to mess up.;)

and ' not bad ' with lots of other things...

one of which is listening to advice..
I'll check the manual for the 1000 and break it out of storage...

Does anyone know if the PC series and TRV
series of Sony mini dv camcorders offer interval recording???..any other models???
also,,

Can i pivot the camera at all during the recording????? I ask because there may be two main areas of attention,,,
My plan is to time lapse the complete removal of a Huge and (formerly ) stately Oak tree, which is located at my father's house... it's starting to lean and the trunk is failing, and so sadly it needs to be taken safely to the ground... The trunk is 44" in diameter and the foliage is extensive.... anyway the plan is to carefully trim, cut and lower sections to the ground. A bucket truck and crane will be on site. the timber, and usable logs will be moved
to another location on the property, for eventual processing into firewood... The 'dump site ' for the wood... is the second area of interest that i mentioned...

Will the entire feel of the time lapse fail... if i move the view???? If i don't move the view,,, Can i zoom at all in the course of a 'record' phase??..
I can keep the tripod in the same place AND catch both the tree and the 'off load' site by simply panning
back and forth.....I plan to set up maybe 200 feet from both sites... the tree is maybe 80 or 90 feet tall

It'll be tough to see that Big tree come down. It has sheltered and shaded the house which my dad Built in 1950, for all the years that the family has been there...
Now it's susceptible to high winds, and if gravity
ever got it it would crush most of the house...

so it has to come down:( soon it will warm the house, as it becomes fuel for the wood stove in the family room

how does tripod mount time lapse work around the DZ???
is it sensible?? maybe in the landing area?? the boarding area??/ a takeoff or landing??
i dunno.... something to play with...

skydive safely

jmy

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Sounds like you need flexibility. If so, you're *best* option is a good still cam such as Quade suggests, and an intervalometer. Many of the Artbeats libraries (world famous for time-lapse) were shot by Phil Bates using two 20D's and synced intervalometers.

Wow...a year of T/L. That's serious stuff. Never done anything that long.

You can pan/zoom, but you must do it in small increments, over long times, because if you pan/zoom like you normally would, it'll be very jumpy. Pans/zooms are usually calculated. I used a Sony HVR-V1U during Jay Stoke's world record, and got some sweet views in there, until the morning came and the local TV bimbo parked her fat butt in front of the camcorder for 20 mins before we noticed. Jay's final jump was blocked out by her ass (literally).

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Wow...a year of T/L. That's serious stuff. Never done anything that long.



A 1.5 billion dollar construction project for Disney. Time lapse served several purposes but in the majority; internet viewable daily construction updates to coprorate, legal record and broadcast television specials about the project. We built the time lapse system from off the shelf parts but that also included a custom enclosure with air conditioning, environmental monitoring, internet access and telephone service. And THAT was only the main camera. We had a lot of fun on that project.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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