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Author Topic: My first time lapse video - Building an Igloo  (Read 39435 times)

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« on: April 26, 2009, 14:23 »
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Here is my first try at a time lapse video.  I did it with a canon 5D mark II and a cheap chinese remote dongle to take an exposure every 3 seconds over a 2 hour period.  Edited in Adobe Premiere.

Anyone have any better suggestions than using Premiere?  It kept freezing on me and taking a long time to process the 2500images.  I also tried Adobe After effects but the file size ended up being 4GB while the Premiere video file was around 400mb.  My knowledge with those two programs is far too little :(

Anyhow, here is the video.  An igloo I made while taking photos in Svalbard

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S-KFSe80iA[/youtube]
« Last Edit: April 28, 2009, 06:24 by leaf »


« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2009, 15:00 »
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Take it easy Leaf... You just built an 2 hour Igloo in 2 minutes :o     Sorry I have no input in this...

Well done :D

« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2009, 15:31 »
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Nice one! The music works very well with it too. What was it?

« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2009, 15:48 »
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Great stuff.  AVCHD devours processor cycles and memory.  Did you use a quad-core?  How much RAM?

Tom

« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2009, 18:47 »
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That's neat.  I read about a Quicktime application for building time-lapse videos.  I don't know its name, but it must be easy to find out.

« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2009, 19:07 »
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Great! Looks like a lot of work, both to make the igloo and the video :) I find it interesting how the camera shadow moves across.

« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2009, 19:31 »
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I do timelapse movies all the time with my camera, and the easiest way to do it is to use Quicktime Pro (it's only $30):

1. Open Quicktime
2. Go to "File: Open Image Sequence ..."
3. Go to the folder where the JPEG images are stored, and click on one of them (you can't select them all, they just all need to be in the same folder).
4. After it has sequenced them you can export the video as a .mov file.

« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2009, 01:17 »
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I do timelapse movies all the time with my camera, and the easiest way to do it is to use Quicktime Pro (it's only $30):

1. Open Quicktime
2. Go to "File: Open Image Sequence ..."
3. Go to the folder where the JPEG images are stored, and click on one of them (you can't select them all, they just all need to be in the same folder).
4. After it has sequenced them you can export the video as a .mov file.

hmm... that sounds quite effective :)

« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2009, 01:19 »
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Great stuff.  AVCHD devours processor cycles and memory.  Did you use a quad-core?  How much RAM?

Tom

Yeah I have a quad core 2.4ghz with 4gb of Ram but I am still using windows XP so I am only making use of max 3.5gb.  I am eager to upgrade my windows system if only to get more ram available, but I have been putting it off until this summer when i can get windows 7.

« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2009, 01:34 »
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Nice one! The music works very well with it too. What was it?

The music was from a royalty free group of songs i bought from image search actually (the people who bought canstock photo) a couple years ago.  I bought a group of about 10 songs for wedding slide shows.  This one didn't work well with weddings, but seemed to be the best match here.  I would have like to use some regular music but thought I should keep clean on the copyright issue since we are so protective of our image copyrights.

« Reply #10 on: April 27, 2009, 07:20 »
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Great clip and a good idea to use the igloo.  I keep meaning to try time lapse but never get around to it.  Might try some when I am on holiday in the summer.

« Reply #11 on: April 27, 2009, 16:26 »
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Cool!

So you're doing videos with a Canon 5D... Why did you buy a 5D MKII?
 ;D

Claude


« Reply #12 on: April 27, 2009, 16:47 »
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A friend who does quite a bit of stop motion has recommended istopmotion

http://www.boinx.com/istopmotion/overview/




« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2009, 06:26 »
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Cool!

So you're doing videos with a Canon 5D... Why did you buy a 5D MKII?
 ;D

Claude



sorry, no it was with the mark II.
But I would have probably used the old 5D, or an older 10D .. just because I don't need 21MP images for a stop motion video.  I needed to use the 5D Mark II however because the battery died so quick in the old 5D due to the cold.  It was -15 -> -20 degrees Celsius

« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2009, 18:23 »
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I've done a couple of Stop Motion videos and I have always used After Effects.  I have the same problem with Premier freezing up on me.

« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2009, 00:46 »
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I've done a couple of Stop Motion videos and I have always used After Effects.  I have the same problem with Premier freezing up on me.

did you get the file size down to a decent size.  Perhaps i am saving it incorrectly :(

« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2009, 10:06 »
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Yeah, the files size was actually small (compared to most of my 2d & 3d)...but I haven't done a motion stop as long as yours.  I also don't even own a camera that makes it possible to shoot a 21mp photo  :o.  I chose to shoot each photo 2048 x 1536 - which is plenty big for an HD1080 and allowed me to downsize them a wee bit to make imperfections disappear.

I am seriously impressed with your ambition for your first stop motion video.  Freezing cold weather - building and Igloo - I got cold just watching it!  I went for a little easier stop motion - Stacking coins, then I reversed it and called it 'Money Loss'  ;D.

Snaprender
http://snaprender.blogspot.com/

« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2009, 15:16 »
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well i donwsized the images to 1080x1920 before putting them in after effects.  I had tried using them at the shooting resolution which was 6mp/photo but that bogged things down way too much.

[off-topic]I had forgotten about your blog.. nice to see your graphs.  I have now added it to my blog reader.  YOu are doing really well with video.  I am still waiting for my first sale from my crappy 11 videos :)[/off-topic]

tan510jomast

« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2009, 15:25 »
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sorry, no it was with the mark II.
But I would have probably used the old 5D, or an older 10D .. just because I don't need 21MP images for a stop motion video.  I needed to use the 5D Mark II however because the battery died so quick in the old 5D due to the cold.  It was -15 -> -20 degrees Celsius

that's what i was thinking too, Tyler. so how did exposing the camera or any camera out in the cold for 2 hours not get the battery to die on you, esp with running it on time lapse.
was the camera and battery insulated in some way? perharps you had a pocket warmer attach and cover it with a parka? i am curious, and impressed for sure.

the only other person i know who does things like that is Ryerson Clark from IS. he lives in YellowKnife most of the times , and we almost met when he visited Montreal because he offered to buy me a pint of Guinness. but I was actually in Halifax. drat, i sure like to know more about cold weather shooting, as i'm planning to go on one of those Spring trips to Newfoundland where icebergs and whales are commonplace all that season. of course, i need to make more money from microstock first, lol.

also, i wonder if exposing to such cold weather would reduce the lifetime of a camera, battery ,etc.. since we 're talking about circuits that are supposed to be used in normal temperatures that our bodies are comfortable. ie. not desert, not arctic.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 15:34 by tan510jomast »

« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2009, 15:42 »
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i should really start a new topic on shooting in the cold, but i will answer you here for now.

The advice I read was to keep a spare battery in a warm pocket.  The cold stops the ions (or whatever is in a battery) from moving .. so when it is 'dead' you put it in your pocket and take the warm one out.  Then the cold 'dead' battery will come back to life again and you can swap it with the battery that is getting cold.

I had a 5D and a 5D mark II on the trip.  The 5D mark II held up EXTREMELY well.  It shot all day long then (a few hundred photos) then in the evening did this 2 hour constant shoot at minus 15 Celsius, then kept shooting for quite a while the next day.   The 5D would die pretty quick when I was shooting but with the 5D mark II  I didn't ever have to switch batteries.

Cold isn't a problem at all.. just condensation when you go into a warm building. keep your camera in your photo bag to help with that and keep adjustment as slow as possible.

tan510jomast

« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2009, 15:57 »
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i should really start a new topic on shooting in the cold, but i will answer you here for now.

The advice I read was to keep a spare battery in a warm pocket.  The cold stops the ions (or whatever is in a battery) from moving .. so when it is 'dead' you put it in your pocket and take the warm one out.  Then the cold 'dead' battery will come back to life again and you can swap it with the battery that is getting cold.

I had a 5D and a 5D mark II on the trip.  The 5D mark II held up EXTREMELY well.  It shot all day long then (a few hundred photos) then in the evening did this 2 hour constant shoot at minus 15 Celsius, then kept shooting for quite a while the next day.   The 5D would die pretty quick when I was shooting but with the 5D mark II  I didn't ever have to switch batteries.

Cold isn't a problem at all.. just condensation when you go into a warm building. keep your camera in your photo bag to help with that and keep adjustment as slow as possible.

cool, Tyler.
but having a spare battery is not going to work for time lapse if your first battery freezes, right?
you cannot just continue shooting, or does that not affect your time lapse when you change batteries. you just set it up again, right?

also, you said cold is not a problem, only condensation. so with my camera a pentax k20d which is sealed from dust and moisture, it should work better out in cold as well. at least better than one that is not sealed from dust and moisture, do you think?

another thing, the tripod would freeze as well, wouldn't it? or perharps not, as it's not really metal it's allow plastic.  sorry so many questions. yes you should start a new topic on cold weather shooting  ;)

« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2009, 17:29 »
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but having a spare battery is not going to work for time lapse if your first battery freezes, right?
you cannot just continue shooting, or does that not affect your time lapse when you change batteries. you just set it up again, right?

I suppose you only lose a few frames when that happens.  One must be very careful to keep the camera and tripod in the exact same position - I wonder if a quick release helps?

« Reply #22 on: April 30, 2009, 01:00 »
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i should really start a new topic on shooting in the cold, but i will answer you here for now.

The advice I read was to keep a spare battery in a warm pocket.  The cold stops the ions (or whatever is in a battery) from moving .. so when it is 'dead' you put it in your pocket and take the warm one out.  Then the cold 'dead' battery will come back to life again and you can swap it with the battery that is getting cold.

I had a 5D and a 5D mark II on the trip.  The 5D mark II held up EXTREMELY well.  It shot all day long then (a few hundred photos) then in the evening did this 2 hour constant shoot at minus 15 Celsius, then kept shooting for quite a while the next day.   The 5D would die pretty quick when I was shooting but with the 5D mark II  I didn't ever have to switch batteries.

Cold isn't a problem at all.. just condensation when you go into a warm building. keep your camera in your photo bag to help with that and keep adjustment as slow as possible.

cool, Tyler.
but having a spare battery is not going to work for time lapse if your first battery freezes, right?
you cannot just continue shooting, or does that not affect your time lapse when you change batteries. you just set it up again, right?

also, you said cold is not a problem, only condensation. so with my camera a pentax k20d which is sealed from dust and moisture, it should work better out in cold as well. at least better than one that is not sealed from dust and moisture, do you think?

another thing, the tripod would freeze as well, wouldn't it? or perharps not, as it's not really metal it's allow plastic.  sorry so many questions. yes you should start a new topic on cold weather shooting  ;)

No, spare batteries isn't going to help keeping the time lapse continuous, but when / if it stops you can switch them out.  With something long like clouds passing overhead, or building an igloo I don't think you would notice the time delay of switching batteries though (if you didn't bump the tripod)
Condensation only comes when you bring your camera INTO a warmer area, so NEVER put your camera inside your coat against your warm body and then out again into the cold and back into your coat.  You could then get condensation on the camera then get ice then it will not leave :(
When I had condensation on the camera (which i thought was gone) I once went outside only to realize I was getting frozen condensation.  I took a picture and it was all foggy.  I tried to figure out where it was to take it off (worried it was on the sensor) .. anyhow I finally realized it was on the INSIDE of the 24-70L lens. .... yes humidity gets there too... anyhow it disappeared after a few minutes, luckely, so I am not sure a sealed camera will help THAT much.
Tripods freezing, I don't see any problems with that.

You will probably want some thin gloves that you can easily operate your camera with.  If it is -5 or colder the metal camera gets VERY cold and is very hard to hold more than 10 seconds without it hurts really bad if you don't have some sort of layer between the camera and your skin.

@madelaide :  yeah if you are going to do a time lapse you need to use a cable release.  You can buy a cheap chinese model that takes a pictures every so many seconds.. then you don't have to press the shutter yourself 2000 times.

tan510jomast

« Reply #23 on: April 30, 2009, 17:08 »
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Condensation only comes when you bring your camera INTO a warmer area, so NEVER put your camera inside your coat against your warm body and then out again into the cold and back into your coat.  You could then get condensation on the camera then get ice then it will not leave :(
wo, and they always tell you to keep your camera uner your coat if you're out shooting in winter. this is misinformation . good thing i didn't go out last winter or else i would have lost my camera.


When I had condensation on the camera (which i thought was gone) I once went outside only to realize I was getting frozen condensation.  I took a picture and it was all foggy.  I tried to figure out where it was to take it off (worried it was on the sensor) .. anyhow I finally realized it was on the INSIDE of the 24-70L lens. .... yes humidity gets there too... anyhow it disappeared after a few minutes, luckely, so I am not sure a sealed camera will help THAT much.
Tripods freezing, I don't see any problems with that.

i know the feeling. my laptop died on me condensation after working on it 18 hrs then no heat in my apt for a week. had a space heater by my bed . took a year for the condensation to leave. i was about to throw it out after a whole year unable to switch on. lucky for me i tried one last time and now it's alive again. after one year ,can you believe?


You will probably want some thin gloves that you can easily operate your camera with.  If it is -5 or colder the metal camera gets VERY cold and is very hard to hold more than 10 seconds without it hurts really bad if you don't have some sort of layer between the camera and your skin.

that's it. bare hands bare skin to metal is dangerous. like kids licking iron railing in saskatchewan, remember? leader post news. oh well ,you're too young to remember that. tongue glued to railing, had to call fireman . i can imagine same thing, camera stuck to the face due to frozen metal on skin . ouch!


« Reply #24 on: April 30, 2009, 22:15 »
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Nice start,
time lapse videos are very touchy to do (in my opinion - I'm trying to get them perfect...).

First problem is the sun moving around and especially creating funny shadows in your scene.

Well it takes careful scouting to find the right spot for that and the right time of day to do that.

Secondly I have to mention you got a lot of flickering going on. If you don't use a fixed aperture lens you will inevitably get flicker. That has to be removed within After Effects or any other video processing software (often using a 3rd party plug-in).

I throw my time lapses together in After Effects. For a 2 minute video in Full HD and with Photo-JPG compression I think 2GB  are pretty ok.

For web purposes 720p is perfectly fine, especially if you do it in h.264 (that's enough for my taste - people submitting to vimeo probably will burn me for that). I'm trying to be practical and somewhat efficient.

I would redo a version with flicker removal and taking only every 5th shot to reduce the overall length to a clip that you can submit to the footage sites. If it passes I think it could sell a few times.

Keep going!
Good luck


 

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