Author Topic: New Hyperlapse seller + general questions (Read 16251 times)

604scans · « **on:** June 04, 2017, 18:30 »

I was referred to this excellent forum by a veteran shooter and forum user and I'm glad to be here!

A few years ago I decided to start shooting hyperlapse, I'm not sure what the end goal was, it wasn't to sell it as stock footage I think, I was enthralled with the look of it, I was challenged by the capture and processing... 2 years later I edited down the best stuff I had and released it a few weeks ago as a "Love letter to Vancouver", got some views, did some TV and newspaper interviews (Who latched on to the love letter angle and it was a slow news weekend)

newbielink:https://youtu.be/bcZ5vSg9Oj0 [nonactive]

The idea since last year was to try and sell the footage on my own site newbielink:http://604scans.com [nonactive] and after a few sales, things have dropped off and now I'm looking at the stock footage angle. My friend has been trying to be helpful but hes into mass market, standard video clips (Kids dancing in the rain, etc) so his advice isn't as helpful as I need it to be for my footage which some of you may know, requires a lot of trial and error and massive back-end processing, since I actually remove birds, as well as generally scrapping hyperlapses with ANY jitter. Some 3-4 second clips required hours of work, so getting paid $32.78 is not appealing...

Where is the best site for my hyperlapses, based on % payout, tax withholding hassles (I'm Canadian) and general traffic?

Thank you

LDV81 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 04, 2017, 19:06 »

For hyperlapses, your showreel is incredibly smooth and simply amazing.
However, I am not sure whether it can be profitable (on a larger scale), taking into account the massive amount of work that is involved in the creation process.

On Pond5 you can set your own prices and receive 50%. They do have customers. You can set high prices and see what happens.

Motion Elements have good terms too, but they focus on Asia and seem to have fewer customers than P5.

Other than that, perhaps when your neigbors from Stocksy open for new applications, you might try applying there, but there is no editorial collection, so e.g. clips with logos cannot be uploaded.

Artist · « **Reply #2 on:** June 04, 2017, 22:20 »

Not sure if it will be profitable or not, but your work is simply amazing.

sharpshot · « **Reply #3 on:** June 05, 2017, 03:17 »

I agree about Pond5 and Motion Elements. Pond5 can take a long time to start selling and Motion Elements have less buyers but if you're patient, they should start selling your clips.

Chichikov · « **Reply #4 on:** June 05, 2017, 04:24 »

Excellent work!!!

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2017, 04:33 »

I thought a "hyperlapse" was the camera moving through an extended distance, like a walk through Central Park or something. All the ones I clicked on on your site seemed to just be regular, panning or dolly timelapses. Or what looks like a drone timelapse. What makes them a "hyperlapse"? I'm just curious if I misunderstood what that was.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2017, 05:54 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 04:33

I thought a "hyperlapse" was the camera moving through an extended distance, like a walk through Central Park or something. All the ones I clicked on on your site seemed to just be regular, panning or dolly timelapses. Or what looks like a drone timelapse. What makes them a "hyperlapse"? I'm just curious if I misunderstood what that was.

I thought hyper lapse meant big movements during a time-lapse, and these certainly have that!

Can't imagine it'd ever be worth selling films like this as micro stock though, the volume and royalty amounts are just not there when measured against the cost of production.

Chichikov · « **Reply #7 on:** June 05, 2017, 07:23 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 04:33

I thought a "hyperlapse" was the camera moving through an extended distance, like a walk through Central Park or something. All the ones I clicked on on your site seemed to just be regular, panning or dolly timelapses. Or what looks like a drone timelapse. What makes them a "hyperlapse"? I'm just curious if I misunderstood what that was.

"Hyperlapse: a technique in time-lapse photography, in which the position of the camera is being changed between each exposure"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlapse

Panning and dolly are changes of the position of the camera.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #8 on:** June 05, 2017, 08:33 »

Quote from: Chichikov on June 05, 2017, 07:23

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 04:33
I thought a "hyperlapse" was the camera moving through an extended distance, like a walk through Central Park or something. All the ones I clicked on on your site seemed to just be regular, panning or dolly timelapses. Or what looks like a drone timelapse. What makes them a "hyperlapse"? I'm just curious if I misunderstood what that was.

"Hyperlapse: a technique in time-lapse photography, in which the position of the camera is being changed between each exposure"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlapse

Panning and dolly are changes of the position of the camera.

Keep reading though :
In contrast to a simple motion timelapse – dolly shots, which are realized with short camera sliders; in hyperlapse photography, the camera is being moved through very long distances.

Desintegrator · « **Reply #9 on:** June 05, 2017, 08:40 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 08:33

Quote from: Chichikov on June 05, 2017, 07:23
Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 04:33
I thought a "hyperlapse" was the camera moving through an extended distance, like a walk through Central Park or something. All the ones I clicked on on your site seemed to just be regular, panning or dolly timelapses. Or what looks like a drone timelapse. What makes them a "hyperlapse"? I'm just curious if I misunderstood what that was.

"Hyperlapse: a technique in time-lapse photography, in which the position of the camera is being changed between each exposure"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlapse

Panning and dolly are changes of the position of the camera.

Keep reading though :
In contrast to a simple motion timelapse – dolly shots, which are realized with short camera sliders; in hyperlapse photography, the camera is being moved through very long distances.

Yes, but that obviously happens in video linked in the opening post.

Brightontl · « **Reply #10 on:** June 05, 2017, 09:13 »

Hyperlapses can be shot very well with drones , as the movement can be planned with intelligent flight modes (especially waypoints).
The problem is the battery life time, especially if shooting in RAW, as they can only take one pic every 6-7 seconds

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #11 on:** June 05, 2017, 09:46 »

Quote from: Brightontl on June 05, 2017, 09:13

Hyperlapses can be shot very well with drones , as the movement can be planned with intelligent flight modes (especially waypoints).
The problem is the battery life time, especially if shooting in RAW, as they can only take one pic every 6-7 seconds

What drone is that? Just take the pictures manually and you can do 1 per second or at least 1 every 2 seconds.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #12 on:** June 05, 2017, 09:53 »

There are plenty of real hyperlapses in there. You should probably watch the video.

I would say a movement longer than 10-20 meters or so qualifies as a hyperlapse. And it could still be done on a dolly, but that's just not practical in most places.

Anyway, good stuff! Looks like a lot of it is shot from boats.

The market for just general hyperlapses might not be huge - you'd need to go to the famous spots like NYC, LA or London or get to really remarkable nature scenery.

But you obviously have Vancouver covered and there is VERY little competition so as soon as someone needs a clip like that you would sell it.

Buyers tend to look for clips with this in mind: "cool clip of london landmark" but not actively search "london hyperlapse". BUT, if they come across a London hyperlapse that's cool they might just have to buy it.

I sell lots of hyperlapses where the clips rank high for the general location searches, but I don't believe most buyers actually search for "hyperlapse".

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #13 on:** June 05, 2017, 09:56 »

double post. delete

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #14 on:** June 05, 2017, 10:01 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 05, 2017, 09:53

There are plenty of real hyperlapses in there. You should probably watch the video.

Yes, I see some in there now. I was just randomly looking at the ones on the site. Must take a lot of stabilization with the boat ones.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #15 on:** June 05, 2017, 10:09 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 10:01

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 05, 2017, 09:53
There are plenty of real hyperlapses in there. You should probably watch the video.

Yes, I see some in there now. I was just randomly looking at the ones on the site. Must take a lot of stabilization with the boat ones.

Actually, unless there are massive waves, boats are very easy to shoot hyperlapses from. Right after trains, and maybe cars, probably the easiest. Ferries, even better. You also tend to not have as much foreground when you shoot from a boat which makes it a lot easier to stabilize compared to, say, a bridge where you have a rail very close. That almost always results in some wobble (as you can also see in those shots in the video).

The hardest to stabilize are hyperlapses shot from uneven terrain where the perspective changes a lot, with foreground elements.

Brightontl · « **Reply #16 on:** June 05, 2017, 11:27 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 05, 2017, 09:46

Quote from: Brightontl on June 05, 2017, 09:13
Hyperlapses can be shot very well with drones , as the movement can be planned with intelligent flight modes (especially waypoints).
The problem is the battery life time, especially if shooting in RAW, as they can only take one pic every 6-7 seconds

What drone is that? Just take the pictures manually and you can do 1 per second or at least 1 every 2 seconds.

Phantom 4 pro.
If you take jpeg is fine, if you take RAW it takes several seconds to buffer.
I have one Phantom 4 and a Phantom 4 Pro

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #17 on:** June 05, 2017, 11:49 »

Quote from: Brightontl on June 05, 2017, 11:27

If you take jpeg is fine, if you take RAW it takes several seconds to buffer.
I have one Phantom 4 and a Phantom 4 Pro

I shoot RAW on my P3P and it works much faster. Maybe a faster memory card? The P4P is 20mp so should be a little slower but the P4 is 12 just like the P3P so should be fast.

604scans · « **Reply #18 on:** June 05, 2017, 13:46 »

Thank you for the kind words and advice everyone!

About my processes, almost none of the clips are shot from boats and no drones were used. The final frames are usually about 5300x3400pixels and shot full frame SLR with Canon glass, probably pretty hard currently to shoot identical with a drone as travel speed was usually 6" per second which might be hard without a large drone capable of dealing with the conditions on many of the days that I shot and be able to carry a decent camera

In terms of 'if its viable or not as a stock', I guess I should have mentioned that Im done shooting for now, I pretty much killed my full frame Canon doing these shoots so actually looking for recoup any funds from the footage. If I lived in an amazing city like Paris, NY, etc I would have more opportunities to shoot desirable high-end footage, as for me what I have is the only extensive coverage of Vancouver and areas in hyperlase form. Ive decided to sign up on Videoblocks and Pond5 but will check out the others

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #19 on:** June 05, 2017, 14:05 »

How is something like this shot, if not from a boat? Are you crossing bridges or something? http://604scans.com/2017/03/deep-cove-day-3-hyperlapse-101-frames-5450x3500px/

Or this? http://604scans.com/2016/12/lions-day-5-hyperlapse-83-frames-5300x3400px/

Are they all from neighboring hills or paths or high bridges or something?

BTW, you may be suffering from lack of sales because they all seem really short to me, at least for advertising uses and such.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #20 on:** June 05, 2017, 20:15 »

The first shot, there's a path by the waterfront, and the second, there's a whopping bridge overlooking the path by the seawall. I agree with the timing... I'd aim for a ten second shot every time. Considerably more time-consuming, but a lot more commercially viable.

604scans · « **Reply #21 on:** June 05, 2017, 22:56 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on June 05, 2017, 14:05

Are they all from neighboring hills or paths or high bridges or something?

BTW, you may be suffering from lack of sales because they all seem really short to me, at least for advertising uses and such.

Like spacestockfootage said, its all bridges, paths, seawalls, beaches,etc

The short clip thing... Yeah its based on how much room I have to work with on a consistent, stable surface as well as weather constraints, sometimes the sun would come out and I would just shoot what I could

I tried later on to change the way I would shoot, take smaller steps,etc but that was near the end of it. I think initially I just wanted to make a showreel, I wasnt thinking what would sell and how I would sell it

sharpshot · « **Reply #22 on:** June 06, 2017, 01:48 »

I disagree about short clips, a large percentage of the timelapse clips I have seen in use have been much less than 10 seconds. It might put a few buyers off but probably not many. Buyers probably do search for hyperlapses when they have seen that in the title of a few they like.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #23 on:** June 06, 2017, 03:17 »

Not many buyers use a full 10 seconds of a hyperlapse. In fact, 2 seconds is more normal.

10 seconds is often not even practically possible, and adds so much time, but I would aim for 6 seconds at 24 fps = 144 images at least. Most agencies require a minimum of 5 seconds.

I usually do at least 160 images so I have some room to edit. Of course, if the situation lends itself to longer sequences with not much extra hassle, I do that.

dragonblade · « **Reply #24 on:** June 06, 2017, 07:43 »

Some very nice work there. I liked the aerial view of the winding road by the sea.

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 05, 2017, 09:53

I would say a movement longer than 10-20 meters or so qualifies as a hyperlapse. And it could still be done on a dolly, but that's just not practical in most places.

There's some guy who has a very nice time lapse video of an airport at night on SS. It's a completely static shot (no camera movement) and yet he keeps insisting that it's a hyperlapse and not time lapse. I'm always puzzled as to why he holds that belief.

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 05, 2017, 10:09

Actually, unless there are massive waves, boats are very easy to shoot hyperlapses from. Right after trains, and maybe cars, probably the easiest. Ferries, even better.

I once tried to shoot a hyperlapse from a ferry but I had trouble keeping stable - can't remember why but I didn't have the luxury of leaning against the side railing.

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Author Topic: New Hyperlapse seller + general questions (Read 16251 times)

604scans

LDV81

Artist

sharpshot

Chichikov

Sean Locke Photography

fotoVoyager

Chichikov

Sean Locke Photography

Desintegrator

Brightontl

increasingdifficulty

increasingdifficulty

increasingdifficulty

Sean Locke Photography

increasingdifficulty

Brightontl

increasingdifficulty

604scans

Sean Locke Photography

SpaceStockFootage

604scans

sharpshot

increasingdifficulty

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