TimeLapse Phtgraphy Time-lapse lets yu see the natural prgressin f time, while nt having t wait thrugh the actual length f it. Pictures are taken at regular intervals. When replayed at nrmal speed, time appears t be mving faster and thus lapsing. Fr example, an image f a scene may be captured nce every secnd, and then played back at 25 frames per secnd. There are sme things t keep in mind and calculatins t be dne while setting up a time lapse sht. Usually the length f the prject changes hw yu re ging t sht it. Yur final mvie can end up tw ways: blcky r smth and seamless. Usually fr a smther transitin yu drag yur shutter speed when yu re shting, This will prduce sme blur and the images wuld blend in smther. Time-lapse cmpilatins are cmmnly rendered at 24 r 30 (fps) frames (phts) per secnd. Time-lapse Interval What d yu want t capture and hw lng is the event? Hw fast is the actin taking place? Hw lng d yu want yur time-lapse cmpilatin t be, and hw lng t sht? Yur interval MUST exceed yur expsure time. A gd rule f thumb is t keep yur expsure at abut 60% 80% f yur interval t give yur camera enugh time t clear the image buffer befre the next frame is taken. Based n hw lng we want the mvie t be we can calculate hw many shts we wuld need. Fr a 20 secnd timelapse mvie at 24 fps we wuld need 24 x 20 = 480 frames. T knw hw ften we need t take a sht (interval between shts) we need t knw the duratin that ur event is ging t take. Fr example if the event is fr 4 hurs i.e. 14400 secnds then we need a 30 secnd interval between shts. (14400 / 480). Shutter interval time = Ttal shting time in hurs x 3600 / Mvie duratin in secnds * Mvie frame rate Sme cmmn intervals Fast mving cluds: 1 secnd Slw mving cluds: 10 secnds Sun mving acrss a clear sky: (wide) 20-30 secnds Stars mving acrss the sky: (wide) between 20-60 secnds Sunsets clse up: 1-2 secnds Crwds f peple: 1-2 secnds Plants grwing eg cucumber vines: 2 minutes Shadws mving acrss the grund: 10-20 secnds Camera Settings.
All standard settings shuld be set manually Make sure aut fcus is ff Manual ISO. Set yur ISO t its lwest if shting in daylight withut ND filters. Manual Expsure Manual aperture. Deciding upn the aperture setting depends n tw things hw much depth f field d yu want and hw fast (r slw) yu want yur shutter speed t be. The latter f these tw will prbably be yur bigger cncern in the beginning. Manual Shutter. Shutter speed in time lapse films is a very imprtant factr. If yu sht with a fast shutter speed (eg. 1/100th secnd), the mvement in yur final film will tend t lk less realistic than if yu sht at a slwer speed (eg. 1/2 secnd). Manual White Balance. Pick ne apprpriate fr yur situatin and keep it there fr the entire sht. Manual Sharpness Manual Cntrast Manual Clr Saturatin It s imprtant t try and anticipate what is likely t happen t the available light during the time lapse. If it s likely t get brighter, then yu need t set yur initial expsure t be a little darker than yu might if taking a single image. If yu dn t allw sme headrm, and the Sun cmes ut frm behind cluds fr example, then the image will becme verexpsed and yu ll lse detail in the highlights. Likewise if it s likely t get darker, set yur initial expsure t be quite bright (withut verexpsing, f curse). Lng shutter speeds are the best 1/2 secnd is the minimum shutter speed 1 secnd t 30 secnd shutter speed are ptimal depending n the event Use a neutral density filter t achieve lw shutter speeds during the day. The increased expsure time will significantly reduce the battery life f the camera, this is wrth cnsidering particularly since a time lapse film may ptentially cnsist f thusands f phts. Rughly speaking, yur shutter speed shuld be just under half that f yur interval. S, fr a 3 secnd interval, a 1.3 secnd expsure is great. At lnger intervals this rule ceases t apply. Yu may need t get sme Neutral density filters (ND filters) s that yu can maintain a lnger shutter speed while taking a picture under daylight cnditins. Use a sturdy tripd lck all tripd latches sandbag yur camera if wind/vibratin might be an issue Tips. Slwly zm in r ut at times t create a variatin. Pan the camera slwly t bring sme mvement int the scene.
Check that yur memry card has sufficient free space fr yur images. Sht with a battery pack r external pwer surce where pssible if yu are shting ver a lng perid f time. Putting it all tgether. Creatin f a Time Lapse mving using Freeware tls Tls used 1) Irfanview 4.30 (http://www.irfanview.cm/ ) 2) VirtualDub-1.10.0 (http://www.virtualdub.rg/ ) a. Dnald Graft s DeFlicker plugin (http://neurn2.net/deflick/flick.html ) b. Dnald Graft s Zm filter (http://neurn2.net/zm.html ) c. Dnald Graft s Pan filter (http://neurn2.net/pan.html ) d. Deshaker plugin (http://www.guthspt.se/vide/deshaker.htm ) 3) XVID Cdec (http://www.xvid.rg/dwnlads.15.0.html ) 4) MPEG Streamclip 1.2 (http://www.squared5.cm/ ) 5) QuickTime Alternative 1.81 (http://www.filehipp.cm/dwnlad_quicktime_alternative/2615 ) 6) Rename Master (http://www.jejesft.cm/cms/shwpage.php?cid=108 ) Preparatin, resize and crpping f yur images. T save time resize yur phtgraphs t the size yu are ging t create yur vide fr display. In this example I am creating a vide f 1920x1080. This is in the rati f 16:9. Yur images mst likely are in the rati 4:3. We will need t first resize the images tm match the width f 1920 and then crp them t 1920x1080. This means yu are ging t lse pixels n the tp and bttm f yur image. Select all the images yu need t prcess in Irfanview. Keeping the images selected, click n File Start batch dialg with selected files
Select Batch cnversin Rename result files Output frmat is JPG. Use the Optins buttn t make changes t the image quality etc. Select Use advanced ptins (fr bulk resize..) and click n Advanced. We will first resize the images. Click OK when dne. Under Batch rename settings and use a name like image-####, the #### will be replaced by an incremented number. Set the Output directry fr results files, t the lcatin yu want the resized files t be stred. Click n Start Batch when ready t start resizing. Once cmplete we will need t crp the images s that they are in the rati 16:9, t d this fllw the previus prcess except remve the tick frm RESIZE and select CROP instead.
My images were in the frmat 4:3 s I used 0 fr X-ps and 100 fr Y-ps, the width and height are 1920x1080. Start left tp and click k. Reselect the resized images and select a new utput flder. Click n Start Batch when ready t start crpping. Once this is dne yu are ready t begin creating yur Vide. Creating the Vide with VirtualDub VirtualDub requires the phts used fr a time-lapse be in their wn flder and numbered sequentially withut gaps between number. Open VirtualDub. Click n File -> Open Vide File Navigate t yur images and select the first image in the sequence.
Make sure Autmatically lad linked segments is selected and click Open. Right click n the screen and set the zm t a cnvenient setting fr yur mnitr. When yu d this fr the input vide and utput vide, yu will see bth vides n the screen.
Next yu set the frame rate nrmally this wuld be 24fps fr PAL.
Flicker ccurs when each frame f a vide has a different verall brightness. Click n Vide and select Filters. Select the deflicker filter and accept the default values.
Select Vide..Filters (r ctrl-f) and add... yu shuld have deshaker n the list. When selected, press cnfigure. Basically yu make sure the Pass 1 buttn is selected, clse the dialg, reset the play psitin t the start if it isn't, and and press Play O t run thrugh the pass 1 stage. Yu'll see a lad f dts n the ftage as it wrks ut the mtin vectrs t cmpensate fr. Yu then repeat the excercise by ging back int the deshaker filter cnfig, press the Pass 2 buttn, and Play thrugh again, and this time it deshakes the ftage. When it's dne yu'll see the dramatic difference, and yu can save the clip as an AVI. Select Vide - Cmpressin, If yu want t exprt t QuickTime select uncmpressed then Select File Save as AVI and save yur vide, then fllw the directins in the next step t create the vide. Yu can exprt the vide t XVID frmat, Select Vide Cmpressin and frm the list f cdecs select XVID MPEG-4 Cdec then click n File Save as AVI t save yur vide. Encding a H.264 vide in QuickTime MOV frmat. T create QuickTime MOV vide yu can use the Squared 5 MPEG Streamclip sftware cmbined with KL QuickTime Alternative. Bth are freeware. Launch MPEG Streamclip and pen the vide yu want t cnvert.
Click n File Exprt t QuickTime The fllwing screen appears.
Frm the Cmpressin drpdwn select the H.264 Encder. Set the quality between 60 t 80% If yur vide des nt cntain sund select N Sund frm the drpdwn. Select 24fps fr PAL r 30fps fr NTSC. Select 1920x1080 (HDTV 1080i) and click Make Mvie That s it yur mvie wuld sn be encded.