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My first Time Lapse (Next Weekend 5/12/12)

L

LumbermanSVO

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Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
So next Saturday will be my first time shooting a time lapse that I REALLY want to work out. I will be on one of the Tugs in the Seattle Tugboat Races and I will want to make the time lapse show our trip from the dock, through the Ballard Locks, and out to the Puget Sound.

I will be using a friends Canon G12 to shoot the video so I can still shoot with my camera as we make our trip. I have a tripod, intervelometer, gaffers tape, batteries, batteries, more batteries and a tripod.

My biggest concern is dealing with the vibrations from the boat. I haven't been on the boat while it is running yet, but my bet is, the 1940's diesel isn't exactly a smooth running engine and will transfer quite a bit of vibration to the camera. Does anyone have any good ideas for isolating the camera from the boats vibrations while making sure it doesn't move?

If the weather is good then I want to put it dead center on the roof of the boat.
 
R

Ruahrc

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
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I'm not so sure vibration will be as big an issue as waves and pitching/rolling motion of the boat. You could try some kind of bean bag or something to help with vibrations though.

To compensate for pitching/rolling you might need something like a gyroscopic mount. Also there are software-based methods to compensate for this where it analyzes features between frames and adjusts each frame to match. You will lose a little frame in cropping but it can be quite effective.
 
mulo

mulo

macrumors 68020
Aug 22, 2010
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Behind you
Ruahrc said:
To compensate for pitching/rolling you might need something like a gyroscopic mount.
Click to expand...

he could mount his camera below his tripod, So we'd have the camera hanging about middle on a rod of some kind, then at the bottom of this rod, there would be a weight about the maximum the tripod can handle, and the top of the rod will then be tied to the tripod in a short string, this would mean the entire camera and weight thing will act as a giant and hopefully steady level (the high weight will stabilize it) and would always face directly down, perpendicular to the water
 
I

initialsBB

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2010
688
2
Ruahrc said:
I'm not so sure vibration will be as big an issue as waves and pitching/rolling motion of the boat.
Click to expand...

What works in the Philip Bloom video is that you have a part of the boat that is always visible, it gives a stable visual reference point. If you set the horizon to be the reference, then the boat would be pitching and rolling but I reckon that would ruin the sense of being there, and make you a bit sea sick !

Wide angle lens and heavy duty tripod/gorilla pod sounds like exactly what the OP needs.
 
L

LumbermanSVO

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Original poster
Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
Thanks for all the info. I did a little experimenting today and will do some more throughout the week.

I think if I make some foam feet for the tripod then add a little bit of weight to it(bottles of water?) that should help dampen the vibrations.

I was already planning to have some of the boat in the frame, so no need to correct for the horizon.

I have a couple of other time lapse shots for the day rolling around in my head, it should be an interesting day ;)
 
L

LumbermanSVO

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Original poster
Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
Well, the event was a success. I shot 2 time lapse sequences with my T2i plus a rented EF-S 10-22(now I want to buy it :eek: ) and one with the G12.

For the G12 sequence I shot it in full manual using the sunnyf16 guidelines and the exposure was just about perfect. I shot it large JPG with a 32Gb card and didn't even come close to filling it, the battery ran out first. The boat ran so smoothly, even during the race, that I just plopped the tripod down and let gravity do the rest and it worked out pretty well. I think some foam rubber feet for the tripod would have been perfect.

I learned a lot when reviewing the footage and have a better idea of what to do for this type of stuff. I have the G12 for a few more days so I'm gonna shoot with it in RAW and see if I like it, if so I'll buy one for dedicated time lapse stuff. I also need to look into external power for it as the battery seems to have a 4 hour life span when shooting every 5 seconds with the screen off.

I have the video all edited together, I'm just waiting for a fast and stable enough internet connection to upload it. Now that the video is edited I can start editing all the other stuff I shot...

We took 2nd place to a smaller boat(Ocean Eagle) with 800 more horsepower, though we only lost by about 20 feet and we were gaining on it.(13 knots in a 69 year old 127 foot boat!) Another 1/8 to 1/4 mile of "track" and we would have won.

Even more important than that, the owners, family and 60+ guests on the trip were all incredibly nice people, I just can't say enough kind things about them. After 5 hours aboard, I walked off that boat more relaxed than I've been in years, It's a memory I'll cherish forever.

And all because I stopped and took a picture one morning...
 
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fitshaced

fitshaced

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Jul 2, 2011
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LumbermanSVO said:
Well, the event was a success. I shot 2 time lapse sequences with my T2i plus a rented EF-S 10-22(now I want to buy it :eek: ) and one with the G12.

For the G12 sequence I shot it in full manual using the sunnyf16 guidelines and the exposure was just about perfect. I shot it large JPG with a 32Gb card and didn't even come close to filling it, the battery ran out first. The boat ran so smoothly, even during the race, that I just plopped the tripod down and let gravity do the rest and it worked out pretty well. I think some foam rubber feet for the tripod would have been perfect.

I learned a lot when reviewing the footage and have a better idea of what to do for this type of stuff. I have the G12 for a few more days so I'm gonna shoot with it in RAW and see if I like it, if so I'll buy one for dedicated time lapse stuff. I also need to look into external power for it as the battery seems to have a 4 hour life span when shooting every 5 seconds with the screen off.

I have the video all edited together, I'm just waiting for a fast and stable enough internet connection to upload it. Now that the video is edited I can start editing all the other stuff I shot...

We took 2nd place to a smaller boat(Ocean Eagle) with 800 more horsepower, though we only lost by about 20 feet and we were gaining on it.(13 knots in a 69 year old 127 foot boat!) Another 1/8 to 1/4 mile of "track" and we would have won.

Even more important than that, the owners, family and 60+ guests on the trip were all incredibly nice people, I just can't say enough kind things about them. After 5 hours aboard, I walked off that boat more relaxed than I've been in years, It's a memory I'll cherish forever.

And all because I stopped and took a picture one morning...
Click to expand...

I love learning new things from doing timelapses. Gets frustrating when I forget to do something I should know but still usually get more satisfaction out of any of them than a regular photo trip.

How did you put it together, Quicktime?
 
L

LumbermanSVO

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Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
I forgot about QT, I used a slideshow preset for LR4 I found online, then I put the three clips together and added a title and what-not in iMovie.

The LR4 preset claims it makes a 24fps video, but iMovie says the clips were 30fps. :confused:

I got in on the TriggerHappy pre-order and it should be shipping in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to playing with it.
 
Dhelsdon

Dhelsdon

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Feb 5, 2010
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LumbermanSVO said:
I forgot about QT, I used a slideshow preset for LR4 I found online, then I put the three clips together and added a title and what-not in iMovie.

The LR4 preset claims it makes a 24fps video, but iMovie says the clips were 30fps. :confused:

I got in on the TriggerHappy pre-order and it should be shipping in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to playing with it.
Click to expand...

I really want the trigger-happy, still a little unsure of the whole thing.. why do I need to spend 49$ for their cable when I can get the same one(?) locally for much cheaper. I know it said something about a embedded chip, but what difference does it make?

Maybe I should be emailing them directly to answer all my questions.. lol
 
L

LumbermanSVO

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xStep said:
What is that? Links?
Click to expand...

Here ya go: http://www.triggerhappyremote.com/

Dhelsdon said:
I really want the trigger-happy, still a little unsure of the whole thing.. why do I need to spend 49$ for their cable when I can get the same one(?) locally for much cheaper. I know it said something about a embedded chip, but what difference does it make?

Maybe I should be emailing them directly to answer all my questions.. lol
Click to expand...

I plan on doing some tinkering with my o'scope to see exactly what the chip is doing. I like the idea of what they guys are doing, not just the cable, but the software side of it too.

Here is the rough cut of the video, I'm still trying to find some music put on it.
Tug Galene Time Lapse
 
fitshaced

fitshaced

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Jul 2, 2011
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LumbermanSVO said:
Here ya go: http://www.triggerhappyremote.com/



I plan on doing some tinkering with my o'scope to see exactly what the chip is doing. I like the idea of what they guys are doing, not just the cable, but the software side of it too.

Here is the rough cut of the video, I'm still trying to find some music put on it.
Tug Galene Time Lapse
Click to expand...

I bought an infrared transmitter for the DSLR.BOT app which can be used for time lapse but will never, ever use it for 2 reasons. For timelapse, you have to keep pointing the iphone at your camera. And secondly, I need the iphone to keep me occupied whilst my camera is snapping.

So, because of the second reason, this triggerhappy remote wont work for me. Can't beat the Hahnel Giga T Pro.

Nice timelapse Lumberman. If you have garageband, there might be some audio clips in there to suit it.
 
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L

LumbermanSVO

macrumors 65816
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Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
This is where I think CraigsList comes in handy.

Once I get my cable, and if I'm satisfied with it, I'll buy an old iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch off CL to use as the remote. It won't matter if the screen is broken(I have fixed them) or if the cell/WiFi/BT radios work as I won't be using them. Then I can just rig up a mount on the tripod and I'll have a remote with a long battery life and the ability to plug it into 12v or A/C power if needed, and I can still listen to my iPhone. It's too bad I recently drowned by old 3GS, it was still alive, and a spare, when I did the pre-order.

I have a friend who works in the local music industry, I've asked her to shop the video around to see if anyone wants to donate some music for it, in exchange they'll get the rights to use the video too. If I don't get any bites from that then I'll ask on CL.
 
X

xStep

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Jan 28, 2003
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Less lost in L.A.
LumbermanSVO said:
Here is the rough cut of the video, I'm still trying to find some music put on it.
Tug Galene Time Lapse
Click to expand...

Interesting. I haven't had the opportunity to see Seattle from that vantage point. Thanks for sharing. :)

I found my first couple of viewings extremely choppy. That was due to the fact it took me 8 minutes and 2 seconds to view the 4.5 minute HD video. Given I've watched Hulu tv shows at this location with much better performance, I'm going to blame the service you are using. Yes, the low rez version had the same bandwidth issue.

I managed to download the 720p version and had a much nicer experience, although I still find all that bumping around on the water a bit stressing.

Some constructive criticism...

I think you should shorten the first scene. After the Sun is clearly up, and perhaps after the first wave, switch to the boarding. I also found the part where you are still at dock with the final camera mount a bit long.

Perhaps place a few titles at the bottom of the screen to describe what we are seeing. For instance, which locks are you in, bridges rising, Seattle skyline with the space needle, start and end of race, etc.

----------
LumbermanSVO said:
Here ya go: http://www.triggerhappyremote.com/



I plan on doing some tinkering with my o'scope to see exactly what the chip is doing. I like the idea of what they guys are doing, not just the cable, but the software side of it too.

Here is the rough cut of the video, I'm still trying to find some music put on it.
Tug Galene Time Lapse
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I see they are working on adding similar features I plan to add to my time lapse app. I'd better hurry it up. I mention that because I believe they'll have to use the iDevice, so you'll want a mount that allows you to point your device in the same direction as the camera is pointing.

I'm guessing the cable has some smarts built-in given they discuss doing HDR and bulb ramping. I'm not surprised they are using the audio plug. The port is troublesome to get permission with from what I've heard.

Are there a couple of other triggers like this available?
 
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L

LumbermanSVO

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 15, 2007
1,234
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Denton, TX
Thanks xStep,

I don't know why the video was choppy for you, I just tried it and it was smooth and I haven't received any other word about playback issues today. I generally have issues getting anything better than 360p on YouTube on this connection. :confused: This is the rough cut and I'm hosting it on SmugMug, once I have the final cut done I'll host it on YouTube in addition to SmugMug.

I had planned to add some text to show the start and finish of the race, as well as the results, but I hadn't thought of adding in bridge names and such, thats a good idea, thanks!

---------------------

I think they are using the headphone jack so their cable is cross-platform, they are developing for Android and other devices as well. They are even looking to put out an SDK for it. It would be awesome if they also added a desktop client with the ability to share settings between devices...

My guess it they will be using audio waveforms to tell the chip what to do instead of trying to get the audio port to send out a DC signal to trip the camera input. But I I'll find out when I put the O'Scope on it, since I have one I like to put it on anything with a some kind of waveform.

In the KickStarter comments there is mention of another cable that costs less, but there are also comments about the companion app to it being prone to crashes. I don't know if there are any others though.

To be completely honest, I was well into a bottle of port :D when the KickStarter campaign popped up in my newsfeed reader. It seemed like such a great idea that I just went ahead and signed up without doing any research about it. Normally I'd sit on something like this for a week and do as much research as possible before signing up, even if it means missing out on the pre-order price break.
 
L

LumbermanSVO

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 15, 2007
1,234
622
Denton, TX
mulo said:
wouw, i'm thoroughly impressed by you results! I totally wanna go sailing right now, you really managed to glorify the trip. However, I will say that the part after leaving the river (rail bridge) and up until the race was a bit too long for my liking.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I wasn't sure if I should cut part of that out, or speed it up. I wanted to show how long it took to get out there so I sped most of that up by 2x instead of cutting it. 3x made it VERY obvious, and not in a good way.
 
Designer Dale

Designer Dale

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Mar 25, 2009
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Folding space
I like the result of your edit, but I'm not sure about the title placement. They disrupt the flow of the clip by appearing in the lower center. Personally, I would put them to the top left. I see that you had great fun on a beautiful day.

BTW, did you use the G12 or your DSLR for this? If so, how did you like that camera?

Dale
 
L

LumbermanSVO

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 15, 2007
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Denton, TX
I used my camera for the first two clips and the G12 while we were underway.

For the first clip I shot on Aperture Priority with auto ISO limited to 400, the second was shot in manual.

The G12 worked like a charm and had I caught that the battery had died, I would have made more footage of the trip back.

The G12 was setup in full manual, but I'm not so sure if the focus was on manual due to the poor UI. I think if it was a single purpose camera, then once you figured out the settings you'll use the most it would work great. The battery life was great, I got 4100 shots out of it. With it set to large JPG I still had 21GB left on a 32GB card, I could have probably shot in RAW without issue.

I'm thinking I may pickup a G12 because the memory cards and intervelometer work with my current camera. I just need to figure out how to power it for longer periods of time.

I have some pretty neat ideas of what to do next year :D
 
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