Time lapse video settings

[glenthompson]

I’ve been asked by our community’s model railroad club to produce a time lapse video of the setup of their Christmas display. My plan is to use my GoPro’s time lapse mode setup on a tripod connected to eternal power. Setup is expected to take about 4 hours.

I’ve done some testing at home and produced some videos of my dogs running around the house. My problem is what parameters to use for the actual filming. What interval would work best for this type of activity? If I use 3 seconds between pictures then I would get a 2:40 minute video at 30 fps. Does that sound reasonable or should the interval be shorter or longer? Any other things I need to think about?

 

[admwright]

If you have the storage capacity the I would suggest recording at a shorter interval (say 1 second) as this will give you more options when creating the video. Using all the images will give you a longer video that shows the build more slowly. If this is too long then you can drop every other image to half the time and show the build more quickly (equivalent to a 2 second capture). You can keep going with this and use every third image to get your original thought of 3 seconds, etc.

You can also have the option of creating multiple versions at different speeds and editing between these. Then you can have 'quick' sections and 'slow down' for a more 'complete' view of parts of the build.

From the practical capture point it is best to have consistent lighting and lock down the camera settings to hopefully avoid flicker.

 

[ColdCase]

What editing tools are at your disposal?

I have better luck and less effort with these kinds of things speeding up the video in post. The only reason to take time laps mode is if there is several minutes between shots or if your camera can't take long enough video (with a large SD card, my go pro easily records 4 hours, but it will get hot, I have other security type cameras that are better for longer durations).

I usually record continuously, throw the video on a FCP timeline, cut out unwanted sections then set a custom duration (i.e if you want a 30 minute video select 30 minute). Then view/export tweak if necessary. Usually turns out pretty good, minor camera movements and other defects are rarely noticeable. If you got the tools, give it a try, you may like the result.

Tripod or solid camera mounting is a must although slow panning makes for some interest.

I suggest using two cameras at you seem to have one shot at it and there is always the possibility of camera failure. I've used an iPhone as backup.

 

[glenthompson]

My older GoPro can only handle a 64gb card. That should allow 6 hours of pictures at 1 second intervals. Plan to use iMovie for editing. Not that interested in more powerful tools as my video usage is minimal. I’ve used iMovie for editing mother GoPro footage.

While the setup is taking place I plan to take additional pictures and video with my NEX-7 or my wife’s A-6000.

Lighting in the room should be fairly consistent as the only windows face north so won’t get direct sun.

 

[glenthompson]

Thanks for the suggestions. Recorded 18k individual pictures at 1 second intervals. Did the movie at 30fps and it was an ideal speed. My M1 iMac handled the video without breathing hard.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Thanks for the suggestions. Recorded 18k individual pictures at 1 second intervals. Did the movie at 30fps and it was an ideal speed. My M1 iMac handled the video without breathing hard.

Glad to hear that... would love to see the finished product.

In my younger days I traveled with a group that built homes in Guatemala to replace homes destroyed by an earthquake... I have several time-lapse videos of the homes going up... love to re-watch them from time to time.

 

[glenthompson]

Glad to hear that... would love to see the finished product.

Someone else did all the editing and added stills and videos from the display.

Here is the finished project