Timelapse people, chime in - DPChallenge Forums

11/07/2013 07:32:37 AM · #1

Check out this video, great teamwork amongst photographers to produce an incredible timelapse video.

https://vimeo.com/77773755

I was wondering if the people on this forum were up to a similar challenge. Wherever you live (I think most live in the U.S, but that's cool) take a good 2 or 3 minutes worth of timelapse of something famous or beautiful in your part of the world. (Still photos are MUCH better than video since you can capture raw and work in 4K resolution making editing a bit easier/harder).

I would be willing to do all the editing (I'm no master but I'm very much up to the challenge). Of course anyone else up for the challenge of editing can throw their hat in the ring...and then hopefully we can get a good selection of timelapse from around the world. I don't know that we'd get the same kind of attention as the video of China but I still think it would be fun. Anyone that's interested, chime in here. Depending on how many people we get we'll move forward. Ask other friends around the world and see if they're willing to help out.

Here goes...

Participants:

heavyj

Alexkc

vikas

Message edited by author 2013-11-07 20:47:50.

Alex_Petrini

Sony Alpha a7R III

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM

11/07/2013 08:09:42 AM · #2

I'm currently working on a time lapse of my area and probably (cross your fingers) I'll do the same in Norway in less than four months :)

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

11/07/2013 08:34:31 AM · #3

That would be awesome (Going to Norway) and great if you would be willing to throw some of that timelapse this way...could I put you down on the unofficial list of possible participants?

Alex_Petrini

Sony Alpha a7R III

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM

11/07/2013 08:41:04 AM · #4

Originally posted by heavyj:

That would be awesome (Going to Norway) and great if you would be willing to throw some of that timelapse this way...could I put you down on the unofficial list of possible participants?

Of course. And if you need help with the editing, well, this is my job :)

Spork99

OM System OM-1

11/07/2013 10:18:51 AM · #5

What I realized when experimenting with timelapse is that the difficulty is partly in the number of frames needed, ideally 24 fps or more means that to do one minute of video, you need 1440 still images. So for a 3 minute video, you'd need to make 4300 exposures. The other, and perhaps most significant problem is the flicker between the images...even using manual exposure control, there is enough variation in the actual fstop and shutter speed used to cause noticeable flicker in the resulting video. You can, of course, manually edit each frame to match the previous frame, but how long will it take to do that 4300 times. Lightroom will create the video files easily enough. I found that there are tools to manage the flicker, but the affordable ones were fairly difficult to use and the tools that were easy to use were $$$.

I don't know if the timelapse tools have evolved significantly since then, but it was enough to put me off pursuing timelapse any further.

MarkB

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/07/2013 10:23:42 AM · #6

LRTimelapse does an excellent job of handling the flicker and isn't all that expensive.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

11/07/2013 10:26:07 AM · #7

Originally posted by Spork99:

I was throwing numbers out there. Really, a good 15 seconds would be best. If you want to know how to avoid flicker and get a smooth timelapse I'll be glad to post a 'best settings'. The problem comes with sunrise and sunset, but as

MarkB has kindly pointed out, LRTimelapse is a solution for that.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

11/07/2013 10:46:25 AM · #8

The trial version of LRTimelapse is what I used. Maybe it has improved since then, but I found it near impossible to get completely flicker-free video. I shot on a cloudy day with the sun popping in and out behind clouds. It did make a significant difference. I know I didn't feel that the results I got justified the expense of the full version. Maybe a revisit is in order.

The trial limits you to 400 images, which makes for 13 sec at 30 fps.

MarkB

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/07/2013 11:59:46 AM · #9

LRTimelapse is on it's 3rd major revision. I have only used the trial version but the functionality has improved quite a bit over time with the revisions. I haven't used it in the situation you did, maybe a trial run is in order this weekend.

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

11/07/2013 01:44:18 PM · #10

Don't know what the timeline is, but I am game for this.

I can shoot something around upstate NY (nothing famous, just pretty) and in January I am travelling to India (few cities)

Best thing to avoid flicker is to shoot wide open.