Time Lapse Recording on FX1/Z1 at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > Sony XAVC / XDCAM / NXCAM / AVCHD / HDV / DV Camera Systems > Sony HDV and DV Camera Systems > Sony HVR-Z1 / HDR-FX1

Sony HVR-Z1 / HDR-FX1
Pro and consumer versions of this Sony 3-CCD HDV camcorder.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old December 14th, 2004, 09:58 AM   #1
New Boot
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 21
Time Lapse Recording on FX1/Z1

Okay, this might be a newbie-type question, but my curiosity is relentless. For interval, or time-lapse recording, which camera of these two would be the better (or only) choice? I'm assuming you'd need a third-party dongle of some kind. I'm looking to do some time-lapse landscape shots and don't want to sit there all day and manually trigger things! Recommendations of said dongle would be greatly appreciated as well.
Jared VanLeuven is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 10:44 AM   #2
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 150
You won't be able to do this with either camera as is, so there is no preference I see directly relating to your question.

You'll need to capture via external firewire device (or component using computer) There are reports of external firewire capture drives being developed. It'd be nice if they offered a time lapse feature where they'd grab a firewire frame and stored them as TIFF or TGA or JPEG sequences on the drive. You could then encode them into a MPEG 2 file or AVI file.

I'm not aware of any software you can put on a laptop that can grab a frame from a HDV firewire input at a certain interval. That's another route to investigate.
Mike Tiffee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 11:11 AM   #3
Obstreperous Rex
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: San Marcos, TX
Posts: 27,368
Images: 513
The FireStore FS-3 and FS-4 Pro external hard-disk recorders from Focus Enhancements have built-in intervalometers. Now all they need are firmware upgrades to record in HDV. I'm pretty sure they're working on that.
__________________
CH

Search DV Info Net | 20 years of DVi | ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!
Chris Hurd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 11:17 AM   #4
Major Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posts: 611
An alternative is simply to sit there and let the camera run for a full tape (1 hour) and then speed it up in Adobe After Effects. or a similar program, (though I don't think After Effects can handle HDV - you'd have to convert it to an editable quicktime or .avi file).

Since it's for time lapse, drop outs won't be such a problem so you could just use and reuse a $5 miniDV cassette without much worry, couldn't you?
Dylan Pank is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 11:18 AM   #5
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 150
I'm not sure they'll ever be able to interval record with HDV. Isn't it impossible to timelapse record with a MPEG-2 format? It would need to record in some other format or an image sequence right?
Mike Tiffee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 11:22 AM   #6
Major Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posts: 611
what would be interesting is if the FW input could somehow be set to grab only the discretely compressed I-frames (there's two a second if I remember rightly).

If the shutter speed was set to 1/3 second it wouldn't make that much difference in terms of the overall image.
Dylan Pank is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14th, 2004, 11:09 PM   #7
New Boot
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 21
Thanks a bunch for the tips, February seems _so_ far away!
Jared VanLeuven is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 15th, 2004, 10:11 PM   #8
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 30
An yet un-tested method

I am keen on time lapse and while acknowledging that on the FX1 it is only supported in DV format I thought the following would work.

As the camera can be triggered by the remote control, why not use a universal remote control to 1) learn the code string for record, 2) setup a macro on the universal remote to repeat the command at what ever interval you require.

I understand that in frame mode (DV) each record trigger takes approximately 6 frames. So if I can program my universal remote to send the record code every minute, the result should be timelpased footage? Basically turn the universal remote into an intervalometer.

Do does the forum think?

Tony
Tony Roulston is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 17th, 2004, 08:47 AM   #9
Major Player
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 158
For HQ timelapse shooting I suggest DSLR still camera.
Toke Lahti is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > Sony XAVC / XDCAM / NXCAM / AVCHD / HDV / DV Camera Systems > Sony HDV and DV Camera Systems > Sony HVR-Z1 / HDR-FX1

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:44 PM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network