Anyone tried to do timelapse-alike 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 TRV950 / PDX10 Companion

Sony TRV950 / PDX10 Companion
...plus TRV900, PD100A and other Sony DV camcorders.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old February 15th, 2005, 10:01 AM   #1
Major Player
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cardiff, UK
Posts: 223
Anyone tried to do timelapse-alike

with the inbuilt function to take short video every so often? annoyingly it doesn't combine the frame record and the inbuilt "timelapse" (I forget what its labeled as... interval record?) to do proper 1 frame per x minutes etc style, but nevermind.

i never found anything interesting enough to point my camera at for such a long time (whilst keeping the camera safe from being stolen!) so has anyone else? what were the results like?
James Connors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 15th, 2005, 10:08 AM   #2
Wrangler
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Mays Landing, NJ
Posts: 11,798
My VX-2000 has an identical feature which I used once to film a snowstorm overnight. I set it to shoot 1/2 sec every 30 secs (I think) and let it run almost 12 hours. I then sped the results up to create a 10 second clip that was pretty interesting.

However for shorter timelapse projects you're better to just let the tape roll, then capture and speed up in post as long as you don't exceed the limit of a 60 minute tape. I have done this extensively to shoot skies with moving clouds and the results are terrific. Only downside is that you need to capture the full hour tape which eats up disk space. But after speeding up the results I then export the final clip and delete the original capture file.

Another option for timelapse would be to connect your camera to e a laptop computer running some special software. On the Mac BTV Pro will do this, although I have never used this feature myself.
Boyd Ostroff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 16th, 2005, 03:25 AM   #3
Major Player
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cardiff, UK
Posts: 223
Yeah thats a good idea, alas impossible with the 950 as it shuts down after inactivity... but the VX and the PD's don't, so could try it with that.

Big fan of Koyaanisqatsi, so really should take a stab at doing some work like this at some point :)
James Connors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 18th, 2005, 09:23 AM   #4
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Billericay, England UK
Posts: 4,711
Big fan of Koyaanisqatsi here too! Like Boyd says, shooting in real time lets you make your decisions later - on the timeline. The interval record feature doesn't work too well for most subjects as the 12 frames released are in real time, then the long wait till the same thing happens again.

I filmed from a 'cross-counrty' chair lift in Austria. Used the TRV900 in real time and boy, did my arms scream blue murder with the ache after 22 minutes. But on the timeline I could ramp up the speed to 3000x (you read that right) and decelerate before entering the chair lift's base station. The swooping over hills and valleys is a pretty impressive piece of timelapse.

tom.
Tom Hardwick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 18th, 2005, 10:01 AM   #5
Major Player
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cardiff, UK
Posts: 223
Hehe sounds fun! Definitely feel you on the 22mins thing, I shoot my PD150 handheld at gigs, and I have to keep it as stable as possible for 30-35 min sets, and try not to let it go to hell during the splits between songs.. it HURTS. I've done up to 8 bands in a day once, and I've sure felt it the day after.

Would definitely go for the realtime method, but it restricts you to 90mins (in LP) recording alas, no impressive day to night visuals unless you have a harddisk recorder or something. But yeah, thats the problem with the 12frames method, i'm sure it'd still look interesting mind, but possibly unusable!
James Connors is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 18th, 2005, 10:09 AM   #6
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Redding, California
Posts: 114
Another option is to use a digital still camera and a laptop running a remote capture utility. Depending on your subject matter, this method may work better for you. Here's a timelapse I did of some clouds using a Canon 10d and a laptop.

http://www.savvyproductions.com/clouds.mov
Jesse Rosten is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 18th, 2005, 10:33 AM   #7
Wrangler
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Mays Landing, NJ
Posts: 11,798
That was a nice clip Jesse! Are you limited to 640x480 when using the laptop with a still camera? As mentioned above, BTV Pro can capture to your laptop from both still and video cameras. You can capture continuous DV output via firewire to your hard disk, or set it for time lapse. It seems very versatile for this sort of thing, but I haven't explored those possibilities.

I have also thought of using my Nikon digital camera to capture stills at intervals. The nice thing about that wouild be you could get HD resolution. You could import the series of JPEG's into your NLE afterwards. Seems like a lot of work though...
Boyd Ostroff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 18th, 2005, 10:45 AM   #8
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Redding, California
Posts: 114
No, you are not limited to DV resolution. In fact the video has a resolution around 3000 X 2000 much higher than HiDef - more like a 2k DI!!! Whatever the megapixel of your still camera is the resolution you end up with.

It's great working with this resolution cause you can pan and zoom your footage in a DV timeline without losing any res. Most NLE's have a function that allow you to import still frames and treat them like video. I used AE to import the frames and turn it into uncompressed SD timelapse.
Jesse Rosten 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 TRV950 / PDX10 Companion

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:24 AM.


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