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Time lapse
I have a 3 hour DV PAL tape with a continuous locked of shot recorded by the client in real time. The intention is to speed this up to create a time lapse.
What do folk suggest the best work flow would be to do this?
I have enough internal disk space and headroom to digitize the whole tape in one which would be a 44GB clip. Am I likely to come against any problems doing this that people know of working with very long clips?
I will could frame cut the time lapse to create a smooth film like time lapse, this would also avoid huge renders with speed effects. Or speed up, render, and ‘bake’ (Export/Import QT’s of sequences). Anyone done a project like this before and have time to share experiences?
Much appreciated,
Luke.
Mac Pro 2 x Dual 3Ghz, 4GB RAM, 2TB internal storage.
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3 Replies
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Luke,
Do a forum search on “Time lapse” recording. There’s been a fair amount of discussion about it.
To summarize: A plain speed ramp will work, but you’re quite likely to encounter drop frames as the system tries to access that large of a file so quickly. “Bake it in” by creating a separate, independent Quicktime of your effect and move forward with that, leaving the original files behind.
Advise your client that they are using “old school” methodologies and that there are plenty of new cameras that are capable of doing timelapse recordings without just rolling hours of footage. One of my favorite techniques is to NOT use a video camera, but a digital SLR. In connection with certain software, you can create outstanding work that is much easier to deal with in post. The frame sizes are 3-5 times BIGGER than 1080 HD, and that allows you to “pan and scan” within the frame, creating push ins, repos, etc. It’s a great trick.
mark
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Thanks Mark,
I had poked around the forum and found some bits of info on Time Lapse but was principally concerned about the length of clip I was looking to create and how best to process it for the Time Lapse.
Your suggestions were along the lines I was thinking so your confirmation of that was useful. The DSLR route is a great idea and would work well for this project so I will make the suggestion to the client.
Many thanks,
Luke
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Luke,
I this situation, a great helper is BTV Pro, a little capture app with a great time-lapse feature. Totally adjustable, a little math will tell you how your settings will affect speed and duration. Then you just use it to capture in real time, to any format BTW, and just let it rip. REally, really handy.
Have a wonderful day.
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