Time-lapse shooting

[klausesser]

Time-lapse shooting

by klausesser » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:00 pm

Hi!

A device like the Merlin should be very good to shoot a time-lapse-sequence with a panning camera.
I tried to do that yesterday - but didn´t succeed to find the correct settings.
Let´s say a 180deg-turn shooting 1 picture per second - the pan should last 5 minutes. That would mean 300 pictures which is 12 seconds of video.
In the software that´s coupled to a certain focal-length. Is there a way to avoid that?

Ok - one could use the very slow motion-option of the Merlin´s hand-controller and using an interval-release. But i guess the Merlin/Papywizard basically should already be able to do by using the normal speed and stopping 300 times for a shot - am i wrong? But it has to be independant from the focal-length.

the function:"amount of shots" doesn´t do - it increases the angle and is limited to "100". What is it anyway for?

best, Klaus

[fma38]

by fma38 » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:21 pm

Hi!

A device like the Merlin should be very good to shoot a time-lapse-sequence with a panning camera.
I tried to do that yesterday - but didn´t succeed to find the correct settings.
Let´s say a 180deg-turn shooting 1 picture per second - the pan should last 5 minutes. That would mean 300 pictures which is 12 seconds of video.
In the software that´s coupled to a certain focal-length. Is there a way to avoid that?

Ok - one could use the very slow motion-option of the Merlin´s hand-controller and using an interval-release. But i guess the Merlin/Papywizard basically should already be able to do by using the normal speed and stopping 300 times for a shot - am i wrong? But it has to be independant from the focal-length.

Timelapse is planed for v2, as it will need big changes in both GUI and model. I also plan to mix both classical timelapse and panoramic timelapse

For now, you can use a preset, by giving all positions. I know it can be boring for 300 pictures, but it is possible to write a python script to generate such preset. Tell me what input parameters yu need, and I will try to write something (through a web interface).

I found that slow modes of the Merlin are not very smooth, and if you take a picture while moving, you can get a blured pictures. Well, it depends of the time value of the camera.

the function:"amount of shots" doesn´t do - it increases the angle and is limited to "100". What is it anyway for?

Some people want to be able to set the number of pictures to shoot in each direction, rather than giving an angle, or start/end positions.

[klausesser]

by klausesser » Fri Nov 28, 2008 3:38 pm

Hi Frédéric!

"Some people want to be able to set the number of pictures to shoot in each direction, rather than giving an angle, or start/end positions."

I see - sounds clever!

"Timelapse is planed for v2, as it will need big changes in both GUI and model. I also plan to mix both classical timelapse and panoramic timelapse"

Great!

"Tell me what input parameters yu need, and I will try to write something (through a web interface)."

Thanks, Frédéric - i appreciate that deeply. But at the moment it would be just playing around, no real need . . i´ll wait for the v2!

"I found that slow modes of the Merlin are not very smooth, and if you take a picture while moving, you can get a blured pictures. Well, it depends of the time value of the camera."

Right! That might be interesting using a 5DMkII in HD-mode - making a movie-pan and in a video-editor "deleting" 24 of 25 frames in each second.

best, Klaus

[mediavets]

by mediavets » Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:08 pm

the function:"amount of shots" doesn´t do - it increases the angle and is limited to "100". What is it anyway for?

best, Klaus

It is another 'shortcut' for defining a pano - an alternative to entering values for Total FOV.

With experience of shooting panos with a particular setup - camera/lens - I think the user will soon get a 'feel' for the number of rows and coliumns that provides the desired Total FOV.

You can also experiment and see what effect decreasing the no. of rows or columns will have on the Total FOV. With a hi-res pano involving a lot of images you may find that you can significantly reduce the no. of shots and the elapsed time of the shoot by dropping a row without a huge effect on the Total FOV.

Last edited by mediavets on Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[BeeZed]

by BeeZed » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:27 am

You can also experiment and see what effect decreasing the no. of rows or columns will have on the Total FOV. With a hi-res pano involving a lot of images you may find that you can significantly reduce the no. of shots and the elapsed time of the shoot by dropping a row without a huge effect on the Total FOV.

I was just noticing this the other day. Sometimes setting the FOV increases the overlap, particularly in vertical, so setting the number of pictures instead guarantees optimal overlap and coverage. For example if I really want 120 degrees vertical, but two rows with 20% overlap on my lens is 135 degrees, papywizard will increase the overlap percentage. I figure it is better to take a larger FOV and crop, if it doesn't cost me another row of shots.

[Sammy B]

by Sammy B » Thu May 07, 2009 12:29 am

"Timelapse is planed for v2, as it will need big changes in both GUI and model. I also plan to mix both classical timelapse and panoramic timelapse" )

i really keen to get the timelapse features working for my 5Dmk2 merlin combo. i have a dolly and will fit it with a motor to move at a variable speed.

it would be great to use existing gamer usb joy stick control the head. you could move its at a variable speed using the slider on the joystick and record the move on a graph that can be modified and played back on the following scales:

scaleable time of camera move. moveable key frames on graph

move curves smoothing for non straight line pans/tilts

shooting x amounts of shots (fps)

the ability to pause a move and then continue later.

option to pause for x time and then shoot then move to next shot and repeat



How is the progress in the timelapse tab section of papywizard coming along ?


if the timelapse section is good then there will be a mad rush from budget to pro film film makers to get the merlin/papywizard set up

i want to help in any way i can to test and give ideas and feed back. sorry im not a programer but im a techy R&D user. i dont even know how to use Terminal.

how do i get papywizard to start up if it crashes on start up. what files do i delete to make the auto connect box i ticked which is causing the crash?

still dont have it working on my mac

what is this /dev thing to find my usb-serial port address. do i type "/dev" in terminal?

thanks for all the hard work to whoever has done it!

please advise me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Sammy

[claudevh]

by claudevh » Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:43 pm

Hi Sammy,

Is somebody has reply to your post ?
What can we do for you ?

[ozbigben]

by ozbigben » Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:10 pm

I don't have all of my hardware yet, but I'm sorting out most of my workflows. I have a high res time lapse project in the pipe line, and was keen to use this setup to do some nice pans. I already have a Filemaker Pro database to export the camera positions for each frame and will be adding extra features for panoramic timelapse including exporting PTGui/ Panorama Tools scripts to stitch the individual frames.

I also play with some 3D rending programs and will utilise some of them to create camera positions for some smooth, non-linear pans. I can release a runtime of the database when it's finished if anyone wants to try it out.

Last edited by ozbigben on Sat Jun 13, 2009 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.