Time-lapse photography technology

Time-lapse photography can be regarded as the opposite of high-speed photography. Time-lapse photography is usually used to shoot urban scenery, natural scenery, astronomical phenomena, biological evolution and so on. In time-lapse photography video, the slow change of an object or scene is compressed in a very short time, presenting a strange and wonderful scene that is usually imperceptible to the naked eye.

Time-lapse photography refers to long-term fixed-frame time-lapse photography, also known as low-speed photography or fixed-frame photography. It is a photography technology that takes pictures or videos at a low frame rate and then plays the pictures at a normal or faster rate. It is a means of recording regularly and reproducing the slow changing process of the scene with obvious changing images.

Using time-lapse photography technology in movies can usually make amazing movies, from nature documentaries to life dramas to simple feature films. Time-lapse photography is usually used to shoot urban scenery, natural scenery, astronomical phenomena, biological evolution and so on.

Main equipment: SLR camera, tripod

Auxiliary equipment: timing pay-off, delay tracking, lens filter, etc.

Main equipment: It is necessary to take a series of photos at equal intervals when shooting time-lapse photography with a SLR camera, and it is impossible to completely press the shutter by hand. Many cameras have no interval shooting function and need an external timer.

Timing cable release

Delay track: A photographic track equipped with a stepping motor and shutter controller. Through precise electronic and mechanical control, the camera moves a certain distance on the track every time it takes a photo, so as to achieve the purpose of moving shooting. Time-delay tracking is a professional time-delay shooting equipment.

Delayed orbit diagram

Lens filter: there are three main types: one is ND mirror, which is used to filter light and reduce the amount of light entering the lens; The second color filter is used to adjust the color of the main body; The other is the canopy mirror, which is used to adjust the spot shape.

Three kinds of filter renderings

Tripod: Time-lapse photography needs a stable shooting platform, and any shaking will lead to shaking and shaking of the video images behind. The tripod can ensure the stability of the shooting picture. For a wide range of displacement delay, tripod is essential. Stability is overwhelming. Be sure to fix the camera firmly on a solid tripod to avoid the camera shaking due to wind and other reasons, which will lead to shooting failure.

Prepare enough spare batteries and memory cards. Time-lapse shooting usually takes several hours or even dozens of hours, so it is necessary to prepare enough accessories according to the length of the required material. If conditions permit, it is best to turn on the alternating current to shoot.

Fuselage setting

M gear, ISO manual. Normally, the aperture should not be too small. Although a small aperture can bring a large depth of field, it will also bring dust marks on the lens and CCD and diffraction of light. F8 is a suitable breakthrough. White balance is manual, which can be preset or adjusted manually. Turn off the high-sensitivity noise reduction of the fuselage, and turn off the automatic dark compensation of the fuselage (Nikon's D-lighting, Canon's highlight priority mode, Sony and Pentax. Automatic HDR).

Note: In the evening and at sunrise, the light changes greatly. According to experience, the maximum light change can reach 3EV within 30 minutes in winter, so please adjust the exposure appropriately.

Cable release setting

Just set the INTVL option (Yongnuo MC-36b), that is, the interval between each shooting. For example, shooting traffic and pedestrians in the city during the day, the interval is set to 1 s, and the shutter speed of the fuselage is set within 1 s. When shooting urban traffic at night, the interval is set between 2 seconds and 5 seconds, and the shutter speed of the fuselage is set to interval minus 1. (Example: the interval time is 3 seconds, and the shutter speed of the fuselage is 2 seconds) When shooting the movement of clouds in the sky, the interval time varies from 3 seconds to 10 second according to the movement speed of clouds, and the slower the movement speed of clouds, the longer the interval time.

A tripod for fixing the camera and view.

Shooting duration (minutes) = interval shooting time (seconds)? 24? How long do you want the clip to last (in seconds)? 60

Number of lenses =24? Length of the final desired clip (seconds)

Example: Finally, I want a 20-second time-lapse photography clip with an interval of 3 seconds, so the shooting duration is 3? 24? 20? 60=24 (minutes), and the number of shots is 20? 24=480 sheets

Note: generally shoot as much as possible. If you need a clip of 10 second, it is best that the original clip is from 15 second to 20 second, leaving room for the later transition of the video.

You can start shooting when you are fully prepared. For example, according to 24 frames of video, a 15 second video needs 360 photos. If the interval is 4 seconds, it will take at least 24 minutes to shoot.

post production

Import the taken photos into lightroom or PS, and use batch processing to adjust all photos with the same operation. Take PS as an example to teach you batch processing.

1. Open ps software and select File >; Automatic > batch processing.

2. In the pop-up dialog box, select the action command to perform the operation, and then navigate to the source and target folders, that is, where the pictures to be resized are located. Then, click OK.

There are many softwares that combine continuous photos into videos. For example: Photolapse 3, VirtualDub, QuickTime Pro, Adobe Premiere Elements, Lightroom, Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects. These can be used to make videos, not just these. You can choose according to your habits and abilities.

Of course, post-production is more than just stitching photos. An excellent time-lapse photography video needs to add music and use a lot of clips.

So how can we turn into a continuous video in the face of hundreds of continuous photos? Let's explain it to you with PR.

Continuous image sequence

Open the software, just click on the sequence to import the material, and the imported fragment is a formed time-lapse photography, which is very simple. Note that you need to select sequential import, otherwise the imported material is a single-needle static image. If there is a material interruption, please check whether your file names are continuous.

Non-editing software selects the image sequence when importing the material, and the imported video is a complete video.

For some videos that need to be stabilized, we can import the clips into Adobe After Effects, and then add them to the clips with the command morphing stabilizer that comes with AE. In this way, we put different time-lapse shots together for editing and music, and finally form a complete work.

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