How to do well the translation and scaling effect of photos in the later period of time-lapse photography

1, digital SLR camera. Preferably a camera with an exposure interval control function. Please refer to your camera manual. Most mid-range digital SLR cameras have this function.

It doesn't matter if the camera doesn't have this function. This function can be achieved by using an external remote shutter. For example, Nikon has MC-36 and Canon has TC-80N3.

It doesn't matter if you don't have a remote control. You can connect the camera to the computer and control it through software. Nikon has Nikon camera control Pro, and Canon has Canon EOS utility, all of which can control camera shooting. The disadvantage is that it is not convenient. If shooting outdoors, you should bring at least one laptop.

4. A stable tripod. During shooting, any slight jitter will affect the final video. So a stable tripod is very important. It's best to hang heavy objects under it so that it can remain stable in strong winds-usually strong winds can bring beautiful pictures of clouds moving, and you certainly don't want to be shaken to ruin the whole shooting.

5, medium gray filter. Used to slow down the shutter speed during the day, the reason is explained in detail in the following exposure paragraph.

6. Be prepared before shooting. Enough memory cards and batteries. If you are connected to a computer, please pay attention to the remaining hard disk space of the photo storage disk. The memory card is not only a matter of storage size, but also the storage speed of the card will affect the shooting interval, so it is necessary to equip several high-speed and large-capacity memory cards.

Photo shooting time interval

It is necessary to explain that it is the interval between shooting, not the exposure time. )

The frame rate of normal video is between 24 and 30, which can be understood as 24 to 30 pictures per second. As I said before, time-lapse photography is to compress a long picture into a shorter time. Only by choosing the interval between each frame of photos can we get a natural-looking video.

The principle of choosing an appropriate time interval is that the faster the change, the shorter the time interval between scenes.

Reference of time interval

Fast moving clouds on windy days: 1-2 seconds

Slow cloud: 5- 10 second

The shadow of the sun moving on the ground: 10-20 seconds

The track of the sun on a clear day: 20-30 seconds.

The state of the stars running in the sky: 10-60 seconds.

Close-up of the sun at sunset: 1-2 seconds

Crowd in the city: 1-2 seconds

Plant growth status: 5-40 minutes.

There is no fixed standard for these times, but it is necessary to constantly shoot and accumulate experience in practice and choose a certain time interval according to the specific situation. Once the time interval is determined, it cannot be changed.

The safest way is to choose a time and divide it equally when you are not sure how much time interval to use. Shoot at equal intervals. For example, I plan to make a video with photos spaced 4 seconds apart.

You can shoot at intervals of 2 seconds. In this way, in post-production, if 2 seconds is not suitable, you can take out the photos and wait for time, or you can get photos with an interval of 4 seconds. This practice is only applicable to shooting with exposure time less than the interval, and is not applicable to shooting night scenes such as starry sky for a long time.

Shooting parameter setting

When taking pictures, all the settings of the camera should be set to manual mode: shooting in M range, disabling autofocus and automatic white balance. This can ensure that the exposure value of each photo is consistent. This is very important. The problem of video flicker can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

At this time, like all photos, we should be concerned about the aperture and shutter value.

hole

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.

shutter

Shutter is the key. Generally, under the condition of certain light, the aperture is fixed and the shutter speed is also fixed. Therefore, on a clear day, using the aperture of ISO65438 F8+000, the shutter speed is generally not lower than 1/250. Such shutter speed can usually freeze moving objects. This shutter speed is still too fast for time-lapse photography.

Why? When we try to combine the images taken by high-speed shutter into a video, we will find that people or vehicles that should be moving in the video will present a very unnatural state-it looks like flashing, which we call blips. This will look very uncomfortable. We can open any movie on the computer and pause when the picture moves. At this time, we will find that the picture is not completely static, but there is a certain blur. This kind of blur is called motion blur. When watching a dynamic picture, the human eye will automatically ignore this blur. Every picture looks unnatural when it is still.

Therefore, this problem should be taken into account when taking time-lapse photos, and the shutter speed should be reduced as much as possible. At this time, the medium gray filter mentioned above is useful. The function of neutral gray filter is to slow down the shutter speed and make the moving object have a fuzzy effect. At the same time, it can also avoid the trouble caused by using a small aperture.

The shutter speed is not as slow as possible, it is too fuzzy to look uncomfortable, and even the action of the subject can't be seen clearly. Generally speaking, the exposure time should be less than half of the shooting interval. However, long-term exposure is not restricted by this rule. For example, if you shoot the starry sky, you will shoot the star track if the exposure time is too long, and the video will look incoherent if the interval is too long. Therefore, how to master the right median requires your own experience. You can also take a few photos in advance to see the effect.

Similarly, vagueness is not absolute, and we should choose according to our own needs. For example, it is not necessary and impossible to require a single photo to be dynamic and fuzzy when shooting the process of flower opening. Another example is the original video. If the interval between frames is short, the visual difference is not so great.

Shooting method

The main points of shooting:

1, ensure that the memory card has enough space to take photos.

2. Ensure that the battery power is enough to maintain the whole shooting.

3. Stabilize the tripod to avoid camera movement.

4. Full manual shooting

5. When shooting during the day, reduce the ISO and use a medium gray mirror to extend the shutter speed.

6. Slower shutter speed brings more realistic video effects.

7. Set the shooting interval according to the expected moving speed of the picture.

8. Choose a theme

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. The only thing I can do during this time is to wait for the camera.

post production

There are many softwares for synthesizing photos into videos. From free to paid, there are: 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. For example, Windows Movie Maker can also provide the simplest functions.

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. These are not discussed in this article for the time being.