Time lapse, also known as intervalometry (as in measuring intervals between photographs), is a method of taking pictures slowly over time and then compiling them into a video of compressed time. I've always been fascinated with time lapse videos. I remember when I was very young, seeing a time lapse video of a vine growing and creeping around at night. I was amazed! A good time lapse video can change your whole perspective and understanding of seemingly uninteresting everyday things.
I always assumed that making these videos would require specialized equipment that would be out of my price range. Turns out, you can produce high quality time lapse videos with a very small investment, my own output was just $45 for a spare camera, though you may have to pay more or less depending on your situation.
I had purchased the equipment I needed a while back, but then let this project sit on the back burner. When I was down at Maker Faire in spring 2011, I got to talking to mikeasaurus about the idea--he was working on his own time lapse videos involving a shoulder mounted webcam. We talked about it and played with his rig, and we were originally going to make a collaborative project, but sadly his effort suffered from some technical difficulties and had to be shelved.
In the mean time, I returned to Oregon and started seriously working on my own time lapse stuff. Take a look at the videos below, the first is all my best stuff up to about mid August of 2011, and the second is some longer term stuff I've worked on since then. Read on if you'd like to learn how to make your own cheap and easy time lapse videos!
I highly recommend you make this full screen and full resolution to get the total effect:
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: Gather Materials
For the videos, you will require:
- A Canon brand digital camera that is compatible with CHDK (see step 2)
- An SD card, the biggest compatible with your camera
- An AC adapter for your camera (not required but very useful)
- A computer with an SD card slot or an SD card reader and simple movie making software
- A waterproof tupperware (or whatever) container
- A small piece of clear plastic
- Hot glue
- Silicone caulk
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
The ISO vs. shutter speed thing is definitely tricky, especially with this camera--have you played around with night time photos at all? That was where I had the most trouble.
I see that I wrote that I'd send you "a digital patch and !" That ! was supposed to say a three month pro membership, so I'll send you a code for that. Thanks so much for posting this video, if you've got any more, please post them!
As a special bonus, here's a super secret link to my latest time lapse video: http://youtu.be/VabeQTTcVWA
I'm glad this is recent, I'm always going on YouTube, wanting to make a comment, then I see the video is like 3 years old and the author never responds any more.
Anyway, enough of my soapbox, I'm currently trying to build a mechanical intervalometer, the things are soo expensive to buy. It's for my 16mm camera I think I'm gonna buy and actuator and a control box plus timer, like the MK111, actually I could go the easiest way and buy a 6rpm motor to hit the lever that takes a single frame shot but I don't know enough to tell if a 110 ac motor will work on a 120 house current.
ANYWHOO, my question is how many frames per minute did you use in the clips on video #2, if variable per clip can you give me a couple of examples then I can watch it again to get a mental picture of what I want to try. I'm thinking every 10 seconds would be good, maybe slower depending on the subject and desired effect?
Regarding video #2, it was pretty various. For the part with the plants growing, it was something like 1 picture every 10 minutes over several weeks. For the driving part, that was the max shutter speed of my little canon, something like 1 picture every second or 1/2 second.
What I found is that it's best to take as many pictures as you can fit in your camera's memory over the duration of the stop motion. You can always speed things up in post editing later!
I would of course really love to see the results of your efforts! Please drop me a link when you've got some video!
I've watched the videos a few times already and I want MORE!