Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 7Viewing the timelapse
Once the timelapse is complete, you are ready to import the frames. Create a new folder on your computer and copy all the time lapse photos from the camera into it.
Next, you need to download a program called "VirtualDub". Its a simple, free and open source video editor. You can get it here: http://www.virtualdub.org/
1: Open virtualdub and the folder with your photos in it
2: Select the very first frame, and drag it ontop of the virtualdub window. You should get a "scanning frame XXX.." message. Wait for it to import all the frames.
3: Virtualdub should look like this when the timelapse is ready. Simply press either of the little play buttons down in the left corner. You can use the mousewheel or the slider along the bottom to manually move through all the frames.
With any luck, you should see your timelapse play smoothly in the window. If you want to convert it into a video file, do the following:
Ive encountered many problems with both the camera rig and with converting the timelapse into video. Here are the most common:
The rig works, but its really loud
Most of the noise comes from the rocker arm snapping back down after its pressed the shutter. Try removing the white rod from the purple connector at the end of the arm, so just the blue rod holds it on. This should make the arm more flexible and quieter. (EDIT: Im going to upload a picture to show what I mean, watch this space)
I cant get fit very many frames into my cameras memory
Check that you have the photo size to the lowest it will go. This gives me about 2100 frames on a 1GB SD card. Next, try using a longer interval. The last thing is simply to buy a bigger memory card for the camera.
The timelapse comes out as very jerky
There are a few things that cause this. The main cause is that you have the rig on something unstable, like a tall wooden table. Small vibrations and wobbles become very apparant when you view the timelapse.
Sometimes this can be down to your computer. If you didnt put your photo size down to something like 1 megapixel, then virtualdub will struggle to render all those big photos quickly. Also, if youre on a laptop like me, make sure its plugged in and on high performance mode. For the record, my system is: 2GHZ core 2 duo processor, 2GB RAM and a 7900GS graphics card.
The video I made is a huge file.
Set compression (you did pay attention to this part, yes?) to something less than 100. 80 is good.
The video I made is small, but its really grainy/looks bad
Raise the amount of compression you are using. Anything below 70 for me gives really poor quality.
Finally:
The rig is too big/ too ugly etc
Let me know when you have redesigned it ;)
Next, you need to download a program called "VirtualDub". Its a simple, free and open source video editor. You can get it here: http://www.virtualdub.org/
1: Open virtualdub and the folder with your photos in it
2: Select the very first frame, and drag it ontop of the virtualdub window. You should get a "scanning frame XXX.." message. Wait for it to import all the frames.
3: Virtualdub should look like this when the timelapse is ready. Simply press either of the little play buttons down in the left corner. You can use the mousewheel or the slider along the bottom to manually move through all the frames.
With any luck, you should see your timelapse play smoothly in the window. If you want to convert it into a video file, do the following:
- If you want to resize the video, go to the "video" tab along the toolbar, select "filters" and then hit the add button. Select "resize" from the list. Change the %value which should already be highlighted. 50% halfs the size, 25% quarters it etc.
- You can also set compression. This is a good way to decrease file size, but it can also lead to a loss in quality. Again, go to the "video" tab and select compression. Choose microsoft video 1. You can then enter a % compression value. 80% is a good tradeoff between size and quality. Higher compression means higher quality but a bigger filesize.
- Now, go to File>Save as AVI. Simple.
Ive encountered many problems with both the camera rig and with converting the timelapse into video. Here are the most common:
The rig works, but its really loud
Most of the noise comes from the rocker arm snapping back down after its pressed the shutter. Try removing the white rod from the purple connector at the end of the arm, so just the blue rod holds it on. This should make the arm more flexible and quieter. (EDIT: Im going to upload a picture to show what I mean, watch this space)
I cant get fit very many frames into my cameras memory
Check that you have the photo size to the lowest it will go. This gives me about 2100 frames on a 1GB SD card. Next, try using a longer interval. The last thing is simply to buy a bigger memory card for the camera.
The timelapse comes out as very jerky
There are a few things that cause this. The main cause is that you have the rig on something unstable, like a tall wooden table. Small vibrations and wobbles become very apparant when you view the timelapse.
Sometimes this can be down to your computer. If you didnt put your photo size down to something like 1 megapixel, then virtualdub will struggle to render all those big photos quickly. Also, if youre on a laptop like me, make sure its plugged in and on high performance mode. For the record, my system is: 2GHZ core 2 duo processor, 2GB RAM and a 7900GS graphics card.
The video I made is a huge file.
Set compression (you did pay attention to this part, yes?) to something less than 100. 80 is good.
The video I made is small, but its really grainy/looks bad
Raise the amount of compression you are using. Anything below 70 for me gives really poor quality.
Finally:
The rig is too big/ too ugly etc
Let me know when you have redesigned it ;)
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
 |
Add Comment
|
