Quick and Easy Electronic Time Lapse

This is a rather short hack for my point and shoot camera. I'm going to disassemble my camera, tap into the shutter/focusing switches and then wire them up to an adjustable timer circuit.

If you've seen my past instructables -- you know I'm a big fan of Time Lapse. However, using a miniDV digital video camera makes things quite expensive and the quality isn't quite as high as it would be with a digital camera. For those with nicer cameras with remote triggers - this really isn't too important for you. But for the rest of us with $75 floor model digital cameras, please - step into my office :)





I wanted to do some time lapse of Robot doing the robot -- the response I got was:

I do not do "the robot" I am robot.

Unfortunate

Step 1: Parts and Tools

Tools
Suitable Screw Driver(s) to partially disassemble your camera
Soldering Iron
Solder
You'll probably want a multimeter or continuity tester

Parts
Donor Camera
Timing Circuit*
Thin Wire (connectors optional)
12 Volt Power Supply

*For simplicity and to make reproduction easier for everyone else - I used a timer kit. While it's more expensive, it gets the job done and is a fairly decent package as far as adjust ability is concerned. If you want to build you're own - all you really need is an adjustable astable 555 circuit.

I bought my kit from an Orlando based surplus store - but the kit is widely available online. Searching Google for "MK111" yields a bunch of results for the very same kit I used.

Comments

[neetz]

how hard would this be? I don't know a lot about soldering:(

[sdobbie]

I built the exact same timer relay kit today. It is a cit noisy though so I can't use it in my room over night.

[Musicman41]

I have that same power adapter. I use it to power my lego NXT. Instructable may be coming...

[fkuk]

does this run on a 9v battery?
or do i have to replace the relay to a lower voltage one

if so how long does the battery last

and how is the timing affected

[capthraw]

As a long time time-lapser, my favorite tool is QuickTime Pro, (the free viewer "Unlocked" by crossing Apple's palm with a mere $30.00). Once in "Pro Mode" you can import massive quatities with ease in a variety of frame rates, (I routinely process thousands of images at a time). Exports to (almost) all or favorite flavors. I usually go to DV/NTSC AVI for editing, or .MP4 for Websites.

My next project requires a long duration time-lapse. One or two frames per day over several months in a lava tube cave to study cave slime. Your Instructable is just the ticket to get me going, as my previous stuff relied on a laptop computer for intervelometer.

Thanks!

[Jr Hacking kid]

im 13 and i have an old pentax optio s iv always wanted to do time lapse since age 11 when i first saw it . i would like to know if u can help me with this i am new to opening my camera and i dont want to beak it so is their any way to like gust rig the camera trigger and nothen else ?

[mikeasaurus]

Hey Jr,

I felt the same way you do about opening up my camera, which is why I built an intervalometer (time lapse control) out of spare parts without damaging my camera, check it out! It's a bit involved but gets the job done.

Alternatively, the only other detailed documented project I've found anywhere on the web was also right here on instructables.

I hope this helps you out, good luck!

[mikeasaurus]

..and one more

[Jr Hacking kid]

thnx for the help ill try one of those someday =]

[conrad2468]

how you turn the photos into a movie?

[trebuchet03]

Step 6 - MovieSalsa and Windows Movie Maker

[nicchilton]

If your photo's are all sequentially numbered, use VirtualDub (http://virtualdub.org/http://virtualdub.org/).
Simply open the first image, set your preferences such as compression (it saves as AVI, but uncompressed AVI's are big so choose xvid, divx, or like I do a lossless codec if you want to edit the film later) and maybe framerate
Then Save As and specify output avi filename.

I use it to handle upto 5000 images at once, but it can cope with a lot more (see http://narrowboat.blip.tv or http://narrowbo.at).

I may try this with an old 2MP camera I have.

[daltonbelew]

so can you make the long time exposure setting longer for those light drawing pictures?

[1mic]

I think you should try Monkey Jam, it's free and it's brilliant!

http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/index.html

[inlikeflint]

I loves me some Monkeyjam for stop motion animation, but the program does not do time lapse. It does have a tricky import so that you can edit and compress, but it will not work with all .avi's.

Stop motion and time lapse are time consuming just figuring out all the programs, cameras, and then editing programs to upload them to video hosting sites.

Here is a Stopmo site that has a current listing of most of the freeware that is available for both Time Lapse and Stop Motion. Most of the programs are frame grabbers...

Stop Motion Works

[wakeupsilver]

As for the mm2 limitation, it may be a memory limitation, although mm2 makes some absurd use of memory. I noticed once when rendering it couldn't render which I think is this complexity issue you talk about. When My memory was maxed out (unnecessarily but mm2 is crazy) at that moment, so then I rebooted and it was able to render though it used a tonnage of mem.

[crudders]

To turn your images into a movie, you can use mplayer, which is free.

[Ian01]

In the second video, be careful of the sun.

[jasonmphoto]

VirtualDub can take a sequence of images and turn them into a movie. Plus, you can specify how many frames per second (to speed up or slow down the time lapse video), and you can apply any of the gazillion filters.. resize, crop, deflicker, enhance color, etc. Plus, VirtualDub is free.

[better plagues]

for mac users who are willing to pay $40, istopmotion makes the process incredibly easy for either time lapse or stop motion animation, although again, it's not a free solution.

[wnordmann]

This is great! I was just thinking about doing something like this. I want to do time lapse for a cave so 1 picture every 60 days for the next 30 years. There is a stalagmite and Stalactite that are expected to meet in 30 years. How long can your timer be set? Does anyone know how well the camera would hold up in a cave? It has power so batteries aren't an issue but its 55 degrees and moist all the time. And can the timer last 30 years?

[trebuchet03]

That might be pushing the service life of the timer... But this timer can delay up to 60 seconds (according to the manual). You're probably pushing the service life of the camera too :p I'm not quite sure how to reliably do a 60 day interval.... Perhaps using a micro controller (not my forte)....

[wnordmann]

Yeah you have a good point about the service life of the camera. It might easier to build a tripod that has feet that fit in keyed hole on the walkway so the camera is in the same place everytime. Thanks

[brucedop]

I think VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org/) does what you want.
You may need a batch processing program like xnview to get your frames into a compatible format that VirtualDub can use.
Both of these programs are free and are good.

[royalestel]

Hey Treb, just have to say kudos to you for not stealing software to put your movies together. I sometimes felt like I was the only honest student at college. . . And you know, this makes me think I might be able to hack my auto-exposure setting on the camera to let me make HDR video.

[sambort]

Hi Trebuchet, n nice job. I rememeber your nick from the first instructables, allways with good ideas to take.

Here my little solution for a similar problem: steady shots with a Sony camecorder. We need a:
- Sony Camcorder or similar
- HP Ipaq with IR Port
- Nevo Remote Control Program (included with Ipaq)
- Some automatic script program for pressing the buttons....i do it with Mortscript (http://www.sto-helit.de)

Next I leave the ipaq with the script running pointing to the camcorder and voila......i can take large videos or picture.... or do what you want...

Thank to your works for inspiration, sambort

[LasVegas]

Great job trebuchet! Love the time lapse films.

[macdadyabc]

dude, great job. those videos look so sweet.

[Tool Using Animal]

Better than mine, but scarier to implement.