Level 1

121 points

Time Lapse - what is the duration of each image ?

Hi there,

I am trying to understand & do a Time Lapse though I don't really know much about it.

If I setup my auto digital camera on a tripod to take snap shots at 5 frames per second, then after 10 mins (ie 600 seconds), I shall ended up having 600 x 5= 3000 frames (ie 3000 shots of digital still photos).

So, if I placed all these 3000 photos in sequence on the timeline, how long should I set each of the photo to be ? I mean, what is the duration of each photo on the timeline ?

Another elementary question is, how is this different from, if we just apply a fast forward effects on a 10 mins video clip (assuming if earlier we capture on a video camera instead of a digital still camera) ?

Thanks

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 24 inches, 4GB RAM, 2.8GHz, 320GB HDD, 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro

Posted on Aug 22, 2009 4:19 AM

26 replies

Sep 5, 2009 9:06 AM in response to RyanManUtd

Shooting video normally and speeding it up should give the same effect as proper time-lapse. However, in the shooting you will use up a lot more video (eg. one hour of tape instead of one minute) and you would be limited to a maximum real time of one hour. You could of course later delete the video on the tape.

To speed up video, select it in the timeline and Modify>Speed. Change 100% to 1000% or whatever increase you need.

Sep 5, 2009 10:46 AM in response to RyanManUtd

Haven't got the original as my wife didn't like it!

So I have quickly produced this to give you an idea of the effect ...... it would be better without the dark wooden display cabinet etc. etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96yJBh6UetU&feature=channel_page

RyanManUtd Author

Level 1

121 points

Sep 5, 2009 12:03 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:
Haven't got the original as my wife didn't like it!

So I have quickly produced this to give you an idea of the effect ...... it would be better without the dark wooden display cabinet etc. etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96yJBh6UetU&feature=channel_page

Fantastic, but where did you purchase the sound from ?

RyanManUtd Author

Level 1

121 points

Sep 5, 2009 12:05 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:
Shooting video normally and speeding it up should give the same effect as proper time-lapse. However, in the shooting you will use up a lot more video (eg. one hour of tape instead of one minute) and you would be limited to a maximum real time of one hour. You could of course later delete the video on the tape.

To speed up video, select it in the timeline and Modify>Speed. Change 100% to 1000% or whatever increase you need.

Ok thanks Ian,

But I was wondering if we import a 30mins video clip into FCE thru the capture function it will end up with a huge file. Will this cause the capture to crash ?

Thanks

Sep 5, 2009 12:10 PM in response to RyanManUtd

RyanManUtd wrote:
... where is the effects to fast forward the video ? I look thru the effects tab but I am not sure which one ? ..

Modify/Speed... perhaps? or ⌘-J ..

RyanManUtd wrote:
.. what is the difference between time lapse using the still photos and the fast-forward motion in video editing ?..

waste of material?
why shooting 30frames-per-second , if you need for some timelapse a frame per minute/hour/ ... ?
seen lately a timelapse recording, how a glacier moves.. a year ( ! ) within 30secs = do the math: ~ a frame every 8h ...

.. a bit 'academic' to talk about 'timelapse vs fast-motion' .. just watch & get inspired:
http://www.metacafe.com/tags/time_lapse/page-1/ (1022 entries... )
http://www.youtube.com/results?searchquery=youtube+timelapse&searchtype=&aq=f (80k entries)

Sep 5, 2009 12:25 PM in response to RyanManUtd

The 3 sounds are all from the iMovie sound effects that come free with every Mac.

What's wrong with importing a 30 minute clip? It's only half a tape and can't possibly cause any problems.

Sep 6, 2009 2:33 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

It just occurred to me that you may not know where to access the hundreds of sound effects that ship with every Mac?

You can easily copy them to a more convenient place once you know where they are located.

iMovie has around 95 effects. To get to the file, ctrl click the iMovie icon and from the contextual menu select Contents>Resources>iMovie ’08 Sound Effects.

iLife has some 218 sound effects together with 200 Jingles which are basically short pieces of copyright-free music covering numerous moods, themes etc. These are situated in Mac HD>Library>Audio>Apple Loops>Apple>iLife Sound Effects.

Also in this last place you will find the Apple Loops for Garage Band. Although these (about 1,200) are mainly short music loops there are also some sound effects such as “Sci-Fi” and “UFO”. The music loops are also quite useful, even if you don’t want to compose a tune, as some of them are over 10 seconds long and can be used on their own to enhance an atmosphere.

People with Soundtrack will find even more in the above location.

RyanManUtd Author

Level 1

121 points

Sep 12, 2009 9:33 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:
Shooting video normally and speeding it up should give the same effect as proper time-lapse. However, in the shooting you will use up a lot more video (eg. one hour of tape instead of one minute) and you would be limited to a maximum real time of one hour. You could of course later delete the video on the tape.

To speed up video, select it in the timeline and Modify>Speed. Change 100% to 1000% or whatever increase you need.

Thanks Ian,

QUESTION 1:
I want to do a timelapse like this at time 01:40 where the lightining is so smooth:

http://www.vimeo.com/3026569

Can you guess whether I need to change the speed to what % to achieve the that lighting effect ?

QUESTION 2:
When we record say 30 mins of video, it takes about say half the tape. That should be no problem, I just leave the video camera for on a tripod for 30 mins.

But when we try to do a video capture in FCE, can FCE handle it or would it crash ?

Thanks

RyanManUtd Author

Level 1

121 points

Sep 12, 2009 9:36 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:

Also in this last place you will find the Apple Loops for Garage Band. Although these (about 1,200) are mainly short music loops there are also some sound effects such as “Sci-Fi” and “UFO”. The music loops are also quite useful, even if you don’t want to compose a tune, as some of them are over 10 seconds long and can be used on their own to enhance an atmosphere.

Out of topic a bit. How do I import a recorded voice over file done in FCE into Garage Band ? I have been fiddling with it without success

Thanks

Thanks

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,825 points

Sep 12, 2009 9:55 AM in response to RyanManUtd

You'll need a camera that can shoot with a very low shutter speed.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,825 points

Sep 12, 2009 10:01 AM in response to RyanManUtd

This should not be in this thread. It should be it's own thread, but what happens when you drag the file into GarageBand?

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Time Lapse - what is the duration of each image ?