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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Our friend Tom...interviewed !

we have a 5dmkII at the house and have been testing timelapse for a couple of weeks now. I'm sure that Tom could give a more enlightening explanation based on his process however I will share with you what we do.

Basically the RAW images have to be converted to something that a non-linear editing software can read. In this instance we are using FCP 6.0

We start by taking the RAW images into either adobe lightroom or photoshop via camera RAW from cannon.

From there we do a batch export as a 16 bit .tiff file (no correction is done here, we want the most RAW image for use in color)

Once the batch export has run its course (quite a while) we then import images into FCP while basing the timeline at one frame duration for each still.

From there we Render(again awhile)

after that we export a pro res 422 file into color and correct to taste. The final output is 1920x1080 Pro res 422 @ 24 FPS

Now, one can go ahead and do corrections in photoshop or lightroom, but remember unless you can automate or batch process all images in the timelapse, your going to be busy for quite some time.

Thats basically it...next step is testing to see how we can start building HDR timelapse using batch HDR compositing from photomatix...anyone have any suggestions?
 
Tom has elevated the art of timelapse photography to another level. I'm certain that more articles and interviews will follow.

-michael zaletel
(shooter)
 
Anyone who has seen his stuff knows this was inevitable. :thumbsup:
Great article btw!
 
It would be nice...

It would be nice...

It sounds like it would be nice if Apple added a Raw file import function to FCP. Shouldn't be too hard since they are already doing it in Aperture.

(Hint, Hint, Hint, if anyone from Apple is reading.)
 
Way to go Tom. As Craig said, very inspirational.

Beautiful work and I especially I love the shot that begins at 3:22...you didn't use the 5D to get that...did you?

Omar
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Great interview!

One question I had -- assuming that Tom isn't using the video mode of the Canon but is taking a series of 12MP (I believe) RAW stills, what is the path he takes to create a timelapse movie from that?
Click to expand...

If you take JPGs with a DSLR, Quicktime Pro can open a folder of numbered JPGs as an image sequence and play. At that point it's not terribly difficult to output from Quicktime Pro in any FCP friendly codec/frame size as a bona-fide QT file, ready for editing or color work.

I've done this on a number music videos
 
David Mullen ASC said:
Great interview!

One question I had -- assuming that Tom isn't using the video mode of the Canon but is taking a series of 12MP (I believe) RAW stills, what is the path he takes to create a timelapse movie from that?
Click to expand...

Can't speak for Tom, but I sometimes shoot a bit of time lapse on my D300. I use a quick and simple method.

Shoot medium resolution jpeg (you can't import full rez into FCP).

Import image sequence into QuickTime.

Save as self-contained movie.

Import into FCP and scale, color-correct or whatever.

Here's two examples of this method, not as inspiring as Tom's but we were in the middle of doco shoot:)

http://www.vimeo.com/2662842
http://www.vimeo.com/3307439
 
eric.ulbrich.photo said:
we have a 5dmkII at the house and have been testing timelapse for a couple of weeks now. I'm sure that Tom could give a more enlightening explanation based on his process however I will share with you what we do.

Basically the RAW images have to be converted to something that a non-linear editing software can read. In this instance we are using FCP 6.0

We start by taking the RAW images into either adobe lightroom or photoshop via camera RAW from cannon.

From there we do a batch export as a 16 bit .tiff file (no correction is done here, we want the most RAW image for use in color)

Once the batch export has run its course (quite a while) we then import images into FCP while basing the timeline at one frame duration for each still.

From there we Render(again awhile)

after that we export a pro res 422 file into color and correct to taste. The final output is 1920x1080 Pro res 422 @ 24 FPS

Now, one can go ahead and do corrections in photoshop or lightroom, but remember unless you can automate or batch process all images in the timelapse, your going to be busy for quite some time.

Thats basically it...next step is testing to see how we can start building HDR timelapse using batch HDR compositing from photomatix...anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Great work, but there is something that doesn't quite make sense to me. You take 16 bit TIFF sequence and encode it into Prores and then color grade it? Why don't you just grade the TIFF sequence? Any high end grading software will grade 16 bit TIFFs just fine. Incidentally, TIFFs is the one of the two formats, JPEG 2000 being the other one, that is accepted for the DCI packaging, so it's a pretty standard format in the DI process. Prores is a highly compressed codec and you should always strive to grade using uncompressed files, such as TIFF, DPX, Cineon, uncompressed 10 bit QT etc.
 
Tom, great work, amazing time-lapse parts and very nice interview!

Also I read that you were mixing image sequences and video that shot on Canon 5DMkII...

I'm still learning and maybe would like to get the good as you one day.

Actually I did only one time-lapse experiment last summer in Ibiza using Canon 40D (not perfect camera for TL with only 800 ASA) with Sigma 15-35mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG ASPH (not fast enough lens for TL).

My first timelapse ever>>>

Also I have plan to make some TLs with RED1 this summer...
 
Omar Saad said:
I especially I love the shot that begins at 3:22...you didn't use the 5D to get that...did you?
Click to expand...

Yes, those driving shots were done in stills mode on the 5D2. ISO 6400, 24mm @ f/1.4 with 1/3s exposures. The camera was mounted on my SUV with a simple suction mount. I really have to thank the author of this thread, Larry Gebhardt, who was actually out at Joshua Tree with me when I did those shots, on Key's View Road! Larry had been listening to me babbling on about how to do those shots for like a year, and giving me advice about them. When it came time to shoot, Larry helped me to pull off those shots. He's a great friend, and I would probably never have met him if it were not for Reduser.

As for David's question, I shoot RAW 21MP stills, then import them as an "RAW Image Sequence" into After Effects at 24p. Then I render them out as 1080p or 4K clips in the Photo JPEG codec at 95% quality. Those renders can be used in any NLE, and the quality is off the charts. I wrote a very bare-bones tutorial here.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. :beer:
 
hey man.. you're a rock star & we didn't know it !!

just kidding just kidding.. ehehehehe
our best part is w/ you anyway
 
Thanks for saying that Tom...I really appreciate it. It was great fun hanging out under the stars shooting stuff with you. I also learned a lot from you, and I guess that is why this forum is so cool...we all learn and get inspiration from each other.

Larry
 
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