Time-lapse Photography eBook: Excerpt from Chapter 4: How to Prevent Time-lapse Flicker

7/29/2019 Time-lapse Photography eBook: Excerpt from Chapter 4: How to Prevent Time-lapse Flicker

1/14| Time-lapse Photography: An Introduction

Time-lapseP h o t o g r a p h yA complete introduction to shooting, processing and

endering time-lapse movies with a DSLR camera

Ryan Chylinski


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ContentsForward ...........................................................................................................................................................................

ntroduction: Why ime-lapse? ................................................................................................................................

Te Wager and the Beginning o ime-lapse Photography .....................................................................................1

Te First ime-lapse .................................................................................................................................................... 1

What is ime-lapse Photography? ............................................................................................................................... 1

Show Me an Example .................................................................................................................................................. 1

ime-lapse Gear rom Basic to Advanced ...................................................................................... 1What is the Minimum Amount o Camera Gear Required to Begin ime-lapse? ......................................................... 1

A Quick Overview o the Advanced Gear Market ........................................................................................................ 2

ripods.................................................................................................................................................................2

How to Choose a Good ime-lapse ripod .............................................................................................................. 2

How to Make Any ripod More Stable ..................................................................................................................... 2

Renting and Starting Point Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 2

Intervalometers ....................................................................................................................................................2Prebuilt: Does Your Camera Already Have One? ...................................................................................................... 2

Te External Intervalometer World in Five Segments ........................................................................................2

How to Get an Intervalometer Cheap Trough Tird Party Manuacturers ........................................................... 2

Name Brand Intervalometers, Love them, But the Price...Ouch ............................................................................ 2

Finding Amazing Features in Advanced Intervalometers ........................................................................................ 2

Where to Learn More About Homemade and DIY imer Devices ........................................................................ 2

What Options Exist or ethered Computer and Smartphone ime-lapse Control ............................................... 2

DSLR Cameras ....................................................................................................................................................2

Is Tere Such a Ting as a Good ime-lapse Camera? .............................................................................................. 2Evaluating Your Options: Features, Research, and Renting ....................................................................................... 2

ND Filters ............................................................................................................................................................3

ND Filter Selection: Demystied ............................................................................................................................. 3

Lenses ..................................................................................................................................................................3

Helpul ime-lapse Gear Extras ...........................................................................................................................3

Balancing ime-lapse Image Settings: Size, Quality, Space and Speed ................................3Is Tere Still a RAW vs JPEG Debate? With ime-lapse Tere Might Be .................................................................... 3

Why Shoot ime-lapse in RAW? ................................................................................................................................. 3Megapixels and the Advantages o High Resolution Images ......................................................................................... 3

Dont Let Your Movies Get Squished! Aspect Ratio and HD Resolution ...................................................................... 4

Fitting All Tese Images on Your Memory Card .......................................................................................................... 4

Shooting ime-lapse ...........................................................................................................4Te Basic ime-lapse Process: An Overview ............................................................................................................... 4

What Makes a Good ime-lapse Good? ...................................................................................................................... 4

1. Selecting a Good Composition: Te Art o Walking Around ............................................................................4

What is Te Magic Hour? ........................................................................................................................................ 4


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Anticipating Change: ime to Polish the Crystal Ball ............................................................................................... 4

2. How to Select and Program a ime-lapse Sequence..........................................................................................4

Common Baseline ime-lapse Intervals .................................................................................................................... 4

How Long Should Your ime-lapse Be ..................................................................................................................... 5

How Many Shots Will It ake to Make and How Long to Shoot ............................................................................. 5

All About Programming Your Intervalometer ........................................................................................................... 5

3. Understanding ime-lapse Exposure Settings .................................................................................................. 5

ime-lapse Flicker: A Quick Introduction ................................................................................................................ 5

Why Shooting in Manual Mode is Best For Most Shots ........................................................................................... 5

Te ime-Lapse Exposure riangle ....................................................................................................................5

1. Manual ISO ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Manual Aperture ............................................................................................................................................... 5

3. Manual Shutter ................................................................................................................................................. 5

How to Drag Your Shutter and Why Motion Blur is a Good Ting ...................................................................... 5

Avoiding Dropped Frames ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Manual Lens Focus .................................................................................................................................................. 5

White Balance and How to Prevent Color Shiting................................................................................................... 5

Final ime-lapse Preight Check .........................................................................................................................5

ake a est Shot........................................................................................................................................................ 5

Record a Mini est-lapse, rust Me Its Worth It ...................................................................................................... 6

Exposure Settings Overview Checklist .................................................................................................................6

Preventing ime-lapse Flicker .............................................................................................6wo Main Sources o Flicker and Our Tree Front Attack ........................................................................................... 6

1. Exposure Settings .............................................................................................................................................6

Manual Mode vs Priority Mode: What to Do When Te Light Changes .................................................................. 6

Congure Evaluative Camera Metering .................................................................................................................... 6

2. Mechanical Inconsistencies ..............................................................................................................................6

How to Minimize Shutter Flicker ............................................................................................................................. 6

How to Minimize Aperture Flicker ........................................................................................................................... 6

Manual Lenses and the Lens wist rick ................................................................................................................ 7

Flicker Prevention Overview ................................................................................................................................7

Create the ime-lapse Movie ...............................................................................................7An Overview o Te ime-lapse Rendering Process ..............................................................................................7

ips or Importing Your Images ................................................................................................................................ 7

ips or Batch Editing .............................................................................................................................................. 7

Standard Batch Editing vs ransitional Editing ......................................................................................................... 8

Deickering Your ime-lapse: What Are Your Options? ........................................................................................... 8

Its all About Te Movie .......................................................................................................................................8

Containers vs Codecs ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Frame Rates, Bit Rates, Resolution, Aspect Ratio ..................................................................................................... 8

Sotware Workows ................................................................................................................................................8

A Quick Overview o All Tree: Which is Best or You? .............................................................................................. 8


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LRimelapse and Adobe Lightroom Workow .................................................................................................8

Previewing and Cropping ...................................................................................................................................... 8

ransitional Editing With Keyrames ..................................................................................................................... 9

Adding Ken Burns Efects (Movement) ................................................................................................................. 9

Deickering .......................................................................................................................................................... 9

VirtualDub Sotware Workow [FREE/Donationware] (Windows Only) ......................................................... 9

Installing ............................................................................................................................................................... 9

Importing JPEGs and Resizing .............................................................................................................................. 9

Selecting a Frame Rate and Conguring Compression Settings ............................................................................. 9

Deickering Using MSUDeicker ........................................................................................................................ 9

ime Lapse Assembler Sotware Workow [FREE/Donationware] (Mac Only) .............................................. 10

Adobe Ater Efects Sotware Workow ...........................................................................................................10

Importing Your Images as A Sequence ................................................................................................................. 10

Conguring and Creating Your Composition ...................................................................................................... 10

Adding Ken Burns Efects (Movement) ............................................................................................................... 10

Deickering Using the GBDeicker Plugin ......................................................................................................... 10

Choosing Render Settings and Creating Your Movie ........................................................................................... 10

Using NLEs to Really Add Creativity to Your Movies: Combine Scenes, Add Music, Etc ...................................10

Where to Find Free Music or Your Videos ................................................................................................................ 10

Sharing or Maybe Even Selling Your ime-lapse Work .............................................................................................. 10

ime-lapse Challenges: est Your Understanding ..............................................................11Astrophotography ime-lapse: An Introduction ...................................................................................................11

Resources or Finding Dark Sky and Coordinating With the Heavens ....................................................................... 11

ips or Long Exposures ............................................................................................................................................ 11

What is Te Rule o 600 and How You Can Use it o Prevent Streaking Stars ....................................................... 11

Example Long Exposure Astrolapse Workow ........................................................................................................ 11

Toughts on Post Processing Your Night Shots ....................................................................................................... 11

Te ime-lapse Holy Grail (Flicker Free Day to Night Shots): An Introduction ...................................................11

Its all About Bramping, Both Physical and Simulated ............................................................................................... 12

Solution 1: Using GBimelapse ............................................................................................................................. 12

Solution 2: Using Advanced Intervalometers .......................................................................................................... 12

Solution 3: Using LRimelapse and Lightroom (correction vs prevention) ............................................................. 12

HDR (High Dynamic Range) ime-lapses: An Introduction ................................................................................12

Multiple Exposure vs Single Exposure (pseudo) HDR ............................................................................................... 12

How to Shoot Multiple Exposure HDR ime-lapse .................................................................................................. 12

Single and Multiple Image Batch HDR Processing with Photomatix ......................................................................... 13

ime-lapse Motion Control Devices: An Introduction .........................................................................................13

Dolly Movement and Linear Motion ......................................................................................................................... 13

Pan/ilt Movement ................................................................................................................................................... 13

Examples on the Frontier o ime-lapse Movement ................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion: Where to Go From Here .......................................................................................................................... 13

Learn More: ime-lapse Resources and Links ...................................................................13Printable Reerence Summaries.........................................................................................14


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Let me tell you something my

friend. Hope is a dangerous

thing. Hope can drive a man

insane.- Stephen king(The Shawshank redemption)


6/143 | ime-lapse Photography: An IntroductionDont hope, Prevent flicker.


7/14

Preventing

Flickeralk about bug-eyed rustration. Youve driven across

state. Youve hiked the distance. Youve shot in ull manmode, kept a wide aperture, and even remembered a s

shutter speed to create some nice motion blur. You

home, render, and hit play. Tere it is:

Darker rames, lighter rames, darker rames againFlicker!

ime-lapse icker is a horn-nosed multiple armnasty thing. Te good news is that ully understaing its sources and how to prevent, minimize,

correct it is neithernasty nor horn nosed. Well, majust multiple armed. Tis quick chapter provideserything you need.

But... I you already have a memory card ulimages and you just cant read another word uyou render and see what you got, I wont blame one bit. Tis book is designed to move in and ouchapters as you need.

Beore you head back out to capture the next scthough make sure you have a rm grasp o icker

all its sources. Tats where well begin.

4


8/145 | ime-lapse Photography: An Introduction

Preventing Time-lapse FlickerWe know that large unintended exposure jumps are the enemy, but a perectly constantxposure across all images or perectly gradual exposure adjustments arent exactly as easy to

achieve as they might seem.

Preventing icker usually requires an attack on three ronts:

Te right in-camera settings to eliminate automatic rame to rame luminance changes Understanding the cameras mechanical exposure inconsistencies I all else ails deickering in post-production

Sources of DSLR Flicker

Exposure

Settings

Changing

light

Shoot in

priority mode

and deflicker

in post

Constant

light

Shoot in full

manual mode

Mechanical

Inconsistencites

Aperture

Flicker

Shutter

Flicker

Shoot at slower

shutter speeds

(



Exposure SettingsHow we allow the camera to take each time-lapse exposure greatlyinuences the amount o icker we encounter when we combine ourimages into a rapidly playing sequence.

Manual Mode

We learned in Chapter 3 that the best and simplest way to minimize icker is to switch of your camera

ability to make exposure adjustments or each image we snap.

Manual mode works well or most scenes, but what i we want to continue to properly expose some act

ven when the light changes over time?

Priority Modes

Say you are shooting a time-lapse sequence o a sunrise. Locking in a set manual exposure at the beginnwould quickly over expose your images as the scene changes. What was once a properly exposed pre- suise low light photo quickly becomes overexposed and ades to white as the sun peaks up over the ridge.

By shooting in camera priority mode, specically in aperture priority mode (Av mode on your camera dihe camera will adjust the shutter speed automatically throughout the sequence and maintain a good sh

All those adjustments are nice but well have to ofer a little time-lapse icker as payment, heres why:

Why flicker occurs in priority modes

Simply put DSLRs have steep steps betweenxposure values which can cause noticeable dark oright jumps rom one time-lapse rame to the next.

Exposure Value or EV is a number used to represent all the diferent shutter speeds and -stop combiions that combine to produce the same exposure. EV is also used as an interval value on the photograpxposure scale, with 1 EV corresponding to 1 stop (the doubling or halving o light).

Constant

light

Shoot in full

manual mode

Select Full Manual Mode

Prevent the camera rom changing exposurevariables during the time-lapse sequence

Exposure

Settings

time-lapseFlick

Preventi

Some flicker will occur

Our trade o or automatic adjustments tcapture changing light is some icker in ou

fnal compilation

Changing

light

Shoot in prioritymode and

deflicker in post

With changing light Select Priority Mode

Adjusts exposure variables over time tomaintain a constant exposure



Tink o a step ladder, i your goal was to get to the top as smoothly as possible, manymall steps would allow a less noticeable ascent than say one or two big steps.

ts the same way with your cameras exposure values. When we only have steep choices we getabrupt dark and light exposure jumps. o make things even worse imagine you were on the edge

o a decision wether to continue up theladder or head back down.

Down one step, up two steps, down another syour direction might change a ew times beyou commit to one direction; big steps cocreate a pretty severe wobble (and headache)

Te smaller the EV steps the smoother the transition between exposures, the bigger the steps the mabrupt the changes.

Without special modication to the cameras rmware or advanced external input devices, DSLRs are ocurrently capable o 1/3 or 1/8 EV steps. Future DSLRs are likely to allow smaller EV steps rom both rmware and lens stepper motor right out-o-the-box, but todays DSLRs require a ew special considations to minimize these steep jumps:

Metering

How we congure the camera to evaluate the light in a rame is a good place to start. By selecting evaluametering the whole rame is averaged instead o just one particular spot (like in partial or spot metering) xposure jumps are less likely to occur.

Selecting Evaluative Metering (Canon), or Evaluative/MaMetering (Nikon) orces the camera to utilize the entire scwithin the cameras viewnder to select an appropriate expovalue.

Stray light entering through your cameras eyepiece sometimes afect the cameras automatic metering and incrthe likelihood o exposure value jumps and wobbles.

Stick to aperture priority modeAlthough both aperture and shutter priority (v on your camera dial) can be used, having the shutter spchange and not the -stop does have a ew advantages. Not only will our depth o eld remain consthroughout the shot but in some cases cameras can utilize smaller EV steps.

Cover your eyepiece

Use your eyepiece cover or black tape to blockstray light rom entering the viewfnder

time-lapseFlic

Select Evaluative MeteringAverages the whole rame todetermine exposure settings

Preven



Mechanical InconsistenciesTe second most common, but usually less severe cause oicker doesnt have anything to do with your cameras exposuredecisions at all but rather lies in the mechanical components in thecamera itsel.

Errors, inconsistencies, deviations, call it what youd like but even though automatic DSLR camera

apertures and shutter curtains are highly engineered devices, they cannot produce the exact (and I mperectly exact) mechanical ormations each and every time a photograph is taken, even i the settibetween shots are not changed one bit.

Minimizing Shutter Flicker

DSLR cameras have mechanical curtain shutters that control the amount o time the cameras image sens exposed to light. Tink o two opaque curtains, somewhat accordion like, that can expand and collan ront o the sensor.

During slow shutter speeds the rst curtain is released rom an expandedposition and olds downward revealing the image sensor. Ater theequired exposure time the second curtain, which was in a olded state,s now released and expands to block the sensor. Te curtains then reset

or the next shot and the process can be repeated.

As you can imagine or very ast shutter speeds much more precisions required.

At aster shutter speeds both curtains need to be active at the same time. In order to get very quick exposuhe second curtain is triggered beore the rst is ully opened. Te result is a horizontal slit or gap that tra

vertically across the image sensor. Te aster the shutter spthe narrower the slit and the shorter the exposure.

Very small curtain timing inconsistencies rom one ramethe next produce slightly brighter or slighter darker ram

when we watch them together in quick succession.

Te good news is that shutter icker is usually much less pronounced and evenasier to ully eliminate. By simply keeping our exposures below 1/60th o aecond we should be able to efectively prevent this orm o icker.

Mechanical

Inconsistencites

Shutter

Flicker

Shoot at slower

shutter speeds

(



Minimizing Aperture Flicker

Te same rame-to-rame inconsistencies that sometimes afect a highspeed camera shutter also afect the lens aperture and its the last orm oicker we need to worry about.

Te cameras aperture unctions much like the iris o your eye - it controls the diameter o the lens opening

and subsequently how much light passes through to the image sensor. Now normally when shooting in manual mode you would think that the aperture setting or -stop wouldemain perectly constant between shots. A shutter curtain moves but aens opening is stationary right? Not exactly and thats the problem.

nstead o remaining stationary each time a photo is taken the lensdiaphragm opens ully (See photo 1 at right) beore dialing down tohe selected aperture (photo 2) just beore the shutter res. Each timet moves rom wide open to the desired -stop small inconsistencies can

occur and show up in our photos.

By selecting a larger lens opening we reduce the amount o movementand thus the chances o experiencing deviations.

Wide aperture shooting isnt always going to be possible however, espe-cially i we are shooting in daylight and want to drag our shutter. Goodhing there are a ew easy ways around this and thats what we are goingo be exploring next.

Using manual lenses

Te easiest way to ully solve the problem is to use alens with a manual aperture ring. No automatic movement, no icker.

Tese lenses were simply designed to use manual external -stop controls and lack electronic controls and the orced automatic dialing down. Easily solved but not so ea

ound, or t or that matter as most will require some sort o lens adapter.

Now dont eel like you have to run out and buy anything special just yet, theres a quick way to trick ycamera into think its automatic lens is manual. Well explore how on the next page.

Aperture

Flicker

time-lapseFlic

Use manual

lenses

Consider a manual lensI youve got one, manual lenses avoid the orceddiaphragm movement that can causes aperture icker.

Prevent



Use the lens twist trick

Te lens twist trick basically disconnects your lens elec-tronically while keeping it in place, ooling your camera intothinking its a manual lens. I we set the aperture beore we dis-connect electronic controls then it will remain perectly constantthroughout our sequence o time-lapse shots.

Heres how to do it:1. Set your desired aperture setting in manual mode2. Press and hold the Depth o Field preview button to set the

diaphragm (usually a small black button below your lens)3. Press the lens unlock button and slightly rotate the lens clockwise

Te lens is now still connected rmly (well, sort o rmly) to the camera body and it is set and locked atdesired aperture.

Tis should work or most cameras but i your screen displays an error message and you cant snap photos you may need to take extra steps to isolate the lens. ry removing the lens and applying a tiny po tape to the electrical contacts on the camera body, then reattach.

Hopeully some combination o the two will work.

Dont orget to ully reattach the lens beore disconnecting rom your tripod or packing it away.

Trick your camera

into thinking you

have a manual lens

time-lapseFlic

Use the lens twist trick

Trick your camera into thinkingan automatic lens is manual

Prevent


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Flicker prevention overviewHeres a nal review o the important considerations or time-lapse icker prevention:

What is flicker?

Essentially instead o the cameras exposure settings and mechanical congurations remainingperectly constant or purposeully changing in very slight and gradual ways, large unintended exposureumps occur in some sequence rames which create images that look out o place when compiled together

licker is caused by:

1. Exposure settings2. Mechanical inconsistencies

xposure Settings to minimize flicker:

For scenes with constant light shoot in ull manual mode.Photographing in ull manual mode prevents the camera rom making independent exposure decision beach image is captured.

Congure the ollowing manual exposure settings: ISO: By deselecting automatic ISO determination and locking in a set number, we prevent the cam

rom creating brighter or darker images due to changes in sensor sensitivity. Aperture: By setting a specic aperture we minimize time-lapse icker by preventing the camera r

jumping rom one -stop to another. Shutter Speed: By setting a specic shutter speed we prevent the camera rom creating brighter

darker images due to exposure length. White Balance: Selecting manual white balance prevents the camera rom analyzing and adjusting e

photo independently and avoids tint shits in the nal time-lapse compilation.

For scenes with drastic changes in lighting we can take advantage o priority modes:Automatic exposure control will allow more exibility but we will experience much more icker. We usually correct this using de-ickering sotware in post production. Dont orget to cover your eyepiece.

Minimize the chances for Mechanical inconsistencies:

nconsistencies in mechanical ormations can occur between shots resulting in a slightly diferent exposuven though camera settings remain identical. Tere are two orms o mechanical icker:

Aperture fickerMinimize the chances or small rame-to-rame lens diaphragm inconsistencies by preventing movemen Use a manual lens Use the lens twist trick to ool your camera into thinking an automatic lens is manual

Shutter fickerMinimize the chance or small shutter curtain rame-to-rame inconsistencies by shooting at speeds slohan about 1/60th o a second.

time-lapseFlic

Preventi

Time-lapse Photography eBook: Excerpt from Chapter 4: How to Prevent Time-lapse Flicker

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Transcript of Time-lapse Photography eBook: Excerpt from Chapter 4: How to Prevent Time-lapse Flicker