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How to get a moving timelapse?

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EC-Skier
Posts: 3899 - Karma: 668
How do you get those shots where it is a time lapse, but the camera is either panning or moving on a dolly? the camera is moving really slow but its a timelapse. if you do not understand what im asking ill post an example. Do i need to buy something? thats my guess, just really dont want to
Oct 4 2011 1:49PM
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1337
Posts: 31049 - Karma: 29,195
you can sometimes crop the image (seeing that you're shooting a 4k image and only need it to be in 1080p) to get that result, but most of the time its done by using motion control rigs moving the camera very slowly during its timelapse.
Oct 4 2011 1:53PM
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123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
most people use a motorized dolly, but there is a semi work around. The average DSLR has a 12+ megapixel sensor. Video at 1080p is about 2 megapixels. its a little hard to explain, but you could make it so that the timelapse was a crop on a small section of the photo. This would still give you full resolution (assuming you don't crop to much), and you could move around the area, giving the effect of a pan or zoom or similar movement. Not exactly the most practical, and definitely requires some forethought, but prbly the cheapest way
Oct 4 2011 1:54PM
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SkiJay.
Posts: 1550 - Karma: 653

its done in post. you just use a pan/crop tool

Oct 4 2011 1:56PM
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EC-Skier
Posts: 3899 - Karma: 668
alright, thanks +k to all. Ill try that out, maybe jamie can help me. yea i figured it was mostly a motorized dollie.
Oct 4 2011 2:07PM
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1337
Posts: 31049 - Karma: 29,195
sometimes, but usually not.
Oct 4 2011 2:14PM
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BA.berger
Posts: 300 - Karma: 300
This is how i do it in Final Cut pro..
make you're time-lapse into 2k and zoom in a bit, take the left side of the movie and drag it to the left side of the frame. Put a key frame there and then go to the point you want the time-lapse to end end and then put a key frame there, get the right side of the video to the right end of the frame... (first scene in this edit: http://http://www.vimeo.com/27949877)
Oct 4 2011 2:23PM
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BA.berger
Posts: 300 - Karma: 300
@The logo sorry**** 0:48...
Oct 4 2011 2:27PM
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EC-Skier
Posts: 3899 - Karma: 668
jamie youre gunna help me btw
Oct 4 2011 2:49PM
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Mkvackay
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 5,465
this. professionally almost 100% are done using a motorized track and dolly
Oct 4 2011 3:29PM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
eh as people said, not most of the time.

i do it myself from time to time, but only when i really need to. looks pretty bad to do it in post imo. very easy to tell when they just cropped and panned the image.
Oct 4 2011 3:46PM
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Tanner-D
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 4,116
Just wondering how can you tell if the image was just cropped and panned because imo I cant tell the difference(unless the rig moves in 3 dimensions and not just from side to side)
Oct 4 2011 8:34PM
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Mkvackay
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 5,465
more often then not professional timelapses(as well as amateurs) are shot using a wide angle lens, usually with some barrel distortion to give us the "whole picture" feeling. with a motorized dolly, the distortion "moves", where as in a crop the distortion is at the start and at the end, with no distortion in between because of the crop. this is usually how i can tell. But other times, though, i can't tell which method is being used
Oct 4 2011 9:38PM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
well if the camera was pointed right at the sky or something really far away with absolutely nothing in the foreground, i wouldn't be able to tell.


but if there's anything relatively close to the lens (using close loosely here), you can definitely tell that the camera is moving through space. often more of certain objects can be revealed through the movement.


what mike said is true as well
Oct 4 2011 10:20PM
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Tanner-D
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 4,116
Ok I get what you guys are saying now
Oct 4 2011 11:24PM
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oil.
Posts: 2255 - Karma: 1,254
yo good shit i was asking the same thing
Oct 5 2011 1:50PM
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Trojan~Man
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 1,357
anyone got any tips to do this without cropping or a motorized dolly? like rig it to something that will pull the cam super slow or sumthin?
Oct 6 2011 12:03PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
well you could always do something really cheap and depending on how good of a craftsman you are (probably not the best idea) but if you had a slider track that you could set the camera on and tilt down at a small angle just enough so it takes forever to slide down to the bottom from gravity over the course of the timelapse. but again probably not the best idea
Oct 8 2011 3:32AM
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loganimlach
Posts: 5132 - Karma: 14,061
egg timer
Oct 8 2011 2:45PM
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the.cheat
Posts: 2859 - Karma: 171
the best cheap option
Oct 8 2011 3:45PM
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CrotchKiller
Posts: 9037 - Karma: 6,941
the precision of the angle would be damn near impossible and improbable
Oct 9 2011 3:29AM
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rlee
Posts: 593 - Karma: 1,144
Haha, I tried this out a while back. Worked pretty well. Granted its using a GoPro so the quality is far in-superior to a DSLR, but was fun none the less.

Check it out.


Oct 9 2011 5:50AM
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rlee
Posts: 593 - Karma: 1,144
Whoops, replied to early.


Oct 9 2011 5:51AM
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Trojan~Man
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 1,357
thank you exactly the sorta thing i was looking for.... also that turned out pretty good!^
Oct 9 2011 9:00PM
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loganimlach
Posts: 5132 - Karma: 14,061



i just remembered i tried one last summer
Oct 10 2011 8:26AM
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