I’ve put together a tutorial on how to shoot a timelapse using a DSLR and intevelometer. The tutorial covers everything from settings you should use to making the time-lapse video in quicktime.
Let me know if the tutorial was useful. I’ll try and do some more tutorials if this one is recieved well. Also, if you’ve made a time-lapse, post a link to it in the comments.
You’re currently reading “Time-Lapse Tutorial,” an entry on digitalartwork
Some test footage from my new 5D MKII taken near Columbus Circle and also 34th Street.
This panorama is one of 14 panoramas of the Neon Boneyard. This was one of the first panoramas I shot in HDR.
![Photo: [LENS] (aka Lens) Launches](http://digitalartwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/lens_thumb.jpg)
The New York Times introduces Lens, a photojournalism blog that intends to present some of the most interesting visual and multimedia reporting.
Thirst in the Mojave tries to bring a little more web mentality to video but still utilize the linear narrative strengths that make video such a great storytelling tool.
thanks so much, it is so easy to make this in quicktime! I’m so excited I don’t know what to try to capture next!
This was great…very helpful exactly what I needed to know!
In the process of starting a new biz since newspapers are not part of my life anymore…..I wanted to learn this technique since a few biz and events in the northwest would fit this genre. I’m not very computer literate, but these kinds of tutorials make it easy…..I also do soundslides for non profits and other biz’s. My website will change in the next few months from photoj to my newest endeavors…… Also is it easy to upload the time lapse to a client website???????????????????????????
thanks
Brian PLonka
Brian, yes it’s easy to upload to a client’s site. The final output of a timelapse is video, so you can give the client the video file or you can upload it to your video sharing site of preference such as http://vimeo.com . Hope this answers your question.
thanks for the time and your expertise…
bplonka
Great tutorial Zach….dragging the shutter makes all the difference…I like your examples in the tutorial and your night shots are very cool. Thanks….
Thank you very much! Your tutorial is very useful. I was making time lapse videos without this knowing this little thing about the shutter, now my pictures look much better.
Thank you very much for this great Tutorial. Looking forward to creatint my First Time Lapse.
Greets, Janik
OK. How do you drag shutter on a canon 7d?? I’m not sure which setting means that I’ve dragged the shutter. If I set the shutter speed where the numbers read 1″0. I’m not sure what the hell that means. Also I’m not sure how to leave the exposure open for a while so I can get light streaks. Please help.
Great tutorial! My only question is what do you do when you want to take more than the 99 frames the TC-80N3 allows? Does that require a computer or is there any device that will let you record triple or quadruple digit numbers of frames?
It can do more than 99 frames unless you specify the number of frames. If you specify the number of frames, it cuts off at 99.
Nice tutorial, one question those for manual white balance how do you set it. Taking photo of a gray card and manually set it or set by Kevin??
Please give me a hint on this. Thanks.
Great tutorial! However, I have one problem with QuickTime Pro. I shot a timelapse this afternoon and wanted to open them as an image sequence, but QT does not show me any .jpg files.
Here’s a screenshot of it. Any advice?
Shots were taken with a Nikon D90
Thanks,
Mark
Hi. Great video. Thanks.
One thing, wouldn’t manual mode not always work? If the light is changing, you’d need a longer shutter speed as it got darker, and shorter as it got lighter. In that case wouldn’t you use Aperture Priority? I understand if your shooting wasn’t gonna have a lot of changing light, Manual would give you more consistent shutter speeds in your photos though.
Thanks!
You could use aperture priority but depending on the light you might notice a flicker when you play it back because the camera could shift the exposure up and down not in a smooth gradation because of shadows etc in the frames. It’s usually safer to ramp your exposure manually in between exposures gradually yourself as the light changes. It takes practice to make it look smooth.
Thanks for the great video. I have a question for you. I plan to do a time lapse video of my pool being taken out and rebuilt. It should take about six weeks. I figure that if I shoot at 2 minute intervals for 8 hours a day, five days a week for six weeks, I’ll have enough images for a 4 minute video at 30 fps. But with a whole 2 minutes between shots, will dragging my shutter make much of a difference? Also, the lighting will change dramatically from 8 am to 5 pm each day, so I don’t even know what camera settings I should use. Any thoughts?
Yes, dragging the shutter is still a good idea. The motion that occurs will still look more natural if you use the cinematic 180 degree rule. That means your exposure should ideally be half the time of the length between frames. In your case that would be an exposure of 1 minute. You’d probably need a fairly serious neutral density filter to pull that off. As for exposure over the course of the day, I would suggest basing your exposure highlights for high noon so that the exposure isn’t overexposed at any point.
Thanks Zach. Demolition started today before I was ready. So much happened in the first few minutes that I doubt my time lapse for today will work very well. I will go buy an ND filter and shorten my interval time to one minute. Also, I’m shooting through a window and I’ve noticed some reflections in the first images. Should I add a polarizer to the ND filter?
I don’t have quicktime pro! How do I create the movie without this?
Thanks for a great tutorial!
I’ve been searching high and low for a great time lapse tutorial. This is the best one I’ve found. Thank you!
do u have a written version of this tutorial? my english is no very good and i can’t follow u sometimes
thank u
Zach,
thanks for sharing this with us – great tutorial! I am based in the UAE and was asked to provide time-lapse on a giant construction site (what else?!). Wondering if there are options to automate things despite the critical light issues (sun! daylight!). Still trying to understand in which intervalls I need to monitor/ check/ change settings at the camera?! Hourly? Daily?
And: there are many things going on, nearly in a 360 degree range. Any suggestions on how to expand the coverage? Using fisheye? Producing several time-lapse movies with different cameras? Or can time-lapse be combined with movement of camera? Thanks.
Thank you for this! I have been playing with timelapse for a while, but your tutorial simplifies the concepts and I feel more confident about the technique now. Well done!
Thanks! this worked great!!
now, i gotta learn how to “drag the shutter” with my T2i……
hey hi there zach great video but i’m still stuck in drag your shutter…can anyone please help me manually from beginning .How do i do it? i have canon t2i and i’m just into making time lapse…tried doing few things but it just jumps as you said and it doesn’t look like a movie…what setting should i put on to capture a melting ice and so that it plays smoothly like your does…i took 200 pics every 5 secs and run at 15f/s not quiet satisfied .
can you please set my shutter ,aperture what is the digit i should put in to get that smooth effect.
Zach:
Nice tutorial. I have a shoot coming up where we will have a camera inside a house viewing a magnificent mountain through a window. My assignment is to show the entire process from dawn to dusk. In your opinion, is it appropriate to find a “mid-day exposure”, set that and “let it ride” for the rest of the day? There is also a request to have a piece of furniture in the foreground. I was planning on lighting that a little so that it isn’t entirely silhouetted through most of the timelapse (as the exposure outdoors changes, so will the exposure on the piece of furniture.) My thought was to find a nice value for the piece of furniture for the darker end of the time line (dawn and dusk) and let it go. What would you advise? Thanks.
I would set the exposure for the brightest part of the day and add a light to the furniture and leave the light on the whole time. That way it should seem seamless.
hi , first of all thnaks, awesome work ยก
im searching for the correct DSLR and i
want to know if i can do TIMELAPSE RECORDING
with a canon T2i or D90NIKON. I really want some pro camera
to take pictures, but some good one to take good
HD videos. That canon interval controller does work with any of these
if they dont bring of fabric the interval mode?
Which one is the correct
NIKON D90
CANON XTi
thans you all
P
The canon intevelometer should work with the Canon XTi
hey, great stuff. is there any other software than quicktime pro that i can use?
Thanks, this is a really helpful video, the white balance tip was especially useful. It doesn’t hurt that your voice is really calming at 2:00 AM either.
Thanks for a great tutorial!
I am planning to shoot a time lapse of a small house being constructed in a warehouse. The house will be built in three days. The crew will work for 8 hours a day.
How often do you think I should take a picture? Every 30 seconds, every minute?
If I take a photo every :30 seconds, that would be 960 exposures in a day (8 hr day). I would have to play it back at 60 frames a second just to keep the running time down.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Simon
great how-to vid!
