Time Lapse

Last week I made a timelapse video of the view out of my office window. I did it by using my Canon S30 and it’s bundled Remote Capture software to take a picture every 20 seconds for about 26 hours. Then, after much searching and experimenting, I bought Quicktime Pro and used it to compress the 5000 JPGs into a Quicktime video. You can see the results here. It’s 28 megs, so be careful there.

I learned a few important things I will use next time.

  • Use manual focus so the camera doesn’t start focusing on rain drops on the window.
  • Turn off the monitors so that they don’t put a huge glare on the windows at night.
  • Lock the door so the cleaning people don’t come in and turn on the light.
  • Find something more interesting to point the camera at.
  • Don’t even bother with free software to make the video. They all suck and crash.
  • 6 thoughts on “Time Lapse”

    1. Yea, I am very happy with it. Nothing else even came close to the ease in which it ate the images. I wish it could output Windows Media Player files, but it’s easy enough to convert to that with something else.

    2. Doesn’t support WiMP, but if you are looking to do more wiith video this app is a steal. It’s very close to the Pro version, the interface & controlls are the same, and it is less than a third the price of FCP.

      http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/

      Final Cut is a great app. If you are looking to do more with video it’s worth a look.

      I think your attention span is shorter than mine 😉

    3. That was badass! Visually, the transitions to night and then back to day were the coolest parts, of course, but I liked the clouds the next morning, cruising over the city like an invading fleet of some kind. Well done, mister.

      Did you cut out the parts where the cleaning staff turned on the lights? I was looking for it after you mentioned it, but saw nothing.

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