Timelapse / Interval recording

[Steve Thomson]

Does anyone know whether red will have an internal time-lapse function or perhaps its compatibility with intervalometers for time-lapse shooting?

[Eirik Tyrihjel]

It will be able to do time lapse, not many details given but the question/request has been up a couple of times before and RED people have responded positively.

Maybe there is more, do a search here and over at DVXuser forum.

[Tom Lowe]

Last we heard, it sounded like they were going to try to include some basic timelapse functions.

[Billy Summers]

Timelapse is a must!

[araujofh]

Timelapse is a must!


Or you can use a DSLR, like Tim Burton did. :D

[Jim Arthurs]

DSLR's have become a great alternative, and if someone was getting a RED only for time-lapse it is a harder case to make.

However, sometimes it's important to be able to shoot an interval or time-lapse element with the same camera/lens/focal length that you're using for a live action shot.

In addition, my best selling cloud time-lapse footage has been at 1 to 2 fps, which is impossible to do with a DSLR using RAW over a large frame range.

[Andrew Benz]

Or you can use a DSLR, like Tim Burton did. :D
Please consider the RED a high speed dslr with cinema camera capabilities at its most basic level.

[Andrew Walker]

Should be interesting to use the Red to do timelapse. Might have to retire the 20D once the Red comes out. But I'm thinking that the shutter on the Red can't be left open.

[Tom Lowe]

How many images have you shot on that 20D? I read that 100k was about the average before the shutters begin to fail.

[Jim Arthurs]

But I'm thinking that the shutter on the Red can't be left open.

Drew, you're probably right about the shutter times being limited... but only the team knows at this point.

I'd certainly like to see the ability to have the shutter integrate as long as desired, even if the sensor gets a bit "ugly"... you can always remove the wacky pixels in post.

[Stuart English]

Discussed over at DVXUSER but yes, the RED ONE camera's control system is capable of supporting MOCO and Timelapse applications.

[Andrew Walker]

Tom, I heard it was less than 100K on the 20D cameras. I'm not sure how many pictures I've taken so far but the camera keeps on going.

Stuart, that's good to hear that it has support for timelapse. But that would be a little weird to see a motion camera that has the same type of shutter controlls as a DSLR. Would be nice...one less thing for me to carry around.

[Tom Lowe]

Tom, I heard it was less than 100K on the 20D cameras. I'm not sure how many pictures I've taken so far but the camera keeps on going.

Stuart, that's good to hear that it has support for timelapse. But that would be a little weird to see a motion camera that has the same type of shutter controlls as a DSLR. Would be nice...one less thing for me to carry around.

It would probably simplify the post process as well. When I shoot DLSR timelapses, it's a lot of work posting the RAWs through photoshop, etc.

[Andrew Walker]

If maybe I had a bigger card I could see doing all the frames in RAW. But that must be a pain. It would be nice because you could have more controll over the images.

[Tom Lowe]

If maybe I had a bigger card I could see doing all the frames in RAW. But that must be a pain. It would be nice because you could have more controll over the images.

Yeah I only shoot RAW now. It's a bit of a pain to set up actions in photoshop and all that, but I like having those RAWS as backup data. I have two 4GB cards, which can do about 450 frames RAW, which as you know is almost a 20 second timelapse. I hope to try out an 8GB card soon. The prices have been dropping. Workflow is a pain, but the results are so damn sweet!

[Jim Arthurs]

Ah, you guys don't know how easy you have it compared to the "workflow" I had to use for decades when shooting 35mm time-lapse. Time-lapse and animation footage always has more grunge than live action... since the film is moving slower through the camera there's more time for particles to hit the negative... and then not even being able to SEE any results until 200 or 400' of footage later... which could be days to weeks or even months down the road. Custom rolling small loads for 200' mags when you couldn't get the stock you need from Kodak in that length, making sure to keep from scratching your neg or getting it dirty in the process...Working with a new camera, finding light leaks that would never impact footage at 24fps...

In post, the clean-up time to dust-bust and nit-pick every single frame of every shot over and over and over before it is pristine... and then find the occasional mis-fired frame with the slightly different exposure....

I actually have a quote in a magazine or something somewhere from years ago where I say "Time-lapse is easy... you just need to be in the right place at the right time with a fully loaded 35mm motion picture camera in your car."

Now, you haul your inexpensive, lightweight DSLR or HVX or whatever out to a hill, shoot, and see the results as and after your shot... learning and correcting as you go. Where's the fun in that? Where's the frickin' PAIN???

Sorry guys, had to get that off my chest, it's been brewing for some time.

I want my RED.

[JohnF]

Jim,

I have to admit that I agree with your perspective, 35mm is a brilliant format but it really does take hard work to make it work right. My admiration just grows and grows when I look at the challenges 35mm users have had to face and solve. Whereas the digital age the actual shooting looks so easy in comparisson.

The new digital generation has alot to learn from the experiences of 35mmm shooters - listen and learn folks!

That said the new technology does pose a new set of problems. The shutters for dslrs are not built for long T-lapse work(they start to shed material before the 100k "MTBF limit" leaving dust to remove from the frame), AF lens can pump if not careful(switch of AF for TL!!!), power supplies become a real issue and of course data mangement alongside long term storage (a problem not yet solved IMO).

I'd like to know more before I make an actual judgement but RED looks like it could make alot of shooting far easier than ever before, opening a whole new world of shooting possibilities.

Though I do need to know more on the spec...!

JohnF

[Tom Lowe]

Ah, you guys don't know how easy you have it compared to the "workflow" I had to use for decades when shooting 35mm time-lapse. Time-lapse and animation footage always has more grunge than live action... since the film is moving slower through the camera there's more time for particles to hit the negative... and then not even being able to SEE any results until 200 or 400' of footage later... which could be days to weeks or even months down the road. Custom rolling small loads for 200' mags when you couldn't get the stock you need from Kodak in that length, making sure to keep from scratching your neg or getting it dirty in the process...Working with a new camera, finding light leaks that would never impact footage at 24fps...

In post, the clean-up time to dust-bust and nit-pick every single frame of every shot over and over and over before it is pristine... and then find the occasional mis-fired frame with the slightly different exposure....

I actually have a quote in a magazine or something somewhere from years ago where I say "Time-lapse is easy... you just need to be in the right place at the right time with a fully loaded 35mm motion picture camera in your car."

Now, you haul your inexpensive, lightweight DSLR or HVX or whatever out to a hill, shoot, and see the results as and after your shot... learning and correcting as you go. Where's the fun in that? Where's the frickin' PAIN???

Sorry guys, had to get that off my chest, it's been brewing for some time.

I want my RED.

Haha... what a pain in the ass! Wow. I thank the heavens for HD and digital technology.

[Eli Jarra]

Tom, I heard it was less than 100K on the 20D cameras. I'm not sure how many pictures I've taken so far but the camera keeps on going.

Stuart, that's good to hear that it has support for timelapse. But that would be a little weird to see a motion camera that has the same type of shutter controlls as a DSLR. Would be nice...one less thing for me to carry around.

I don't know about the 20d, but I'm in the range of about 120,000 on the digital rebel and still goin strong...
I'd also like to know about open shutter possibilities (or impossibilities) with the Red, since a good majority of my stuff involves stars and/or city scapes illuminated at night.

[Stokestack]

Tom, I heard it was less than 100K on the 20D cameras. I'm not sure how many pictures I've taken so far but the camera keeps on going.

Last time I checked, though, the whole shutter assembly for the camera only cost about $50 from Canon.

A friend of mine got several hundred thousand (as in four or five hundred thousand) from a Minolta Dimage A1. In the end, he got the thing refurbished free because of Sony's CCD fiasco.

[Harry Clark]

It would be really great if you had the complete control that you currently have with traditional 35mm cameras using the Norris or the 435 ICS module. That is, you can have any interval up to 1 day, any exposure time (from 1/500th to 10 minutes) and any number of frames in a "burst", as long as all 3 parameters don't collide in time (in which case the Arri ICS will give you an error light)
One of the biggest bummers for me with the HVX is that I can't get to a slow enough shutter. That, and larger sensor/ more res, is the reason DSLRs really shine here.
But it would be great if RED allowed this much flexibility.
Would we need a capping shutter to protect the sensor during a long day out in the sun? I doubt it (no charge on the sensor, no radiation or burn in yes?), but hopefully this is something that the RED team have looked at.
Cheers,
Harry

[Jeff Kilgroe]

...I have the same gripe with the HVX. And time lapse is a big reason I bought my Nikon D2Xs. I have a few gripes there too such as it only has up to ASA 800 and it's way noisy at ASA 600 and up in most situations. At ASA 400 and lower with proper light, the camera is amazing. For timelapse and long exposure it shines. I've only had it a few months now and I've got several shots out of this thing that just blow my mind. I did a lunar eclipse timelapse with a 70~300mm zoom at full tele with a 1 second interval recording direct to my Macbook Pro. Wow.

[Tom Lowe]

Jeez, I don't know if I would use a super-expensive full-frame DLSR for timelapse. That's putting a lot of wear and tear on your nice camera. But I guess if the shots are worth it and you have the money, go for it.

I'm shooting on Rebel 350D crop DLSRs, and hoping that when I upsample the RAWs in Photoshop to 4096 they will match up to my 4K Red footage. We'll see. There is some noise in the shots, so obviously it would be better to shoot on a camera with greater res than 4096 and downsample, but those cameras are too expensive for me right now.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I don't do much timelapse stuff with the Nikon, but it does work beautifully. The D2Xs is expensive, but I bought it as a refurb unit and saved some there. And it paid for itself within the first 6 weeks or so doing a couple timelapse and stop-motion pieces.

[Tom Lowe]

I don't do much timelapse stuff with the Nikon, but it does work beautifully. The D2Xs is expensive, but I bought it as a refurb unit and saved some there. And it paid for itself within the first 6 weeks or so doing a couple timelapse and stop-motion pieces.

So who pays you for this type of work, if you don't mind my asking. I'd love to get paid for shooting timelapses. :)

[Jeff Kilgroe]

So who pays you for this type of work, if you don't mind my asking. I'd love to get paid for shooting timelapses. :)

I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you.... :ninja:

I don't necessarily get paid for timelapse in itself, but incorporate a lot of timelapse, stop motion, and other animation effects into my work. Most clients that approach me aren't necessarily looking for such things, but I often propose them if I feel such an effect could enhance the the project we're discussing. I tend to do a lot of corporate video work, industry-specific stuff, intra-industry marketing and promotional pieces. It also helps that some of my biggest clients are in the gaming, gambling and resort industries. I've been paid on several occasions to do timelapse and long-exposure shoots in and around ski resorts, casinos, etc... I've also done quite a bit of animation work over the last 5 years or so... My biggest clients for 3D CG content and animation work has been the scientific/medical community and US military. I have also been fortunate that this isn't my entire livelihood, but rather a hobby that has taken me places I could only dream of 10 years ago. I, my brother and our father (who is now retired) have perpetuated a construction company started by my great grandfather prior to WWII. Moving dirt and speculating real estate has been my bread and butter, but flim, animation and FX are my passion.

I'm trying to pull away from a lot of this these days and work on my own ideas, projects, etc... Buying RED is one step in this direction... It will be great to have, but is overkill for what I actually do for others. It's a creative tool that will hopefully enable me to create higher quality work than others doing the same -- I'm already one step ahead of many when marketing to many of my clients just by using the HVX200 and renting other gear like the Varicam on occasion. But RED is promising me a way to own a quality cinema camera system for less than an F900 body or Varicam body with a stock lens.

In addition to all this, I'm a science fiction writer with agent representation and I'm getting close to getting publishing approval for one of my works. Still arguing with editors over some details they think are "too technical". I've got a few screenplays ranging from short films to full features that I would like to produce. We'll see what happens there.... I've optioned one screenplay in the past, but nothing came of that other than tying it up for a year for little more $$ than it would take my family out to a nice dinner. But I guess I'm still learning... This movie biz is almost as cutthroat as commercial real estate, but that's OK. I'm a fast learner and I think I've got some quality stuff to work with. Hopefully when RED delivers my new gun, I'll be ready to shoot. :gun:

[SF Geek]

Does anyone yet know how the red will sync with moco, strobe lighting, etc.? What is used nowadays with film cameras?