Time Lapse Help (Canon t3i)

M

mike_

Hello. I didn't know where to put this so I put this on the newbie forum. Please don't get mad if I placed it incorrectly.

Anyway I want to do a movie just about a week at the beach. I wanted to start it off with a time lapse of the sun rising on the ocean. I googled stuff and looked at techniques but I know this forum is the best when it comes to this stuff so I came here.

So I bought this remote : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Q9RERY
The reviews say it works with the t3i. But my problem is. What should I use as settings and how do I set up the Intervalometer. If you can point me to a website or article or you just gimme the information it would be great!

Thanks in advance!
 
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I do a lot of timelapses myself and when u first start, there are ballpark numbers for intervals depending on what you're shooting (sunrise, clouds, stars) and they depend on whether you're using a wide, standard or telephoto lens. Generally, ppl just use wide lenses for timelapses but standard and telephoto have their place in timelapses as well.

Once you gain a bit of experience, you can look at the clouds, see how fast theyre moving and set an interval depending on the kind of motion you want. You'll be able to estimate that by urself, just from sight and experience, after a while.

As for the settings in ur camera, you first take a few test shots until you have ur image exposed well (check the histogram for that). Then dial those settings in manual mode and start the timelapse through ur intervalometer. Remember to leave some leeway in ur exposure if you are shooting something where the light levels are going to change drastically.

Also try and think about what youre going to do with the images in post production and shoot with settings in camera (if ur not shooting raw) to complement that.

To get you started, just google what you want to get some standard intervals for some general situations. But they will become subject very fast after a few tests and then u should make ur own, depending on the environmental circumstances of ur shoot and the kind of motion u want.
 
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Ernest Worthing said:
I do a lot of timelapses myself and when u first start, there are ballpark numbers for intervals depending on what you're shooting (sunrise, clouds, stars) and they depend on whether you're using a wide, standard or telephoto lens. Generally, ppl just use wide lenses for timelapses but standard and telephoto have their place in timelapses as well.

Once you gain a bit of experience, you can look at the clouds, see how fast theyre moving and set an interval depending on the kind of motion you want. You'll be able to estimate that by urself, just from sight and experience, after a while.

As for the settings in ur camera, you first take a few test shots until you have ur image exposed well (check the histogram for that). Then dial those settings in manual mode and start the timelapse through ur intervalometer. Remember to leave some leeway in ur exposure if you are shooting something where the light levels are going to change drastically.

Also try and think about what youre going to do with the images in post production and shoot with settings in camera (if ur not shooting raw) to complement that.

To get you started, just google what you want to get some standard intervals for some general situations. But they will become subject very fast after a few tests and then u should make ur own, depending on the environmental circumstances of ur shoot and the kind of motion u want.
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Thank you for the great response! I really appreciate that! Anyway. I will be shooting a sunrise. And I have a standard 18-55 mm lens. So would you be able to give me anymore pointers using that type of lens. I know it may sound annoying be I am very new with time lapse and just a little confused.
 
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Sure.

Im assuming ur going for the look where its dark first and then gets brighter as the sun gets higher. And that u will be using the wide range of ur lens.

Here's one way to do this:

Start doing ur test exposures when the sun starts rising. Check your histogram and underexpose until u are just seeing the sun and the rest of the scene is dark and underexposed. Feed those settings into manual mode so that they do not change. Set your interval for 10 secs and start the timelapse for whichever number of pictures/length of timelapse u want.

This way, u should have enough leeway in ur exposure to get the usual 8 secs or so of the sun rising and starting to light the scene as it gets higher and brighter.

Remember, there is no one way to do these things and after ur first test, adjust settings and interval according to the look u want.
 
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Ernest Worthing said:
Sure.

Im assuming ur going for the look where its dark first and then gets brighter as the sun gets higher. And that u will be using the wide range of ur lens.

Here's one way to do this:

Start doing ur test exposures when the sun starts rising. Check your histogram and underexpose until u are just seeing the sun and the rest of the scene is dark and underexposed. Feed those settings into manual mode so that they do not change. Set your interval for 10 secs and start the timelapse for whichever number of pictures/length of timelapse u want.

This way, u should have enough leeway in ur exposure to get the usual 8 secs or so of the sun rising and starting to light the scene as it gets higher and brighter.

Remember, there is no one way to do these things and after ur first test, adjust settings and interval according to the look u want.
Click to expand...
Thanks again! I will do this and keep doing trial and error. I will make sure to post the final results both on vimeo and on youtube! The help is much appreciated!
 
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Hey. I just received the timer today. I am having a little trouble understanding it. If I want to turn this into a movie. I want 24 fps. How would I want to set the remote up. Correct me if I say anything wrong! Right now I have the delay set to 1 minute and I think I set it up to take a picture every one minute? but its not repeating, I might had another setting wrong. Anyway I have the long, which it says is exposure time, I have that set to 5 seconds. Next, the interval I have that set to 1 second and the number of shots set to 24. Please like I said correct me on everything. I just want to get a 24 fps time lapse of the sun rising haha. I'm very confused!
 
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You don't need to sweat your final frame rate while shooting timelapse. That's done in post.

Some super basic tips.

1. Favor wide shots for timelapse

2. 1 second intervals for traffic and people

3. 2-3 second intervals for clouds/sky

4. 5-10 second intervals with long exposure setting for stars, 1 second long exposure for night traffic.

5. Try HDR timelapse, it's great

some examples

http://dailymovie.sllabs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99&Itemid=94
 
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Nate North said:
You don't need to sweat your final frame rate while shooting timelapse. That's done in post.

Some super basic tips.

1. Favor wide shots for timelapse

2. 1 second intervals for traffic and people

3. 2-3 second intervals for clouds/sky

4. 5-10 second intervals with long exposure setting for stars, 1 second long exposure for night traffic.

5. Try HDR timelapse, it's great

some examples

http://dailymovie.sllabs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99&Itemid=94
Click to expand...
First, thanks for the response! But I will set my interval to 2-3 seconds for the sunrise. But What do I set the delay to? What do I set the exposure time to? Also how to do i get it so it just takes one photo every 1 minute for one hour.

As for the post production. What do I do to make sure I have the 24 fps? Doesn't that mean that my t3i has to shoot 24 pictures for everyone second?

Sorry if I sound stupid. Im brand new with this.
 
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Set your interval to 1 minute, set your shutter to taste, you'll get about 3 seconds of finished footage per hour. That's it.

And watch out for flourescent lights, and any forklifts that may be shaking the floor your tripod is on. EG-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn4V9pr2N7Y
 
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Thank You Problem Solved

Thank you for everyone that participated in the thread! I learned how to use it in a couple of minutes! Thanks again and I will post the project when its done!
 
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Have you tried the bracketing? I know from my T2i that it can take 3 stills at different exposures. I don't know if your remote can do that (keeping pressed on long enough for the 3 photos) but it would be cool if it could. This way you could possibly eliminate the differences in exposure, or make some crude HDR, as I myself have yet to spit out a decent HDR from the T2i. Maybe I'm an idiot.

And BTW I found this


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/embed/HtaUtcFUj_k

Isn't it like yours?
 
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