Time lapse with my D3?

This all sounds very interesting. I can't wait to see the finished result, both the Jig and the time lapse film.
 
... so back to the actual photos!
I wonder if i could set up a action for batch processing to HDR? that could look quite cool?
but might not be so great from a medium jpg?
what sort of software to put it all together in order do we think?

Given that this is a long time-lapse sequence and you can access the camera easily maybe RAW would be OK. If you're not doing HDR then you could process and then export from LR. You could do some HDR combinations in PS via bridge and in fact you could assemble the video in PS as well (using actions to crop to aspect ratio etc). What other software do you have that can handle video?
 
Hamish I'm still fighting the flu :(
but a while back I was on a mission to find all the tools to create vivid time lapse videos, I even looked into software that created a time lapse video from bracketed HDR shots (looks like you've recorded a dream on video) if I feel up to it today I will dig around in my bookmarks to see what software it was, it certainly was 3rd party software and it definitely required the camera to be tethered.
 
LarryBolch—YouTube.

There are several short movies that are essentially time lapse. Shot with a still camera on continuous and assembled in Sony Vegas Movie Studio. I have done a number of movies using the interval timer as well, but nothing quite fascinating enough to upload. The technique is the same. In preferences, one can set the number of still frames per second, and how much they should overlap—if at all. I tend to go for a continuous cross fade, which is smoother. When the movie is rendered, standard frame rates are generated. Since these were shot at two or three frames per second, that is about what I choose. For the interval timer, I might choose to reduce four hours to four minutes—or whatever seems appropriate. Just tell the program, and it does it.

Sony Vegas Pro is a very expensive and very capable program. Its main advantages over Movie Studio is that it interfaces with high-end network or production house equipment and provides unlimited stereo audio tracks and video tracks. Movie Studio limits one to half-a-dozen of each, at least for version 10, which I have. I have found this more than adequate. With "The Day of Intense Conversation", I used a main video track and a second for transparent titles that I could fade in and out. I used a rhythm track, two ambiance tracks, and two sound effects tracks. That is the most ever.

Compared to Pro, it is dirt cheap and there are bundles available with other Studio applications—also at low prices. The same interface is common across all applications, so once learned, the comfort level is high. No eye-candy, just logical businesslike timelines where you drag and drop your material. One can zoom in to frame level, and drop a sound-effect precisely. I tried my first cinemagraph," Hand Percussion"—essentially a still photograph with one element moving—with perfectly synchronized sound effects timed to when his hand hit either the down or up position.

I have used it many times for slide-shows, since once rendered as a movie, sound and image are locked together. It handles HDTV resolutions with ease. My most recent commercial project was a six hour movie that covers the hours a museum is open and plays on two HD screens in different rooms. In this case, it wrote directly to a DVD, so it was ready to deliver the moment it finished rendering. It will also write directly to my YouTube channel, hard drive, whatever. It can also be used very effectively as a multi-track sound recorder. I play the music tracks live, and then intercut to keep the phrases I like best.

In the past, there were downloadable versions that were not crippled in any way—other than with a 30 day expiry. I expect that is still true. I have tried a whole bunch of movie editing software, and this is by far the easiest to use in terms of the power it provides. Some with cutsey "user-friendly" eye candy were quite the opposite. You can change the prices to UK pounds in the upper right hand corner.

Home Studio Family Overview

 
Do a search for intervalometer .
About the easiest mount is one for a car window . Window mounts work on a chair .
Put tape on floor where chair feet sit . Do same for where window mount is on chair .
Measure like 3 meters / 9 feet away from camera , put down tape and put something there to focus on , then move out of way . next day you can set up everything the same .
Good luck .
Sorry , I did not see there were 4 pages - a few ideas anyway
 
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This has happened a long while ago ... Although I haven't yet made the video as my computer doesn't like the 8000 nef files :/
 
You can use an Action in Photoshop to do a batch process, reducing them in size as well as making any corrections. File->Automate->Batch. This is also a good excuse to shoot JPEGs—even at Small, 2128×1416—they are still larger than a 1080p frame. Some movie editing applications will accept them as is, or you can use the Batch function to crop and resize.

[video=youtube_share;k4kjXLvJ6mU]http://youtu.be/k4kjXLvJ6mU[/video]

This was shot a decade back with a Coolpix 5000, still photographs with JPEG files. Light was mixed between very cold outside light and yellowish fluorescent tubes in a very yellow room. The colour balance was so bad, I just abandoned it. With CS5, I dug it up again and used batch processing to get it to a fairly acceptable state of compromise.
 
If you have a bigger enough memory card , I would do raw + jpeg .
There might be a shot or 2 you want .
I am gathering info on doing a flower opening - looks like a minimum of 3 days probably a lot more . I want from bud start to finish and some take longer .
 
Hamish the easiest way to stack time-lapse images is to make sure they're taken numbered and then stack them in Quicktime Pro. File > open image sequence. Highlight the files, wait for them to load and then process.

Tom Lowe is the self taught expert at this and a search for his website 'Timescapes' will yield all the information required for time-lapse no matter what the budget or skill level.

Intervalometers are very popular and cheap on Ebay. The Yongnuo brand cost anything between £14 & £22 inc delivery and I've used two without issues, however I now use the Hahnel Giga T Pro II for time-lapse because the screen is wireless which leaves the camera undisturbed rather than kicking the tripod in the dark when going for the wired screen as on most intervalometers.

If you need to unlock the Pro version of Quicktime let me know as I have an unused purchase code from a spare unused laptop.
 
Thank you Gavin! Very much... Very useful indeed!!

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... Could you give me a link to the Yongnuo intervalometer I have a mate with a d80 wanting to do some of this sorta thing...
 
... Could you give me a link to the Yongnuo intervalometer I have a mate with a d80 wanting to do some of this sorta thing...

Nikon D3 fit intervalometer from Hong Kong, £11.21 delivered.

Nikon D80 fit intervalometer from China, £10.65 delivered

Canon fit intervalometer in the UK, £15.99 delivered.

There are all the same Hamish, even the Yongnuo ones were. The originals even had the same Sanyo chip that the genuine Canon's carried. Currency conversion may change from above prices.

They're all multi-use, ie: long exposures etc.
 
Does the D3 not have an intervalometer built in? The D700 does and it is really very good. It can even be set to delay the start of the series to whenever you want it to begin. Pretty much every parameter one could think of can be set.
 
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