Crossing the line: Still photos to video

SC358 · 28th Oct 2009, 14:00

I understood tilt-shifting in the context used to correct keystone error while shooting buildings (or macro photography) whenever parallel lines were involved. But to do this as time lapse photography of a wide area certainly changes ones perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyZfIlxwsfI

This is a duplicate post in the VIDEO FORUM.

leian · 30th Oct 2009, 13:07

Wow, that was really amazing. I was surprised that it was made from still photos.

How is it done? I'm really curious.

SC358 · 30th Oct 2009, 14:30

Quote:

Quote: leian

How is it done? I'm really curious.

Hi leian - are you asking about the time lapse or the tilt shift?

leian · 1st Nov 2009, 05:17

I'd like to know about both.

Obviously, I'm the hobbyist who just click and click, just interested in the picture or video. I use digital cam and videocam. I'm now looking at buying those big bulky pro cameras when budget permits and when I'm learned enough on how to use its features.

leian · 1st Nov 2009, 05:31

Is there a special program for doing that kind of job?

I only have Adobe Premiere which I use to play with my videos. I am currently trying my hand at green screens. I don't know how to shoot them so I just download whatever free clips I can find on the net and use them for practice. www.filmvaultstudios.com has lots of free clips.

I just do layering against a photo background. I am still on the lookout for free special effects videos.

clownfish · 3rd Nov 2009, 23:12

I'm guessing it's done by simulating a very shallow depth of field, probably in post, and saturating the colours slightly to give it a slightly artificial look?

Either way, it's brilliantly done. I had to look fairly closely at first to figure out if it was live footage.

SC358 · 17th Nov 2009, 16:35

These are great topics in the world of photography. Hopefully, I can shed some light. No doubt there will be points that I may miss and (hopefully) others who will (happily) pick it up.

Originally, the very old view cameras (with lens & bellow) could correct optical skewing of parallel lines (like the edges of a building) where it's narrow at one end of the picture and wide at the opposite side and make these corrections normally since the film and lens plane could be shifted to just about any position. Today’s technology has brought this advantage to the tilt-shift lens, which is to make the subject plane parallel with the sensor plane of a digital camera.

Not all digital cameras have the time-lapse option, so if this is a feature you want, you'll have to do the research. Basically, shots are taken from an automatic timer. You select the time interval for example, 1 frame per second. In 30 seconds (I'll just round off some numbers), you'll have 30 raw or jpeg frames. In regards to video, 30 frames is 1 second. 1 minute of video is 30 frames x 60 seconds = 1800 frames. However, you'll have to convert all the jpegs to your favorite flavor codec (avi, DivX, Xvid, wmv etc) for your video format (mov/mg2/mg4 etc). These numbers are just generalized for NTSC. If you're in the part of the world that uses PAL or Secam format then the magic number is 25 fps. However, even though this option is not on your camera, I would encourage you to try this manually as an experiment and explore the whole aspect of shooting in this fashion.

Ornalty09 · 17th Dec 2009, 10:01

It has been brought to my attention that some photos submitted to this site have not been re-sized for optimal space useage. I would like to help but need more info on the programs used by members to re-size their photos. Please let me know which programs you use

28th Oct 2009, 14:00	#1
SC358 Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 479	Crossing the line: Still photos to video I understood tilt-shifting in the context used to correct keystone error while shooting buildings (or macro photography) whenever parallel lines were involved. But to do this as time lapse photography of a wide area certainly changes ones perspective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyZfIlxwsfI This is a duplicate post in the VIDEO FORUM. __________________ SC358 In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. - Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

30th Oct 2009, 13:07	#2
leian New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Phil Posts: 7	Amazing! Wow, that was really amazing. I was surprised that it was made from still photos. How is it done? I'm really curious.

1st Nov 2009, 05:17	#4
leian New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Phil Posts: 7	both I'd like to know about both. Obviously, I'm the hobbyist who just click and click, just interested in the picture or video. I use digital cam and videocam. I'm now looking at buying those big bulky pro cameras when budget permits and when I'm learned enough on how to use its features.

17th Nov 2009, 16:35	#7
SC358 Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 479	These are great topics in the world of photography. Hopefully, I can shed some light. No doubt there will be points that I may miss and (hopefully) others who will (happily) pick it up. Originally, the very old view cameras (with lens & bellow) could correct optical skewing of parallel lines (like the edges of a building) where it's narrow at one end of the picture and wide at the opposite side and make these corrections normally since the film and lens plane could be shifted to just about any position. Today’s technology has brought this advantage to the tilt-shift lens, which is to make the subject plane parallel with the sensor plane of a digital camera. Not all digital cameras have the time-lapse option, so if this is a feature you want, you'll have to do the research. Basically, shots are taken from an automatic timer. You select the time interval for example, 1 frame per second. In 30 seconds (I'll just round off some numbers), you'll have 30 raw or jpeg frames. In regards to video, 30 frames is 1 second. 1 minute of video is 30 frames x 60 seconds = 1800 frames. However, you'll have to convert all the jpegs to your favorite flavor codec (avi, DivX, Xvid, wmv etc) for your video format (mov/mg2/mg4 etc). These numbers are just generalized for NTSC. If you're in the part of the world that uses PAL or Secam format then the magic number is 25 fps. However, even though this option is not on your camera, I would encourage you to try this manually as an experiment and explore the whole aspect of shooting in this fashion. __________________ SC358 In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. - Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

17th Dec 2009, 10:01	#8
Ornalty09 New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8	Crossing the line Still photos to video It has been brought to my attention that some photos submitted to this site have not been re-sized for optimal space useage. I would like to help but need more info on the programs used by members to re-size their photos. Please let me know which programs you use

1st Nov 2009, 05:31	#5
leian New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Phil Posts: 7	Is there a special program for doing that kind of job? I only have Adobe Premiere which I use to play with my videos. I am currently trying my hand at green screens. I don't know how to shoot them so I just download whatever free clips I can find on the net and use them for practice. www.filmvaultstudios.com has lots of free clips. I just do layering against a photo background. I am still on the lookout for free special effects videos.

3rd Nov 2009, 23:12	#6
clownfish Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Tasmania Posts: 90	I'm guessing it's done by simulating a very shallow depth of field, probably in post, and saturating the colours slightly to give it a slightly artificial look? Either way, it's brilliantly done. I had to look fairly closely at first to figure out if it was live footage.