Jay P. Morgan and the Slanted Lens have a new video out, this time showing how they are combining a video clip with a motion time-lapse for a music video project. It's a great watch if you've ever wondered how to approach getting this effect, or are still learning the craft of time-lapse shooting.
The gear being used included the Genie, Genie Mini, and Magic Carpet, all made by Syrp. I've been able to work with these units myself a little bit, and one of the benefits to that system is when you have the long track for time-lapses. It's only because the track is that long that Morgan is able to get such an intricate slider move; a shorter track simply wouldn't have been able to enter/exit the window as dynamically.
On a side note: I found it very odd that Morgan uses auto white balance in some of his time-lapses when the sun is setting (he mentions this at about 4:35 in the video). I've always thought that to be a major faux pas when aiming for smooth, quality time-lapse clips. The color changes quickly and dramatically with typical sunsets, so I feel like setting white balance to auto would mean that you could get some color shifting or even flickering in the final clip. What do you think? Do you use auto white balance on your time-lapses?
See more videos by the Slanted Lens here.
I use AWB but always shoot RAW. The AWB gives you a good sense of how the shot looks in camera, then in post I'll ramp the white balance to make sure its accurate throughout the shot.
He also mentions shooting in aperture priority, I am not a fan, I always stick to manual so I know what I'm getting. He could also mention that Neutral Density filters help a lot with adding motion blur when there is too much available light.
Finally, I like shooting cars at night with a 3-6 second exposure, I think the long streaks look better but that's my personal preference.
Indeed, very weird settings. Why using a 2-3 sec interval and set the shutter to 1/15 or 1/20 or even 0.3 ? I mean, most DSLR only need 1 sec or left to write a Raw. Would make more sense to drag the shutter a bit more and get more blurriness. It makes everything smoother, allow for lower ISO and/or higher F (ISO 640 and F4.5 / F5 is also strange). I might understand AV as a beginner but auto WB for timelapse is a big no go and one of the best way to ruin a sequence.