How to do timelapse in ACR 13.1 from raws

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
I can't do 8K until I can use my SD Express card. Canon times lapse had the option of setting the exposure on the first frame and holding it, or changing it each frame at the exposure target. I set it that way, but it might not have worked, which means I did not hit ok enough times perhaps.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Very cool work Ben. I would suggest shooting your timelapse in Aperture priority, that would have prevented your timelapse going so dark at the end.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
I did not, I set the exposure to each frame and used one of the mountain faces as a target, Although the single I took afterwards is much brighter than the end of this sequence.
Like Jim, I am not understanding how you set the exposure, but Aperture priority is really the best way to shoot Timelapse in changing light, or go to manual mode with Auto-ISO set on. In fact, that’s probably the better way to do it so you have a consistent shutter speed, so your timing stays the same.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Or this just came to me. Are you setting the exposure in one image and then syncing all of the images in ACR?

If so, I would still recommend just using the auto iso.
 

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
Ben, unlike Jim I normally shoot sunsets similar to your settings (which sounds like manual on the first, others to follow). This lets the scene go dark like your example, which looks realistic to me. On a Sony you can choose from 3 settings to have the camera adjust to deal with sunset/rise that work well too.

The hard part of learning how you want to shoot your time lapses is that it takes so much time capturing (which is why it's nice to have 2 cameras so you can also capture single images), then lots of time in post, too to see what works, and what doesn't. More like shooting film than digital. .
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Thanks guys. I try to test it in my back yard, but often the scene is static and ends up looking like a still. When you are at a real location, you only get one chance. I need to do more of this.

By the way, it was in aperture priority, but I suspect it ran out of range at f8 and ISO100. Auto iso might have been a good addition.
 
Last edited:

Jameel Hyder

Moderator
Staff member
One technique that is used in time lapse is called bulb ramping. You can search for this on how this is done. I have a promote control remote which does this automatically. I haven't used it in a while. Setting this up requires a bit of planning.

Check this out.

 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Thanks Jameel. I watched the video, but it does not show me how to do this with my gear, or for that matter, not much detail about the special gear he was using.

A new question, do you shoot full size raws when doing this. I doubt 400 45mp images will fit on one card.
 

Jameel Hyder

Moderator
Staff member
Essentially what is being achieved by this is the following.

a. Setting one that runs for duration 1.
b. Setting two that starts after duration 2.
c. From then till the end, it gradually changes the shutter speed till it reaches the final exposure.

I normally do shoot RAW and then do batch processing. I use 128GB cards and two of them so it can switch from one to the other.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
I only have 64GB cards, have you priced SDX cards? I was not even going to buy an SDX because it also required a $65 card reader and a $10 cable. I wish they had matched the cards, I hate having two types of cards.

Anyway, I am going to try another in my backyard because we have some nice clouds blowing around. I am going to keep using in camera until I can start using the SDx. I might try auto ISO this time.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Ben, like Jameel I use 128gb cards. Depending on what I am shooting I can get a couple thousand photos on it at 46mp. Especially at night you would get more.

If you have 2 card slots, like Jameel is suggesting just have it record from one and then to the next. It doesn't matter if they are the same type.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
It matters if I am 8k mode as a standard SD will not support that. I have one SD slot and one SDX slot. If shooting in interval mode, I could shoot raw on either card.
 

Jameel Hyder

Moderator
Staff member
If you are doing stills then either card is fine for capturing raws. We are talking about a large # of raws here, right? You can also try CRAW which is compressed raws with full 45Mp resolution.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
I just did an 8 K timelapse (my cable finally arrived) it shut down when the battery expired, but I got a cool timelapse and it started at ISO 2800 and you can see the stars rising. I used auto ISO so I have no idea where it ended. But it looks pretty clean. It's uploading to Youtube now and has about 40 minutes to complete.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Ok, here is an 8K timelapse taken after it got dark enough to see stars. If you look at this on a 4k monitor at full size, you will see the stars. It started at ISO2800 and went up as it got darker, but I don't know how to review the data. It does show up on each frame if you stand and watch it, but it was too cold for that.

201223 688 R5 - YouTube
 

AlanLichty

Moderator
Ok, here is an 8K timelapse taken after it got dark enough to see stars. If you look at this on a 4k monitor at full size, you will see the stars. It started at ISO2800 and went up as it got darker, but I don't know how to review the data. It does show up on each frame if you stand and watch it, but it was too cold for that.

201223 688 R5 - YouTube
Interesting to watch the auto-ISO keep the exposure constant while the stars start to appear and move in the sky at full resolution. I watched at 4K full screen.
 

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
Interesting to watch the auto-ISO keep the exposure constant while the stars start to appear and move in the sky at full resolution. I watched at 4K full screen.

Thanks for looking Alan. Youtube compresses the file and the original is more impressive to my eyes. The stars are more pronounced and the mountains are sharper. I would like to try one for tomorrows sunrise, but it will be clear and 15 degrees. I guess I will wait for better conditions.
 

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
Ben, one of the other difficulties of shooting TL is hoping/predicting what is going to happen with the clouds/light/stars etc. I've tossed many where the clouds just socked in and obscured the mountains or stars a while after I started them up. I often leave my camera on it's tripod shooting away while I sleep, or walk around the area with another camera shooting stills. I rarely set up day time TL without clouds.
 
Top Bottom