How to Make a Time-Lapse Video With Your Digital Video Camera

How to Make a Time-Lapse Video With Your Digital Video Camera

Getting the most out of your digital video camera can mean being able to originate some easily cool stuff. You just have to step covering the hand-operated a bit and find the cool things you can do with your digital video camera and your editing software.

We have all seen them in a movie or a Tv show, those very cool shots where they speed up time and capture a long segment of time and dehydrate it into a very short estimate of video. My very beloved example of this technique was an arty movie of many years ago that was called Koyaanisqatsi. (view trailer) In that movie they had some very intelligent segments where they did time lapse effects to show driving on a bridge, flowers growing, clouds flying by and so on. an additional one example is many of the Tv news stations nowadays have a camera that captures the day's weather and then they process it down to a 20 second clip to show the clouds and weather racing by on screen.

Well this technique is not just a tool in the hands of the movie makers or the big Tv stations. You can do this with your digital video camera gear too. I will go into two ways that you can accomplish this result and get some cool results for your next video project. This one is worth playing nearby with in order to find the right settings to get the most dramatic effect.

Technique estimate one is to use the camera itself to do the time lapse recording for you. Approximately all digital video cameras have the potential to do an interval recording. What this means in a nutshell is that you tell the camera how long you want to description for and how long in between recordings and it will go on autopilot for you for as long as the Battery lasts or the tape runs out. This is what those cameras at the convenience store do, they description a few seconds of motion every 30-60 seconds giving the widespread view of the traffic in the store over time.

Now if you want to capture some time lapse in your digital video camera you will need to get into your cameras menu and find Interval Recording (or in my case Int Rec, as I use a Sony Pd 150 for my camera) When you settle on this option you will determine how long of an interval between shots you want and how long to description each time. If you are trying to capture something that takes a long time to occur and in which not much happens speedily you will want to set the interval at nearby a minute and the description time as short as possible on your camera. An example would be if you wanted to description a day in the life of a flower or the clouds rolling by in the sky. Suppose however that you want to capture an event that has lots of operation and occurs over a much shorter time frame. Then you would want to shorten the interval between recordings and increase the time of each recording. So in this case you might description every 15-30 seconds and description up to 2-3 seconds of video each time.

I used this technique to capture an afternoon of work being done by a team of carpenters on my house remodeling project. The result was a flurry of operation as workers raced hither and yon nailing boards, carrying equipment and construction walls. I have added it to my photo variety of the project. (Hey I had to live through the scheme so I might as well have a great description of it for posterity!)

Now suppose you have one of the great software video editing packages on your computer to work with your digital video camera. Now you can do it in post as they say in the business. You can description any length of video you want (subject to the limitations of your tape length) and then import it into your editing program.

Sidebar:

I use Adobe Premiere Pro for my editing jobs, but I have also used Avid Dv Express, Final Cut Pro, and others in the non linear editing world. These are all great programs and are very grand products that can originate some very professional looking videos. You don't have to have these products to originate your own videos but if you are serious about digital video editing it might be a good idea to take a look at these options.

I digitize my raw video of the scene I am doing time lapse on into my computer (big hard drive, video eats up Gb's of space) and then import the clip into my time line. From th3e timeline you can then settle on the clip with a right click. From there you will be given a menu with options depending on the software you use. settle on the option that says "duration", "speed" or something similar. Change the speed of the clip so that time will speed up considerably. If you have an hour of video in the clip and want to shorten it to 2 -5 minutes then you need to increase the speed of the clip to 3 or 4 thousand percent of normal. This will need your software to render the clip at the higher speed and may take some time top process depending on the speed of your computer.

Once you have rendered the video clip at the new speed you will want to play it to see if the movie flows evenly or if you will want to readjust the speed setting to make it better. Sometimes you may want to shorten your raw video and adjust the speed down somewhat in order to get a flat flow of action. Once you have rendered the clip at the new speed you can now cut and splice it as you see fit with the speeded up operation intact. There are some things you will description that might only need a minute speed change, take for instance some digital video of your Kids playing sports. Double or triple the speed of the clip and show it to them and you might have them rolling on the floor.

You can also use these techniques to capture the increase of a flower or plant over the course of days or weeks. Simply set you camera in exactly the same place at the same time each day and description an interval that works each day fro however long you want to document. May be you get the seedling just breaking soil and result it all the way through turning into a full grown plant.

Another intelligent idea is to capture the path of the moon over the night sky. Set up your camera on a tripod in a spot that can see the path of the moon for several hours. Set the camera to interval description and put the moon on one side of the frame so that it will pass over the frame as the night passes. This one may need some testing in order to get the exposure and framing right as well as the right interval to description at. Most likely you would want to set the interval as long as you can and the description time as short as you can but do a test run first to see what works.

I can't stress sufficient that using your digital video camera can be great fun and you can accomplish some cool results. Play nearby and test. You just might find yourself creating some very creative digital video to share with the rest of the world.

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Camcorders Vs Digital Cameras

If you own a digital camera, you may be wondering why you should even bother buying a new camcorder. After all, all digital cameras nowadays come along with a video recording option. So, why pay to own a camcorder when you already have a camera that does the same thing? Because it doesn't do the same thing! Throughout this article we will speak about the many reasons that it is prominent to own a camcorder even if you already own a camera.

One of the major differences in the middle of camcorders and digital cameras is their video quality. Most newer camcorders article video in 1080p high quality video. Most cameras, on the other hand, are unlikely to match this quality. While there are a few classic digital cameras out there, most will article no higher than 720p.

DV Camcorder

Camcorders and digital cameras also differ in their lens qualities. While there are a number of cameras out there that do offer zoom, most will not be able to zoom at the same magnification as a camcorder.

Camcorders Vs Digital Cameras

Another major distinction in the middle of camcorders and cameras is that camcorders offer much more memory than cameras. Most only allow you to article in the middle of 15 and 20 minutes of video. Camcorders, depending on which type of camcorder you own, can article and store everywhere from one hour to seven hours of video at a time. Camcorders also allow you to article your videos right to Dvd or Blu-ray, while cameras want you to replacement your videos to computer and burn them to Dvd yourself.

Camcorders also offer great internal microphones than digital cameras. This allows you to pick up sound much easier on your camcorder than you can on your camera. Camcorders also offer many more Audio recording options than cameras. They can, for example, be set to automatically zoom into the source of a sound. Digital camera video recordings are far from being this sophisticated.

Finally, while digital cameras do offer a variety of video controls and extra effects, they do not even come close to offering the same number of controls and effects as camcorders. With cameras, you plainly point and shoot. Camcorders, on the other hand, offer a variety of options to adjust the field of view, shutter speed, and white balance. Also, while some cameras may offer one or two extra effects, camcorders offer several.

While digital cameras are great for taking pictures, they are not great for recording. If you are relying on your camera to article your videos for you, you are missing out! Purchasing a camcorder will allow you to article higher quality videos, while at the same time furnish you with great recording lenses, internal microphones, video controls, and extra effects. As said previously, digital cameras are great for taking pictures. But, if you want to article videos, leave your camera at home and replace it with a camcorder! buy your new camcorder today to capture and store hours of your most precious memories!

Camcorders Vs Digital Cameras

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choosing The Best Digital Camcorders

Good parts make a good product, this is true for any product. To yield a fine luxury vehicle. Luxury vehicles tend to have many extra details that make them great. SLight things like heated seats, leather seats and steering wheel mounted controls. This trend has recently carried over to the best digital camcorders. Recently Dvd camcorders with many separate features have been out selling the standard, basic Mini Dv camcorders. But does technology categorically make the newer models the best digital camcorders?

The way your images are recorded is a main highLight to reconsider when trying to settle between the best digital camcorders. The proper MiniDv units do offer great video and ease of editing but they still use mini tapes that will wear out over time. Dvd models store images directly onto Dvd, which should last forever. Min Dv can be transferred to Dvd but requires extra time and software to accomplish.

DV Camcorder

Another very leading consideration to keep in mind when comparing the best digital camcorders is the weight and size of the unit. Weight will have a large impact on how much you use your camera. After all no one wants to heave a heavy camcorder with them on a hiking or camping trip. Although smaller is easier to use smaller camcorders often have inferior lenses, less features and smaller controls when compared to larger models.

choosing The Best Digital Camcorders

The size of the screen should also be taken into consideration when choosing between the best digital camcorders. A bigger screen makes looking what you are filming much easier then a smaller screen. Playback will also be much more enjoyable on a larger camcorder screen. Although it seems even the larger models have very small screens and looking a screen you feel is large adequate on todays best digital camcorders may be challenging.

Some smaller details you may want to look for in your camcorder are a microphone that has the quality to link to an external mic or one that has an Audio zoom. Although many of the best digital camcorders on the shop will have the quality to film in low Light some may not. Some models may not have the sensitive lens required but may have built in Led illumination to support with low Light filming. So if this is leading to you make sure you ask if your model has low light filming ability.

In order to select the best digital camcorder the unit features play an leading role. Any way all the time make sure the unit feels good in you hand and feels well built!

choosing The Best Digital Camcorders

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Shooting With External Flash

If you're request yourself what you can do with external flash the real question should be, what can't I do?

For starters, you'll probably notice that your external flash produces considerably more illumination than your camera's built-in flash. In fact, you may even find that you normally need to use flash exposure recompense to dial back the Power a itsybitsy bit. If your flash images look a itsybitsy too "hot," you'll need to try lowering the flash exposure.

DV Camcorder

The most important advantage of an external flash is the ability to bounce its Light off other surfaces. In general, the Light sources we're used to finding the world under are very large and diffuse. Your flash, by comparison, is a small, point Light source, and so creates a very harsh Light. However, if you tilt the flash so its light bounces off the ceiling, the ceiling becomes the source of illumination for your scene.

Shooting With External Flash

On most flashes with tilt, the camera automatically adjusts its exposure to adjust for the estimate of tilt you have on your flash. As long as you're using a flash with self-operating Ttl (through the lens) metering, the camera will be able to adjust flash exposure as you tilt and swivel the flash. Nevertheless, you'll want to keep an eye on your histogram, and see if your flash exposure is correct. If it's not captivating enough, use a obvious flash exposure compensation. If it's too bright, set your flash exposure recompense lower.

Direct flash has the advantage of "flattening" facial features. This can often be a good thing, as it affords you a way to, for example, sacrifice the apparent size of someones nose. However, in many instances, you'll generate dark shadows under the chin of your model.

If your flash can swivel, and tilt, you can bounce the flash off walls, or reflectors to generate side lighting effects, which allow you more control over the shadows in your image.

Tilting and swiveling also allows you to as a matter of fact reposition the direction of the flash as you convert from portrait to landscape mode.

Firing the flash directly at the branch results in harsh front-lighting. On the other hand you can bounce it off the ceiling and, in expanding to being less harsh, you can see more facial contour and the background is more illuminated. If your flash can tilt and swivel, it's easy to keep it pointed at the ceiling as you convert from portrait to landscape orientation.

Shooting With External Flash

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The History of the modern Day Camcorder

The use of video camera started as television cameras.The traditional ones were large and heavy and very expensive.They were only television broadcast studios. As technology grew, the size of the camera shrunk until they became conveyable size.

The first video recorders were certainly two machines.One engine was the camera that took the pictures and then there was a Vcr that had to be attached to report and replay the images.The Vcr units were regularly attached to a television viewing unit.

DV Camcorder

Even though the size of the camera has diminished, there was a lot of equipment still involved. These new units still were a giant step of technology even if it took two citizen to control them. In the case of television, the recordings were ready to go abruptly rather than waiting for the improvement of film. There were now detachable video cassettes.

The History of the modern Day Camcorder

There were some major events that occurred in 1982 that made the camcorder more available for home use. First Jvc introduced the Vhs-C format. The second was that Sony released the first pro camcorder named Betacam. The new Vhs-C tapes were small cassettes that were being used in Vcr's. The Betacam allowed for more pro grade video recording. Now there did not need to be two units, the recording could be done in the camera and the conveyable Camcorder was born.

By 1983 both fellowships were contentious and manufacture the units easier to use and added more bells and whistles. Now you could report from 40 to 120 on one cassette that could be played on and Vcr.

The Beta or 8mm and the Vhs models both have advantages and disadvantages. The many question with betamax and what finally ended the completion was that it could not be played on the coarse Vcr.

Eventually in the 1990's the camcorder was transformed once more and became part of the digital era. Now instead of tape based cassette, the Dv and miniDv were introduced. This leap made the recording media smaller and the capability of recording better. Recording could not be done on small disks and Dvd's and to even smaller compact disks.

Even with the correction of the camcorders, the price of them certainly dropped. The traditional heavy units were priced colse to 00 and now a palm sized unit costs about 0. The size keeps shrinking and now many cell phones have video capturing abilities that a Light years beyond the first tape models.

The History of the modern Day Camcorder

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Kodak Playsport Vs Kodak Zi8

First, the corporeal size of the units look similar, but when located next to each other, the Playsport is definitely the more contract camera. The lawful Kodak specs put the Zi8 at 2.4x4.5x0.9 inches and the Playsport at 2.3x4.4x0.8 inches. While this seems pretty close, the rounded corners of the Playsport positively make for a much more contract device. The Playsport is sLightly heavier than the Zi8 at 128g vs 110g. The screen size is another big incompatibility in the middle of the two devices. The Zi8 has a 2.5 inch screen, while the Playsport has a 2.0 inch screen. When located next to each other, you can definitely see a big incompatibility in screen size.

The controls on the devices are the same, but they are laid out a bit differently. They both have four operate buttons (Settings, Delete, Play, and Record) and a directional pad. On the Zi8, the controls are laid out from left to right (Settings, Delete, Directional Pad, Record, Play). On the Playsport, the four operate buttons are on the left from top to bottom (Record, Play, Delete, Settings) with the directional pad to the right of the four buttons.

DV Camcorder

Only the Zi8 has macro mode. If you will be taking a lot of close-ups videos, you'll want to choose the Zi8 over the Playsport. Note that macro mode is engaged on the Zi8 by a corporeal switch. If macro mode is turned on while you are recording, an audible click will be heard on the video. Both cameras have the exact same recording modes. You have five distinct options (1080p, 720P, 720P (60Fps), Wvga, and 5.3Mp still photo). The lens is the same on both models, so expect very similar photograph quality.

Kodak Playsport Vs Kodak Zi8

The Playsport doesn't have an external microphone port, but the Zi8 does. If you'll be taking a lot of indoor videos of yourself for your website, you may want to opt for the Zi8 as you'll be able to get good sound for your recordings. The microphone input also comes in handy for population wanting to description sound from an external Audio source such as a pilot's headset.

The Usb connection works a bit differently on each camera. The Zi8 has a flip out Usb port so you don't have to carry a cord colse to with you. The Playsport forgoes this feature (likely due to the waterproofing) and contains a microUsb port on the camera.

The Playsport model is waterproof up to 10 feet, the Zi8 model doesn't have any waterproofing at all. If you are active and want to take your camera with you snorkeling, swimming, skiing, camping, etc, you may want to opt for the Playsport as it is a bit more rugged than the Zi8. The Playsport even has a extra mode to improve underwater recording. The Battery is exactly the same on both devices so you should contact similar Battery life. The one thing to note here is that the Playsport has a smaller screen so it might positively get sLightly good Battery life.

Both devices have an image stabilization function, both come with the same software (Arcsoft MediaImpression for Kodak), both have Hdmi and composite Audio/video outputs, and both have the same internal memory (128 Mb). Both cameras also accept Sd cards to increase the storehouse space for videos. Finally, probably the largest incompatibility in the middle of the two devices is the price. The Zi8 comes in at 9.95 and the Playsport at 9.95.

Kodak Playsport Vs Kodak Zi8

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Don't Trust Digital Camcorder Reviews

A concentrate years ago (ok, more than a few), I became undoubtedly interested in buying a digital camcorder. Like most habitancy new to the trade, I wanted to purchase the newest digital camcorder that featured the best technology. I all the time enjoyed finding at the flashy camcorder magazines to check out pictures, and read articles and reviews on the newest camcorders.

However, once I became serious about wanting to buy one, it suddenly occurred to me, as I was reading the magazine reviews, that practically every singular one had a clear slant. Virtually every recapitulate I read, discussed only the benefits and cool features of the camcorders.

DV Camcorder

All of these good reviews made me perceive that what I was reading was biased facts designed as a marketing tool. The article within these articles and reviews was nothing more than eye candy for techies. Essentially, aside from stats (which I could barely make heads or tails of) the magazine reviews undoubtedly in case,granted very itsybitsy facts about the ability and practicality of the camcorder.

Don't Trust Digital Camcorder Reviews

So, to test my law on my popular "flashy magazine", I plugged in the names of the few digital camcorders that interested me into a crusade engine. Low and look I found genuine reviews from consumers who had undoubtedly purchased the cameras and expressed their real opinions about the product. What did I observe with my research? I learned that my first digital camcorder choice undoubtedly only received a "good" video ability rating from most users. This was a much separate consequent compared to the "excellent" rating it was given by the magazine. Naturally, my attitude toward this digital camcorder changed, and I began investigating other models.

What I learned as I began conducting my digital camcorder recapitulate explore was that while the stats of the camera matter, they aren't the most important part of a review. Until you undoubtedly purchase the digital camcorder and collate it to other camcorder, or an older model, you won't know if the digital camcorder is true to its hype. In other words, most of the fancy stats mean squat to the median consumer who knows very itsybitsy about digital camcorder technology.

Think about it, if you know very itsybitsy about digital camcorders and a recapitulate only provides you with technical details and a goods description, how will you know if the camcorder will suit your intended use?

For instance, observe the following example that has been based on an actual digital camcorder review:

The digital camcorder captures spectacular, videos and stills. It is compact, Lightweight and capable. The Camcorder features a 4x digital zoom, an internal 16Mb flash memory with external Sd/Mmc card slot (supports up to 1 Gb) and a 3.2-megapixel Ccd image sensor. The digital camcorder has an image resolution of 1280x960, 1600x1200 and 2048x1536, and records Mpeg-4 movies. The digital camcorder also has a 1.8" Tft monitor, Ntsc/Pal Tv out format, and Usb 1.1 Pc connection.

Did that mean whatever to you? Do you know either or not you need all of those features, or if you have the right equipment to adapt the camcorder? If you're like me, and technical stats make your eyes cross, here's what you need to do to ensure that the digital camcorder you buy is ideal for your needs.

First and foremost, avoid getting sucked in by all technical flare such as the lab/bench tests, color/lines of resolution etc. Look for ability reviews that will tell you what purpose the camera is ideal for, and the type of man it will likely suit.

Thus, if you are finding for honest camcorder reviews, direct your browser to sites that sell these products such as Amazon.com and find out what habitancy who undoubtedly purchased these products had to say about them in the user comments section. Here you will not only receive a consumer "five-star rating", but also find out what they liked and didn't like about the camera.

Don't Trust Digital Camcorder Reviews

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Why You Should think Jvc Mini Digital Camera

So you and the family are on the dream vacation. The day is becoming a minuscule of a marathon with so much to see and do and shoot with your video camera. You are beginning to run out of tapes with only one left and much more of the day ahead of you. Even worse, the Battery Light is beginning to beep on-screen. The hot humid weather is also doing its part to screw with your attitude. You are tired, sweaty and more than a minuscule sick and tired of carrying this video camera. You think to yourself, "Why can't they make them smaller?".

All these wishes that you have can be granted with the Jvc Mini Digital Camera. To start with the camera doesn't use tapes so it is much smaller and Lighter than most digital camcorders. Without the tapes and with a rather smallish 1.8 inch Lcd/Tft color monitor, it is one of the Lightest, smallest camcorders you can buy. Sleek looking with its aluminum stop with the black plastic body molding, the camcorder has a rather unique highlight because all the controls are settled at the back of the camera. Incorporate the compactness with the video light, flash and 10X zoom with 40X digital zoom and no information will be missed.

DV Camcorder

The camera uses Li-ion Batteries. Lithium-ion Batteries, pound for pound offer the best Power of any consumer electronics Battery. It has no memory corollary and has a slower rate of Power loss when not in use. Light, grand and durable, it is the most popular battery models ready for conveyable electronics.

Why You Should think Jvc Mini Digital Camera

Although the unit doesn't provide MicroDrive or Sd cards, it would be a good idea to get some for the camera. That way you can utilize the Jpg still images. The camera is a "point and shoot" mini digital video camera convenient for first time users or casual hobbyists.

All of the functions of the Jvc Mini Digital Camera are settled at a menu button at the back of the camera. The digital zoom at 40X is grand enough however you can get more with 200X rations. Without a tape ideas the camera isn't married to just one format. Opposed to tape formats, there are many more digital features. The still images range from Fine to Standard. With the suitable setting the camera offers Jpeg resolutions of Sxga (1280x960), Xga (1024 x 768) or Vga (640x480). Of policy the resulting photos can be stored on many dissimilar mediums. The voice recording highlight records using 256 kbps right up to 1536 kbps. Some models have webcam capabilities while a night highlight called Night Alive is ready for shooting in extreme low light.

Positive reviews pour in from users that extol the ease and likeability of the product. This camera is all a "point and shoot" camera should be. For these reasons, I believe you should check the Jvc Mini Digital Camera.

Why You Should think Jvc Mini Digital Camera

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The Flip Video Camera - Reasons to Buy the Flip Mini Camcorder

If you are seeing for an ultra ageement mini camcorder, you should by all means; of course consider investing in the new range of Flip video Mini camcorders. They are easy to carry colse to because they are pocket size and they also come in a great range of colours so you can select one to compliment your other electronic gadgets like your movable phone etc.

This little camera comes qualified with a screen that measures 1.5 inches. It has a colour Lcd screen which gives an exquisite picture capability for its size. This smart little tool is outfitted with a 2x digital zoom and it has an on-board flash memory of 2Gb. This means that it can record a section of video with a duration of up to 60 or 120 minutes.

DV Camcorder

The size of the mini camcorder means that you can take it with you wherever you go and it is very easy to use. You can naturally point at the image that you wish to record and press the big red button to record everything in view.

The Flip Video Camera - Reasons to Buy the Flip Mini Camcorder

Once you have recorded your images, you will find that it is a very simple task when it comes to downloading your mini film to your computer. There is a Usb portal that pops out of the camera. This can be speedily plugged into your laptop so that you can view and edit whatever and everything that you have recorded.

This handy little appliance comes with a lithium-ion Battery which is reChargeable. This will then reCharge whenever you attach the principles to a computer or any other electrical outlet.

This camcorder does not only take amazing images. The sound capability is also amazing. There is an inbuilt microphone that will record exquisite levels of sound, whatever situation you happen to be in.

The Flip Video Mini camcorder is now so small that it can in fact fit into your pocket for easy and productive transportation. This would make a amazing gift idea for whatever and would be suitable for any occasion.

Take a look online so that you can assess and distinction prices that are currently available and you are sure to find a great bargain.

The Flip Video Camera - Reasons to Buy the Flip Mini Camcorder

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