Fast Motion (360 miles per hour view on road)

Swimmer wrote on 5/6/2003, 9:31 PM

To begin, I am relatively new to editing. I comprehend about 50% of what is exchanged on these posts, but pick up stuff fast.

A project I am starting to work on involves the filming of a local bicycle trail. The effect I am going for is a fast motion video showing a six mile trail in 60 seconds (I have recently seen such an effect on a television commercial involving speeding down a road in a major city for a second or two). I have completed two miles of filming by walking with my SonyTRV-120 on a tripod, taking a couple second shot every 20 feet or so, then, with Vegas, taking a frame from each shot, putting the frame in the preview window with the grid on, then using the pan/crop feature, moving each frame so that the middle of the trail lines up to a certain point on the grid. After 15 hours of editing and lining up approximately 550 frames, then rendering in mpeg2 and playing on a DVD player, it looks better than I expected, but it is still somewhat choppy and shaky (i.e., there are some bounces and stutters).

My first question is, is there an easier way for me to achieve the result I am looking for than what I have described above before I walk the next 4 miles and spend 40 hours on the next 2000 frames?

My second question is, how can I make this appear to flow more smoothly? Am I wrong in assuming the parts that shake, shake because I don't have each frame aligned exactly like the preceeding frame? Is there an better way for me to align each frame? Should I use a different focal point than the bottom center of the trail?

All input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks much!

John.

Comments

filmy wrote on 5/6/2003, 9:48 PM

What you are doing is stop motion in a way. And really when a camera is moving, such as mounted on a car, and stop motion/time lapse is done there will be some jerky looking movement anyway.

If you wanted to get 'fluid' movement you might consider mounting the camera on something and then going down the path. Put it on a bike, or hey - use the low budget dolly method - a wheel chair. Use the widest lens you can use because it will cut down on the movement at the center, at least human perception wise. Then you bring in the footage to VV and speed up the clips.

Or - do what I just said but when you capture do it in a 'time lapse' way. Just playback the video real time but set the capture for maybe one frame every minute. Just play with it and see what you like. it might be 1 frame every 10 seconds, or 1 frame every 30 seconds...whatever works.

Or - you can do it the way you have been doing it and when you render just add some motion blur. If you have the Spice plug-ins you can add some nice motion/blur/ghosting with that. If you want to really get that wizard of speed and time thing going you can do that as well with some playing.

I think maybe the key thing is to play around. There are shooters who do nothing but time lapse shooting and they do it well. It is rare that someone can just go out and shoot something like this and do it 'perfect' the first time - or even the first 100 times. It is really trial and error until you get the formulas for what works best.

Hope some of these ideas work for you. :)

cobalt wrote on 5/6/2003, 9:50 PM

mount a "stabilized" video cam to the front of your bike
The wider the lens the better
speed this up

briggs wrote on 5/6/2003, 10:23 PM

Here's an example that's a little different in that it was done with a digital camera and still shots, but it might give you some ideas.

-Les

vicmilt wrote on 5/6/2003, 10:48 PM

1. You want the camera to be as smooth as possible - make sure you are using a camera with some sort of stabilization system - for instance Sony Steadi shot, and make sure it is turned on. Most modern cameras have this function.
2. Don't turn off the camera - tape is cheap and you will save yourself and your camera a lot of wear and tear.
3. Try to shoot using your LCD screen, with the camera out in front of you, rather than at your eye. It will be easier to keep it steady and smooth, although after 15 minutes your arms will feel like they're going to fall off.
4. Process your footage using the software from Dynapel.com called Motion Perfect. It will speed up your footage, and help to stabilize it as well. Plus it's really fast.

PDB wrote on 5/7/2003, 4:17 AM

How about trying a "steadicam"? there are sites where people post home-built steadicams...I haven't tried one yet but they are supposed to help stabalise shoots while you walk...Do a search for "steadicam" or "glidecam" on google. Some claim they can keep an almost stable shot even at a run with one of these contraptions...

dcrandall wrote on 5/7/2003, 8:02 AM

I've done quite a bit of active shooting and here's what I recommend:

1) Purchase a Steadicam as was mentioned in a previous post

2) If you don't want to go to the expense of purchasing a stabilizer, mount the camera or lense to your head. (The head acts as a good shock absorber)

3) You may also consider investing in a external lens that can be attached to a helmet, bike, etc. I've purchased some equipment from http://www.helmetcamera.com/ and have been quite satisfied with the results.

FuTz wrote on 5/7/2003, 8:06 AM

A good link if you feel like doing it yourself...

http://homebuiltstabilizers.com/

Lots of models from different people with shots made with those!

kameronj wrote on 5/7/2003, 8:09 AM

2) If you don't want to go to the expense of purchasing a stabilizer, mount the camera or lense to your head. (The head acts as a good shock absorber)

Yeah, but what happens when the duct tape gets stuck to your ears??

:-)

FuTz wrote on 5/7/2003, 8:40 AM

lol ... and don't forget NOT to tape over the eyes!!!

mikkie wrote on 5/7/2003, 10:13 AM

Mazda ran a TV ad a while back, somewhat the same effect showing the handlebars of the bike in the frame... Think that might be a nice take on this as the handlebars would set the viewer frame of reference - bumps etc. might actually enhance the viewer experience IMO. Could rig some sort of mount to the bar on your bike, rig or modify some sort of sling that hangs on your chest, or even just cut a hole for the lens in one of those baby carriers (ie: the Get Fuzzy cartoons). If you've got too much footage to show the whole trail in the time alloted, do a jump into, add effects, land the jump and finish?

Bear wrote on 5/7/2003, 1:32 PM

what is the trail made of. If it is cement or tar or hardpacked gravel you can use a wheelchair nicely. My wheelchair is electric an my father in law designed a brackett for it to mount my camera on and it works great. I have a Sony wiht image stablizer. Be warned that the stablizer feature uses a lot more power so take plenty of batteries.