White Paper Holy Grail
White Paper Holy Grail
White Paper Holy Grail
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A great time-lapse is all about change and movement. However, changing light conditions often wreak havoc on your footage, resulting in brighter and darker frames which appear as annoying flicker in your time-lapse. Capturing a smooth time-lapse of a sunset from full daylight to darkest night, without flicker, has been called the Time - lapse Holy Grail because it has been practically impossible to achieve. However, you can now achieve this Holy Grail with GBTimelapse! In this White Paper, I describe the challenge of The Time-lapse Holy Grail and take you through the process of getting it with GBTimelapse . GBTimelapse has been used for National Geographic videography, the Brazil 2016 Summer Olympics preparations, Thursday Night Football network footage, and much, much more. GBTimelapse is a powerful tool that gives you control over many factors of your time-lapse capture. This White Paper will give you examples of the high tech calculations going on under the hood, what factors you can modify, and ideas for how to use GBTimelapse to best suit your needs.
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Table of Contents
Skip straight to the Holy Grail How-To, Expert Method and Easy Expert Method sections to get right to work. Or, browse through the full paper to get into technical detail.
The Time-lapse Holy Grail Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The Problems GBTimelapse Solutions Photography Basics Complications Holy Grail How-To Holy Grail Case-Study: Holy Grail Case-Study: Conclusion References GBTimelapse Expert Method GBTimelapse EASY Expert Method
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1. The Problems
The basic problem of the Time-Lapse Holy Grail is that theres a massive difference in the amount of light between day and night, and no one easy way to step through that difference. A smooth time-lapse needs to transition evenly, but its definitely not as easy as it may seem. There are multiple ways to step down (or up) the amount of light your camera is receiving, but each of those methods has a potential pitfall for our goal of a smooth transition. As well see later in this White Paper, GBTimelapse is programmed to automatically make optimal adjustments for you, and to allow you to make further detailed tweaks if you prefer.
Sample stop conversion: From f/16 to f/2.8 is 5 stops From ISO 100 to 3200 is 5 stops From 1/100 second to 30 seconds is over 11 stops Total change = 21 stops Since one stop is a factor of two, twenty-one stops is a factor of 221, over 2 million (2,097,152 to be exact). This means that there is literally over 2 million times more light in the daytime than the night!
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Sunset is defined as when the upper edge of the disk of the sun is on the horizon. US Naval Observatory
Civil twilight is defined to end in the evening when the center of the Sun is geometrically 6 degrees below the horizon. This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished; at the beginning of morning civil twilight, or end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination. - US Naval Observatory Nautical twilight is defined to end in the evening, when the center of the sun is geometrically 12 degrees below the horizon. At the beginning or end of nautical twilight, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other illumination, general outlines of ground objects may be distinguishable, but detailed outdoor operations are not possible, and the horizon is indistinct. - US Naval
Observatory
Twilight and latitude The length of twilight after sunset and before sunrise is heavily influenced by the latitude of the observer. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions, twilight (if there is any) can last for several hours. There is no civil twilight at the poles within a month on either side of the winter solstice. At the poles, civil twilight can be as long as two weeks, while at the equator, conditions can go from day to night in as little as twenty minutes. This is true because at low latitudes the sun's apparent movement is perpendicular to the observer's horizon. As one gets closer to the Arctic and Antarctic circles, the sun's disk moves toward the observer's horizon at a lower angle. The observer's earthly location will pass
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through the various twilight zones less directly, taking more time. - Twilight,
Wikipedia
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2. GBTimelapse Solutions
Hi there, Expert User! When you make a time-lapse with GBTimelapse, the AutoRamp function is performing a ton of calculations for you behind the scenes, and providing options for you to input more information if you choose. This section gives you a peek at whats going on inside the software.
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with the minimum photographer intervention. And theres no other product like this on the market!
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3. Photography Basics
Getting good time-lapse footage is easier with a basic understanding of camera exposures. A general knowledge of stops, shutter speeds and ISO values is helpful. The concept of exposure reciprocity aids us in converting f-stops to ND filters to shutter speeds, as we calculate the exposure across the 20+ stop difference between day and night.
ND Filter ND 0.3 2x ND 0.6 4x ND 0.9 8x ND 1.2 16x ND 1.8 64x ND 3.0 1024x
What is Reciprocity?
In photography there is an inverse relationship between the aperture and the exposure time. If you double the area of the aperture, then twice the light passes through the lens, so you can halve the exposure time (and vice versa). There is also an inverse relationship between the ISO and the exposure time. If you double the ISO the light sensitivity is doubled, so you can halve the exposure time
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In photography the Sunny 16 rule is a method of estimating correct daylight exposures without a light meter. The basic rule is: on a sunny day set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO setting for a subject in direct sunlight. - Wikipedia
Tv 20 10 5 2.5 1.3 0.6 0.3 1/6 1/13 1/25 1/50 1/100 1/200 1/400 1/800 1/1600 1/3200
Av
ISO
ND Filter
f/1.4 f/2.0 f/2.8 f/4.0 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22 f/32 f/45
ND0.3 2x ND0.6 4x ND0.9 8x ND1.2 16x ND1.5 32x ND1.8 64x ND2.1 128x ND2.4 256x ND2.7 512x ND3.0 1024x
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where EVTv = Log 2 (Tv) - Log 2 (0.01) EVAv = Log 2 (16)- Log 2(Av) EVISO = Log 2 (ISO) - Log 2 (100) As the sun sets, the sky gets darker and the TEV gets larger. At night a f/2.8, ISO 3200, 30-second exposure has a TEV of about 21. The graph below shows how TEV can range from 0 in daylight to over 20 at night. This TEV graph was made to show a noon-to-noon 24 hour time-lapse shot at a 60 second time interval (1,440 images in 24 hours). You can see that the daytime TEV began at 0.0, and rapidly rose to 20 as the sun set. It stayed at a constant TEV of 20 because the exposure was limited to f/2.8, 30s and ISO 1600. In the morning the TEV rapidly decreased back to 0.0 as the sun rose.
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4. Complications
If you are an expert user striving for perfection, youll be interested in these technical details. In practice, exposure reciprocity can fail because of inaccuracies in the lens fnumbers and ND filter ratings. GBTimelapse will automatically use reciprocity to convert stops, exposure and ND filters to cover the 20+ stop difference between day and night. However, the software may calculate correctly, but in practice we find that the numbers on the labels for f-stops and ND filters simply arent accurate!
You can see that the actual values differ by nearly 10% from the rated f-numbers. If you made a reciprocity calculation based on the f-Number, there would be a noticeable brightness change in the image. For example, if we decrease an f-number from f/4 to f/2.8 and halve the bulb time, the exposure may not be exactly the same. This is because the lens f/2.8 iris area is not precisely double the f/4 iris area. The actual difference between
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f/2.8 and f/4 is 0.74 stops (4.84 4.10), not 1 stop. Clearly it is better to use a calibrated lens when doing an Av reciprocity calculation!
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f/2.8, ISO 3200 at 0.8, after ISO stepping Continue ISO stepping each time the bulb duration doubles Phase 5: f/2.8, ISO 3200 at 30, at full darkness Gradually increase the bulb time to its maximum value
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Heres how I did it: I entered my GPS coordinates into AutoRamp I made sure my lens was calibrated, and my lens was set in AutoRamp I put three ND8x filters on the camera lens, to enable a bulb time of 0.5 at f/2.8 I began the time-lapse As the sky darkened at sunset, GBTimelapse gradually increased the bulb time Every time the bulb time exceeded 8 seconds, I removed one of the ND filters Because I had calibrated the value of each ND filter using AutoRamp, GBTimelapse decreased the bulb exposure precisely Later, as the sky darkened further, GBTimelapse automatically stepped the ISO down from 100 to 3200 each time the bulb exposure reached 24 seconds Technical analysis of this time-lapse: Below is a graph of the image luminance over the duration of my example time-lapse. You can see some initial variations over the first half hour during daylight when the bulb duration was nearer the cameras minimum. Most of the luminance variation is due to changes in the sky brightness cloud cover, cloud illumination, passing boats, passing airplanes, etc. The resulting video showed no significant flicker.
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The chart below shows how the bulb exposure time varied over the three hour duration of the sunset time-lapse.
AutoRamp also adjusted the time-lapse interval between images to make a smooth transition from 10 seconds during daylight to 33 seconds at night.
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How well did it work? Check it out for yourself: the resulting time-lapse is the first scene in the YouTube video at http://youtu.be/ebySUnXKgRw?hd=1
EXPERT METHOD PROS: Amazing, un-paralleled results! EXPERT METHOD CONS: If youre not interested in getting involved with the full Neutral Density filter process, you can keep it simple. With just one ND filter, you can achieve similar results through the Easy Expert Method.
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EASY EXPERT PROS: Easy, fantastic results, especially when used in conjunction with GBDeflicker. Its simpler to only remove one filter, and its also less expensive to only buy one filter. If there is flicker remaining, it can usually be removed with GBDeflicker. EASY EXPERT CONS: If youre a hands-on expert on a quest for the perfection of the Grail, try out the full Expert Method.
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8. Conclusion
As weve seen in this White Paper, GBTimelapse AutoRamp Expert Method is designed to automate and streamline the process of achieving the Time-lapse Holy Grail. Through the Problems, Solutions, How-To and Case Studies, youve learned how to consistently get incredible time-lapse footage in the most extreme lighting situation full daylight to darkest night. Summary of the features of AutoRamp in Expert Mode: Continuously adjusts the bulb duration to maintain a desired image luminance, adapting to changes in lighting caused by clouds, moon, artificial lights and any other causes Uses the brightness history of captured images, instead of an external light meter Uses your GPS coordinates to determine brightness rate of change at twilight, and to calculate the sun angle Gradually adjusts the time-lapse interval from a shorter value during daylight to a longer value, after twilight Optionally adjusts the target luminance to a lower value after sunset, so the image gradually darkens, during twilight Optionally adjust the white balance from a higher daylight color temperature to a lower night color temperature For more information: Do a free trial, purchase or learn more about GBTimelapse Do a free trial, purchase or learn more about GBDeflicker Stay current with my blog at http://tlapse.blogspot.com and newsletter
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9. References
Exposure Values http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_value Reciprocity by Rick deGaris Doble http://www.netplaces.com/digital-photography/photography-referencetables/reciprocity.htm ND Filters: The Ultimate Easy Guide To Neutral Density Filters by Peter Hill http://www.redbubble.com/people/peterh111/journal/4421304-the-ultimate-easy-guideto-neutral-density-filters Stops: The Unit of Exposure, Beginners Guide To Photography http://www.photonhead.com/beginners/stops.php