Flicker Free ETTR Timelapse: - -Beginners Guide & Basic Post Processing --

Started by RenatoPhoto, May 26, 2013, 01:35:58 AM

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dmilligan

Quote from: JasonMillard on August 08, 2014, 07:58:54 PM
Take two or three pictures until the RAW histogram ETTR hint is less than 0.2j
Turn on raw histogram in the overlay menu, make sure image review is not turned off in Canon menu. Take a picture. You will see a histogram and there will be a number on it. This is how many EVs you can increase the exposure until overexposure. Alternatively, simply turn AutoETTR to "always on" and take pictures until you only hear 1 beep after a photo (2 beeps means you need to take another photo, 3 beeps means exposure limits have been reached=>proper exposure is impossible with current settings).

AutoETTR will change the exposure for you, that's the whole point.

#1. If you have a wider lens, use that instead. 50 is not that great for timelapse.
#2. I would leave WB on auto (you can always change it in post, might as well have a camera reading for reference)
#5. I would open the aperture up (for when it gets dark later on), say maybe at least f/4
#11. I wouldn't put a "stop after", what if something awesome happened right at the end of you sequence? You'd miss it. Just stop the timelapse when you're ready to stop it. Also, like barepixels said, your intervalometer period needs to be larger than slower shutter setting.
#12. If you have Adobe Bridge, consider using my script instead of doing in camera deflicker (deflicker takes some time to run and means you will need more time between slowest shutter and interval, usually 5-10 seconds to be safe). It's basically the same algorithm, but doing it in post is so much easier.

JasonMillard

Should slowest shutter be 15"?  How are the rest of the settings. And thanks for taking the time to considerately respond!

dmilligan

slower shutter should be less than interval period, so make your interval period longer or you slower shutter shorter

JasonMillard

Thanks again for the invaluable information gentleman!  Any suggestions for Day-Night shots?  I unfortunately only have a 50 and 85 for my FF but a 17-50 for Canon 60D.  I will try this for now and maybe the 60D tomorrow.

I took 15" for interval as I saw someone else post it...any other suggestions I would def. try.  Also about slower shutter how about 1" ?

JasonMillard

Updated settings for tonight:

2. WB: Auto
3. ISO 100
4. Shutter 1/50
5. AP f4
6. Auto ETTR : slowest shutter (1") highlight ignore (.5%) 5ev/3ev
7. Global Draw: On, all modes
8. zebras: raw RGB
9. Spotmeter: raw, afbox
10. histogram: raw histobar
11. Intervalometer: ON, 15s, stop after 480 shots

After this is set...can I let it sit for 2 hours or will I need to ramp up ISO as it gets darker manually (if so how?)

barepixels

try this

2. WB: 5500  5500 is day light.  I would lock WB so it doesn't change.  personal choice
3. ISO 100
4. Shutter 1/50  (what ever it look good at begining of the shot.  ETTR will take over the shutter speed and ISO anyway)
5. AP f4 (go with the number your lens allow.  remember it will be darker later and you will need it wide open.  2.8 or 1.8 or 1.4)
6. Auto ETTR : slowest shutter (30") highlight ignore (.5%) 5ev/3ev   (when it get dark  you may need more then 1") 
7. Global Draw: On, all modes 
8. zebras: raw RGB    ( I ignor this )
9. Spotmeter: raw, afbox ( I ignor this )
10. histogram: raw histobar ( I ignor this )
11. Intervalometer: ON, 35s, stop after 480 shots   (since I have set slowest shuttter alow 30" see above, intervalometer must be longer, say 30s exposure + 5s to save the file to card = 35s and why bother 480 stop restrcition.  just stop when you want manually)


or will I need to ramp up ISO as it gets darker manually (if so how?)
One of purpose of using ETTR is have it automate ramping for you

While you start the shoot with plenty of lights.  you must consider what your camera need when its dark.  hence prepare for 30s exposure and apperature open at widest
5D2 + nightly ML

JasonMillard

Ahh thanks just made the changes walking to the park now... will get there by 7

barepixels

am lazy.  I would rather test at home few time, getting it right and be comfortable while testing, before investing on a trip.  lol
5D2 + nightly ML

JasonMillard

You know...there is so much irony in that suggestion. Haha...So I went with a friend and we made it a point to relax at the park and enjoy the view as I tried the time-lapse suggestions.  I tried about 10 times to make it work and after taking 5 pictures or so the camera would shut off and stop taking pictures.  I would hit a view buttons and try again.  Same result.

I almost through my camera at a small child passing by.

Any idea why it would do this?

barepixels

5D2 + nightly ML

JasonMillard

didn't make a difference turned off after maybe 30 seconds...reset most functions and seems to work now...

Anyone going to try a time-lapse of the Supermoon tonight after dark?  Any setting recommendations?

JasonMillard

Also, does the 3x crop mode only work for video or can we do it for our lenses.  I have an 85 1.4 and 50 1.8 was going to try doing 3x crop mode on 85 (330mm 3x crop!)

dmilligan

The 3x crop just gets you back to native pixel size from the down sampled video resolution (which is 3x less)

JasonMillard

thanks milligan...i wrote my question inaccurately.  I meant to ask if we could have a 3x crop mode in stills mode as well during time lapses?


dmilligan

Quote from: JasonMillard on August 11, 2014, 01:45:55 AM
I meant to ask if we could have a 3x crop mode in stills mode as well during time lapses?
No, same answer. The size of a pixel is the size of pixel. You can crop in post if you like.

CreativeEndeavor

Quote from: a1ex on August 08, 2014, 09:02:59 AM

In [622]: 5760./3240
Out[622]: 1.7777777777777777

In [623]: 16./9
Out[623]: 1.7777777777777777


=> bug invalid.

Hi Alex,

I think you misunderstood me.  When I am shooting time-lapses using Magic Lantern's Intervalometer and ETTR functions, I am finding that the resolution of the images are random from RAW 5760 X 3840 to 5760 X 3240.  In other words, I am getting images that are sometimes 5760 X 3840 and other times are 5760 X 3240 from the time-lapse.  I've worked around this problem by importing the over-sized files into Photoshop as .Tifs and batch cropping them to a 16:9 resolution.  I've found the same problem shooting time-lapses at SRAW on my Canon 5D Mark III using only ML's Intervalometer without ETTR.

Hope this helps.






mgrittani

Hello,

Please forgive me if this question has been answered before.  I have read the thread and am still curious:

I am using Magic Lantern with Auto ETTR and the intervalometer to make a "bulb ramped" timelapse.  I have enabled everything as per the tutorial on the first page, and am still faced with a dilemma.  My ETTR is not settling correctly.  The EV is somewhere in the -5 to -6 range, and changes with every frame.  With the EV changing constantly, I feel like it's going to be impossible to get a smooth, flicker free video.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot?

Thank you!
Mike

dmilligan

Quote from: mgrittani on August 13, 2014, 07:05:07 PM
I feel like it's going to be impossible to get a smooth, flicker free video.
Maybe that's how you feel, but in reality it is possible to get really good, flicker free results even with the exposure changing constantly (thanks to Maths). Why don't you actually try it? Use the deflick module or the script I wrote. Once you have actually tried it, then post back if you still have issues (include sample footage!)

mgrittani

Quote from: dmilligan on August 13, 2014, 07:18:28 PM
Maybe that's how you feel, but in reality it is possible to get really good, flicker free results even with the exposure changing constantly (thanks to Maths). Why don't you actually try it? Use the deflick module or the script I wrote. Once you have actually tried it, then post back if you still have issues (include sample footage!)

Ran into my second issue.  There is no option for sidecar (XMP) files when using silent mode.  Any suggestions?

dmilligan

use my script to deflick in post

or

full resolution silent pictures
(these are not in official nightly builds yet, so you'll have to compile yourself or be patient for a week or two)

I would recommend you do some practice with regular photo mode to get the hang of it, then you can try out the full-res silent pics when it gets merged.

barepixels

Quote from: mgrittani on August 14, 2014, 12:36:20 AM
Ran into my second issue.  There is no option for sidecar (XMP) files when using silent mode.  Any suggestions?

I used to worry about the same.  Now I can say that dmilligan's script is so good , I don't need sidecards
5D2 + nightly ML

getho

Howdy folks, I'm in the middle of a multi-day timelapse.  First day things went really well, yesterday was a nightmare though - thick cloud cover giving way to bright sunshine.  auto ettr seemed to have a very tough time dealing with it, with the first shot after the sun going in being too dark and the then recovering - vice versa when the sun came out from behind a cloud.

Any ideas on how to deal with this? 

Also workflow question - I'm not seeing any exposure adjustments when I load my files into lightroom or ACR.  I checked the xmp files and the crs:Exposure2012="+1.23473">
  is there. 

There appears to be a timestamp difference between the xmp and the cr2. Is this an issue?

a1ex

In a scenario like this, metering speed is more important than exposure accuracy, so you might want to use one of those:

- Canon meter (Av or full auto)
- ETTR combined with Canon meter (ETTR in Av mode)