Sunpath and other related Sun Tracking Software

[AndrewDale]

Hey all,

 

I was wondering how everyones experience with sunpath is, and if there are any other types of sun tracking software that you might reccomend. Also, I was wondering if anyone knew of an application for the Iphone that might be able to do the same type of thing. Thanks

[Kevin Zanit]

I've used it a few times. Pretty cool, especially if your going to be scouting the location well before you will actually be there. If there is not much time between the location scout and the actual time there, I just think its easier to check out the place at different times of day, assuming you can get to it and all that.

 

It works well if you use it correctly.

[Jake Kerber]

I think Sunpath is a worthwhile investment. It has been a helpful tool on tech scouts when planning scenes and/or shots, and the shoot day as a whole--especially if the location has a lot of surrounding structures, hills, mountains, trees, etc.

 

I don't know of any Iphone software that does the same thing. If you find one let us know.

 

Do you already have a compass and inclinometer?

[John Sprung]

Back in 1977-78, I shot a rollercoaster documentary. For that, I just got a celestial navigation book and nautical almanac, and simply solved the sight reduction equations for the azimuth and altitude of the body. Plug in the sun numbers from the almanac, and do the math on a trig calculator. Then I just drew the angles on ordinary paper with a protractor and took them to the shoot. It worked well enough for what we needed. It could probably be put into an Excel spreadsheet, though that wasn't available when I needed it.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.