glenn bristol Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 so, feel free to laugh good and hearty, however after some serious googling i still haven't answered my question, and that doesn't happen often :P anyhoo, i've been time-lapsing all sorts of stuff recently using a canon digital cam + some software i whipped together using their SDK, but i dont really wanna keep buying digicams to put in different locations, thus i'm looking into Super8, mostly because apparently everybody who's ever done time-lapse has done it at one point in time or another with S8... i assume for a good reason :D my question is.. can i somehow hook up a S8 cam to a computer via some cable and record frames this way without having to use a cassette or anything else? just, say, a cable and write/use a prog that captures frames via a tv-tuner card, for instance? has anyone ever thought about this? is it even possible? are there better ways to go about this than what i'm proposing? i'm trying to avoid spending 400-1500 on a DV/cam, developing film, buying rolls of film, etc... (everything digital so i can work with it, i usually don't need more than DVD quality, i.e. 720x576) any advice or "hints" where i should be looking are greatly appreciated!!! btw, if anybody'd like to see what i've put together so far, feel free to take a gander over @ www.glenneroo.org :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku Naskali Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 my question is.. can i somehow hook up a S8 cam to a computer via some cable and record frames this way without having to use a cassette or anything else? just, say, a cable and write/use a prog that captures frames via a tv-tuner card, for instance? has Well, it's a FILM camera, huh :huh: Why would you want to do that? Of course you could buy a small security camera and hook it up to the viewfinder, but you could instead just buy some digital camera for taking time-lapse. And you will get better pictures that way. If you want everything digital, you should start from digital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn bristol Posted January 27, 2005 Author Share Posted January 27, 2005 Well, it's a FILM camera, huh :huh: Why would you want to do that? Of course you could buy a small security camera and hook it up to the viewfinder, but you could instead just buy some digital camera for taking time-lapse. And you will get better pictures that way. If you want everything digital, you should start from digital. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> that's sorta what i thought, but it never hurts to ask...? :blink: i guess i'm just tryin to find a cheap way to merge the two worlds to get the best of both... digital cameras can only take pictures and send them over the usb cable so fast, i.e. SLOW @ about 4s between shots for 1024x768, 6s for 1600x1200, etc., the "movie mode" function is nothing, output via video cable is always t.v. quality, however, a security cam might be the way to go... i should have also prolly posted this elsewhere than the super8 forum... ooops sorry! :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Emerson John Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Hi, I would suggest using a Firewire connection instead of USB for time-lapse. To save money, You can pick a cheap Digital 8 Camera for next to nothing which outputs pretty good quality. I use both S8 and D8. Hope this helps Emerson J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku Naskali Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 digital cameras can only take pictures and send them over the usb cable so fast, i.e. SLOW @ about 4s between shots for 1024x768, 6s for 1600x1200What kind of time-lapse requires faster than 4 seconds between exposures :rolleyes: And yes, you could do it with any dv/d8 camera with firewire and for example Scenalyzer live software. Of course it won't give you the resolution digital cameras will... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn bristol Posted January 28, 2005 Author Share Posted January 28, 2005 What kind of time-lapse requires faster than 4 seconds between exposures :rolleyes: And yes, you could do it with any dv/d8 camera with firewire and for example Scenalyzer live software. Of course it won't give you the resolution digital cameras will... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> big thanks to both of you! i've already started shopping for a cheap dv/d8 cam off of ebay right now, something to play with :D as for resolution, i don't necessarily need digital camera quality, anything better than NTSC/PAL is usually fine for most of my projects... what time-lapse requires faster than 4 seconds? well.. for one the clouds around here tend to move INCREDIBLY fast, @ 5s intervals the end result is usually very choppy. more importantly are things like insects and people (at events like parties or juggling/artist camps) where the action is fast enough that every 1-3s would be more suitable. every 5-7s loses a lot of whats happening as between frames people have literally come and left the frame, it's very difficult to watch a time-lapsed movie when people are already gone before you knew they were there... granted i do play with the movies and sync them up to music with a lot of back-and-forth between frames to give the audience a chance to follow whats going on... .ehm if you wanna know what i'm trying to explain, there are some of my more interesting examples @ glenneroo.org ...have a look at any of the following and maybe you'll understand what i'm blabbering about :P - Festival of Fiery Arts, Friday chill-out - fire people, happy people, v1 - UNFINISHED - Day-time chill-out @ Waldviertel regular filming and cutting out frames is also an option i've considered, but then i have less control and i don't have individual images anymore. i'd have to somehow splice it all into bits and pieces to work with.. not to mention i don't think it'd be very pratical (or possible or cost-efficient) for, say, 4-72 hour projects which tend to be what i do most of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riku Naskali Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 as for resolution, i don't necessarily need digital camera quality, anything better than NTSC/PAL is usually fine for most of my projects... You'll get exactly ntsc/pal resolution with those video cameras... And the dynamic range is quite shitty compared to digital still cameras. But hey, if you need the speed :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn bristol Posted January 28, 2005 Author Share Posted January 28, 2005 You'll get exactly ntsc/pal resolution with those video cameras... And the dynamic range is quite shitty compared to digital still cameras. But hey, if you need the speed :) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ouch! :blink: maybe i'll rethink this all a bit... :unsure: so are there any other options i should/could be looking into?? all i need is DVD quality, i.e. 720x576... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Alessandro Machi Posted February 3, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted February 3, 2005 ouch! :blink: maybe i'll rethink this all a bit... :unsure: so are there any other options i should/could be looking into?? all i need is DVD quality, i.e. 720x576... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Although I LOVE my Super-8 cameras for being able to do both time-lapse and time-exposure, Digital time-lapse alone can be created by shooting an event in real time and then "speeding it up" in an NLE environment. Digital time-lapse doesn't necessarily look like film time-lapse but it is very acceptable, it's a different style of time-lapse but it still looks like time-lapse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now