Friday, April 30, 2010

Creating Timelapse Sequences from Digital Photos

If you have a timer that can trigger shots at a regular intervals (AKA an intervalommeter function), you can have the free VirtualDub software convert your shots into a timelapse video.

Browse the forums at Timescapes.org for more details, but in the meantime browse my draft results in my Timelapse & HD Video set on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreysullivan/sets/72157622147534372/

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks April 21/22


Meteor Over the Salt Flats, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Here are a couple of resources to help you identify where to look in the sky:

http://www.amsmeteors.org/showers.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_16541_view-lyrid-meteor.html

Here are the upcoing meteor showers for the year:

2010 Meteor Showers (major ones):
www.theskyscrapers.org/meteors/

Meteor shower calendar for 2010 (including smaller ones):
www.astronomia.org/2010/calfugaces.en.html



Search this blog for "meteor" for related posts, and for a discussion on converting a sequence of shots into a timelapse video using the free VirtualDub software:
http://activesole.blogspot.com/2009/08/perseid-meteor-shower-iii-hd-video.html

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Fun With a Helmet Cam

I was on the verge of buying a cheap uderwater camera when I ran across the GoPro helmet cam: a compact unit that can shoot in one of 5 video formats all the way up to 1080P HD, plus the capability to shoot 5 megapixel still images one at a time or at selectable intervals.

The GoPro is water resistant to 80 meters deep, so no problem if you want to shoot video or stills while snorkling, fishing, whitewater rafting, or skiing.

It produces videos in an MP4 format which not all programs support, but I found free software which enables conversion to more common formats, while adjustment of video quality:
http://www.highballblog.com/2010/02/how-to-edit-your-gopro-hd-videos-with_25.html

At the risk of stating the obvious, the GoPro portion of the video here is the portion clearly shot from pro freeskier Kevin Wherritt's point of view. (I should also add the caveat that the video uploaded here is a quick preview edit, and is of course severely downgraded in resolution and quality for ease of online use.)