Time Lapse and Construction: The Value Of Passing Time
The time lapse can lead to good results in the promotion of buildings that have a clear medium to long implementation time.
Beyond the obvious possibility of keeping the construction site monitored, being able to constantly show the status of the work becomes an interesting tool for direct or indirect sales activity
The main strength of time lapse photography and time lapse videos is – of course – to be able to reproduce in minutes, what occurs in days, weeks, sometimes months and even years. Showing the effects of time brings value to the project in progress, because it effectively tells what occurs between the start of a construction site and its conclusion.
An example of this is done by an industry operating in the plastic sector. This article discusses the use of time-lapse to promote the construction of a new area of your factory or Restaurant Timelapse In Dubai: a timelapse that has lasted for more than a year.
And there is no doubt that time is the real protagonist of time lapse. Of course, we are not talking about those time dilations that are often artificially caused in many public construction sites. But let’s talk about time as a factor of change and transformation of the existing.
This article shows time lapse as a value: time becomes a powerful ally, a marketing tool to be used for the promotion of what happens on the construction site throughout its duration. Not only in the construction sector, but also in the plant sector
What tools are needed to make a time lapse video?
For the creation of time-lapse videos it is essential to be equipped with equipment that can remain fixed, therefore very stable, well anchored, on the new site under construction. At the same time, you need to be able to remotely control those same technologies.
And technology becomes the best ally to immediately intervene on technical factors concerning exposure, light, positioning of the cameras and the possible power supply of the devices used.
It is advisable to have more chambers to be able to grasp more points of view that can be exploited later in the assembly.
How many frames need to be taken?
There really aren’t an ideal number of shots. You can take a few frames a day up to more significant numbers. Much depends on what you are recovering.
To give examples: an image is taken per second, with a very wide aperture, to record phenomena or situations subject to very rapid change. The classic case is that of the traffic present on a road axis or the number of aircraft taking off and landing from an airport.
While to capture the change caused by atmospheric phenomena such as the passing of clouds, it is advisable to take a shot in periods between 1 and 5 seconds.
Instead, shots between 15 and 30 seconds are more suitable, to capture in time lapse everything that revolves around the stars.
To take photographs of this type it will be enough to have a good camera, preferably mirrorless. You will need an intervalometer and a motorized slider in synchronous.
Also to remain in the luggage of tools and accessories, a pair of high capacity cards will be needed to make it easier to store the collected images.
In order not to have power problems it is advisable to use additional batteries if the camera has housing or cheaper battery packs.
How long does a time lapse last?
The time depends on the duration of the activities being resumed. Sometimes it depends directly on who creates the video who can establish a priori how long to shoot a certain activity. At other times, in almost all construction sites, it is linked to the conclusion of an activity.
Compared to all this, it is clear that time is a critical issue for both the power supply and the storage of images.
Most of the construction sites are filmed with intervals between shots of between 3 and 5 minutes. Although this duration can be a problem for the fluidity of the images. It would be advisable not to skimp on the number of shots. The more frequent the shots, the smoother the movements will be and there will be greater autonomy in post production.
It is clear that having a high number of shots, however, involves the need to have sufficiently large data storage tools.
If you recorded on one shot every 30 seconds, you could reach around 1000 shots per day, shooting only until the evening, per camera. Obviously to double if the rooms were two.
Again to talk about numbers and to have a forecast of the spaces needed to collect the shots of it is possible to use this time lapse calculator. Here it will be enough to enter some basic parameters such as the number of shots, the size of the images and the length of the shots, to have the space you will need to store the images.
How many cameras do you need for time lapse?
To obtain satisfactory results, especially if you are shooting in time lapse over the long term, it is advisable, if not necessary, to have multiple cameras.
Having multiple shooting points will allow you to manage your shots more productively during editing. Even if problems arise related to the temporary unavailability of a point of view. For example, because an animal made its nest in front of it.
An obstacle when setting up the timelapse system on the construction site is the correct positioning of the cameras. In fact, it will be necessary to agree with the site managers and above all with the designers of the work, in order to establish a priori the evolution of the construction and to understand in advance any changes that may hinder the correct carrying out of the shooting.
A delicate aspect is precisely the positioning of the rooms .Who deals with video production on construction sites he knows well that this is the most important decision to take because it must be imagined in advance what the orientation of the building will be and above all how the overall dimensions will be in order to study which is the best shooting point and be sure to keep the object in its framing.
Post production and time lapse: flickering and
motion graphics
After shooting, a delicate phase begins: that of post production.
One of the main problems that arises during the editing phase is represented by flickering, that is the flickering of the thin areas of the image. It is due to the sudden changes of light. To solve this defect it is possible to use special plug-ins. There are many solutions on the market. All useful to make the brightness curve in the photos homogeneous.
TLTools and LRTimelapse, for example, work more effectively on shorter takes, because they operate on Raw files. Others, on the other hand, such as GBDeflicker or SapphireDeflicker, are more suitable in post production because they are integrated into compositing programs.
Also in the post production phase it is possible to exploit contributions made in motion graphics. In essence, it involves inserting dynamic graphics, synchronized with the images, in such a way as to be able to provide very useful information, such as resources used, distances and measurements just to give examples. An integration of languages that will further enhance the already high impact of timelapse.
