I’ve begun to experiment with hyperlapse. This is essentially the shooting of a timelapse from a moving vehicle. My desire was to be able to shoot from a moving vehicle while hands-free. I also wanted the ability to capture shots from the road and of the horizon. I will have some of the results to share with you soon, but here’s what I figured out (with the help of ).
The Gear
In order to create a stable shot, I used a three suction cup system. I used gear from a company called Filmtools out of Los Angeles that carries gear for the movie industry.
The base of the system is the Gripper 3025 from Filmtools. This is a 6″ Suction Cup Camera Mount that offers an articulating arm to angle the camera. We mounted this to the dashboard. This serves as the primary platform. Pushing the plunger in creates a strong seal. If you see the red line on the plunger, push more to increase suction.
I then added the Teenie Weenie Triangulation Kit (their name, not mine). This adds to more points of contact. A three legged table is stable and we found that this dramatically cut down on vibration and camera shake. It also kept the gear from falling if one suction cub came loose.
Controlling the Camera
I picked up a TriggerTrap remote based on Scott Bourne’s recommendation. This unit offers several different ways of controlling a camera from a smart phone. Methods I used included:
- Distance Lapse a photo was taken based on GPS. Every time the car moved a certain distance a photo was taken.
- Sound trigger I could simply make a loud sound and trigger the shot.
- Traditional trigger Tap a button and start recording photos or stills.
I’ll post the results and more in the coming weeks. But leave a comment or question below to let me know which aspects you want to learn about.
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Pretty sophisticated setup. Wonder if there is a way to stabilize a camera on the cheap for moving car timelapse? We have a killer suspension bridge here – The Sunshine Skyway – that I would love to get a hyperlapse going over.
This was about $400. The bottom only part was $140
I went to the website and did find a mount for under $100.00, so I might have assumed expensive too early, thanks!
It should be noted that in California, you can’t even mount a GPS to the center of the dash.
Probably true…. California likes their laws. Seems like any time you use a camera, law enforcement can end up paying more attention than they should.
Is this more dangerous than Texting?
I wasn’t driving…. so no.