
REVIEWS
A ThinkTap company
A ThinkTap company
I love my GoPro cameras. One is a constant companion in my backpack. A few years ago, I had an idea to shoot a behind-the-scenes time lapse of my near constant travel (e.g. coming/going to the airport, planes taking off/landing). I put fifteen or so videos in the can but soon gave up on the project.
The reason was simple. They sucked.
Why? The camera was always attached to a moving, unstable object like my backpack or roll-aboard. As a result, the image jerked around too much and, at the time, the GoPro frame was too small to give me enough “slop” to stabilize the footage and still render a final product at 720p. I could have corrected this in post, but the process would have been far too time-consuming to merit the work. So, the frames and footage sit on a hard drive, untouched.
Today, I came across a technology called Hyperlapse from Microsoft that could bring new life to my project. My old footage would likely remain on the shelf because Hyperlapse solves the problem a different way. Have a look.
My original project had a basic requirement shoot from an unstable, moving platform (e.g. the human body, a rolling suitcase) with two basic options, each with their own challenges.
Today, I would simply record video because the magic triangle of frame size, memory capacity and battery life have all dramatically increased. But, one problem would remain; constant, jerking motion in the frame.
This is where Hyperlapse shines.
Hyperlapse analyzes and reverse engineers the motion path of the video. Then, rather than grabbing frames at a set interval (e.g. every 10th frame), it selects the next frame that best lines up to the previous frame, even if that frame is incomplete. If I understand correctly, the software then samples unused frames to complete partial frames and, perhaps, do some inbetweening.
So, unlike traditional motion stabilization which is inherently destructive, Hyperlapse is constructive. This results in considerably smoother transitions in the time lapse itself and a much cleaner frame without stabilization and cropping in post.
The only negative I see is the presence of apparent artifact frames in the test video. Hyperlapse is still in development, so a fix is probably planned. If not, it would be a simple process to remove artifact frames from the final render.
All in all, pretty impressive. The results speak for themselves.
Storyteller; words, stills & motion. Bokeh, a sci-fi feature shot in Iceland, is Doug’s current project and is now finishing post-production. When not telling stories of the fantastic, Doug loves putting the natural world – from waterfalls to wild horses – in front of his camera while traveling the world. For regular updates, follow Doug on Twitter, Instagram, facebook, Google+, tumblr or his blog.
Drobo – Drobo is the smartest storage solution in the world. Drobo is storage that protects data — photos, videos and everything else — from hard drive failure. Drobo is peace of mind for the working pro or serious amateur who have a lot of external drives cluttering up the desktop. Save 10% with the coupon code PHOTOFOCUS.
Lume Cube – Proudly known as the World’s Most Versatile Light™, Lume Cube represents the future of LED Lighting. Check out the new Lume Cube STROBE, offering anti-collison lighting for drones!
DxO – Makers of PhotoLab 3 and the powerful Nik suite, DxO presents photographers with the perfect toolkit to help enhance their photographs!
B&H – B&H is a world renowned supplier of all the gear photographers, videographers, and cinematographers need and want to create their very best work.
Skylum – Your photos, more beautiful in minutes. Makers of Luminar, Aurora and Photolemur, Skylum adapts to your style and skill level. Check out Luminar 4’s unique sky replacement and portrait editing tools, now available. Save $10 with the code PHOTOFOCUS.
Xpozer – Show off your photos and fill your walls with the Xpozer frame system. Xpozer makes it easy to switch out your photos in a matter of minutes! Be sure to check out the Xpozer Holiday Gift Pack, free when you spend $99 or more.
Capture One – Capture One is a powerful and intuitive software made for every photographer, so your photo editing experience is smoother and more precise than ever. Check out the new Capture One Pro 20 today!
X-Rite – Make sure your color is perfect with X-Rite’s easy-to-use color calibration tools for cameras, printers, monitors and more!
Perfectly Clear Complete – Built for precision. Made for beauty. Perfectly Clear has mastered the science of intelligent image correction – creating superior quality photos in record time, so you can get back to doing what you really love…in no time. Special Photofocus deal here.
Illuminati – Get perfect exposure every time, with the new Illuminati IM-150 light and color meter.
Viewbug – Learn and improve your photography with over 500 videos. Trusted by millions around the world, join over 2 million photographers who already use Viewbug.