Over the course of about 2 years, i took nearly daily photos of a construction site across the street from my home. Due to various reasons, the images are not lined up with each other very well. What is the best way to align them so they can be turned into a time lapse video?
Mozleron,
Not likely to be easy! First, are you OK with getting a time lapse from your shots? You can drag a group of photos to the timeline rather than one at a time but be aware the order will be the current sort order in the media pool / windows explorer. Depending on your camera, file names of dates may not necessarily be 'alphabetic' if single digits don't have leading zeros. There is a setting for 'Standard picture length' under 'System' >> 'Video/audio' which can be as short as a single frame but I'd suggest trying two or three frames per image at least. 2 X 365 / 25 is only about half a minute play time
For alignment... You could try exporting as a video file and then use it in a new project and see if auto image stabilization is useful. If not you may have to adjust each frame by hand using 'Effects' >> 'Movement effects' >> 'Size and position'. Also consider having a short cross fade between images which might lessen the need for exact alignment. This could be as short as three frames per image and a one frame overlap-- [frame A] [frame A] [frames A + B] [frame B] [frames B + C] [frame C] etc.
Also... The latest version(s) of MEP have some interpolation when you go to very slow motion. Again export first at one image per frame and then, in a new project, extend the play time to 2X or 3X.. From the MEP 2013 manual:
Interpolate intermediate frames: Activate this option if your video is jerky as a result of being slowed down. MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 2013 then automatically fills in missing frames so that your video can be played back smoother.
Good luck!
Carl
Hi,
I would create a grid, or download one put it on a track below where the photos are, since the grid will likely have black lines on a white background you will need to use chroma key to eliminate the white so that you just have the lines. You made need to adjust the threshold and fading range to get the grid background to be completely transparent.
It should look something like this
Then use the movement effects (size position rotation section etc.) to position the images one you are finished just remove the grid or mute that track.
George
Hi
@George - never thought of using a grid.
I use a blue image twice to make a crosshair as shown in the images and set one's width to 4px and the others height to 4 px and position them at the point I want be the reference for all subsequent movements as shown in the second image.
.
John
Hi
@George - never thought of using a grid.
I use a blue image twice to make a crosshair as shown in the images and set one's width to 4px and the others height to 4 px and position them at the point I want be the reference for all subsequent movements as shown in the second image.
.
John
Thank you guys for the responses so far.
So, the point of putting in the grid/crosshair is to give a reference point throughout the sequence of images to align each image up with? Does this mean each image still needs to be aligned manually, or is there a way to script/automate out the alignment process by marking key points to align?
I will start messing around with this tonight when i get home and report back on what i've discovered once i have some results to speak of.
Hi,
Grid or cross hair either will work equally well. What you need to do is pick the image that is "zoomed in " the most, then choose a reference point that is fixed in all the photos (a tree, a telephone pole, the curb) anything that is consistent in all photos. Align all of your photos using size position etc to that point and you will have it. Then of course change the duration of your photos so that you can create the "time lapse" illusion that you want.
George