Orion, SMC, LMC time lapse

[rogerg]

Hi everyone,

When I recently had a week off work there were a couple of cloudy nights where I couldn't do any astronomy. This got me thinking, and I ended up trying some time lapse video instead! The result was this short little video:

http://vimeo.com/32657517

Then over the last week I have been improving the technique under clear skies and now have this one showing Orion and the LMC and SMC:

http://vimeo.com/33069518


I hadn't previously let myself get caught up in doing time lapse videos but now I have, I see it is just such a brilliant way to combine my enjoyment of astrophotography and creating mood with music, so think I am hooked! :( I don't need another hobby or reason to spend money on a hobby!

Hope you enjoy these early pieces.


Roger.

[vanwonky]

Nice work Rodger. You just need to get that scope dancing in time.

[jjjnettie]

I really enjoyed that Roger, thanks.

[rogerg]

Thanks jjjnettie & Dave, glad you enjoyed it :)

[iceman]

Great work Roger, well done!

How are you moving the camera? Did you buy some dolly gear?

[iceman]

Also, I saw your thread about codecs etc.

How did you end up putting the sequences together?

[Greg Bock]

Thanks Roger, I really like the way these videos depict the beauty of the night sky.
I wish I had more time to do my own.

[rogerg]

At the moment I am just using my AstroTrac mount without the wedge, so it rotates the camera at sidereal rate horizontally. I change how horizontal that plane is to get the effect I want. I have built a DIY dolly but the motor was way too fast, so currently waiting on delivery of a $15 2rpm motor from Hongkong :)



I still don't understand how codecs fit in to the puzzle. When I play these videos on my iPad I see it says there is no codec used. I ended up buying the Sony Creative Software video studio. In to that I import a raw uncompressed video created in VirtualDub from the individual frames. From the video studio I choose to "make video" to the specs it chooses for the iPad, and just use that. It works, I have no idea if it's a good way to do it. Up until that make video stage it is all 1080p but it ends up being 720. I am not sure yet what settings to use for 1080p and if Vimeo will accept 1080p.




Thanks Greg. Time will tell if I can keep up the interst due to time commitments. November has been a productive month for astronomy for me, being able to spend an excetional 15+ nights capturing data, the crunch will come soon enough :)

Thanks,
Roger.

[Ross G]

Great work Roger.

I really enjoyed it.

Ross.