I’m using this to document my whole process. To see the final scripts / options / tools, you’ll need to skip to the end.

So Google to the rescue and I came up with a good starting point for creating the movie from my resized images. Santtu Pajukanta has a detailed description of how he created a timelapse.

However, since I didn’t want to package with Matroska because I wanted to later edit the videos I looked around a bit more and found some info on how to package it all into a mov-file. I basically adapted code from Trevor Shannon to do this.

At this point I had a scripted setup that took the FullHD sized images and made two passes over the data and created a timelapse movie. I also parametrised the framerate because at this point I was still playing around with different framerates to see which one would work the best. Unfortunately, the end result was quite poor in quality, so I went looking for more options on how to create the movie. I also had a hard time playing the movie in anything other than VLC on my Mac.

So some more digging around pointed me towards using MP4Box from the Debian package gpac to box the movie. I also adapted the three-pass approach used in ripping to encode the movie as well. Unfortunately again the end result wasn’t exactly what I needed. While the quality was good, end movie size was huge (around 500 MB for a minute of video) and playback wasn’t smooth on either Mac we have in the house (a two year old iMac 24 and year old MacBook).

So I started looking into the bitrate I was using and found the following formula:

optimal_bitrate = 50 * 25 * width * height / 256

For some reason this formula led to an impossible large bitrate that even mencoder complained about. Finally I settled for 80 000 kbit/s which seemed to do the trick well enough.

But now I still had video that was large and didn’t work smoothly. However, I figured that this was still raw footage and after editing each day’s video together in iMovie I’d get a usable result. And then I found out that the movies I’d made could not be imported into iMovie. At this point I’d already used a couple of weeks to create the various versions of the movies.

So, a bit more digging around Google and I finally found a email list posting that gave options on how to create a raw video with mencoder that can then be edited with iMovie. I adapted the command in the posting to suit the creation of a timelapse and ended up finally with:

mencoder ‘mf://1080p/*.JPG’ -ovc x264 -of lavf -lavfopts format=mp4 -x264encopts crf=18:nofast_pskip:nodct_decimate:nocabac:global_header:threads=4:subq=6:partitions=all:8×8dct:me=umh:frameref=5:bframes=3:b_pyramid:weight_b:threads=auto:bitrate=${BITRATE} -nosound -noskip -mf type=JPG:fps=${FPS} -o $FINAL

Note that this does not scale the images at all. I prescaled and cropped the images to 1920×1080 using other tools.

In the final version I used a bitrate of 80 000 and fps of 24. This resulted in around 500 – 600 MB videos for each day (around one minute of footage). I then imported these videos into iMovie and created some titles and credits and added some music to the whole thing. From iMovie I exported everything as a HD movie (720p) and the end result was a bit over eight minutes of footage and a file size of 596.1MB. More information on the final timelapse in this post.

All in all, it was a good learning experience and I noticed that iMovie won’t do if I want to create FullHD footage once I get the 7D. But that’s an issue that can be solved then.

But, starting from midnight 29.6.2010 to the end of 6.7.2010 I set our old Canon 300D to shoot a wide-angle shot of part of the area. While the event itself officially started on 1.7.2010, the 29th was the day when the logistical organization started functioning and people started to arrive. During those eight days, the 160 hectares (395 acres) of fields around our house were the home for 70 000 people. Most of them either had their own RVs or caravans although some rented houses and cottages in the area and were day visitors.

I set up the camera to shoot a picture every minute, which gave me around 1400 pictures per day. To save space, I selected the image size that was closest to FullHD resolution and finally just cropped the images a bit. Not every single minute of the day was captured since we had to switch batteries in the camera and a thunderstorm forced us to switch computers commanding the timed shooting. But we got close enough to a minute of footage from each day (24 frames per second).

Without further ado, here’s the final product:

There are some brief appearances of us and our dogs in a few frames…

Creating the timelapse was very much a learning experience. I’ve documented the technical challenges in creating the video itself, but there were many other challenges as well. Some of the lessons I’ve learned can be summed up in the following bullet points:

• First of all, any timelapse project that spans more than a few hours really needs a continuous power supply for the camera. Swapping batteries creates lags that are unfortunate.
• If you’re shooting from inside through a window, watch out for reflections. You sure can see plenty in the timelapse
• Finding a good framerate for the final video is hard and depends on the use.
• Creating the video takes a lot of time.

But, it was a good learning experience and hopefully at least a few viewers will be able to enjoy the end result.

I’ve already posted about the summer services (suviseurat) that are taking place this year in the fields immediately surrounding our house. The event is huge. It’ll make our county of around 12 000 inhabitants into Finland’s fifth largest city – if only for five days. Based on previous years, it is estimated that around 65 000 people will attend the event. All this in the 150 hectares of fields around our house.

So I will be documenting the event. After all, how often does such an opportunity rise? I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to fine-tune my shooting. Most likely I will shoot general journalistic shots of the event and people just for practice. But I’m mostly interested in documenting what all it takes for a small county to momentarily be so large. In a sense I’m more interested in creating my book from a more behind the scenes perspective.

There were also times when we’ve had to turn off our computers because of thunderstorms etc. which would have caused their own interruptions. I do have some material that I’ll practice creating timelapses with so that when the event itself starts I’ll be prepared to create the final movie.

In fact, the event is basically starting in a week. A week from now the area will be opened for travelers’ to arrive. So from the time the area opens to when the main part of the cleanup ends I’ll have one camera shooting and we’ll see what kind of movies I can generate from the material.

Once I get some experience on composing the movies etc. I’ll post a behind the scenes post on the equipment I’m using.

Today they started their volunteer work in building the area. The build-up will take about two months, with the event taking place during the first weekend of July. And then in several days they will tear the whole area down and the farmers can return them to fields. Some work already took place last fall when contractors worked on building some roads on the fields.

While the knowledge has filled us with a certain level of annoyance – after all it does create quite a disturbance in our life – it also provides opportunities. One of which is documenting the build-up and tear-down of the area as well as the event itself. Our house has a nice tower (we called it our traffic control tower), which offers fairly good views of the surrounding fields. So I set up our old 300D to take timed shots of the area. The camera is pointing fairly directly to NNE, so sun glare etc. shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Unfortunately the view towards the area where the big tent (seating 4200 people) will be is mainly blocked by some trees in our yard. But the current camera position will still be shooting the general direction of a fairly active area. Also, the camera is pointing fairly directly to NNE, so sun glare etc. shouldn’t be too much of a problem. And once the people and their motorhomes / trailers start arriving there will be plenty to see. The shot above is one of the first frames taken (FullHD version).

I’m planning on creating on time-lapse movie of it all, but just to practice the process and keep up timely updates on the whole project I will try to make weekly clips as well. And if nothing else happens, it will also document the progression of Finnish spring and summer, if nothing else.

Last year we saw Tarot live twice (1 gallery, 2) and while the whole bands experience in playing live is apparent, this time they were really relaxed on stage. The playing was typically good and tight, but the audience interaction and fooling around was a very welcome addition. We even got to hear Pecu do some vocals :)

With Tarot being one of the first Finnish metal bands around, there’s always quite a bit of history on stage when they perform (are they the oldest still active?). Of course, not many bands have two brothers as frontmen and still manage to function…

The new album has even more vocal parts sung by Tuple, so I had lots of chances to shoot him pelting into the microphone. Once we get around to making prints of my concert photography for our wall, he’ll be also getting a spot there.

Shooting wise the gig was lit fabulously. I honestly couldn’t have asked for better conditions to shoot in. I started out at ISO 1600 @ f2.8, but quickly dropped down to ISO800 without any issues. Since Kellari doesn’t have a pit and we were a bit late in arriving we were off to the side a bit, but that gave me more chances of getting shots without microphones covering most of the vocalists faces and shots with performers and the audience.

More pictures from the gig in our gallery.

The concept was created by one of the guitarists (Erkka Korhonen) and started by recording an album with slightly heavier versions of many well known Christmas songs. The vocalists were collected from various bands, with Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot) being the most famous.

Two albums have come out (which find their way onto our CD player and MP3 rotation around Christmas) and they’ve since toured several times. The vocalist line-up changes from gig to gig depending on prior commitments etc. The night we saw them the vocalists were Marco Hietala, Tommi Salmela (Tarot), Ari Koivunen (Idols-winner, Amoral), Antony Parviainen (Machine Men), and Ilja Jalkanen (Kiuas).

The band itself isn’t exactly composed of newcomers either. Most of the musicians are seasoned studio musicians if they aren’t in fairly known bands – the drummer is in Thunderstone. A long instrumental and two guitarists gave several chances for shots of the musicians and guitar hero poses.

All in all the gig was really good even if some of the vocalists weren’t exactly in the best possible condition :)

Of course, we got to hear Ilja Jalkanen perform Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer… And as always, more pictures in our gallery.

P.S. At one point the banister between the stage and me (which prevented more than one good shot) was Marco’s stoop. The following picture was shot straight up from where I was standing…

Viikate is quite an interesting Finnish band. The base classification for their music is metal, but it has it’s own vibe to it. The vibe comes from the modernization of rautalanka-music with its melancholy lyrics (what Finnish music doesn’t have melancholy lyrics?). If Volbeat is at all familiar, you can think of the same effect that Volbeat has on rockabilly, Viikate has on rautalanka.

We originally got introduced to Viikate through their album of Christmas songs: Vuoden synkin juhla (The Gloomiest Holiday of the Year). It has cover versions of traditional, melancholy Christmas songs and some originals. And yes, it does play on our stereo around Christmas, just as do Raskasta Joulua and Twisted Sisters Christmas album. What can I say, it’s a metal household.

The venue this time wasn’t really the basement stage of Kellari but the upstairs ballroom of Karjalantalo. It’s a place that has held many a dance and concert. Mostly though with bands playing either rautalanka or iskelmä. The velvet curtains surrounding the stage just added to Viikate’s charm.

The gig was extremely entertaining and in the front row the power of the guitars was so enjoyable. And watching two skilled guitarists play is always a treat.

With the exlusion of the Finnish summer festivals outdoors, I couldn’t have hoped for better lighting. Their stage light was mostly white and thus gave plenty of opportunities for good shots. The only real issue I had with the gig was that my 28-75 is often a bit too long when in the front row in small venues. But the 11-16 is too wide. There’s a 12mm gap that needs filling ;)

As usual, more pictures in our gallery.

We initially noticed Kotiteollisuus from their music video Rakastaa, Ei rakasta. We were working on a scale model of a house for a school project of Anna’s and from the corner of my eye I saw a very familiar scene on the TV. The beginning of the video has a view of the Kaukas pulp and paper mill. I spent my childhood and teenage years in the shadow the mill, so the views were very familiar. Ever since I’ve been a fan of their later albums (which are more melodic than their earlier work). I honestly don’t know how to describe them in English, in Finnish Äijä-rock (Real Man Rock?) is used and is an apt description. I guess a comparison to Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society when it comes to general image could come fairly close.

While their live show isn’t full of acrobatics or awesome shredding and such, Jouni has excellent rapport with the audience. He can taunt the drunks, but also pays attention to the rest of the crowd and acknowledges them well. And his eyes are incredibly lively…

Kotiteollisuus’ lighting was already familiar from their last gig in Joensuu (pictures), so I had a chance to experiment a bit more with the shots to get silhouettes and such. Considering the limited size of the stage and venue, I think I got some good ones.

The main issue that I have with their light is that there is very little white light. The spots lighting Jouni and Janne from the front are yellow and most of the backlight is red or blue. This time in processing I decided to do a lot more conversions to black and white to deal with this. In fact, Anna and I decided to change the well known Mythbusters saying “when in doubt, lubricate” to “when in doubt, grayscale.”

I only got a few shots of the drummer, Jari Sinkkonen, during the whole gig since he was mostly shrouded in smoke. Which is slightly surprising when you consider that I was at most five metres away from him.

As usual, more pictures in our gallery.

Shooting the show was a bit more of a challenge than usual since I dislocated my right hand little finger last Sunday and now have a cast on my right hand (making typing quite annoying as well). Luckily Anna was with me as an assistant in changing lenses and later on in selecting and editing the shots today. Of course, she’s been a tremendous help with clumsy me all along…

We’ve been fans of the Helsinki City Vampires for quite some time (Anna from even before we’d met), but this was the first time we’ve seen them live. So we really didn’t know what to expect. From Chris Owyoung’s shooting notes I knew to position myself to stage right so that Jyrki 69’s left hand wouldn’t cover his face (thanks for the tip!).

What surprised me was that when we arrived at the venue 1.5 hours before showtime, there were just a couple of people there. Even at showtime the place was half full at best and quite a large portion of the crowd weren’t metalheads (at least based on clothing choices). Is the scene in Kuopio so different from Joensuu where a smaller band will get a larger crowd or was it just the time of week and venue. After all, the venue was a hotel nightclub and not all that metal :)

Jyrki 69 was a lively performer as expected, as was Jussi 69 behind his drumset. What surprised me was how much of a stage presence Timo-Timo had right in front of me. He really was the embodiment of a rock guitarist: spinning, duck walking, and running around.

While three songs was more than enough to get a good set of shots, I really would have loved to shoot the entire gig. So much of the audience interaction and stage antics are missed when the whole show can’t be photographed. Maybe sometime in the future there will be a chance to shoot their whole show…

More pictures in our gallery.