Announcement: Our new CyberLink Feedback Forum has arrived! Please transfer to our new forum to provide your feedback or to start a new discussion. The content on this CyberLink Community forum is now read only, but will continue to be available as a user resource. Thanks!
CyberLink Community Forum
where the experts meet
| Advanced Search >
GoPro clip shot in Time Lapse mode - how can I slow it down and make it smooth?
Myemerald
Member Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Dec 15, 2016 12:21 Messages: 76 Offline
[Post New]
I have a few short clips which were accidentally shot in Time Lapse mode on my GoPro Hero7 Black. yell
I slowed down the clips in PD but they're jumpy. Is there a way to smooth them out? It's some nice underwater footage that I really want to use.

Here's the unedited version of one of the clips. I tried using the "insert/edit video" option but it didn't work - I copied the link below in the Source box. So here's the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AYwfb5nclqAJwb0YHaVRDP6lz9iVxQ7O/view?usp=sharing

Thanks in advance for your help!smile DirectorSuite 365 | Win 11 Home | AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics 3301 Mhz, 8 cores, 16 logical processors | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | 2TB SSD
optodata
Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline
[Post New]
Thanks for sharing the clip via Google Drive. The forum's attachment limit seems to be around 100MB so your clip was just a little too big.

The clip is jumpy when it's slowed down because each frame is basically a unique photo and PD doesn't have the ability to blend them together seamlessly - it just plays them back to back like a regular video.

I think there are apps out there that can interpolate the "missing" content between frames, but I don't have any experience using them or know how much they might cost.

The best thing I can think of using PD is to actually produce the original clip to a series of images, then import them all and apply a fade cross transtion to all clips. You'll need to experiment with frame length and transition duration, and I made two samples to show the difference.

According to MediaInfo, your original 15 sec clip actually covers 2m 18s of real time, and by setting each frame to be 0.08 sec long, the new version lasts 2:05. If I set the transition duration to 0:02, the stop-motion is still notable but the changes are softer. If I set the transition duration to 0:04, it's a little more dreamy but that may work better for some sections.

I'll write up the steps in the next post, but the packed project and both sample clips are available in this OneDrive folder. You can open up the project and start experimenting while I document everything I did to create it.
JL_JL [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline
[Post New]
Quote I have a few short clips which were accidentally shot in Time Lapse mode on my GoPro Hero7 Black. yell
I slowed down the clips in PD but they're jumpy. Is there a way to smooth them out? It's some nice underwater footage that I really want to use.

Here's the unedited version of one of the clips. I tried using the "insert/edit video" option but it didn't work - I copied the link below in the Source box. So here's the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AYwfb5nclqAJwb0YHaVRDP6lz9iVxQ7O/view?usp=sharing

Thanks in advance for your help!smile

Probably not a lot you can do with that to make it fluent in PD. It looks like maybe a frame every .5 sec, or 2 fps video from your time lapse played back at 29.97 fps. As such, a large change in motion between successive captured frames at 2 fps. PD does not have any frame interpolation technology, regardless, going from 2 fps is simply trying to fill in too many frames, even for frame interpolation tools for a fluent playback at 29.97 fps.

Jeff
optodata
Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline
[Post New]
Steps to convert time-lapse clips into individual frames so transitions can be added to soften the jumpiness:

  1. Start a new project with 4:3 aspect ratio and a 30 fps timeline. Under the Pref > Editing section, set image durations to 0.2 and transition durations to 0.1 sec (these are actually too long but it's where we need to start)

  2. Place the unintentionally-time-lapse-recorded clip on the timeline then go to the Produce page

  3. Use these settings and make sure you have PD set to automatically load all produced clips into the media library:


  4. After producing/converting the original clip, select all media library images (except the source clip) and drag them to the timeline

  5. Go to the Transitions room, select the Fade transition then right-click on it and choose Apply Selected Transition to All Videos on Selected Track > Cross Transition

  6. To set the correct durations, zoom in on the timeline and click on the first transition. Drag the horizontal timeline scroll bar until you reach the end of the content, then hold down the Shift key and click on the final transition to select all of them

  7. Click on the Duration button (clock icon) above the left end of the timeline and set the value to 0:02 or 0:04 (or any other number smaller than 0:0, then click OK to apply the setting to all selected transitions

  8. Select each image in the same manner, then set the duration for all to 0:08

You can now preview the timeline and select all transitions again to try different durations. Note that you shouldn't set the transition duration longer than the clip duration or PD will eliminate the transition on alternating clips.

Use Undo/Ctrl+Z when needed, and be aware that it may take a minute or two to undo the hundreds (or thousands) of individual changes.

I don't know if all this work will be worthwhile for you, but it should let you use at least some of this jumpy footage.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 28. 2021 21:57

tomasc [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline
[Post New]
I had been working on this video to see how it may be salvaged. As Jeff explained, PD has the interpolation technology that can be applied that can help. 2X or 4X slowdown seems possible for good results.

The GoPro was set to time lapse at 10x which leaves only 3 frames per second to work with if normal 1X speed is desired. Will try optodata’s project here later. A side by side video of the restored normal speed 2 min 38 sec. Is shown here on YT with a 3rd party app. comparison. The diver part of the video at 1:15 looks salvageable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcJhNHI-_qQ .
optodata
Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline
[Post New]
Tomasc, there are parts in the optical flow version that are fantastic! Many sections are too convoluted to make it into a final production but with the right cuts, that technology really works great. Which app did you use?
Myemerald
Member Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Dec 15, 2016 12:21 Messages: 76 Offline
[Post New]
Quote Steps to convert time-lapse clips into individual frames so transitions can be added to soften the jumpiness:

  1. Start a new project with 4:3 aspect ratio and a 30 fps timeline. Under the Pref > Editing section, set image durations to 0.2 and transition durations to 0.1 sec (these are actually too long but it's where we need to start)

  2. Place the unintentionally-time-lapse-recorded clip on the timeline then go to the Produce page

  3. Use these settings and make sure you have PD set to automatically load all produced clips into the media library:


  4. After producing/converting the original clip, select all media library images (except the source clip) and drag them to the timeline

  5. Go to the Transitions room, select the Fade transition then right-click on it and choose Apply Selected Transition to All Videos on Selected Track > Cross Transition

  6. To set the correct durations, zoom in on the timeline and click on the first transition. Drag the horizontal timeline scroll bar until you reach the end of the content, then hold down the Shift key and click on the final transition to select all of them

  7. Click on the Duration button (clock icon) above the left end of the timeline and set the value to 0:02 or 0:04 (or any other number smaller than 0:0, then click OK to apply the setting to all selected transitions

  8. Select each image in the same manner, then set the duration for all to 0:08

You can now preview the timeline and select all transitions again to try different durations. Note that you shouldn't set the transition duration longer than the clip duration or PD will eliminate the transition on alternating clips.

Use Undo/Ctrl+Z when needed, and be aware that it may take a minute or two to undo the hundreds (or thousands) of individual changes.

I don't know if all this work will be worthwhile for you, but it should let you use at least some of this jumpy footage.


Optodata - I'm overwhelmed by all the work you have done for me, you are so kind! I'll print your instructions and get to work on it tomorrow. I appreciate your hard work very much!! **Edited to say - I just followed your instructions, then realized you gave me the packed project. Oh well, it was good practice! I'm opening your project now.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Apr 29. 2021 18:58

Myemerald
Member Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Dec 15, 2016 12:21 Messages: 76 Offline
[Post New]
Quote A side by side video of the restored normal speed 2 min 38 sec. Is shown here on YT with a 3rd party app. comparison. The diver part of the video at 1:15 looks salvageable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcJhNHI-_qQ .


Thank you Tomasc! The 3rd party app's results are a lot easier on my eyes, that's for sure. It's kind of a fun look haha! What is the app you used?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 29. 2021 18:09

DirectorSuite 365 | Win 11 Home | AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics 3301 Mhz, 8 cores, 16 logical processors | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | 2TB SSD
tomasc [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline
[Post New]
Looks like the PD interpolation technology is only available starting at 0.2X which is 2X realtime speed for that GoPro 10X time lapse. See the attached popup. I repeated the test with a 5 second center section at 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8. The result is much better this time as 6 frames minimum per second is utilized. Tested along with the third party app at the same speeds. The side by side video test is here: https://youtu.be/fS2g6dqhNdA . The app info is posted there.

Had a chance to check out optodata’s documentation for his project. Decided to cut all his time duration by half. This is to match the PD Speed designer interpolation technology at the maximum limit of 20%. This video result is posted here: https://youtu.be/_KKUwU_HCvw . This appears to be the best solution so far to my eyes over that from using Speed designer at the 20% speed.

The fixed videos looks good.
[Thumb - interpolation.jpg]
 Filename
interpolation.jpg
[Disk]
 Description
Interpolation technology popup window.
 Filesize
24 Kbytes
 Downloaded:
7 time(s)
optodata
Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline
[Post New]
Thanks for doing all the side by side comparisons!

I do like your suggested settings with my test project, but it's running at 2x speed so overall the video feels kind of rushed. I produced that clip again like you did to lock in the smoother/quicker transitions, then I used the Video Speed tool to slow everything down to 1/2 speed so it played back at close to the original pace.

It's nowhere near as smooth as with optical flow, but I think it's mostly useable and has somewhat of an artistic flair. Both clips are in the shared OD folder: frames-4 fades-2.mp4 and frames-4 fades-2 (0.5x speed).mp4
Powered by JForum 2.1.8 © JForum Team