Okay, here is a quick workflow description for all of you that don't own Lightroom or Aftereffects.

You can use LRTimelapse as well with Bridge/ACR/Photoshop to get nice time lapse movies.

1. Open Adobe Bridge
2. Navigate to the Folder with your time lapse sequence
3. Select all images (Ctrl-A)
4. Open in Camera RAW (Ctrl-R)
5. Change development settings for the first image of the sequence
6. Select all images
7. Hit Synchronize, chose to sync everything
8. Edit the last image of the sequence if you want to make a transition
9. Hit Done.
10. Back in Bridge make sure the images have sequential suffixes
    

Now go to LRTimelapse. Open the Folder, make your transitions, deflicker (like I explained here)

Now open Photoshop

1. Chose File -> Open
2. Navigate to the folder with your image sequence
3. Select the first image
4. Check "image sequence"
5. Hit Open.
6. Chose a frame rate, i.e. 30 fps
7. You can check if the whole sequence was loaded under Window -> Workspace -> Motion. If only one image was loaded, the numbering of your files is not correct. I made best experiences with test-1000.jpg, test-1001.jpg and so on. (You can use the batch rename function in bridge to achieve this)
8. Now you can render the video via File->Export->Render Video.
   

Please make sure that you make every Image manipulation in Camera Raw, don't make any image manipulations in Photoshop!

I finally see the "Synchronize" option - I never noticed it before. Yuo may want to clarify this (I think some other people may also not notice it because the thumbnails are normally on the right side).

After all images are selected in Bridge, and you hit CNTRL-R, notice new thumbnail/images appear in the left window pane of ACR (Adobe Camera Raw editor). If you hit the "Select all" option/button above the left window pane, the "Synchronize" option/button will be available for selection just belwo the "Select All" button.

I need a workflow for using LR-Timelapse with Photomatrix HDRs.

PS: The activation email is not making it to my inbox.

(03-09-2011 01:52 PM)cny_ap Wrote:  I need a workflow for using LR-Timelapse with Photomatrix HDRs.

You will have to make jpgs out of the HDR first.

Quote:PS: The activation email is not making it to my inbox.

All mails I sent you came back. Please provide a reachable EMail adress.

I'm not allowed to see your email, and there is no option to send a private message (don't want to post my email addresses here in public). I had one (but only one) issue with my ISP befere - they block dpreview.com confirmation emails; I assume that's what is happening again.

I should create HDR JPEGs (from my bracketed images) via Photomatrix, and then use LR-timelapse to deflicker and transition the exposure/brightness of the JPEGs?

(03-11-2011 01:42 PM)cny_ap Wrote:  I should create HDR JPEGs (from my bracketed images) via Photomatrix, and then use LR-timelapse to deflicker and transition the exposure/brightness of the JPEGs?

Yes.

Please write me an email to support(at)lrtimelapse(dot)com from an address i can reply to (my personal mails came back as well).

Deflickering tonemapped images is not that easy due to the way Photomatix (e.g. tone mapping in general) works.
If you're using the Details Enhancer you're using a local tone mapping operator (TMO) - this means you will not only have to deal with overall changes in luminosity, but also with local changes in luminosity too - eliminating these is almost impossible especially not with LRTimelapse alone (which can only correct global luminosity changes).
If you want to use tone mapped images for your time lapse, you should stick with global TMOs, read up on wikipedia to understand what the difference between them is. I am not sure, but the "Tone Compressor" in Photomatix seems to be one of those.

Best Regards
David

Thanks, that's a good idea to use Photomatrix's other tone mapper.

I took 3 shots in each "bracket". I shot in A-priority, therefore all shots had simialr exposure/brightness even though the sun was setting.
I seperated the 3 sets of files on my computer (light, normal, and dark). I used LR-Timelapse to "fade" the images over time, so they looked reasonable for a sunset.
I then put the 3 sets of images into the same directory and ran Photomatrix. the resulting images no longer faded over time - it seems Photomatrix must have performed an "auto brightness" function. I need to force myself to work on it some more (and perform the suggestion here of using jpegs, but I thought an earlier direction said it does not work on jepgs).

I'm unsure of the details. I opened all JPEGs except the last image in Adobe Raw editor. (I think I need to force the JPEGs headers to be modified in Photoshop, but I'm really unsure. I figured it could not hurt.)
So I increased exposure and saturation slightly, selected all images, and then selected "Synchronize" and then "Done". Photoshop then updated the many JPEGS (not sure if just "header" information or the actual image is altered - it took a long time, so I think the images were altered).
In the raw editor, I then made the last image darker (it is a sunset timelapse) and selected "done".
I then loaded LR-Timelapse, and left "deflicker" not selected (because selecting it might smooth out the exposure, fooling me into thinking "Linear" worked). I selected all images and "Linear" transition, but the various lines overlaid on the image did not change.

I think a Photoshop version of this Lightroom JPEG tutorial would help:

2nd pass
1.Export the images with Lightroom into a new folder: Check "Add to this catalog", Check "Minimize embedded metadata", Export as JPG with maximum quality. Save that settings as "LRTimelapse 2nd pass" for next time use.
2.Open the folder with the newly exported images in Lightroom
3.Change the exposure of the 1st Image to 0.01 (you have to change something otherwise metadata will not be written correctly)
4.Synchronize Settings to all other images
5.Write out metadata
6.Go to LRTimelapse
7.load the new folder (currently you have to close it and open again to see the new folder, I will fix this in the new version)
8.When loaded, right click on the header of the exposure column and reset settings (this will get rid of the 0.01)
9.Deflicker as usual
10.Save
11.In Lighroom: Load metadata
12.Export time lapse video

(03-17-2011 11:37 AM)cny_ap Wrote:  I'm unsure of the details. I opened all JPEGs except the last image in Adobe Raw editor. (I think I need to force the JPEGs headers to be modified in Photoshop, but I'm really unsure. I figured it could not hurt.)

To be safe I recommend not to leave out the last image when doing the initial editing.

Quote:So I increased exposure and saturation slightly, selected all images, and then selected "Synchronize" and then "Done". Photoshop then updated the many JPEGS (not sure if just "header" information or the actual image is altered - it took a long time, so I think the images were altered).

XMP-Data of JPGs is not beeing written to Sidecar files, it's beeing written directly in the JPGs. Thats by design.

Quote:In the raw editor, I then made the last image darker (it is a sunset timelapse) and selected "done".
I then loaded LR-Timelapse, and left "deflicker" not selected (because selecting it might smooth out the exposure, fooling me into thinking "Linear" worked). I selected all images and "Linear" transition, but the various lines overlaid on the image did not change.

Wich lines do you mean?
Yellow is the exposure, if you changed it between the first and the last shoot it should change.

The blue curve is the brightness of the image or image area (if one defined). It only changes if you select another image area.

If you don't turn on deflicker there are no more curves that could change.

Quote:I think a Photoshop version of this Lightroom JPEG tutorial would help:

Have you seen this one:
http://forum.lrtimelapse.com/Thread-how-...5-extended