(Note that unlike other Electromics ‹tm› no Java is required to learn about The Intervalometer or view The Intervalometer movies.)
What is The Intervalometer?
The Intervalometer is a chip computer[1] circuit[2] that connects to the electronic shutter release on a super8mm movie camera[3]. It captures single frames of film at programmable[4] increments and makes timelapse movies.
In a world of digital video why use super8mm film and a homemade intervalometer circuit?
Similar timelapse movies could likely have been made with a digital video or still camera but I wanted to experiment with super8mm film. The low-tech nature of super8 gives images an unusual grainy flickering quality different from what's obtained with video.
Using a 25 year old film camera[3] and a homemade electronic circuit[2] makes for a way less expensive method of producing timelapse movies when compared with the high-tech digital video alternative (cost aside, I was unable to find a consumer DV camera at any price with a built-in timer capable of an as infinite range of programmable increments). It may've been possible to use an analog video camera with digitizing hardware and software but that would've required a bulky desktop PC or an expensive notebook computer.
And finally, I wanted to design and construct my own intervalometer circuit. The Intervalometer is the focus of this timelapse movie making project (building these kinds of handmade electronic circuits is in itself an artform worthy of attention).
While set up in the field to make a timelapse movie I shot this photo of the Canon 814E super8mm camera and The Intervalometer (The Intervalometer can be seen in the lower right corner of the picture): http://www.electromics.com/photos/06_26_98_1.jpg
And here's a top view closeup of The Intervalometer: http://www.electromics.com/photos/06_26_98_2.jpg
The following films were shot using The Intervalometer. They can be downloaded by accessing these QuickTime file links.
All of the movies are Cinepack compressed and extremely pixelated, however enough resolution remains to at least get a preview of each film.
SYSIPHUS DIRT MOVER is a commentary on the pointless toilings of humankind. The
movie contains both hand drawn computer animated images and time-lapse film
footage.
SYSIPHUS DIRT MOVER (http://www.electromics.com/movies/sysiphus_160.mov) 160X120 692K 1 min.
J*O*E (not to be confused with the 1970 production starring Peter Boyle) is a self
portraiture study of the artist in the summer of his 39th year. The movie contains
both hand drawn computer animated images and time-lapse film footage.
J*O*E (http://www.electromics.com/movies/joe_160.mov) 160X120 645K 54 secs.
PLATOON IN KETCHUP depicts the horrors of war juxtaposed against the joy of
condiments. The movie contains both hand drawn computer animated images and
stop-motion film footage.
PLATOON IN KETCHUP (http://www.electromics.com/movies/platoon_160.mov) 160X120 535K 47 secs.
(Note: The film portion of PLATOON IN KETCHUP was not shot with The Intervalometer
but was shot with stop-motion super8mm cinematography.)
Footnotes:
[1] At the heart of The Intervalometer is a small easy to program computer on a chip called the BASIC Stamp. Details regarding this inexpensive ($30) chip computer can be found at the manufacturer's (Parallax, Inc.) website www.parallaxinc.com.
[2] Follow this link to see a schematic diagram of The Intervalometer circuit. The circuit is built from the Parallax BASIC Stamp chip computer and miscellaneous electronic components purchasable at any Radio Shack store.
[3] The Canon 814E super8mm movie camera (circa 1973) is what makes The Intervalometer project possible. This camera is capable of shooting one frame of film at a time by tripping it's built-in electronic shutter release. The Intervalomer circuit intermittently opens and closes the contacts of a relay switch, and the output from that relay plugs into the camera's electronic shutter release socket.
[4] The following BASIC program assigns a timing interval to each of 16 different binary settings read from and selectable with the circuit's 4 on/off input switches. At the assigned time the program momentarily flips the circuit's relay output high (on) and trips the camera's electronic shutter. The program is written in a dialect of the BASIC language specific to the Parallax BASIC Stamp chip computer.
' Intervalometer, Joe Rosen 6/98
' init
dirs=%00110000 ' 0-3 inp/4 and 5 outp
pins=%00000000 ' all pins low
main: ' main prg loop
w1 = pins & %00001111 ' read inp switches
' debug w1, pins
if w1 < 1 then main ' all switches off do nothing
if w1 = 3 then delay_1 ' 1 min compressed to 1 sec
goto delay_2 ' all other switch settings
goto main
delay_1: ' interframe delay= (inp val * 1000) + 333
high 4 : high 5 ' send pins 4 and 5 high
pause 333 ' wait .333 seconds
low 4 : low 5 ' send pins 4 and 5 low
w1 = 1000 * w1 ' wait 1 * val inp seconds
' debug w1
pause w1
goto main ' rtn to main
delay_2: ' interframe delay= inp val * 1000
high 4 : high 5 ' send pins 4 and 5 high
pause 333 ' wait .333 seconds
low 4 : low 5 ' send pins 4 and 5 low
w1 = 1000 * w1 ' wait (1 * val inp) - 333 seconds
w1 = w1 - 333 ' i.e. subtract pin high time from wait
' debug w1
pause w1
goto main ' rtn to main