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Photography and Digital Imaging

Automated Macro Rail

Automated Macro Rail

One of my latest hobbies is electronics, and what better way to start than with picaxe?  Picaxe programmable IC's are a 'computer on a chip'.  They have a processor, non-volatile memory, and can be easily programmed either by flowcharts or BASIC programming code.  The best part is they are 'cheap as chips' and can be used in all kinds of designs.  In this article I present a simulation of a design by Domjan Svilkovic that was published in Diy Photography.  This simulation can be used as a troubleshooter for making the real thing, as well as an educational platform for other electronics beginners like me.

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DIY Intervalometer

DIY Intervalometer

Ever since I started becoming more interested in photography, I've been fascinated by the idea of timelapse photography.  One of the first things I learned though, was that my camera wasn't capable of carrying out this seemingly simple task on its own.  It requires an external 'intervalometer' - a device which is programmed to take photos at a set interval.

After having completed the Automated Macro Rail project, I just knew what I had to do.  I had to make a modification of this project that could provide an intervalometer for my camera.  The design I came up with is very simple, very cheap, and it is reliable.

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How to make a Timelapse Video

Creating a HD Timelapse

Once I built my DIY Intervalometer, I scoured the net for tutorials on putting timelapse videos together.  What I found was a scattered mix of information and misinformation that involved both free and pay-for solutions.  I didn't want to pay for a solution because I know that there are a plethora of video editing tools out there.  On the other hand, I didn't want to be hand-coding a great big convoluted script that involved re-analysing every time I wanted to make a little change.

So what I did was to make a simple production end-to-end using the simplest tools available to produce the highest quality result I could in as little time as possible.  I think I succeeded in this, as the result is in high definition and can be reproduced in few steps without any real technical knowledge.

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