• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • First Time Here?
    • Archive
    • London Blogs
  • Blog
  • Travel
    • London Theater Tickets
    • Shopping
    • Tips
    • Tours
    • Transport
    • Maps
    • Parks
    • Resources
    • Restaurants
    • Top 10 London
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Buildings
    • Food
    • London Books
    • Movies
    • Museums
    • Music
    • Pubs
  • Londonism
    • Reviews
    • Fun London
    • Iconic London
    • Life in London
    • London Realities
    • Moving to London
    • Politics
  • The Tube
  • London History
    • Great London Buildings
    • Great Londoners
  • Contact
  • Guidebooks
    • 101 London Travel Tips – Guidebook
    • 101 Free Things to do in London

Londontopia

The Website for People Who Love London

You are here: Home / Culture / Video: London Timelapse Montage

Video: London Timelapse Montage

Jan 30, 2012 By Jonathan

London Timelapse Montage from Anatoleya on Vimeo.

I usually make stopmotion videos, but thought I would take a break and make a one-off timelapse video. Here it is.

All the footage was taken over a three week period in November 2011, except for the first two daytime scenes of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium bridge at the beginning which were taken near the end of October 2011, and the rotation scene at Oxford Circus halfway through the video which was taken as part of another project earlier in the year for Minimood Records.

N.B. I used a lot of the same footage for a commercial project for Ki Records: http://youtu.be/016uZ1V5jIs
I uploaded that at 2896×1936 resolution.
___________
EQUIPMENT: a Canon 5D Mark II [with a Canon f/1.4 50mm and a f/1.4 24mm lens], and an Olympus EPL3 [with a Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens], and a basic tripod.

__________
SOFTWARE: I turned the image sequences into videos and applied the transitions in After Effects [details below].

_______
DETAILS:
I’m not normally a fan of timelapse videos, but there are a lot of scenes in London I wanted to include in a stopmotion video but couldn’t find a way of connecting them together – the only way to do that was by a timelapse montage.

Initially I uploaded a simple version with all the clips joined together, but that seemed lazy and boring, so I redid it with transitions between most of the clips. I tried to zoom into areas in one clip that were similar to areas in another clip, so by zooming and panning in and then zooming out into another clip the transitions look more fluid. As the photos were taken at 4080×2720 on the 5D2 and 4032×2272 on the EPL3 this meant that for most scenes enough detail was there for me to zoom in a lot. Although in some scenes you’ll see a bit of noise as I zoomed in over 2,000% some times. I didn’t get the zoom/panning idea until after I had taken all the footage. If I had thought of it beforehand then I would’ve recorded it all at full 21MP [5616×3744 res] on the 5D2. Oh well. For other transitions I used the BCC [Boris Continuum Complete] swish transition and the BCC blur transition. Another method was by overlaying the ends of two clips and adjusting the opacity of each so they fade into each other.

One scene near the beginning of the video is stopmotion rather than timelapsing – across the Millennium Bridge. I did that with an EPL3. I attached the cam to a tripod and held it way above my head in continuous shot mode using a cable release and just walked incredibly slowly. I had to hold it high above my head because at normal level it looked too choppy with so many people bustling passed. I got a few strange looks doing that, but the effect was worth it I think.

Vimeo has a resolution limit, but I’ve uploaded the video at the original resolution on youtube, which is 4080×2720: http://youtu.be/gd4qPMORosI So those with a good internet connection can view it in 4k quality. That version has a different [and admittedly rather weird] piano piece I also made.

I also uploaded the same version [with the same piano piece] as this one on youtube at 2k [2048×1365 res]: http://youtu.be/gq9HkGzcdgA

N.B. The video has a 3:2 scale because the Canon 5D2 takes photos with a 3:2 scale and most of the footage was taken with a 5D2. I cropped the Olympus EPL3 footage to fit this.

_________________
CAMERA SETTINGS:
All the daytime footage at the beginning was taken on an EPL3 in diorama mode for a mild tilt-shift effect [continuous shooting with a release cable]. The night scenes were mostly taken with a 5D2, mostly using a Canon f/1.4 50mm prime lens. I didn’t acquire the 24mm f/1.4 lens until near the end. I wanted longer exposures for traffic light trails, so the shutter mostly ranged between 1-2 secs.

A lot of photos that made this video are in my Flickr Canon 5D2 album: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwKsL21 and my Olympus EPL3 album: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwokphK , though comparing the video with the flickr photos I see a bit of quality’s been lost in the editing process.

______
MUSIC:
I made several different piano pieces to go with the video [plugged my electric piano into my computer via MIDI cable and recorded myself playing]. The youtube version has a different piece I also made.

jonathan
Author: jonathan

Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.

close

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Pocket

Filed Under: Culture, Londonism, Videos

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

About jonathan

Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free London Updates

Free London News

Get the latest news on London history, culture, travel, exhibitions, and more right in your inbox!

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Get the Anglotopia/Londontopia App

Our Advertisers

If you are a mobile gamer, you may want to take a look at UK’s new mobile casinos and slots reviewed by NewCasinoUK.

Join the London Forum

  • Mudlarking
  • MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN LONDON
  • What's Your Favorite Place in London?
  • Paddington Station

London Guide

  • Ten Cheap Things You Can Do in London on a Budget
  • Ten London Exhibitions to Look Forward to in 2023
  • London’s Non-Free Museums: Your Guide to London’s Museums That Charge Admission
  • Trip Planning: Top 10 Exhibitions To Plan Your 2018 Trips to London Around
  • London Guide: Our Favorite Restaurants in London – London Restaurant Recommendations for Americans – What’s Your Favorite?

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Support Londontopia

Search our Extensive Archive

Top 10 London

  • Ten Unusual Exhibits to See in London
  • London Pubs: Ten Thameside Pubs for a Pint and a View
  • Top 10 London: Ten More Things to Do Along the River Thames
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Shopping Centers in London
  • Museums of London: Ten Overlooked London Museums
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haggerston
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Haringey
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Redbridge
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to See and Do in Hillingdon
  • Top 10 London: Top Ten Things to Do in Canonbury

Recent Posts

  • V&A set to open first major UK exhibition on Renaissance sculptor Donatello
  • Ten National Trust Properties in London
  • What’s On in London Events for February 2023
  • Only Fools And Horses musical to close in West End after four years
  • Artist Ai Weiwei to launch first design-focused exhibition at London’s Design Museum
  • London Travel Alert: Staff at British Museum to walk out during half-term break
  • Poet Lemn Sissay ‘over the moon’ to receive Freedom of the City of London
  • English Heritage has unveiled six new blue plaques for London
  • National Portrait Gallery to reopen in June with two special exhibitions
  • Exploring The Cosmic House in London

Best Posts on Londontopia

  • 101 London Travel Tips
  • Top 100 London Attractions
  • How to Find the Cheapest Airfares to London
  • 10 Things NOT to do in London
  • Best London Guidebooks
  • 101 Free Things to do in London
  • London Lingo – A London Word Dictionary
  • Top 7 Tips for Doing London on the Cheap
  • Top 11 Myths American Believe about London
  • Guide to Eating in London
  • Best Times of Year to Travel to London
  • London Packing Tips
  • Top 11 Movies Set in London
  • Top Attractions off the Tourist Track
  • Top 5 Most Amazing London Hotels
  • Top 10 Hostels in London
  • Best Views in London Restuarants
  • London Taxi Ettiquette
  • Top 12 London Views
  • Great Fire of London
  • A Guide to Five of London’s Bridges
  • 10 Random Facts and Figures about Trafalgar Square
  • Top 100 British Slang Words

London Places to Explore

Bloomsbury Buckingham Palace Canary Wharf City of London Covent Garden Cutty Sark Greenwich Hampstead Hampton Court Palace Heathrow Houses of Parliament Hyde Park Imperial War Museum Islington Kensington Kensington Palace Leicester Square London London Eye London Transport Museum Museum of London National Gallery Notting Hill Piccadilly Circus Putney Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Regent's Street Royal Academy Selfridges Somerset House Southbank Southwark St Pancras St Paul's Cathedral Tate Britain Tate Modern The City Tower Bridge Tower of London Trafalgar Square V&A Wandsworth West End Westminster Westminster Abbey

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Recent Videos

Walk Around London Virtually Right Now – Watched Walker is the YouTube Channel We All Need Right Now

Jason Hawkes Shares a Beautiful Video of London From Above That We All Need Right now

London Tube: You’ve Got to Watch This Amazing Mesmerizing Animation That Shows the Real Geography of the London Underground

Video: The Basics of Crossrail – London’s New Underground Line

London History: The Place Where Old London Double Decker Buses Went to Die

London Video: A Look at the Great Smog of London

Tube and London bus fares to rise by nearly 6% from March

What is Crossrail 2 and What is Its Current Status?

London Alert: Strike by London Underground workers to go ahead after last-minute talks fail

London Mayor hails Elizabeth line as direct routes and Sunday services begin

Elizabeth line fully opens and offers more direct journeys

Tube poet encourages writers to ‘bring who they are to the field’

Footer

About Londontopia

Londontopia is simply the website for people who love London. It was founded by Jonathan & Jackie Thomas from Anglotopia.net as a place to post articles solely focused on London and its environs. Keep up with all the latest London news at Londontopia! This site is geared towards people who love to visit London and our primary audience is North American but everyone is welcome!

When We’re in London Next

We don’t currently have any travel plans to London but hope to visit at some point in 2021.

  • SEO Backlinks
  • Travel Blog

SIGN-UP FOR FREE LONDON WEEKLY UPDATES!

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

Copyright © 2023 Anglotopia, LLC · Website Developed by Anglotopia, LLC · Log in