VIEW Intervalometer by Timelapse Plus – Must See Kickstarter

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by Nic DivischekApril 11^th, 2016

Timelapse+ have launched a new product on Kickstarter, the VIEW Intervalometer. At the time of this post it has already reached $70,000 funding, and still has another 22 days left. Here are some of the features of this new gadget.

VIEW Intervalometer

Timelapse Photography is an art. It takes a lot of patience, it takes quite a bit of pre-planning and a lot of trial and error. The Timelapse+ VIEW intervalometer attempts to make timelapse photography a little easier. Building on their successful Kickstarter campaign of the Timelapse+ intervalometer, VIEW Intervalometer adds, just as it names states, the ability to view your timelapse in the field, even while you are still shooting a timelapse! In order not to disrupt your timelapse, a simple swipe of your hand over the screen, activates a preview of what you are currently shooting.

Automatic Ramping

The View intervalometer also features automatic ramping. It applies an algorithm to analyse each pictures exposure value and exports XMP files of each image for Lightroom for perfect ramping. It can, however, also do automatic ramping or you can set keyframes. It allows perfect Day-To-Night and vice-versa transitions straight from the camera.

Technical Notes on the Ramping Algorithm:

• It’s analyzing the thumbnail from each image to determine whether it’s under or over exposed, relative to the starting image and then feeds that info to the ramping algorithm
• The ramping algorithm then filters (removes any outliers) and integrates the exposure readings and passes it to a tuned PID function for tracking
• The PID tuning is split into two parts — one set of tuning parameters for rising light levels, and a separate set for falling light levels. This allows the system to “lag” a little bit for sunset so that it feels like it’s getting darker, and also lets it aggressively “over-respond” to sunrise preventing it from blowing out.
• Additionally, after the PID step, an offset is applied based on the overall exposure value, compensating by -1 stops (configurable) during the night and 0 stops during the day (and interpolating in between). This helps night feel like night.
• All of the parameters above will be user accessible, but the defaults should always work so unless a person is curious to experiment, it should not be necessary to adjust anything. Right now there’s a total of 16 parameters it uses for tuning, but I’m going to try to abstract that to a “more responsive/less responsive” slider setting. Still, the current defaults are working wonderfully.

Access your timelapse through the WEB

Another incredibly cool feature is the ability to access your timelapse through the web. View has a built-in WIFI module. When connected to a WIFI hotspot (future support for a USB cell modem is planned), VIEW allows you to view and configure your timelapse from anywhere in the world. It does, however, require a years subscription to your name.view.tl, which will cost 60$/year (1 year for free, if you are an early backer).

Feature Overview

• Preview your time-lapse at 24/30fps on the VIEW device or from your phone, even while the time-lapse is still recording!
• Use the VIEW’s wifi hotspot feature to setup and preview your time-lapse and even stream live view and adjust focus from your phone
• Connect the VIEW to the internet via wifi and have full control from anywhere in the world! Perfect for long-term setups — check, reconfigure, download images, and even setup motion from anywhere you are.  This is an optional service provided via view.tl — one year free included for backers, $60/year (planned) after that.
• Automatic day-to-night and night-to-day or even 24 hours with no setup needed — just press start!  The holy grail of time-lapse is simpler than ever before.
• Keyframe Focus Ramping with Nikon and Canon, with an interactive live view setup
• Built for the field — withstands temperature extremes, 15+ hour battery life, designed to be used with gloves as well as touch-free gesture control so you can access it while a time-lapse is running without worrying about moving the camera
• Auxiliary port for synchronizing shoot-move-shoot capabilities with most motion systems (best with just a fixed interval)
• Full integration with Dynamic Perception’s NMX controller for keyframed multi-axis setups that are synchronized with focus & interval, even variable intervals

VIEW is compatible with Canon, Nikon and Sony Mirrorless camera. Have a look at this incredibly helpful tool on Kickstarter.