Three Camera Time Lapse for a Sporting Event?

[Kauz]

Hello Again Everyone,

My newest project is a three camera time lapse. I will be shooting the deconstruction of a basketball court and construction of the hockey rink underneath it between two games in a couple weeks. Two questions.

I have an idea of where I should put the cameras for the best angles. Currently, the thought is

1. pointed at the logo in the center of the court with a wide angle lens from about 100 feet up in the third tier deck, covering the whole court perpendicular to it.
2. over the entry tunnel about 20 feet off the ground in the right corner of the court facing it.
3. tricky. I was thinking of putting it running down center court from north to south in one of the ends, in the second tier of seats with probably a 50mm to just get the court and the rink but no extra seats on the side.

Thoughts about these would be appreciated. Are all wide shots the wrong way of going about this?

Finally, I'm waiting to hear how long the teardown and set up of the court and rink will take. The first game is at 1:00pm, which I'm estimating will take us until about 3:30pm by the time we're done and everyone is out. I'll have 2 assistants helping me set up cameras and running them so the settings are correct. The hockey game is at 8:00pm, doors open at 7:00pm, so that gives us less than 4 hours for the set up. Probably closer to 3. This is where I need your help.

• How frequently should the cameras be triggering?
• I want a short enough clip at about 24 fps that can hold people's attention, but long enough to be able to catch little intricacies of putting the rink together.
• If the whole thing takes three hours, then at one shot every 10 seconds at 24fps it will only be 45 seconds.
• At 5 seconds, 90 seconds. Would it be ok to go at 15 fps to squeeze some extra out?
• What interval would be best?
• The cameras have a buffer of 999 frames for time lapse. We'll have to re-trigger if we go at 10 second intervals, let alone 5 seconds, assuming it does take 3 hours. (3 hr x 60 min x 6 shots a minute = 1080)
• I will know more tomorrow when I hear from the two SIDs I'm meeting with and the person in charge of the facility. Its an NCAA D-I school with a lot of rules, but so far its been smooth.

I would really really like your help and input. Thanks!

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