Need help setting up a Canon T3i for long-term timelapses

[WhyNotVideos]

Hey there,
I want to do long-term timelases (2-4 weeks).
Its all going to be indoors, the camera and the object are going to be in a big white box with LED lighting 24/7. I've already taken care of the power supply, I've installed Magic Lantern on the T3i and I have 64GB SD card. From what I've read, I want to shoot in RAW. Is that 64GB going to be enough? I will be shooting at 10 minute intervals, thats around 1000 shots per week. Should I buy 128GB? I dont want to change SD cards while shooting because Im afraid it will show in the final product, no matter how stable the tripod is.

This is where I need your help.
Im a complete newbie, but ive done some research on what is ISO, Aperture etc but its all a mess in my head. I get that it takes alot of reading and practice to get an understanding and feel for it all, but im not after a photography career and I dont have the time to practice, I just need someone to help me set it up once and I will just use it like that for all my timelapse projects...
Everytime its going to be the same lighting, same background, just the object im going to shoot is going to be different. So i figure, I just need to set it up once and its all going to be good for the future projects, right?
I read about a guy who did something similar, he didnt give away any tips on camera settings, just said he overexposes and plays with the brightness in post production. No idea what this means?
Anyway, if somebody is willing to help me with some tips and pointers, what should be up, what should be down, I would be very thankful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[astroNikon]

1 - take a photo in RAW. Check the file size.
Divide the 64GB by the file size to determine the maximum files the card can contain.
I think you'll have to swap cards unless you have dual card slots.

2 - The answer to Your other question relies upon your setup. Not knowing the intricate details of your setup, amount of lighting (actual, not what your eye sees), and size, etc the answer can vary greatly mostly in shutter speed.

But you may want to take advice you've read about in learning the Exposure Triangle at least in the set up you may be using. It will take you a long way in troubleshooting and understanding anyone else trying to help you.

 

[jeffW]

When you say the lighting is going to be a pure constant, are you blocking out all window light as well? As even a little bit of ambient light will most likely be detective by your audience. I've worked in a product studio shooting products and it's amazing how even in a very control situation light needs are constantly changing, subtle yes, but still noticeable.

 

[astroNikon]

If you shoot with various "types" of lighting then you may create a mish-mash of White Balance issues ==> Understanding White Balance

mixing Ambient light (which probably goes through glass ( is it colored at all?) or even various color types of lights with your "main lighting" then you'll create these types of issues. Cameras can handle various colors of light, but it's hard to figure out when there's various types of light, such as the chart a little down on this page ==> https://photographylife.com/what-is-white-balance-in-photography

and this about LED and light colors ==> A Guide to Using Consumer LED Bulbs for Photography and Video

 

[WhyNotVideos]

Hey,
the light is pure constant, always.
It's a 1x1meter, 60cm height box with white walls and a lid on one side. Its completely closed and whether its day or night - it doesnt make any difference to what happens inside. The lighting is 6 LED strips ontop of the box. All this is connected to the socket through UPS, meaning, if in somekind of accident the power drops, it can keep the camera and the lighting going for 12+ hours.
I think i wont have any problems with lighting.
I did some more reading, from what I understand, because I am shooting in big intervals (5-15mins) and there is no movement, I have the freedom to use slower shutter speed to get better quality. Is that right?
What does overexpose mean? Set the camera to shoot much brighter than it looks okay to my eye and than darken it on my PC? Why is that needed and how does it improve anything at all? Or am I wrong about the meaning of overexpose?
Is there anything I should set besides all manual, turn of everything automated, ISO and shutter speed? I dont want to spend 2 weeks shooting and have to delete the end result because it sucks...

Thank you for your help one more time! )

 

[astroNikon]

If you over expose too much you'll blow out whites or other colors and have no detail/grain/ subject pattern.

Best to learn to properly expose in camera. Why would you want to not get it right in camera and then think that you'll correct it in software ? Try to get it right in camera, and use software to tweak it, rather than correct it.

 

[KmH]

With all your lights at the top of the box you'll have a light gradient, brighter at the top than at the bottom.
Few DSLRs have a LED white balance setting. Many so-called white LEDs put out a lot of blue light.

 

[WhyNotVideos]

Hmm, I didnt know that.
Thank you, sir.
Any suggestions on how to go around that problem? Fewer LED strips, put two more on the lower sides? What WHITE lighting to use to avoid blue light?

 

[photo1x1.com]

There are a few things to consider for artificially lit timelapse shots.

1. set your aperture to something arounf f11. If you use too high or low numbers, you might end up with flickering images. I'd happily explain why, but I'm not sure you want to know . If you want to be really safe, you can "unscrew" your lens a tiny bit, that will fix aperture.
2. same with shutter speed. use something longer than 1sec. The light is not always constant and flickers too, without you seeing it, longer shutterspeeds level that out.
3. If you are planning to shoot growing plants, etc. you need to consider where it will be growing. Otherwise you'll quickly get out of focus shots. Cameras with small sensors have bigger depth of field, so sometimes a point and shoot camera is better than a DSLR.

Any chance you want to tell us what you are trying to capture? We may even help you more if we knew.

 

[fundy]

It might be obvious but I will point it anyway - use manual mode to prevent changes to exposure when the scene changes. Also no auto ISO

Sent from my Xperia Sola using Tapatalk

 

[WhyNotVideos]

If you are planning to shoot growing plants, etc. you need to consider where it will be growing. Otherwise you'll quickly get out of focus shots. Cameras with small sensors have bigger depth of field, so sometimes a point and shoot camera is better than a DSLR.

Hey there,
sorry for the late reply, i was out of town for couple of days.
Anyways, thank you for your post, I find it quite hepfull )
I didnt quite understand the 3rd point though, what do you mean where it will be growing?
My plan is to shoot rotting food, some growing/booming flowers too. What should I do to avoid out of focus shots?
Thank you for posting once again!

 

[photo1x1.com]

If you are planning to shoot growing plants, etc. you need to consider where it will be growing. Otherwise you'll quickly get out of focus shots. Cameras with small sensors have bigger depth of field, so sometimes a point and shoot camera is better than a DSLR.

Hey there,
sorry for the late reply, i was out of town for couple of days.
Anyways, thank you for your post, I find it quite hepfull )
I didnt quite understand the 3rd point though, what do you mean where it will be growing?
My plan is to shoot rotting food, some growing/booming flowers too. What should I do to avoid out of focus shots?
Thank you for posting once again!

Hey again,
rotting food shouldn't be a problem since it doesn't move.
Plants grow towards the light. Depending where that is, it might grow a little towards the camera, resulting in out of focus images. However, make sure to use manual focus, otherwise it will pump and the image will be "dancing" . With DSLRs and their relatively shallow focus, getting it right means exactly anticipating how the plant grows and work in all manual mode (incl. focus and white balance).

One more thing: make sure your zoom doesn't "wander". Some zoomlenses do if they are pointed downwards. Fix it with a tape. Sometimes a rubber band works too and doesn't leave sticky marks.