HYPERLAPSE Tutorial Zhiyun Crane 2 / Plus Gimbal - Laowa 9mm F/2.8

This is a tutorial explaining how to shoot a hyperlapse with a gimbal. By far the best gimbals to use for this are either the Zhiyun Crane 2 or Crane Plus. I also recommend getting the Zhiyun Dual Mini Grip as this reduces arm fatigue hugely.

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Equipment used for the video:

-Zhiyun Crane 2
-Zhiyun Crane Plus
-Zhiyun Dual Mini Grip
-Zhiyun Monopod
-Sony A6300
-Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Lens
-Sony 10-18mm f/4 lens
-Neewer ND1000 filter
-Bower Variable ND filter

Software used for this video:

-Adobe After Effects CC
-Adobe Lightroom CC
-Final Cut Pro X

Step 1: Connect your camera to the Crane. Sony and other brand cameras support shutter control from the gimbal. If your camera has a built in intervalometer you can use that instead.

Step 2: Install the correct ND filter onto your camera. For these shots I used an ND1000 filter. You can also use a variable ND filter. The filter will have to be quite dark if you are shooting your hyperlapse during the day. At night you don't need a filter at all. You want to have your camera set to 0.5 second exposure. This is very important to get the motion blur in your final video. You can shoot anything from 1/4 second to 0.8s shutter speed though. The lens you use for your hyperlapse is also very important. I like using ultra wide angle lenses as they give the best effect. For these I used the Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens for APS-C.

Step 3: Balance you camera on the gimbal. If you don't know how, here is an instructional video:    • How to BALANCE A Gimbal - Zhiyun Crane V2 ...  

Step 4: Turn on your gimbal and set it to 3-axis lock mode. You don't want the gimbal to follow your movement while walking.

Step 5: Line up your shot and connect your phone to the gimbal through the ZY Play App.

Step 6: If you want no movement in your camera choose the time-lapse option from the video modes in the ZY Play app. Set your time interval to 1s. (This is how often you camera will take a photo) Set your record time to anywhere between 3-10 minutes. The longer your hyperlapse the longer of a video you will end up with. A 5 minute hyperlapse equates to 12s video. Set the app to save form as photo. This will store the individual photos to your camera.

If you'd like to do a moving hyperlapse then you need to choose "moving time-lapse" from the drop down menu in the app. Then you first choose which direction you want the camera to point when the hyperlapse starts. Then after you've saved that, you move the camera to where you want the camera to point to once the hyperlapse is finished. This is a bit of guess work and you will have to use trial and error to figure this out. Then once you've saved that point use the settings as if you were shooting a normal hyperlapse.

Step 7: Start walking. Walk very smoothly without moving the gimbal side to side or up and down. This is very important for a smooth hyperlapse. Also make sure that you walk at a consistent speed otherwise your video will look strange once it's finished.

Step 8: Once the hyperlapse is finished scroll through the photos to make sure that nothing went wrong and it looks good. If you made a mistake or it doesn't look great then restart.

Step 9: Compile the photos into a video. Here is a video tutorial if you don't know how to do this:    • Create a Timelapse From Photos in After Ef...  

Step 10: Stabalize the time lapse in warp stabilizer in Adobe After Effects. This is pretty important and will make your video look much better in most cases. Here is a tutorial on how to use the warp stabilizer:    • How to Use the Warp Stabilizer Effect in A...  

Step 11: Render and enjoy your awesome new hyperlapse!

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