[gphoto-devel] Using gphoto for Bullet time photography

Discussion:

Ben Pemberton

2017-06-12 09:30:39 UTC

Hi,

I am really interested in creating a bullet time rig, but I am a novice when it comes to photography and I am certainly not a developer. How easy would it be to create the software using Gphoto to do this? Are their any tutorials?

Thanks

Ben Pemberton
07590840125

Daniel Muller

2017-06-12 11:19:51 UTC

Permalink

in my opinion, synchronizing cameras over USB cable is not good enough..
you would need to use cable shutters, to get a better synchronization
if your scene does not move too fast, you might be able to get out with USB
as well
a product, that can synchronize multiple camera shutters, exists, and you
can chain them until you have enough of them..

Post by Ben Pemberton
Hi,
I am really interested in creating a bullet time rig, but I am a novice
when it comes to photography and I am certainly not a developer. How easy
would it be to create the software using Gphoto to do this? Are their any
tutorials?
Thanks
Ben Pemberton
07590840125
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Farkas Péter

2017-06-12 11:27:50 UTC

Permalink

Hi!

We used for our bullet time project an DIY trigger systems. Just like
these: http://www.breezesys.com/MultiCamera/release.htm (bottom of the
page)
You can found some use full script there:
https://github.com/fape/bullet-time-scripts

Cheers,
Peter

Post by Daniel Muller
in my opinion, synchronizing cameras over USB cable is not good enough..
you would need to use cable shutters, to get a better synchronization
if your scene does not move too fast, you might be able to get out with USB
as well
a product, that can synchronize multiple camera shutters, exists, and you
can chain them until you have enough of them..

Post by Ben Pemberton
Hi,
I am really interested in creating a bullet time rig, but I am a novice
when it comes to photography and I am certainly not a developer. How easy
would it be to create the software using Gphoto to do this? Are their any
tutorials?
Thanks
Ben Pemberton
07590840125
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Adam Kemény

2017-06-12 11:45:57 UTC

Permalink

I've tested 5 x Nikon d3200s triggered via USB and got them all firing within a few hundredths of a second (as opposed to the 1/10 gap between each one that Breeze mentions) so I'd say that it depends on your intended usage.

If you're hoping to use flash it'll be critical that they are precisely in sync whereas if you are using constant light that tiny delay may be tolerable.

Note: I have no idea if increasing the number of cameras beyond 5 will increase or affect the delay, it's reasonable to think that it would.

Also note: Camera arrays are non-trivial, especially if you lack photographic/technical experience

Post by Farkas PÃ©ter
Hi!
We used for our bullet time project an DIY trigger systems. Just like
these: http://www.breezesys.com/MultiCamera/release.htm (bottom of the
page)
https://github.com/fape/bullet-time-scripts
Cheers,
Peter

Post by Ben Pemberton
Hi,
I am really interested in creating a bullet time rig, but I am a novice
when it comes to photography and I am certainly not a developer. How easy
would it be to create the software using Gphoto to do this? Are their any
tutorials?
Thanks
Ben Pemberton
07590840125
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
_______________________________________________
Gphoto-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gphoto-devel

Jonas Hauquier

2017-06-12 12:02:12 UTC

Permalink

Even if you use an external trigger (which I recommend), you can still hook
up the cameras via USB and gphoto.
When triggered, the cameras will generate a PTP event over USB, that gphoto
can react to.

I use such a setup to let gphoto automatically download all new photos to a
PC, while I am triggering 6 cameras together using a hardware trigger box.

You should beware that downloading pictures from the camera can sometimes
cause its realtime operating system to miss deadlines (at least in the case
of my Nikon D3200 cameras), and trigger a little later. So if you're
shooting multiple shots sequentially, you might want to defer downloading
the pictures until the camera has no more pictures to take.