News
If you've installed time lapse cameras to capture your construction or demolition projects, you may be wondering how to position them for the best results. WCCTV's time lapse video experts give their best practice advice.
Installing a Time Lapse Video camera to capture progress at your construction or demolition project will benefit your business in several ways.
But how do you catch the best possible footage? Positioning your cameras is critical; get this wrong, and you could end up with footage that is at best disappointing and at worst unusable.
WCCTV, the UK's leading supplier of professional time lapse video filming and production, below outlines some best practice tips to ensure you capture footage that's sure to wow your clients and stakeholders.
Define Your Purpose
Before selecting where to install your cameras, you first need to decide what precisely you want to do with the resulting footage?
At WCCTV, we install time lapse video cameras for marketing videos and project management reviews applications.
Marketing:
Video content is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of a digital marketing team. Videos tell short but powerful stories about the values and capabilities of your organisation in a way that engages the audience like no other medium.
If you plan to use the footage from your cameras for marketing purposes, you will want to install the camera(s) somewhere that gives the best overall view of the worksite.
This will typically mean mounting the cameras at a high vantage point that accurately reflects your project's size and scale.
If you are constructing a tall building or structure, be mindful that the cameras are positioned in a way that means you don't miss any works as the project nears completion.
This may mean periodically reviewing footage as the cameras may need to be relocated to ensure optimal coverage.
Project Overview:
Suppose you're planning to use the footage from your cameras for more internal applications, such as remotely managing a project and ensuring key milestones are hit. In that case, a more dynamic approach will be required.
You may have to move the camera multiple times to ensure it has a clear view of the specific area you're looking to monitor. Similarly, you may need to have more than one camera installed if there are multiple critical workspaces you need to review.
Avoid Sunglare
Sunglare can ruin hours worth of your footage depending on how you have positioned your cameras.
Consider where the sun is rising and where it is located throughout the day to ensure it does not glare directly into your camera.
The sun's position will change depending on the seasons, so you may be required to redeploy the cameras if it is particularly problematic.
The best way to mitigate sun glare is to test the position of your cameras over 24 hours. It's better to catch the problem early and potentially lose a single day's worth of footage rather than render your whole project unusable.
Install Cameras on a Stable Platform
Given the conflicting interests, this can be challenging to get right.
To get the best overview of your site for a time lapse video, you'll often want to place your cameras at the highest possible vantage point, but this can increase the chance of wind shake.
The higher the position, the stronger the wind will be.
A camera installed on a flimsy pole or unsecured platforms can suffer from movement ranging from the minor to the severe. This has the potential to ruin your footage, despite the advances in video editing.
Ensure that the camera is firmly secured so that it doesn't suffer from wind movement throughout the seasons.
Think Like a Photographer
Capturing a time lapse video that is both impactful and engaging requires that a level of attention is paid to shot composition.
A time lapse video is simply a collection of still images stitched together, so you will need to think like a photographer to a certain degree.
Realistically, not everyone installing a time lapse camera will be a photography expert. Still, some essential elements are easy to get right and will make all the difference to your final video.
Shot composition elements we recommend include:
-
Not having the subject of the image perfectly centred, weight the framing to one side
-
Angle the camera so that there isn't an abundance of dead space (i.e. sky or ground)
-
Fill the frame as much as possible and have a clear focal point
For more information on photographic composition, visit this article.
Dust, Dirt and Distortion
The wind isn't the only environmental factor that can impact the quality of your time lapse video. If your cameras are installed on construction or demolition sites, there will be plenty of dirt and debris that can get whipped up and cover your camera lens.
Likewise, in typically British fashion, rain can thoroughly dampen your projects, especially if it pools on the camera lens and distorts your image.
For dirt and debris, it's advisable to keep an eye on your footage and clean your camera lens as soon as you see an issue. With rain, you can mitigate this by selecting a camera with a rain shield.
Test and Check Regularly
This has been mentioned previously, but one should run a trial of the camera and its position for 24 hours if possible.
This will help highlight any issues with the angle or stability of the camera.
Where possible, you should check the footage from the camera frequently to ensure nothing has changed that will affect the quality of your final footage.
Work With the Experts
WCCTV is a specialist provider of fully-managed Time Lapse Video filming and production services for construction and demolition works, including highways and utilities infrastructure projects.
Our team of installation engineers and video editing professionals will create a
Our time lapse video portal makes it easy for you to check in on your cameras and make sure they are capturing everything you want.
Our support staff team also runs regular checks on the health and quality of your footage to ensure no nasty surprises come to the end of the project.
We can provide time lapse video cameras that do not require any additional onsite infrastructure, installation work, power sources or connectivity - meaning we can capture video where others can't.
Get in touch today for a no-obligation quote or site survey.
Like this article? Please share it with your network.
