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Working from the Mary Rose to capture time-lapse

News Specialist capture – time-lapse & other solutions

11 January 2019 Kate

What sets some time-lapse providers above the rest? Knowledge & experience will help to distinguish one company’s skills from another.

Specialist capture refers to the media solutions put into place to document unique, and/or extraordinary projects.

Certain jobs require innovative installation methods in order to set up a camera system in a way that is safe, secure, and what will provide consistent capture throughout the duration of the project.

Specialist capture also encompasses the level of skill required to bring extensive planning and strategising to fruition successfully and efficiently for a whole host of clients.

Industry pioneers

Photo and media specialists not only operate using the very best in visual media but also pioneer unique techniques and equipment that cannot be found and bought on the shelves.

Here at Time-Lapse Systems, the work of our engineers has entailed, amongst many other solutions, building bespoke brackets to secure a camera system to a tree in the heart of West Yorkshire woodland, a trip on a 35ft cherry picker to install at the top of an old comms tower at RAF Brampton; we’ve even had to utilise a cage suspended from a crane in order to access the fixing position for our time-lapse camera system to capture a Crossrail project at London’s Moorgate Station.

Using a crane and cage over the Moorgate Station project to access the camera system

Above: specialist capture involves innovative means. Here, we are using a crane and cage to install a camera system over construction developments at Moorgate Station in London.

Working externally is an everyday part of time-lapse and other media, with equipment built to withstand outside conditions. Specialist solutions like those listed above, ensure a consistency across every project regardless of individual challenges in terms of access and manoeuvrability.

Certain jobs require extra vigilance due to the surrounding environment or because of the sensitive nature of the work itself.

Innovation and vigilance were both needed for a project at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, where we were commissioned to time-lapse important developments towards the careful conservation work to bring this iconic vessel to a durable condition while on display to the public.

Our work towards this required a specialist rig to be built, upon which to carefully mount our camera system, as it captured the intricate construction work being carried out behind-the-scenes at the Mary Rose Museum.

For this job, and others like it, our team have to strike a balance between supplying robust methods to support high quality capture, while simultaneously being cognisant of the sensitive environment.

A watercraft being lifted from the dock at Ellesmere Port for transportation to restoration workshop nearby

Above: one of the watercraft being lifted from the dock at Ellesmere Port for careful transportation to a restoration workshop via low-loader lorry. Specialist capture was used alongside stationary time-lapse solutions in order to reflect the dynamic manoeuvres involved in this movement of historic vessels.

Another project involving historic vessels – this time in water – also required specialist capture to document the lifting of fragile canal watercraft from Ellesmere Port so that they may be transported to an external location for important restoration works.

Time-lapse camera position from atop a crane during National Waterways Museum boat lift

Above: time-lapse camera system looking down over one of the intricate crane lifts at Ellesmere Port, providing specialist capture of one of the biggest movement of inland watercraft seen in the UK.

With a project of this size and complexity, we utilised different angles, methods and solutions so as to capture a full narrative of the action.

Alongside stationary time-lapse, specialist capture, in this case, involved innovative fixings and rigging camera systems to cranes to get unique aerial perspectives, enhanced further by drone capture to showcase key lifts and the museum from above.

Qualified professionals

With all this considered, then, such work will inevitably benefit from the high level of experience that comes part and parcel of a professional end-to-end service.

As well as proving to be the safest option when working in challenging environments – professional media providers are masters of their kit, displaying a high quality of both technical and practical skills – this is also the most cost effective approach.

‘Off-the-shelf’ options, as well as being inferior in quality, do not come with the assurances of an experienced team who are on hand to fully monitor and manage your camera systems. With a managed service, if certain challenges arise, there are certified and highly qualified personnel to address them.

 

If you wish to talk to true end-to-end specialists about time-lapse and other media solutions, please get in touch with us.

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0333 016 5253 [email protected]

Time-Lapse Systems are a part of Hideaway Media Ltd (est. 2007). World leader in the provision of bespoke time-lapse capture and site monitoring solutions. UK and Worldwide.