Temp Mort / Time Splice : The Latest Technology

Mark Ruff is a photographer who specialises in frozen moment multi-camera time splices. After many years with a film rig and then a digital rig, Mark has developed a near real-time system. It uses an array of digital cameras, each attached to an array of Mac Minis, feeding a master Mac G5. In seconds it produces a composited, stablized and deflickered effects sequence at full HD resolution (or up to 3K as required). We discuss the evolution of the rig and

In this week’s podcast we discuss the evolution of Mark Ruff’s digital automated and scripted multi-camera time splicing rig, comparing film procedures to digital and examining the state of the art. Mark has done hundred of shoots, from TV spots to fashion and model photography. In our article, we outline the primary issues when designing as time splice effects sequence and show photos and clips of Mark’s state of the art digital system.


ruffy/caracasTips to consider when designing timeslices

1. Planning. As with all shoots pre-production is vital. Since some people or clients may have trouble visualising the effect, it is worth blocking it out with a tape measure so people are clear about the various angles and the amount of space that will be needed. Often times rigs have large radial arcs and on location this can present unique problems.

2. The speed of the shot before image processing will be defined by how close together the cameras are. In a 3D world you could place the camera any distant apart. In the real world the actual camera bodies mean that the cameras have a very finite limit on how close together they can be. This is a huge factor, since often times it will mean to get the speed you want you will need to process the images in post via either morphing, time ramps or optical flow. This needs to be considered before the shoot as some things do not respond well to complex 3 dimensional overlapping time adjustments. For example, a morph between to camera when two people are in the scene may work better with each person photographed separately.

ruffy/d4While many rigs have upwards of 60 cameras, this is only 2 seconds of screen time – which means if the arc is 20 meters or yards long, the ‘imaginary camera’ or the apparent movement of the viewer will be 10 m per sec, which is quite fast. You can simulate this by walking along the path the cameras will be laid out with a mini-dv camera and then just roughly speed it up to the correct time (in this case 2 seconds) and see how the movement feels. Most times you’ll find that you’ll need to slow it down.

The camera arc is also a function of the camera sizes and the camera mount track. For example, on Ruff’s main rig, what defines the path is both the physical distance between the cameras and also the arc of the track. 10 sections of camera mounts is 12 m, with 60 cameras. A 360 degree circle would be 1.9 m radius, using all 10 sections. If you drop to 30 cameras to achieve the same 360 degree circle you can use only 5 sections and have only a 0.95 m radius.

3. Greenscreen. Greenscreen is often used for circular rigs but this is a problem as holes will need to be cut for the cameras to see through and the opposite side cameras will normally be very visable.

4. Alignment. One pass needs to be taken with a reference pole in shot – that can be used for stablising. You stablise this shot and then apply it to the hero take. If this is not done – stablising can be near impossible. Of course on set this means that once the alignment shot is taken – the rig is in a strict lock off, any camera movements will result in an incorrect stablisation.

5. Timing. It is important to have a very accurate timing system for the triggering of the cameras and an experienced operator who can know when to fire. Unless your using a state of the art rig with digital assembly – it can be hard to know if you have the shot. More complex rigs allow each camera to fire a beat after each other – meaning that the cameras do not fire at once but slightly offset. This produces a super slow motion effect, (as in the matrix films).

6. One huge factor is the lead in live action and/or the exit live action. The most important thing to remember is that the cine camera needs to be a similar distance to the first still camera int he rig – or there will be a pop. You also need to shoot that framing slightly wider than you want, since with stablisation and adjustment you may need to blow up all the images a small percentage. Filters, depth of field and shutter angles should also be considered if you want to make the transition as smooth as possible. The slower the pan the more the jump between the cine camera and the rig will be noticable.

ruffy/camerabacksInteresting effects

Since the stills cameras are simply professional cameras you, can experiment with interesting effects such as long exposures and long exposures with flash curtains for more unusual effects. It is also possible to build up the camera rig so that the photography is seemingly in the air. With a digital rig such as Mark Ruff’s, it would be possible to hang it under a helicopter for seemingly impossible shots.

movielink(ruffy/sparkler.mov, Click to see Sparkler long exposure example)


ruffy/camsMark Ruff’s Time Splice Mac Rig

The Mark Ruff Rig or Time Splicing rig currently works with up to 60 Canon EOS 10D digital SLRs, each storing its 6.3 megapixel images on memory cards with much higher capacity than a 36-frame roll of film. Digital images are quickly downloaded, stabilized (rotated slightly to account for minute differences in shooting angle), and then rendered into a QuickTime clip using Combustion, Shake or any pro application – Mark prefers Adobe AfterEffects.


ruffy/layoutMark extended the normal digital system by giving each time-splicing Canon EOS camera its own Apple Mac mini. The devices connect via 100Mbps Ethernet to a single PowerMac G5, which uses Apple Remote Desktop to monitor all of the cameras at the same time.

Custom AppleScripts automatically pull images from the Mac minis to the PowerMac G5 for stabilization and compositing, producing a watchable time-slice within seconds. This has allowed Ruff to use the system on Live television in the Tonight show “Rove Live” on Network Ten.


ruffy/caseRapid feedback made the technique far better than film-based techniques. “In the old days you wouldn’t know if you had the results,” Ruff said. “You’d have to wait days”. Now Mark can provide near instant feedback and the rig can be built from arrive at a location in around an hour.

Once the rig is aligned the cameras are in lock off so the newer digital cameras also allow for longer shooting time, since the old film cameras could only handle at most a 36 exposure load. Not stopping to reload saves time as does not needing to waste time realigning the camera.

movielink(ruffy/mike.mov, Click to see an example or a pre-vfx , autoaligned “raw” output from the digital rig at low res)

movielink(ruffy/kids.mov, Click to see an example of a finished shot with extensive post to slow down the pan and produce a smooth set of intermediate frames )