• Joined: December 27, 2008

Topic: new causes of light flicker

As I worked on Crisis Reverted for the STAR contest, I noticed that I was still getting some light flicker between frames (with my QCPro9000, all settings to MANUAL).  After it happened a few times, I came to realize that the brightness seemed to change whenever our mini-freezer in the basement or the air conditioner would cut on or off.  I'm curious if anyone else has experienced similar electricity problems.  I'm guessing the difference in the power being drawn in my house causes the light bulbs in my lamps to burn a tiny bit more or less bright than they were before.  I'm using "reveal"-type incandescent bulbs (bluish).  I wonder if flourescent lights would behave any better.

[I saw in another post somewhere that a person using a power drill in another room was wreaking similar havoc on lighting during filming].

  • Location: MN, USA
  • Joined: July 28, 2009

Re: new causes of light flicker

I don't know, when I saw Crisis Reverted I thought that you did a good job handling light flicker, but yes, that does happen to me, because when I was making an earlier video (a short test), my dad was working in another room with his power tools and stuff, and it was wreaking havoc on my lighting between frames. I'm hoping that nest time I animate I won't have that problem again.

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  • Location: canada eh
  • Joined: January 24, 2009

Re: new causes of light flicker

ya that has happended to me. our freezer kicks in and all the lights dim for a second.

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  • MOL
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  • Location: Canada
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

When somebody flushes a toilet at my house, light flickers. Good observation, ABs. mini/wink

Persist.
  • Location: Brussels, Belgium
  • Joined: December 31, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

I have the same problem, mostly when I turn contrast up.

  • Location: Aperture Labs
  • Joined: September 24, 2012

Re: new causes of light flicker

I always get that problem. TIP: Never try to animate when your mom is fixing her hair

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  • Location: Someplace witty.
  • Joined: April 14, 2009

Re: new causes of light flicker

That problem has been around since brickfilming began.

If you can turn off everything that causes it (like I turn off our dehumidifire)

But if you can't control it (like the aircondishining) then your dead.

(well your not really dead but you'll have lots of annoying light flicker)

And my spelling was horrible here.

Don't be fooled, my avatar is a facade of conformity.
  • Location: Éire
  • Joined: May 3, 2009

Re: new causes of light flicker

Yeah, when someone in house has a shower it dims quiet a bit.

  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

Duke Boy wrote:

That problem has been around since brickfilming began.

That may be true, but I've got to say I had never seen anything about it on any brickfilming forum until it started happening to me.

Duke Boy wrote:

If you can turn off everything that causes it (like I turn off our dehumidifier)  But if you can't control it (like the aircondishining) then your dead.

I always have the option to turn off my air-conditioner [summer] or furnace [winter] until the house gets too uncomfortable for everyone.  I guess that makes Fall & Spring the ideal seasons for filming stop-motion animation [don't need AC or furnace].

Duke Boy wrote:

And my spelling was horrible here.

Try Mozilla Firefox, it's got a spell checker built right in. mini/smile

BrightShadow99 wrote:

Yeah, when someone in house has a shower it dims quiet a bit.

Are you serious, or just responding to the toilet flushing joke?  There are 6 40watt lights in my bathroom, so those lights being on could drag down the current a tiny bit, maybe enough to dim my lamps.

I have tried to adjust for this (when I notice it via onion-skinning) as I'm filming by slightly tweaking the "brightness" or "contrast" or "gamma", but no matter what my adjustment, I'm never able to completely match the look of the previous frame.  And then a few frames later, the lighting seems to shift back, so then I'm back trying to reset those settings to what they were before I messed with them.  What a pain.

Has anyone ever experienced this cause of light flicker when filming with a digital camera (instead of a webcam)?  I'd like to be able to completely rule out my QC9000 as having anything to do with it.

  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

AncientBricks wrote:

Has anyone ever experienced this cause of light flicker when filming with a digital camera (instead of a webcam)?

Happens to me all the time, and I use a camcorder, so I don't think it has anything to do with your webcam

  • MOL
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  • Location: Canada
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

I wasn't joking about the toilet flushing though. Seriously, for some reasons, the dumbasses who built our house built the pipes right near our power conduit. Whenever whater is flushed, or when some starts a bath/shower it dims because it bumps it or something. Idk exactly what, but, seriously, no joke.

Persist.
  • Location: Éire
  • Joined: May 3, 2009

Re: new causes of light flicker

AncientBricks wrote:
Duke Boy wrote:

That problem has been around since brickfilming began.

That may be true, but I've got to say I had never seen anything about it on any brickfilming forum until it started happening to me.

Duke Boy wrote:

If you can turn off everything that causes it (like I turn off our dehumidifier)  But if you can't control it (like the aircondishining) then your dead.

I always have the option to turn off my air-conditioner [summer] or furnace [winter] until the house gets too uncomfortable for everyone.  I guess that makes Fall & Spring the ideal seasons for filming stop-motion animation [don't need AC or furnace].

Duke Boy wrote:

And my spelling was horrible here.

Try Mozilla Firefox, it's got a spell checker built right in. mini/smile

BrightShadow99 wrote:

Yeah, when someone in house has a shower it dims quiet a bit.

Are you serious, or just responding to the toilet flushing joke?  There are 6 40watt lights in my bathroom, so those lights being on could drag down the current a tiny bit, maybe enough to dim my lamps.

I have tried to adjust for this (when I notice it via onion-skinning) as I'm filming by slightly tweaking the "brightness" or "contrast" or "gamma", but no matter what my adjustment, I'm never able to completely match the look of the previous frame.  And then a few frames later, the lighting seems to shift back, so then I'm back trying to reset those settings to what they were before I messed with them.  What a pain.

Has anyone ever experienced this cause of light flicker when filming with a digital camera (instead of a webcam)?  I'd like to be able to completely rule out my QC9000 as having anything to do with it.

Yes. I am serious. I don't know why it happens.

  • Joined: December 29, 2008

Re: new causes of light flicker

Wow! I have been having light flicker and can't get rid of it. I should remember this.

You can do anything, just have fun while doing it.