time average video effect

Time average is a neat effect. It takes a number of frames of video to average or accumulate.


:averaging
In the below video, I show averaging. Averaging lots of frames gives a very ghost-like effect. Average very few frames shows trails of whatever movement is happening. Medium settings are like you've had too much to drink.

Cinelerra time average effect from crazed mule on Vimeo

:accumulate
A second option called Accumulation is just that..stacking one frame on top of the other. If the scene in the frame is well lit, the frame will blowout..make it so bright that all detail will be lost. The detail gets lost quickly too, when just a few frames are being accumulated. Accumulate is more useful for extremely dark scenes, like making very distant stars become more visible, as in the example below. In the example, I show the original and the time averaged result:

Cinelerra time average effect: accumulate from crazed mule on Vimeo

There is another time averaging parameter called "Inclusion Or" that I have not used. It is explained in the link to the manual below as are the two options "Reprocess Frame Again" and "Disable Subtraction."

cheers,
the mule

Reference
Cinelerra User Manual