capturing lightning strikes from a video

[scott492010]

Does anybody know of a quick way to capture lightning strikes from a video in a fast way? I have done a google search and found a python script or two to do it but i don't understand how to implement the scripts.

I normally use davinci resolve and have been using the auto scene detection and then going thru deleting as many of the blank scenes as i can find quickly. I then use free video to jpg converter to convert each and all frames into jpg in a folder. I go thru the folder and try to find the strikes. This process takes hours... Any faster solution would be welcome.

 

[VenomXts]

Why don't you just go through in DaVinci resolve and in the color section take a screen capture with DaVinci itself then you can export.

I usually am shooting 60 fps 4k but I do have to scroll through and rip my own shots but this also allows me to grab the right or multiple framesband in 60 fps you get so many unique frames from one bolt. .

Intrested In other people's workflow here though!

 

[rickmurray1989]

I also do a lot of lightning photography. I fly up to altitude and then engage 4K 60p capture in manual (Pro) exposure mode. As soon as I see a significant burst, I stop recording. I immediately resume recording to wait for the next strike. After my session is over, I bring the images into iMovie, export the best frames of the lightning strikes and then post process them in Lightroom and Photoshop. The reason that I stop each capture right after a strike is so that I don't have to search very far in the video files. I just go to the end and work my way back to the scene that I want to export. Here is an example of one that I captured on Dec. 9 that lit up a tornado heading toward my direction. I didn't realize that I had captured it for a while, since when the tornado struck, we lost power for nearly 5 days. In this frame, you can see the lightning bolt illuminating both the EF-2 funnel cloud and the accompanying shelf cloud.

 

[scott492010]

Why don't you just go through in DaVinci resolve and in the color section take a screen capture with DaVinci itself then you can export.

I usually am shooting 60 fps 4k but I do have to scroll through and rip my own shots but this also allows me to grab the right or multiple framesband in 60 fps you get so many unique frames from one bolt. .

Intrested In other people's workflow here though!

i have done this many times. Nevertheless, the last storm i took had hundreds of strikes. I spent 2 hours doing as you say and i wasnt even thru one of the five videos i extracted from the drone memory card. I would estimate i have literally hundreds of strikes within 20 minutes of video.

 

[StevenBrodsky]

I just fly up into the air and point my drone at the area of the sky with the highest lightning frequency and record. Then I take my footage, convert it into an image sequence, then put it into Vegas pro or aftereffects and watch the video with my finger over the pause button. I wait until i see a strike, press pause, back up the video to the best frame or frames of the strike, then go to the files folder where the image sequence is and copy those frames that coincide with the frames in the video.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Does anybody know of a quick way to capture lightning strikes from a video in a fast way? I have done a google search and found a python script or two to do it but i don't understand how to implement the scripts.

I normally use davinci resolve and have been using the auto scene detection and then going thru deleting as many of the blank scenes as i can find quickly. I then use free video to jpg converter to convert each and all frames into jpg in a folder. I go thru the folder and try to find the strikes. This process takes hours... Any faster solution would be welcome.

The best way I have found is to place the video on the timeline, than slow motion by 50% this will allow you to scan the timeline quickly and be able to see the flashes of Light.

Then just Export out the best Frame.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Capture the Storm

 

[jephoto]

I also do a lot of lightning photography. I fly up to altitude and then engage 4K 60p capture in manual (Pro) exposure mode. As soon as I see a significant burst, I stop recording. I immediately resume recording to wait for the next strike. After my session is over, I bring the images into iMovie, export the best frames of the lightning strikes and then post process them in Lightroom and Photoshop. The reason that I stop each capture right after a strike is so that I don't have to search very far in the video files. I just go to the end and work my way back to the scene that I want to export. Here is an example of one that I captured on Dec. 9 that lit up a tornado heading toward my direction. I didn't realize that I had captured it for a while, since when the tornado struck, we lost power for nearly 5 days. In this frame, you can see the lightning bolt illuminating both the EF-2 funnel cloud and the accompanying shelf cloud.View attachment 173544

How are you setting exposure? Auto or you set? And what were the settings here??
Nice!

 

[mobilehomer]

Extract all the frames to a new folder. Save the ones you want to another folder, then delete the old folder.

 

[jmc667]

ditto from #7 post. What are your camera settings? Or is it auto? GREAT pic!!!