You’ve probably seen them—videos of flowers opening and closing, cities transitioning from day to night, and so on. That’s a timelapse: hundreds of photos shown in just a few seconds at high speed. It works on the same principle as animation. Each image is slightly different, creating motion when played back quickly.
The example is a timelapse made from 200 photos with an interval of 5 seconds between each shot. That’s 1000 seconds total shooting time. There are 25 images in one second of the timelapse, making the total duration 16 seconds. It goes fast—but that’s exactly what makes timelapse fun.
Combining photos into a timelapse does not create a real film. Real movies also use 25 frames per second, but they record that number every second. A timelapse does not—it includes an interval between shots.
For example, if you take one photo every 10 seconds, it takes 25 × 10 seconds (= 4.2 minutes) to create one second of timelapse. A real film would have already captured 6250 frames in that time! A timelapse compresses minutes of footage into a single second.
Creating a timelapse yourself is not difficult. You will need many photos and software to combine them into a video.
These are the necessary steps:
A timelapse is only interesting if something is happening and the speed effect adds value. Natural phenomena such as sunrises or sunsets are ideal subjects. Moving car lights at night also work well. Cloud formations can create beautiful timelapses. The key is that something in the frame must move or change over time. Experimentation is the best approach.
The time between shots determines how your timelapse looks. Short intervals create smoother motion because small changes are captured. Longer intervals may result in a flickering effect.
A timelapse consists of hundreds of images of the same scene. Use a tripod to prevent unwanted movement and keep the footage stable.
You can use a remote trigger to control the camera, but you’ll need to stay nearby, which can take time. A trigger with interval control is more convenient. Many modern cameras have a built-in interval function. Some even offer fully automatic timelapse modes that create a video directly.
Lighting conditions may change during a timelapse. During the day, normal shutter speeds work fine. At night, longer exposures are required. You can increase ISO to avoid extremely long exposures, which helps maintain shorter intervals between shots.
Aperture choice depends on the desired depth of field. During the day, you have flexibility. At night, smaller apertures (higher f-numbers) can create star-like light effects.
Use manual mode (M) on your camera and fix the aperture. The shutter speed can then adapt, ensuring consistent exposure across all images.
Once everything is set, start shooting. Make sure you have a fully charged battery and enough storage space. RAW files take more space and energy to write than JPEGs.
Import the images into video editing software and place them on a timeline. Check exposure and adjust if necessary—apply the same edits to all images to avoid inconsistencies.
Each second of video contains 25 images, meaning each photo represents 1/25 of a second (one frame).
MP4 is a widely supported video format. Export your timelapse in this format. If it doesn’t work properly, ensure you are using a modern MP4 version.
To publish your timelapse on a website, use the HTML5 video tag. See how easy it is to implement on W3Schools.