1. How to Make Time-Lapse Video
ASM 3M1
Media Arts
Mr. Pisani

2. Time-Lapse Video
Time-lapse photography is an interesting technique that records a scene or objects that has a slow state-of-change and turns it into a video that plays back in high speed.
The easiest way to do it is to have your camera stationary on something that changes slowly (e.g. clouds, plants growing, etc) and start taking series of photo for hours or even days.
Hours worth of photos or film are compressed into a video with merely few minutes playtime, thus creating a time lapsing effect.

3. Time-Lapse Video Examples
See My Website for Time-Lapse Video Examples

4. Film and Photo Options Option #1: Take Photographs
Smooth (Shorter Interval) - A shorter interval between each photo gives you a smoother video output. It is usually use to shoot something with a slightly faster state of change, e.g., ice melting, clouds movement or busy city street. Shorter interval is usually around the range of 1hour per image. 

5. Film and Photo Options Option #1: Take Photographs
Blocky (Longer Interval) - Longer interval between each photo tends to give you a more blocky video output. It is usually use to shoot something with a slower state of change, e.g., progress of a building rotting of an apple that could take days or construction take could take years. The pause time between each photo can be quite subjective, it can be 1 hour per photo, 6 hours per photo or even 1 or few days per photo depending on the subject.

6. Film and Photo Options Option #2: Film Your Sequence
Film your sequences over a long period of time. Once you import your RAW footage into a Video editing program you can SPEED up the frame rate to create the time-lapse video effect.

7. Understanding The Fundamentals
Under normal circumstances, every one second in a video comprise of frames of photos, calculated with the unit fps (frame per second). If you watch a 2 minutes video at 24 fps, that means it’s made up of 2880 photos (frames) animating at high speed.
To create Time-lapse effect, you basically reduce the interval for each shot and merge them into a fps video. E.g., if the sun takes 12 hours to set and you take a photo every 1 minute, you will have 720 photos. With a 24 fps compression, you’ll have a video of sun rise to sun set in 30 seconds.

8. Theme or Subject Ideas
You probably already have some ideas in mind, but here’s what we can think of just in case you left your creative cap at home.
Sunrise, sunset, or from sunrise to sunset
Fruit rotting
Flower blossoming
Growth of plant
Ice melting
Clouds movement
Stars movement (clear sky required)
Movements of a busy city street

9. Equipment & Material Needed
DSLR Camera(s)
Tripod(s)
Extra Memory Card
Extra Battery
Timer (iPhone)
Shoot List
Assignment Sheet
Notes

10. Time-Lapse Tips
Do Test Shots Don’t start shooting right away. Always do some test shots to ensure you are getting the right angle and composition you want.
Take Photos and Videos at High Quality Set your camera to take photos in the most optimum JPG quality.
Choose a Strategic Spot Set the tripod up securely and in a place where it will not be moved or knocked over easily, especially if you are shooting in a busy street.

11. Time-Lapse Tips
Keep an Eye on Your Camera Always keep an eye on your camera and the equipment during the shooting.
Be Organized
Keep your photos in order when you upload them. Keep track of your photos and videos and place into organized subfolders on a USB key.
Back Up Your Files

12. Post Production & Editing
After you are done shooting, you’ll be left with hundreds of photos, depending on the length of your project. Sometimes there can be some small little things that you want to tweak before merging them into video, e.g., brightness, cropping, white balance, etc.
Editing a photo at a time can be really tedious.

13. Post Production & Editing
Option #1 - You can BATCH edit your photos in Adobe Photoshop then import them into iMovie.
Option #2 - You import your video or photos directly into iMovie and create your movie right away, make edits and add your audio and music.
Option #3 – You can import your photos into iMovie and export the photos as a video clip and edit the clips then re-import the clips into iMovie to create the final cut of your film.

14. More Time-Lapse Examples