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Video Time Travel: Tips for Time-lapse Video and Animation

If you've ever seen a scene on television or in the movies where clouds race overhead at a supernaturally fast rate, or where a flower appears to blossom in seconds, then you've witnessed a cinematic technique known as "time lapse." Often used to show the passage of time or for some other dramatic effect, time lapse consists of recording a few frames of film or tape, pausing for a certain amount of time, then recording a few more frames, and so on. When the sequence is played back, it appears that the action recorded is happening much faster than it does in real life.

In many ways time lapse is similar to animation, utilizing the technique of taking a succession of very brief shots to create the illusion of a steadily moving sequence. However, instead of fooling your mind's eye into thinking that a collection of still images are moving as animation does, time lapse compresses a lengthy event into a short space of time.

There are several means to do time lapse and animation videography, depending on how smooth you'd like your effect to be, what equipment you have, and how much time and effort you're willing to put into it. However you choose to do it, there are a couple of constants you should be …

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Timothy Liebe | December 1995

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