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Great Examples of Time Lapse using The Big City Lights Rotating Timer

Posted on by Kyle Spencer

Doing a Timelapse is a Phenomenal type of videography that literally turns hours of time into a seconds. If its a construction project, a sunset or even city traffic, it will make art of what you cant see in real time. This is a handy tool to show the passage of time.

Timelapse’s take an extreme level of patience and delicateness to pull off, it involves taking a series of images at a pace of around once every 5 seconds over a long period of time and then playing it back at 24 – 30 frames a second, making a smooth motion clip. For example, at the rate of one picture every 5 seconds, you would need to wait around 30 minutes to get a clip of 10 seconds long playing at 30 frames per second, but if you have the time, it really worth giving a shot.

HERE ARE SOME HANDY TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE A GREAT TIMELAPSE:

Make sure to use a tripod or a stable surface so the camera doesn’t move.
Fast scenes (traffic, people) work best with 1 to 3 seconds between shots. Slower ones (sunsets, shadows) can use between 5 to 10 seconds.
Switch to manual exposure so the lighting stays consistent between shots.
Try mounting your camera on a small motorised rotating timer or slider. this will add a dynamic movement to your timelapse. (Big City Lights sells Rotating Timers and Sliders- We have links to them below.)
If your camera does not have a time-lapse ability, you can use a editing software or a time-lapse app to stitch the photos into a video, then adjust the speed to your liking.

ADD MOTION TO YOUR TIMELAPSE WITH EITHER A ROTATING TIMER or a SLIDER:

Lets take a quick look at the 3 products that we carry:

You can make your time-lapse more dynamic and add motion as well as depth by using a rotating timer or slider. First up lets look at our 360 Degree Timer. This product is ideal for doing panoramas. It comes with adjustable time markers showing the 5, 10, 15 all the way up to 60 minute marks helping the user set exactly how long they want the time lapse to be as well as the degree of the panorama. (45, 90, 180 or 360º or anywhere in between.)

Now lets look at our sliders, Big City offers 2 different motorised sliders. They can both be programmed for use using your smartphone. They both have an X-axis which can be used to add slow dolly or truck movements and our deluxe model also has a Y-axis so you can pan at the same time.

All of these are very easy to use, all you have to do is attach your camera to one of these units, set your camera and timer settings and you are ready to go.

OTHER WAYS OF SHOOTING A TIMELAPSE:

Phones have come a long way. iPhones and Androids both have timelapse modes now, and they automatically handle all the timing, exposure, and blending for you. You don’t have to know anything. its  just hit record and wait.

The downside is that you don’t get much control over the final look. But for casual videos or short clips for social media, phone timelapses are surprisingly good.

GoPros and other action cams have built-in timelapse modes that make it easy. You just choose “timelapse video,” set the interval (like 1 photo every 4 seconds),  and it spits out a watchable clip.

They’re not as sharp as say a Sony or Nikon, but they’re great for movement, like driving, travel or city shots. You can also mount them anywhere.

 

360 Degree Panning Rotating Panorama Time Lapse Timer

Big City Model 100 – Single Axis Motorized Slider with Smart Phone Control

Big City Model 200 – Dual Axis Motorized Slider with Smart Phone Control