Time flies when you’re having fun … It’s been just over two weeks since Instagram introduced the new Hyperlapse app to the digital world, and now brands, agencies and even celebrities are already finding ways to capture and create time-lapsed masterpieces.
Let’s make a movie!
Previously, professional-level camera equipment was required to pull off high-quality time-lapse video. Now, with Hyperlapse, minutes of shaky footage can be distilled into seconds of fluid video. Anyone with an iOS device can speed their video — speeds range from 1X to 12X the original speed – and enhance everything from before-and-after makeup shots to breathtaking sunsets.
Even better? You don’t need an Instagram account to use it.
Functioning on simplicity, users can access the application inside their phone’s camera mode and simply hit record like they would any other video. Once the footage is captured, users choose a playback speed, save it to their camera roll, and if they wish, share it on Instagram.
Insta-popularity.
This new video-making tool is yet another social avenue for agencies and brands that want to tell amazing stories.
And much like with Instagram and Vine, big names like National Geographic, Mountain Dew, and Razorfish have already started experimenting with the app. Even celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and Ellen Degeneres have made their own varieties of clever time-lapse videos.
The greater mobile community has followed suit (or did the brands and celebrities just hop on the bandwagon?), because in just its first week, over 88,000 unique users shared the #Hyperlapse hashtag more than 119,000 times. That number is enhanced by Facebook and Twitter impressions and continues to grow.
Room for improvement.
But while Hyperlapse fans are engaged, the application stops just short of being perfect.
First and foremost, it’s currently only available on iOS devices. Even iPhone users need a version 5 to take full advantage of the application — recording and time-lapsing 45 minutes of footage vs. only 10 minutes for the iPhone 4.
Further, even with their impressive combined utilities, mobile devices still can’t replace conventional camera equipment — Hyperlapse included. Which is why Chaz Henry, CTO of camera manufacturer iON American, sees the launch of apps like Hyperlapse and other mobile camera upgrades as a trend that’s actually enhancing the camera market overall.
“While companies like iON continue to develop mountings, sensors and features that will be impractical or impossible to include in a mobile phone, today’s news demonstrates another cool use of POV video footage,” Henry remarked. “That’s good news for everybody in the camera industry.”
Photo Credits: Instagram
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