Instagram on Tuesday launched a new app that makes it easy for iDevice owners (sorry, no Android version yet) to create their own time-lapse videos.
The free app, which requires no account to get started, is quick to set up and simple to use.
After recording your content – up to 45 minutes is possible – just choose a playback speed of anywhere between 1x and 12x, review your video with stabilization applied, and you’re done.
Then it’s simply a case of saving it to your camera roll and sharing it with friends, or posting it on Instagram from within the app, in which case you’ll have to choose a 15-second segment as that’s the maximum length the media-sharing service allows.
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“From documenting your whole commute in seconds or the preparation of your dinner from start to finish, to capturing an entire sunset as it unfolds, we’re thrilled about the creative possibilities Hyperlapse unlocks,” Instagram said in a blog post announcing its new product.
If you choose the right content, the results can be pretty impressive (check out the examples in the video above). The bottom line is that the new app gives users the opportunity to create smooth, dynamic and visually exciting time-lapse videos that before were much harder to achieve without first investing in some expensive and possibly unwieldy photographic equipment.
Microsoft is also working on similar time-lapse technology, as we reported earlier this month. Researchers developing the software are keen to incorporate their work into a Windows Phone app to offer something along the lines of Hyperlapse from Instagram.
Hyperlapse is the second standalone app from Facebook-owned Instagram. The first, Bolt – a Snapchat-like app that lets users send photo and video messages to friends – landed on iOS and Android last month,
The Hyperlapse app, which requires iOS 7.0 or later, is available now from Apple’s App Store.