On this page · 10 sections
- How to Make a Time-Lapse Video in Six Steps
- Time-Lapse Video Mode or Interval Photos?
- Choosing a Time-Lapse Interval
- Time-Lapse Calculator: Interval, Clip Length and Shooting Time
- What Is a Hyperlapse?
- How to Shoot a Night Lapse
- Fixing Choppy Daylight Lapses
- What Manufacturers Don't Publish
- Frequently asked questions
- A 30-Minute Sunset Is 900 Frames
◆ Key takeaways
- Frames needed equal clip length times frame rate, so a 20-second clip at 30fps needs 600 frames.
- Speed factor equals interval times frame rate, so a 2-second interval at 30fps plays 60x faster than life.
- A timelapse keeps the camera fixed. A hyperlapse moves it between frames, so it needs a mount.
- Learning how to make a time-lapse video at night starts with one rule. The interval has to outlast the shutter.
How to Make a Time-Lapse Video in Six Steps
The steps for how to time-lapse on an action camera are the same on every brand. Only the mode names change.
- Pick the mode. Choose time-lapse video, interval photos, hyperlapse or a night mode.
- Set the interval. Work backward from the clip length you want, using the calculator table below.
- Lock the camera down. Use a tripod, clamp or suction mount. At 15–900x playback speed, a nudge you'd never notice in real time reads as shake.
- Lock exposure and white balance. Auto settings shift between frames and show as flicker, with a deflicker filter in editing as the fallback. The Insta360 X5 manual lists Shutter, ISO and WB among the manual parameters in Timelapse mode.
- Plan power and storage. Run the camera from USB power for anything longer than an hour, because published battery ratings don't cover lapse modes.
- Shoot longer than the clip needs. Spare frames at each end give you room to trim in editing.
The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 shortens step two with scene presets that set duration and interval together. Insta360 lists City Rush (10 minutes at 0.5s), Sunrise & Sunset (2 hours at 5s), Dynamic Clouds (1 hour at 10s) and Dawn & Dusk (5 hours at 15s). Flower Opening runs with no end point at a 60s interval.
Time-Lapse Video Mode or Interval Photos?
A time-lapse video mode compiles the clip inside the camera. Insta360 and DJI call it Timelapse, and GoPro calls it Time Lapse Video. You get one small file that's ready to share, with exposure and resolution baked in.
Interval photo modes (Insta360 Interval, GoPro Time Lapse Photo) save every frame as a separate still. GoPro lists MISSION 1 time-lapse photos at up to 33MP with Standard + RAW output. Assembling the stills takes longer, but you can grade each frame from RAW, pan across a frame bigger than your export and stack frames to cut noise.
I'd use video mode for daylight subjects and interval stills for stars or anything you may reframe later.
Choosing a Time-Lapse Interval
The faster a subject crosses the frame, the shorter the interval it needs.
| Subject | Interval |
|---|---|
| City traffic | 0.5s |
| Fast-moving clouds | 1s |
| Sunrise or sunset | 2s |
| Plants opening | 10s |
| Construction | 30s |
| Stars | 30s |
Resolution shifts with the subject too. The timelapse and hyperlapse settings by subject that match this table put most daylight scenes at 4K, drop construction to 1080p and give stars the highest resolution available. Insta360's Sunrise & Sunset preset uses 5s, which plays back 2.5 times faster than 2s.
GoPro says its cameras capture a still "anywhere from half a second to an hour" (GoPro, February 8, 2024), while DJI lists 0.5 seconds to 60 minutes.
Time-Lapse Calculator: Interval, Clip Length and Shooting Time
Frames needed equal clip seconds times fps. Multiply the frames by the interval for shooting time, and the interval by fps for the speed factor.
Shooting time needed at 30fps:
| Interval | Speed factor | 10s clip (300 frames) | 20s clip (600 frames) | 30s clip (900 frames) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5s | 15x | 2.5 min | 5 min | 7.5 min |
| 1s | 30x | 5 min | 10 min | 15 min |
| 2s | 60x | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min |
| 5s | 150x | 25 min | 50 min | 75 min |
| 10s | 300x | 50 min | 100 min | 150 min |
| 30s | 900x | 150 min | 300 min | 450 min |
Swipe for 2 more columns →
For 24fps, multiply every shooting time by 0.8. The speed factor becomes interval times 24, so a 2-second interval plays at 48x.
Run it backward when the event length is fixed. Two hours at a 5s interval gives 1,440 frames, or 48 seconds at 30fps.
◆ Key finding
Insta360's Ace Pro 2 online manual labels shoot length divided by interval as "Final Video Duration (seconds)." Its worked example turns a 5-second interval over 50 minutes into "600 seconds (i.e., 10 minutes)" of final video. Shoot length divided by interval is a frame count, and 600 frames at 30fps play for 20 seconds. Divide Insta360's result by your playback frame rate (checked Sep 30, 2026).
What Is a Hyperlapse?
A hyperlapse is a time-lapse where the camera travels between frames, on a walk or a drive. Action cameras shoot it as stabilized, sped-up video. The Insta360 X5 manual draws the line in two definitions. Timelapse is "Suitable for shooting static timelapse videos," and TimeShift is for when you "Take a hyperlapse (sped-up) video while moving."
The Insta360 X5 is the 360 option, since Insta360 lists TimeShift among its 360 video modes. You choose the angle later while reframing in the Insta360 App, and the Invisible Selfie Stick drops out of the stitch.
Mount it. A handheld hyperlapse picks up every footstep, so use a bike, chest or car mount and start at 2x or 5x.
Hyperlapse vs Timelapse: Mode Names by Brand
| Camera | Static lapse | Moving lapse | Night lapse | Published lapse specs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insta360 Ace Pro 2 | Timelapse | TimeShift | Starlapse | Nine intervals, 0.5s to 120s |
| Insta360 X5 | Timelapse, Interval | TimeShift | Starlapse | Intervals not published |
| GoPro MISSION 1 | Time Lapse | TimeWarp | Star Trails, Light Painting, Vehicle Lights | TimeWarp 8K30, 4K30, 1080p30; night effects 8K30, 4K30 |
| DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro | Timelapse | Hyperlapse | none listed | Hyperlapse Auto and 2x to 30x; Timelapse intervals 0.5s to 60 min at up to 4K30 |
Swipe for 2 more columns →
Specs checked Sep 30, 2026, against manufacturer pages and manuals.
GoPro TimeWarp is the brand's hyperlapse, and the GoPro MISSION 1 records it at up to 8K30, the only 8K lapse figure in the table. GoPro time lapse interval lists and TimeWarp speeds sit on support pages that would not load for us, so the table leaves them out.
On September 28, 2026, DJI's US store listed the Osmo Action 5 Pro as out of stock in every combo, so US buyers are left with retailers such as B&H.
How to Shoot a Night Lapse
At night the interval has to outlast the shutter plus the time the camera takes to write each frame. National Park Service night-sky photography advice from Acadia suggests a shutter speed of 10 to 20 seconds and a starting ISO of 400 (updated October 14, 2021). A 30s interval leaves headroom over a 20-second exposure.
Plan around twilight. Evening twilight ends when the sun's geometric center reaches 18 degrees below the horizon, according to the National Weather Service definition of astronomical twilight (July 10, 2021). Start a star lapse after that point. Day-to-night lapses break the exposure-lock rule, so start before sunset and let auto exposure ramp, accepting some flicker.
Starlapse on the Ace Pro 2 outputs Starlapse, Star Trails Video or Star Trails Photo and saves the original media next to the combined file. GoPro builds Star Trails, Light Painting and Vehicle Light Trails into the HERO13 Black and the MISSION 1.
Sensor size sets the noise in each night frame. Among ACA's picks for an action camera for low light, the MISSION 1's 1-inch-type sensor is bigger than the Ace Pro 2's 1/1.3-inch. In that comparison, only the Ace Pro 2 has a named low-light video mode. Insta360 calls it PureVideo and rates it up to 4K60.
Fixing Choppy Daylight Lapses
A fast shutter freezes each frame, and frozen frames played at 30x look like a flip book. An ND filter cuts the light so the shutter stays open longer.
Choosing between ND filter strengths starts with the 180-degree rule, which puts the shutter at roughly double the frame rate for video (1/60 at 30fps). For a lapse, apply the same logic to the interval. A shutter of about half the interval gives each frame enough blur to join up on playback.
What Manufacturers Don't Publish
| Camera | Published runtime | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro | 240 minutes | 1080p/24fps, RockSteady on, Wi-Fi off, 25°C (77°F) |
| Insta360 Ace Pro 2 | 180 minutes | 1080p24, Active HDR off, Endurance Mode, 25°C |
| Insta360 X5 | 208 minutes | 5.7K24, Endurance Mode |
Every published runtime above is for continuous video. None of the three brands publishes a per-frame file size for interval or RAW photos on the pages we checked, so card planning comes down to a test shot. Insta360 does not list the X5's timelapse intervals in its manual or on the product page, or any interval and shutter values for the Ace Pro 2's Starlapse.
Frequently asked questions
Can I Turn an Existing Video Into a Time-Lapse?
Yes, you can turn an existing video into a time-lapse by raising its playback speed in any video editor. A 30x speed-up keeps one frame per second of 30fps footage. The cost is storage, because continuous video writes every frame to the card while an interval mode saves one frame per interval, so plan for much larger source files.
How Long Is a 30-Minute Video in Time-Lapse?
A 30-minute video in time-lapse runs 60 seconds at a 1-second interval and 30fps. At a 2-second interval it runs 30 seconds, and at 0.5s it runs 2 minutes. Divide the event length in seconds by the interval to get the frame count, then divide by the playback frame rate.
How Fast Is Hyperlapse?
Hyperlapse runs at 2x to 30x on the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, which also offers an Auto setting. At 30x, a 10-minute ride becomes a 20-second clip. For walking pace, 2x or 5x keeps the result watchable. DJI's US store listed that camera as out of stock on September 28, 2026, so US buyers need a retailer.
How Do You Slow Down a Timelapse Video?
To slow down a timelapse video, lower its playback speed in an editor or conform it to 24fps, which plays 25% longer than 30fps. Slowing it past one captured frame per displayed frame forces the editor to repeat frames, and the clip stutters. If it still looks too fast, shorten the interval next time.
How Do You Make a Timelapse Video From Photos?
To make a timelapse video from photos, shoot in an interval photo mode, then import the numbered stills into an editor as an image sequence. Set the sequence to 24 or 30fps and export. Insta360's Starlapse mode skips the editing step by combining the frames in camera, and it keeps the originals too.
A 30-Minute Sunset Is 900 Frames
At a 2-second interval, the sunset from the top of this page fills 900 frames and plays for 30 seconds, and every frame depends on a camera that never moved. Knowing how to make a time-lapse video is mostly doing that sum before you press record.
After dark, the top two picks for the best action camera split on one trade, a named low-light mode on the Ace Pro 2 against a larger sensor on the MISSION 1.