Beginner Hyperlapse Tutorial

Learn how to shoot a hyperlapse the easy way. In this hyperlapse tutorial, you get the full workflow from beginning to end.

By
Matthew Vandeputte
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5507

In this tutorial, you will learn the easiest way to shoot a hyperlapse.

You don't need any fancy equipment, you don't need an expensive camera or lens, this technique works for any camera, even your mobile phone.

I call this the beginner hyperlapse tutorial as it truly is the easiest way to shoot a hyperlapse.

There are many ways to shoot hyperlapses, but this one is by far the easiest method to create high-quality results.

What camera gear do you need to shoot a hyperlapse the easy way:

  • A camera (DSLR, mirrorless, even a phone will do)
  • A lens (don't go wider than 24mm on a full-frame)
  • A set of arms (very useful for holding up your camera)
  • A set of legs (great to move around!)

What else do you need for the hyperlapse?

  • A subject to shoot, like a building.
  • An anchor point on said subject, like a window.
  • A path to follow during your hyperlapse (you will often find tiles useful)
  • Adobe After Effects or Premiere Pro (We'll be using the Warp Stabiliser VFX effect)

How to shoot a hyperlapse:

  • Find an anchor point on your subject that will be in frame for the entire length of your path.
  • Use the grid-view or an AutoFocus point in your viewfinder to consistently align this anchor point in each photo in the same spot.
  • Find a path to follow, this can go sideways, diagonally, or straight ahead.
  • Do a test run of said path, shooting a photo every five meters. Scroll through the photos to get a preview of what your shot will look like. You might want to adjust your anchor point or your grid view alignment.
  • Go back to the start of your path, line up your shot and take your first photo.
  • Take a step forward, line up your shot again and take another photo.
  • Get in “the zone”. Your step size and photo interval should be as consistent as possible.
  • Follow along your path and shoot at least 100 photos, ideally more.
  • Once you're done, scroll through your photos to have a look at what you just captured.

Note: People WILL get in your way. Try and be loud, but friendly when shouting ‘EXCUSE ME COMING THROUGH I CAN'T STOP SHOOTING THIS TIMELAPSE SORRY' and thank them when they move. When they don't move you will become very upset so yeah, don't let that happen, be loud!

Before we begin the edit, you might be interested in my new free e-book The Basics Of Hyperlapse.

How to edit the easiest hyperlapse technique:

  • Offload your photos to a hard drive, ideally an SSD. I use this model mostly.
  • Put the hyperlapse photos in a separate folder.
  • Drag that folder into After Effects, which will import it as an image sequence.
  • Right-click the image sequence and create a composition.
  • In the Effects panel, select the Warp Stabilizer effect and drag it onto the sequence in your composition.
  • Set the smoothness of the Effect to 10%.
  • Once it's done analyzing, you can create a new composition from the current composition and add the Warp Stabilizer again.
  • Export the composition as a video file (using source resolution, Apple ProRes codec) and you're done!

Please tag me when you share your work, I'd love to see it. I'm @matjoez on pretty much all social media platforms.

Other ways to shoot hyperlapses

As I mentioned at the start, this is the easiest way to shoot a hyperlapse.

You can get much more complex shots by using tripods, wheels, dollies, stabilizers, ND filters, etc.

If you want to learn more then you might be interested in The Ultimate Timelapse Guide.
This 142-page e-book features everything you need to know to plan, shoot and edit the highest possible quality timelapse sequences in the most efficient way possible.

Do you prefer learning from video content? Then The Ultimate Timelapse Course will be more your thing.

You will learn basic and advanced holy grail shooting (sunset & sunrise), advanced editing using Lightroom Classic, LRTimelapse and After Effects, how to ramp settings (gradually change over time) using a free Lightroom plugin, advanced deflickering methods, hyperlapse photography, astro-photography, and so much more.

Get all the best tools and techniques to become a great timelapse photographer.

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