Finally out of Beta! Instagram has finally released Hyperlapse to the general public and the results are stunning.
Without master editing, first-person footage is almost unwatchable. Usually they are long and boring. Users of POV type cameras have figured that out and incorporated time-lapse or fast forward features to provide a more interesting perspective of a much longer journey. However this technique of post-applied time-lapse has long been plagued by issues of bouncy, nausea-inducing, footage.
Hyperlapse combines previously cost-prohibitive video stabilization and time-lapse technology to bring the best of both worlds to your iOS device. It works by recording the entire event, and when you’re finished it will slightly crop and move the camera through the shaky frames in order to find the smoothest final video path. When done, the user can select any number of speeds between 1x and 12x to export and share their video.
We have begun experimenting with Hyperlapse here at Prove and we have found it performs much better in lots of light, so avoid backlighting whenever possible. We have uploaded some of the raw files to YouTube and while the videos definitely look better on the phone compared to full screen desktop, we are excited to see how this technology improves.
Test On Coastal Bike Path From Santa Monica through Venice Beach to Marina Del Rey
Our first test. Note the backlighting issues when facing towards buildings and the sun.
Biking North on Venice Beach Boardwalk
Much smoother, the sunny left side is almost perfectly exposed. Shaded store fronts still grainy due to backlight.
Biking Down Venice Way and Ocean Ave in Venice Beach, CA
Into the sun again, but a bit later in the day providing more even coverage and exposure.
If you have an iOS device, get Hyperlapse today in the App Store.
Much like now-parent company Facebook, Instagram has joined the business of creating entirely standalone apps for different features. While this makes the App ecosystem a bit more complicated, this move away from bloated do everything-in-one-place-apps allows users to customize their needs and experience while minimizing the data and memory usage on services they don’t use. It also allows companies to fully test the interest and utility of new features before incorporating them into the “Main” App’s environment.
Related: Microsoft Research has been developing and teasing very similar software and calling the resulting video “hyperlapses.” We fully expect a Microsoft version of this technology to be available on Windows products and desktops so it can be more expertly applied to higher quality POV footage from cameras like the GoPro.