How to Make Time-Lapse Videos on iPhone - 3 Ways

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How to Make Time-Lapse Videos on iPhone - 3 Ways

Last Updated: Jul. 21, 2021

Summary

In this guide, we'll show you how to make a time lapse video on iPhone using three methods. You'll learn how to shoot a time lapse video on iPhone directly, how to piece together still photos to time lapse video, and how to time lapse a normal video.

The iPhone time lapse feature was first introduced in iOS 8 (2014) as one of the two new features in the Camera app. Since then, Apple made it easier than ever for people to record and share their own timelapse videos.

Want to know more ways to make time lapse video on an iPhone? You've come to the right place! Here we will show you how to shoot a time lapse video on iPhone and create a timelapse video from a series of photos taken in sequence and normal video.

Let's break down the steps for each method!

Part 1 How to Shoot a Time Lapse Video on iPhone

Part 2 How to Make a Time Lapse Video from Photos

Part 3 How to Make a Time Lapse from Normal Video

Also Read: How to Make a Vlog with iPhone (Detailed Steps & Tips) >

Part 1 How to Capture a Time Lapse Video on iPhone

Take a time lapse video on the iPhone is just as easy as recording a video with the built-in time lapse model. Here are the simple five steps to make a time lapse video on your iPhone:

Step 1

Open up your iPhone's camera app, and select the time-lapse shooting mode by swiping right until time lapse is selected.

iPhone Time Lapse

Step 2

Tap on the screen to set the focus and exposure point for the part of the scene that you want to record.

Step 3

When you're ready to start recording your time lapse video, just press the red record button to start your filming. (A rotating signal appears around the shutter button when your iPhone is recording.)

Step 4

Tap on the red record button to finish the recording, then the video will automatically compress and appear on your camera roll.

Besides shooting a time lapse directly, there are also two popular ways of making a time-lapse video: using series still images and using a normal video. Keep reading to learn how to make a time lapse from still photos and normal video.

Quick Tip: For more information about iPhone videos, please check out our post on iPhone Video Format - What video format does iPhone Support & Record in >.

How to Make Time Lapse Video from Photos in iMovie

Want to make time lapse from photos on an iPhone? As far as we know, there's no easy way to do this on iPhone just yet, but you can achieve the task of creating a time-lapse from still photos in iMovie on Mac.

iMovie is a free and built-in app inside every Apple device, so it is a really good option if you're starting to create timelapse from still images. Follow the simple steps below to make a time lapse video from photos in iMovie:

Step 1

Open iMovie, create a new project and choose "Movie" on the project type selection screen.

Create New Project iMovie

Step 2

Click on the iMovie icon (in the upper left of your screen) and click "Preferences" , and it will bring you to a new window, go to "Photo Placement", and change the option to "Crop to fill", then set the Photo Duration as "0,1 seconds".

Set iMovie Preferences

Step 3

Press the "Import media" button and import all your series of photos, and drag them into the timeline.

Pro Tip:

Now, your still photos will piece together as a video that plays at 10 frames per second. Normal videos often display at 25 or 30 FPS. If you see that the video is not playing smoothly, click on the "Crop" icon and choose the option "Crop to fill" again.

Step 4

Now the process gets a little weird. We will need to export the file, then import it again and speed the video up.

Step 5

Once you imported your saved file again into iMovie and dragged it into the timeline, you can click on the little speed meter icon on the bottom of the screen to speed it up to timelapse speed.

Speed up to Time Lapse

Part 3 How to Make a Time Lapse Video from a Normal Video

You can also create a time lapse with normal video file. Converting a video to time-lapse is an easy one! Simply add it to a video editing app, like the iMovie app, and speed it up, then end up with a video that looks just like a time-lapse!

Speed up to Time Lapse

Pro Tip:

You can also use iMovie to adjust the speed of your time lapse video on an iPhone. You can easily change the time lapse video to slow down or increase its speed.

Final Words

In this post, we’ve shown you some great methods to make a time lapse video on an iPhone: shooting a timelapse on iPhone directly, making a timelapse video from still photos, or a normal video. We hope you're now skilled enough to start creating amazing time-lapses!

Sandy /

Has 4-year of professional photographing experience. Very much into recording every detail of life. She is passionate about all things related to video production, and loves to exploring tips and tricks about it.