Location / Single day time-lapse shoots

Whether it’s thirty minutes or twenty four hours, our plethora of cameras and motion-controlled rigs can acquire the exquisiteness you require for your shoot. All the shots in the above reel were captured on location using a variety of rigs and techniques, some of which are explained below. For anything over a 24hr period, you’ll want to take a look at our Long-Term Time-lapse page.

TIMELAPSE KIT

Track / Slider

We have up to 25m of modular track which is fully programmable and can be used in combination with other rigs including our pan and tilt head. So whether it’s a small and lightweight 1m section used for hiking up a mountain or the full length for those long sweeping landscape shots it’s all very portable in just 2 cases.

Dolly

Separate to the track system, this is a stand-alone 3-wheel dolly that runs on the floor and can travel any required distance as long as the floor is smooth enough (option to stabilise afterwards if not that smooth!). Height of camera can be as low as 10cm to 1.5m.

Crane

The crane is modular and ranges from a 2m to 8m reach. It’s a fully automated up or down movement but can also be joined with the pan and tilt head. Diagonal up or down moves are also possible as well. Arrives packaged up in 3 cases and for any shoots abroad, we can source weights locally as it requires anything from 10 to 50Kg to balance the camera.

Telescopic Mast

Not only is the mast great to grab shots at a height of up to 8m, it’s also useful for winching upwards to capture a moving shot in an upward direction. Any foreground works best with this method, especially trees!

Bespoke rigs

We either build or combine our existing kit together to create one-off shots on location. If you’ve got a specific move in mind then it’s most probably 99% possible as we’ve rarely been unable to move a camera in certain way. Get in touch if you’ve an idea that’s never been done before!

Time-lapse Techniques / styles

Static

You don’t need all of the toys to capture a magnificent shot as inherently within itself, the movement in a shot is the movement of the time-lapse subject itself. There are some specific shots where any movement is a distraction from the subject matter so it’s important that this doesn’t get overlooked when the excitement of a new bit of kit is announced!

Motion-control

Any shot that’s programmed in some way as in you set a start and end point and press go. This can be on a slider or any of our other rigs and can last in duration from minutes to hours - all of our power packs can run both camera and motion control rigs for up to 72hrs without needing a charge.

Hyperlapse

Not to be confused with Motion Control, this is an entirely separate technique where you slowly walk (or pace out) with the camera (either holding, on a monopod or tripod) in a set line of travel, taking a picture every few steps and focus on a single subject. The shot is then stabilised in post processing. There’s no set distance you can travel but it’s a lot more physical than stood next to a tripod waiting. Longest I’ve shot is 5km so far…

Day to Night or vice versa

This technique is where you’ll manually change the shutter speed, ISO, Aperture or a combination of all three as the light changes. You can go from full sunlight to Stars or anythign inbetween. The shot can be done static, on motion control kit or as a hyperslapse (tripod only).