Hyperfocal Design
Check out the following videos by some amazing time-lapse photographers, directors and CG artists! Hopefully these will give you some inspiration for your next animation or short film.
The Third and the Seventh
Watch this full-CG film and weep tears of silky, out-of-focus-then-in-focus-again bokeh joy. While not all about time lapse, this film by Alex Roman is one of the most inspiring CG animation I’ve ever watched, certainly where architecture is involved anyway! It feels like time stops and starts, speeds up and slows down in a surreal way. Does anyone else get Gattaca vibes from this? I suppose because of both the music and those colour tones. This is art!
Night Vision by Luke Shepard
Check out this amazing time-lapse architectural footage, Kickstarted last year. Luke travelled Europe and used some stunning camera movement combined with time lapse footage of both new and old buildings:
Debevec’s Parthenon
Full CG movie of the Parthenon, with the monument being lit by a hemispherical time-lapse HDR sky. Almost 10 years old as of this writing, and considering the resolution, it looks amazing! The fast passage of time and moving clouds add to the ancient theme and subject matter.
The Time Machine (1960)
Witness some classic time lapsing in this clip from the Time Machine – no computer graphics here!
Timescapes: Rapture, by Tom Lowe
By the Astrophotographer of the year, Tom Lowe. This film has quite a story behind it: http://timescapes.org/4k/about_the_movie.aspx It took 2 years to complete, with 100’s of night slept under the stars, it also received private funding and high end camera equipment . What works so well in this film is the mixing of slow motion, real time footage and time-lapse, with landscapes, people and events all tied together. It feels like a spectrum of life on planet earth:
View from the ISS at Night
Time lapse… IN SPACE!
Susan Justice’s Music Video, Eat Dirt, By Aggressive
Some really cool, contrasty urban time-lapses in this music video by this musician I’ve never heard of (sounds good though, go Susan!):
181 Fremont
CGArchitect 2013 Animation award winners, Steel Blue made this subtly effective animation utilizing some time-lapse shots.
KOYAANISQATSI
Another oldie, I’ve never actually seen the movie, but its now on my list – This is the first in a trilogy and includes big names such as Francis Ford Coppola, Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass.
Compressed 02
Now for something completely different:
Wimberley House
Of course I had to slip in a time-lapse somewhere that uses one of Hyperfocal’s upcoming time-lapse HDR skies! Here’s a great render from Timothy Back at ArchAngel Visual. I love how he’s even sped up the tree movement:
African Skies 2
Without Gunther’s amazing LRTimelapse software, I couldn’t have pulled off some of the more difficult time-lapse skies, here’s his amazing latest time-lapse film:
Adrift
For the last film, we end with this sleepy, fluffy, foggy time-lapse by Simon Christen
About Hyperfocal
I created this list of time-lapses because I’m working on a series of time-lapse, HDR sky-domes, which can be used in CG animations as both a background and for image based lighting. I wanted to provide some films both as inspiration for myself and also anyone who uses time-lapse in their work.
If you’re interested, check out the time-lapse skies here.
What’s your favorite time-lapse?
Would love to see some links to some of your favorite time-lapses if you know of any, so please comment below!
