Motion Time Lapser

Images shot with today’s cameras can reach impressive quality levels, but many of us feel the urge to further manipulate them so that they become not only more aesthetic but also interactive. We are talking about time lapses, which are the dynamic equivalent of pictures and which you can create with an application such as Motion Time Lapser.

The program’s interface is a sketchy representation of several auto-sufficient areas that ensure no extra navigation is needed in order to get your work done.

As said, being anything but cluttered, the program’s main window lets you add the folder containing the pictures you want to be introduced in your time lapse, a destination path for your work-in-progress project, as well as all the rules that should describe the type of movement and the speed you want to attain in your time lapse.

Despite the app’s neat behavior and appearance, there are a few aspects worth mentioning. First of all, as far as the source folder is concerned, you have to be careful to choose a location that comprises strictly images in several file formats, otherwise, you are met with an unpleasant error that blocks any subsequent action. We have, however, tested the program with JPG, BMP, and PNG images, and it has worked flawlessly.

There is one other requirement, which has you choose an empty destination folder so that you avoid overwriting images. What this means is that, in case you subsequently want to make certain modifications, you should either choose a new location for your files or rename them altogether.

Still, in spite of these limitations, the app’s capabilities are pretty easy to use but all on a trial and error basis, since they use designations that, at first sight, might not seem to make a lot of sense. In this respect, a wider user manual would have made a difference.

The “Starting rectangle” and “Ending rectangle” references influence the movement direction and, specifically, allude to an imaginary area in your pictures that you can center your time lapse on and that you should be able to check using an image editor. This is an inconvenient aspect because you depend on another app to get an idea of what your result will look like, especially since there is no preview option integrated.

“Width” and “Height” obviously let you choose various values for the size of the imaginary rectangle delineating the zone of interest in your pictures.  Tweaking the speed noticeable in your time lapse is also possible and can be done by selecting one of the following three modes: “Constant,” “Accelerated,” and “Decelerated.”

The app is an approachable tool that can breathe life into your pictures by introducing a dynamic element in an otherwise predictable means of displaying them.

Nevertheless, there are a few shortcomings to it, mainly related to the fact that you have to trim your source folder and you generally have to experiment a bit in order to understand how it works.