Mastering Time: How to create professional TIMELAPSE & HYPERLAPSE

MASTERING TIME

HOW TO CREATE PROFESSIONAL

TIMELAPSE & HYPERLAPSE

written by Mattia Bicchi

MASTERING TIME

1st Edition

Copyright © 2021 Mattia Bicchi All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9781458310163

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

GEAR

DSLR & Mirrorless

Intervalometer

Tripod

Filters

PLANNING

Locations

Weather

Utilities

HOW TO SHOOT

TIMELAPSE

Settings

Flicker

Interval

Timing

Composition

HYPERLAPSE

What is an Hyperlapse

Gear

How to Shoot

Settings

HOLY GRAIL

Av Mode

M Mode

Other Techniques

ASTRO TIMELAPSE

Planning

Gear

Setting

Be Careful

MOTION CONTROL

Movements

Systems

LONG TERM TIMELAPSE

Outdoors

Indoors

POSTPRODUCTION

SOFTWARE

Free Software

Paid Software

Organising

LIGHTROOM

Basic Timelapse/Hyperlapse

LRTIMELAPSE

Holy Grail Timelapse / Hyperlapse

AFTER EFFECTS

Master File

TIDYING UP A TIMELAPSE

DeFlicker

Removing Birds

Removing People or Objects

Removing Dust

Removing Shakes

De-Noise Astro Timelapse

Hyperlapse

RENDERING

Full Quality Timelapse

Exporting for Social Media Platforms

EDIT A FILM

DATA STORAGE

On Location

Back at the Studio

Archiving

HOW TO SELL AND MAKE MONEY

Licensing

Sell on stock sites

Work on Commission

Teach Workshops

Content Creator on Social Media

Write a Book

INSPIRATION

CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the world of timelapse! In this book, you will find everything you need to know to start creating your own amazing, beautiful, and arresting timelapse movies.

In this book, I’ve put all of the knowledge I've developed in the last 10 years of shooting professional timelapse and hyperlapse movies for big and small film productions. You will learn how to plan your shoots, what equipment and settings to use, how to edit your hundreds (or thousands!) of pictures, all to create your own

timelapses.

My name is Mattia Bicchi. I was born in 1986 in the small town of Montemurlo in Tuscany, Italy. Thanks to my Father, it was there that my passion for photography first started, when I was only 8. He was a passionate photographer at that time, and would take his film camera on every family trip!

When I was 19, I bought my first DSLR, a Canon 450D, and I started photographing everything I could: nature, portraits, architecture, you name it! At the time, I was working as a racing fuel salesman, and I was at the race track every weekend, selling powerful fuel to cars and bikes. That’s when photography first became real for me: on my breaks I would get my camera out and start shooting the races. After a year, I made the biggest decision of my life: to move to London to follow my dream of becoming a professional photographer. So, in 2010, I left Italy and moved to the UK. At first I didn’t speak any English, so I went to an English school for a couple of months, and I started working as a waiter in a pub in Hammersmith. My plan was to study photography at a university for three years, and then hopefully get a job in a studio.

That plan went up in flames when I couldn’t get the right score on my IELTS English test,

but failing that test was the best thing that could have happened to me. If I had passed, I would not have met my girlfriend a few months later, and I would not have discovered timelapse.

In 2011, I moved with my girlfriend (now my wife) to Valencia in Spain, where she was studying for 5 months, and it was there that I discovered the beauty of timelapse! And it was also there that I broke the shutter button on my Canon 40D while shooting my first timelapse: by counting the shot interval with my watch, and pressing the button manually for hundreds of photos (happily, this book will teach you better ways to shoot that won't break your camera :-)

From that point, I started researching every bit of information I could find on how to shoot timelapse, and I started to create as many timelapses as I could. In August 2011, I moved back to London, and started a 1-year professional photography course. There I met some incredible friends, and learned how to run a photography business. All this, while working in a pub and shooting timelapses and hyperlapses in every bit of my free time. One year, and three timelapse films later, I graduated and started getting clients (through Vimeo) that wanted timelapse movies in their projects. This is when my timelapse career skyrocketed! Over the next 7 years, I worked for the BBC, big corporations like FORD, TIFFANY and AMAZON, and I was also creating long-term timelapses for construction companies.

As I write this in 2021, I am in Madrid, Spain, and I'm actively shooting timelapse and hyperlapse stock for Getty Images, fulfilling commissions for clients, creating behind-the-scenes videos for YouTube, and further exploring my passion for timelapse.

So, now that you know a bit of my history, let’s begin. Enjoy!

GEAR

The first thing I am going to talk about is the basic gear you’ll need to start creating your own timelapses. You don’t need much, really, but the little you need is essential.

1) A CAMERA: DSLR or MIRRORLESS

You can use any camera type or brand, as long as it can be controlled with a remote control, or it has an intervalometer built-in (I discuss intervalometers below). Nowadays, cameras are pretty much the same: they all take great pictures, and you can even get an amazing result with just a phone (but I wouldn’t recommend a phone if you are shooting for a client). So, the camera you use is strictly a personal choice! 

The cameras I use are the Sony A7RIII and A7III, as the dynamic range on these cameras is impressive, and they have an excellent built-in intervalometer.

2) INTERVALOMETER

An intervalometer is a tool that controls how often, and how many, pictures the camera takes. They are essential for shooting timelapses.

Newer cameras usually have an intervalometer built-in but, if yours doesn't, you can buy an external intervalometer that connects to your camera via a cable. The price depends on the

quality and the brand but, in my experience, a cheap one can almost always do the same job as an expensive one. I bought mine in Valencia for 50€ in 2011, and it's still working!

When buying an external intervalometer, make sure that you get one that can shoot more than a double-digit number (double-digits would limit you to only 99 photos). 4 digits would be ideal, but you can work with just 3 digits, if