Hi Andrew Paez, Thanks for buying the book! Yes, the book is about the Hero 3. I have suggested settings for the Hero 3 Black, Silver and White in the book. And the rest of the information in the book is applicable to the Black Edition as well. The Surf Edition means that the tips in it are relevant to using it for surfing and watersports. Thanks again!
Removing the battery will not reset your settings. You will need to scroll through the modes to get back to Time Lapse mode unless you set your camera to start in Time Lapse mode as the default power up mode.
Hi Jerry, Once you plug your Hero 3 into your computer, the record functions won't work. The best option is to get an External Power pack that is connected with a USB cable. Make sure it is compatible with the Hero 3 so that the functions will work while it is powering. Here is a good one that works- Anker Astro 5600mAh Backup External Battery Pack. Also, the Hero 3 won't capture much once it gets really dark, so you may want to wait till the sun is about to come up to start shooting.
Also, you need to be able to access the USB port so you can either use the Frame, shoot without the housing at all or customize the housing (drill a hole in it for the USB cable. The Frame is really the best option so you can still mount your camera and you don't have to ruin a waterproof housing. Good luck with the shot!
PERFECT! THANKS!! I feed my birds and squirrels every morning on my backyard pavers. I've been wanting to see and hear them up close and my wife suggested I set up one of my GoPros. I'll be doing a time lapse this week.
The photo file sizes are slightly different for the Silver Edition. The 5mp Wide photo dimensions are 2592 x 1944 pixels, so if you are making a 1080p time lapse, the 5mp photos are big enough. The benefit to shooting a smaller file size is to save memory and its easier for your computer to process.
After you have drained the battery three times, it should last at least an hour and a half. The battery BacPac helps out too if you want to do longer time lapses.
After you set your photo setting to 7mp, go into Time Lapse (or any photo mode) and on the bottom left corner of your camera's LCD Screen, it will tell you how many photos you can take at that setting. As far as spacing, it really depends on what angle you are shooting and how much scenery there is. 27 hours is 1620 minutes so at 1 photo/30 seconds, you will have 3240 photos. The battery is going to be the major problem for a 27-hour train ride. You can try a portable USB battery charger.
Hi Lazar, I agree- I think this clip would've looked better at a faster frame rate, but I kept it at 15fps for the tutorial to keep it simple for everyone who is trying to learn. The frame rate should be adjusted depending what type of scene you shoot.
If you mount it to your bike so that some object in the foreground is stationary (like the seat/handlebars, etc.), that could look really cool. I meant that you don't want to hold it in your hand for a time lapse because it will look really jerky. You can also use something like an egg timer that moves really slowly to give the time lapse some slow steady movement.
The battery should last about an hour and a half when videoing and up to 2.5 hours in standby, but a lot of people are saying they are getting shorter battery times. The battery is supposed to last longer after it has been charged and drained a few times. Let me know how long yours lasts. I'm always curious to hear more reports.
Yeah, a relatively short battery life is one of the shortfalls of having such a small, compact camera. The best thing to do if you are shooting a long time lapse is to get a backup battery (the Wasabi Wall and Auto Charger comes with two batteries and is a pretty good deal). If you use the Frame, you can swap out batteries without moving your camera. Just make sure the thumbscrew is tightened really well so your camera doesn't move in between batteries.
Thanks for a great tutorial. I did not know a Gopro could do this and I've had mine years. You make it so simple. I'm charging my GoPro now to set up for sunrise- following your great vid. Good job man.
Hi Dimitrios, You need to adjust the speed at which the camera takes the pictures, so if the clouds are really slow moving, set it at 1 photo every 10 seconds or something close to that. Then, when you turn it into a video and speed it up, the scene will be moving faster. Does that help?
The time lapse should work fine even though you took the photos at 12mp. Shooting at a smaller file size (7mp) just saves on memory. Did you try to export the clip and see if it put together the time lapse clip?
yes you can, to a degree.As far as I know iMovie lets you create a time-lapse, but not as one clip. It will only show each individual photo separately until you export which makes it very difficult to change the parameters of the photos because you must do it to all of the photos manually. I would recommend downloading CineForm Studio because it is free.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with it. Changing the frame rate and converting it should adjust the speed of time lapse. Are you sure you imported all of the images from the time lapse in one folder?
Wow, that was very helpful. There is so much to do that I would never have figured out. You made it very easy to understand. I am now going to go make some cool mini movies. Thanks.
Thanks so much for this video. This is exactly what i needed. Every other video was so confusing, but yours was perfect, simple and to the point. Great job.
If you are on a PC, in Step 2 at the bottom of the screen near the file name dialog box, click Export MP4 (instead of File>Export .Mov on a Mac). Below the File Name you can tell Cineform where to export the file too.
thanks for the tutorial, man. real clear and easy to follow. I'm gonna buy your book now. I'm making my first time lapse and I had a quick question: When you select between 1080p-super, 1080p, 4K, 2.7k, and etc... does that make a difference when making a time lapse from still photos? Or does that strictly make alterations to making videos? I'm a noob. Thanks bro!
It's best to crop it after compiling the time lapse clip. If you are using free editing software, you can crop it in iMovie (MAC). Since you can't crop in Windows Movie Maker, you can use VirtualDub, which is free also.
Cineform gives you the option to make the video 16:9 but it doesn't give you cropping options. You have to crop the video in iMovie (MAC) or VirtualDub (PC) after you combine the images to create the video.
excellent tutorial made my first GoPro time-lapse with your help and was amazed, great editing and so easy with the GoPro studio software thank you! :)
Both of your videos on editing in GoPro's software are great man. Made it real easy to understand and memorize. Do you know of any other free editing software for a PC, other than movie maker? Thanks
you can actually use a usb connection to supply power to the gopro, just dont enter usb-drive mode. You do that by connecting the usb cable when the camera is on.
You can't add music in Cineform. After you edit your time lapse and export it, just bring the clip into iMovie (MAC) or Windows Movie Maker (PC) and you can add music there.
Very nice. Quick and easy tips. Just curious if the GoPro editing software allows you to add music and credits? If not, it seems that you can do that now with TH-cam. Also, how do you maintain the quality of the video when uploading to TH-cam? Thx.
It depends how you plan to display your video- 1080p or 4k? If your goal is to make a 4k Time Lapse, which you may want to do, shoot at 12mp (if you have the Black Edition). Otherwise, you are just sacrificing card space and computer memory.
GoPro just updated CineForm. If you go to their site to download it under support, it's now called GoPro Studio 2.0. There are lots of new features. Keep an eye on this channel for more details and tutorials on how to use the new features.
Dude awesome u are by far the most clear and step by step person that explains this stuff on all of TH-cam, one question, can you put multiple time lapses in a time lapse folder? Like will the folders be in the computer folder department or will it be shown on the screen like the home screen when U first open up your laptop,, because if I have 20 tike lapses I don't want 20 different time lapse Folders on my home screen when I first turn the laptop on, or do all of the folders belong in the photo computer app thing on the home screen of your laptop, oh and can you use any laptop as long as it has GoPro edited thing or do u have to use a mac
I assume that u can only have 1 time lapse per folder cause if u imported a file with another time lapse it would mess things up because it would be a time lapse and all the pictures u took for the time lapse your working on right?
Because of the compression, the .mp4 straight from the camera plays choppy on a lot of computers. Converting it in CineForm works for me. Or, you can convert the file in MPEG Streamclip.
I change my MP from 12 to 7 MP, but in both sizes I can take the same amount of pictures. Do you know why this is.. I also see it in your video, after you change your settings, the amount of pictures you can take, stays the same. Thanks for your answer. Peace!
Thanks. Made a Time Lapse movie using film shorts a few weeks ago. It was okay but the continuity was not as good and the camera moved every time I turned it on and off so had to edit out the shaky in and out of the shots. Also I'm going to try one today with the photo time lapse setting, but turn the spot meter off so the foreground isnt black. Or....maybe I'll move the camera higher so it picks up the sky in the scene more than the ground.
After you make the time lapse video, you can crop it to Widescreen using video editing software. If you want to use free software, on MAC, you can use iMovie and on PC, you can crop in VirtualDub (Windows Live Movie Maker won't let you crop).
If you check out my Sunset video I just did yesterday, I kept it at 12MP no edititing, and it is distorted a little bit so I am going to go what by this guy said. Anyways I recorded a sunset and I shot a picture every 10 seconds, the total amount of pictures I had was 390.
Hi Emil, You can download Cineform Software for free from GoPro's site under Store and then Software & App. You just have to enter your name and email address to download it.
Hey mate, great tutorial, really helpful!! When i heard you speak at first you sounded very much like the character Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) in the tv show Person of Interest!!
Thank you very much. I am just confuse on one part which is the part where you reduce it to 960. I am learning to use the camera and only had it for a short while. so I am trying to learn the differences between frame rate, slow down rate etc etc. I learned a lot from this clip thank you.
On the actual gopro to get rid of the fisheye effect your going to wanna do the following: 1. Go into settings 2. Press the red record button on top of the gopro on the first setting that will show your resolution-frames 3. Go into last option, FOV that will be located above exit that will have a W (meaning wide) 4. Change the FOV to medium and there you go Hope this works for you :)
Your camera separates the files into different folders after you take 1000 photos, so you just need to put them back together in one folder on your computer.
I just bought and downloaded your book based on the helpful information found here. One question, I noticed after downloading that the book is about the surf edition. Is it safe to assume that the tips on the book apply to the Hero 3 Black model? Thanks for the very detailed time lapse tutorial.
I only started time lapse with a new gopro hero 3+ silver and found 2 sec interval gives a smoother video especially when doing HD. The GoPro software though is not the best for enhancing the pictures so i have edit in another program and get it to generate the video them import back into GoPro and export at the resolution I want,
How do you get "GoPro CInaform Studio" ?? and great videos i really enjoy them and they have helped me a lot could you make one long video explaining what setting are good for all the modes and why. Thanks mate
Hi Andrew Paez,
Thanks for buying the book! Yes, the book is about the Hero 3. I have suggested settings for the Hero 3 Black, Silver and White in the book. And the rest of the information in the book is applicable to the Black Edition as well.
The Surf Edition means that the tips in it are relevant to using it for surfing and watersports. Thanks again!
Removing the battery will not reset your settings. You will need to scroll through the modes to get back to Time Lapse mode unless you set your camera to start in Time Lapse mode as the default power up mode.
Hi Jerry,
Once you plug your Hero 3 into your computer, the record functions won't work.
The best option is to get an External Power pack that is connected with a USB cable. Make sure it is compatible with the Hero 3 so that the functions will work while it is powering. Here is a good one that works- Anker Astro 5600mAh Backup External Battery Pack.
Also, the Hero 3 won't capture much once it gets really dark, so you may want to wait till the sun is about to come up to start shooting.
Also, you need to be able to access the USB port so you can either use the Frame, shoot without the housing at all or customize the housing (drill a hole in it for the USB cable. The Frame is really the best option so you can still mount your camera and you don't have to ruin a waterproof housing.
Good luck with the shot!
Quick and simple explanation. Thank you! You've gained a subscriber.
PERFECT! THANKS!! I feed my birds and squirrels every morning on my backyard pavers. I've been wanting to see and hear them up close and my wife suggested I set up one of my GoPros. I'll be doing a time lapse this week.
The photo file sizes are slightly different for the Silver Edition. The 5mp Wide photo dimensions are 2592 x 1944 pixels, so if you are making a 1080p time lapse, the 5mp photos are big enough.
The benefit to shooting a smaller file size is to save memory and its easier for your computer to process.
Yes, I have had the same problem with one of my Black Editions. I am working on a video with some solutions, so hopefully I will have it ready soon.
Yes, you can use CineForm on PC or MAC. On a PC, the files export as MP4 files. On MAC, you export MOV files.
After you have drained the battery three times, it should last at least an hour and a half. The battery BacPac helps out too if you want to do longer time lapses.
After you set your photo setting to 7mp, go into Time Lapse (or any photo mode) and on the bottom left corner of your camera's LCD Screen, it will tell you how many photos you can take at that setting.
As far as spacing, it really depends on what angle you are shooting and how much scenery there is. 27 hours is 1620 minutes so at 1 photo/30 seconds, you will have 3240 photos.
The battery is going to be the major problem for a 27-hour train ride. You can try a portable USB battery charger.
The best go pro tutorial on time laps on the net! Well done.
Hi Lazar,
I agree- I think this clip would've looked better at a faster frame rate, but I kept it at 15fps for the tutorial to keep it simple for everyone who is trying to learn. The frame rate should be adjusted depending what type of scene you shoot.
If you mount it to your bike so that some object in the foreground is stationary (like the seat/handlebars, etc.), that could look really cool. I meant that you don't want to hold it in your hand for a time lapse because it will look really jerky.
You can also use something like an egg timer that moves really slowly to give the time lapse some slow steady movement.
The battery should last about an hour and a half when videoing and up to 2.5 hours in standby, but a lot of people are saying they are getting shorter battery times. The battery is supposed to last longer after it has been charged and drained a few times. Let me know how long yours lasts. I'm always curious to hear more reports.
Yeah, a relatively short battery life is one of the shortfalls of having such a small, compact camera.
The best thing to do if you are shooting a long time lapse is to get a backup battery (the Wasabi Wall and Auto Charger comes with two batteries and is a pretty good deal).
If you use the Frame, you can swap out batteries without moving your camera. Just make sure the thumbscrew is tightened really well so your camera doesn't move in between batteries.
really good video,clear and easy to understand thanks mate !!
Thank you. Having so much more fun with my GoPro now that I know how to do what I want to do. Book is great too!
Just used your video to make my first time lapse move. It came out great thanks to your help. I'll be looking for your book!
Thanks for a great tutorial. I did not know a Gopro could do this and I've had mine years. You make it so simple. I'm charging my GoPro now to set up for sunrise- following your great vid. Good job man.
Hi Dimitrios,
You need to adjust the speed at which the camera takes the pictures, so if the clouds are really slow moving, set it at 1 photo every 10 seconds or something close to that. Then, when you turn it into a video and speed it up, the scene will be moving faster. Does that help?
I recommend somewhere around 1 photo every 5, 10 or even 30 seconds. It really depends on how fast the clouds are moving.
The time lapse should work fine even though you took the photos at 12mp. Shooting at a smaller file size (7mp) just saves on memory.
Did you try to export the clip and see if it put together the time lapse clip?
yes you can, to a degree.As far as I know iMovie lets you create a time-lapse, but not as one clip. It will only show each individual photo separately until you export which makes it very difficult to change the parameters of the photos because you must do it to all of the photos manually. I would recommend downloading CineForm Studio because it is free.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with it. Changing the frame rate and converting it should adjust the speed of time lapse. Are you sure you imported all of the images from the time lapse in one folder?
If you select the folder that the photos are in, not the actual photo file, GoPro Studio should automatically combine them into a video.
Wow, that was very helpful. There is so much to do that I would never have figured out. You made it very easy to understand. I am now going to go make some cool mini movies. Thanks.
I've tried it with .mov files from my Canon 7D and it worked fine for me.
2021 And this video helped me a lot!!!!
Thanks so much for this video. This is exactly what i needed. Every other video was so confusing, but yours was perfect, simple and to the point. Great job.
This video was very helpful. Very detailed and explained every step of the process. Thanks
If you are on a PC, in Step 2 at the bottom of the screen near the file name dialog box, click Export MP4 (instead of File>Export .Mov on a Mac). Below the File Name you can tell Cineform where to export the file too.
Thank you so much...have done last week for full moon...is my 1st time lapse...
Thank you for sharing your time to explain how it's working ! salutation de la Suisse
thanks for the tutorial, man. real clear and easy to follow. I'm gonna buy your book now. I'm making my first time lapse and I had a quick question: When you select between 1080p-super, 1080p, 4K, 2.7k, and etc... does that make a difference when making a time lapse from still photos? Or does that strictly make alterations to making videos? I'm a noob. Thanks bro!
This is your second tutorial that I've watched, thanks a bunch!
It's best to crop it after compiling the time lapse clip. If you are using free editing software, you can crop it in iMovie (MAC). Since you can't crop in Windows Movie Maker, you can use VirtualDub, which is free also.
Yes, you can make a time lapse with iMovie or Windows Live Movie Maker too.
Cineform gives you the option to make the video 16:9 but it doesn't give you cropping options. You have to crop the video in iMovie (MAC) or VirtualDub (PC) after you combine the images to create the video.
Thanks for a great tutorial. I had previously missed the fact hat the individual photos have to be grouped into a folder before importing
Anything up to OSX 10.7. They still haven't updated it for Mountain Lion. Hopefully, they will soon!
Thanks again - Dusted off my GoPro Hero 3 Black recently and really appreciate your tutorials. Do you have any new books out?
excellent tutorial made my first GoPro time-lapse with your help and was amazed, great editing and so easy with the GoPro studio software thank you! :)
It's okay to use the 12mp setting. This will allow you to create a slider or zooming effect with the extra pixels.
Hi Abdul,
I'm using the Black Edition in the tutorial, so the file sizes are different for the Silver and White editions.
Hey Steve,
I'm using Quicktime at high quality.
So classic , tryin to find a time lapse video for when i move back home to lj. first vid i click is a sunset at windan. great video man
Thank you so much for this, I'm very new to GoPro and haven't got a clue!
Both of your videos on editing in GoPro's software are great man. Made it real easy to understand and memorize. Do you know of any other free editing software for a PC, other than movie maker? Thanks
It is an excellent video ,thanks for uploading it my friend, greetings from URUGUAY.
you can actually use a usb connection to supply power to the gopro, just dont enter usb-drive mode.
You do that by connecting the usb cable when the camera is on.
You can't add music in Cineform.
After you edit your time lapse and export it, just bring the clip into iMovie (MAC) or Windows Movie Maker (PC) and you can add music there.
Very nice. Quick and easy tips.
Just curious if the GoPro editing software allows you to add music and credits? If not, it seems that you can do that now with TH-cam. Also, how do you maintain the quality of the video when uploading to TH-cam? Thx.
No, you should have the Advanced Settings function available for free, whether you are on a MAC or PC.
Hi RastermoNify,
You can use .avi and that will work fine if you are on a PC.
It depends how you plan to display your video- 1080p or 4k? If your goal is to make a 4k Time Lapse, which you may want to do, shoot at 12mp (if you have the Black Edition). Otherwise, you are just sacrificing card space and computer memory.
GoPro just updated CineForm. If you go to their site to download it under support, it's now called GoPro Studio 2.0. There are lots of new features. Keep an eye on this channel for more details and tutorials on how to use the new features.
Dude awesome u are by far the most clear and step by step person that explains this stuff on all of TH-cam, one question, can you put multiple time lapses in a time lapse folder? Like will the folders be in the computer folder department or will it be shown on the screen like the home screen when U first open up your laptop,, because if I have 20 tike lapses I don't want 20 different time lapse Folders on my home screen when I first turn the laptop on, or do all of the folders belong in the photo computer app thing on the home screen of your laptop, oh and can you use any laptop as long as it has GoPro edited thing or do u have to use a mac
I assume that u can only have 1 time lapse per folder cause if u imported a file with another time lapse it would mess things up because it would be a time lapse and all the pictures u took for the time lapse your working on right?
Because of the compression, the .mp4 straight from the camera plays choppy on a lot of computers. Converting it in CineForm works for me. Or, you can convert the file in MPEG Streamclip.
Did you try changing the Frame Rate to a higher frame rate under Advanced Settings?
Huge help. I love that you shot that at Windansea...what up neighbor.
I like speeding the SPEED UP VIDEO method for time lapses. This method has fewer files and is smoother.
This is gold! Thanks alot. Really easy to understand. Great video.
I change my MP from 12 to 7 MP, but in both sizes I can take the same amount of pictures. Do you know why this is.. I also see it in your video, after you change your settings, the amount of pictures you can take, stays the same. Thanks for your answer. Peace!
Hey DjViOd,
Does that work on your computer because my computer (Mac) automatically reads it as a drive even if my Hero3 is powered on?
Thank you so much for your help I just completed my first ever time lapse.
Thanks. Made a Time Lapse movie using film shorts a few weeks ago. It was okay but the continuity was not as good and the camera moved every time I turned it on and off so had to edit out the shaky in and out of the shots. Also I'm going to try one today with the photo time lapse setting, but turn the spot meter off so the foreground isnt black. Or....maybe I'll move the camera higher so it picks up the sky in the scene more than the ground.
After you make the time lapse video, you can crop it to Widescreen using video editing software. If you want to use free software, on MAC, you can use iMovie and on PC, you can crop in VirtualDub (Windows Live Movie Maker won't let you crop).
Great and easy explained tutorial, got it all the first time
Thanks 👍
Clear, fast and easy. Thanks for this!
Great tutorial. Easy, simple, to the point.
Thanks, this was very helpful. I just completed my first time lapse.
how long do you have to film for? for example, a sun set like you did. how long did it take to film? and thanks, your videos are soo helpful :D
If you check out my Sunset video I just did yesterday, I kept it at 12MP no edititing, and it is distorted a little bit so I am going to go what by this guy said. Anyways I recorded a sunset and I shot a picture every 10 seconds, the total amount of pictures I had was 390.
Hi Emil,
You can download Cineform Software for free from GoPro's site under Store and then Software & App.
You just have to enter your name and email address to download it.
Thanks for this video. That was exactly what I was looking for.
Love your videos
I'm using the MAC version, but on a PC, you will need to export to an MP4.
quick a simple! Great video dude
You can't add music in GoPro's CineForm. To add music, you will need import the clip into a video editing program.
Great job!! Short sweet and to the point, Off to Hawaii!
Fantastic, just made my first time-lapse. Thanks man.
Thx Bro, You Rock. Gunna go make my first one now!!
Thanks bro. We'll done tutorial. Just what I was looking for.
Hey mate, great tutorial, really helpful!!
When i heard you speak at first you sounded very much like the character Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) in the tv show Person of Interest!!
Thank. I played video over 100 times taking it step by step.
im going to go make a time lapse video right now! thanks so much!
You are welcome!
I;m glad they are helping you out!
Can I leave the camera plugged into my macbook pro, to keep the power going through the night for a sunrise photo?
Cheers and great video.
Jerry
thanks a lot bro, i will use this technique in in surfing spots
Thank you very much. I am just confuse on one part which is the part where you reduce it to 960. I am learning to use the camera and only had it for a short while. so I am trying to learn the differences between frame rate, slow down rate etc etc.
I learned a lot from this clip thank you.
Thanks for the video and the info. I downloaded ceniform to my PC so I try it there or my Mac. Thanks again. (Tom)
On the actual gopro to get rid of the fisheye effect your going to wanna do the following:
1. Go into settings
2. Press the red record button on top of the gopro on the first setting that will show your resolution-frames
3. Go into last option, FOV that will be located above exit that will have a W (meaning wide)
4. Change the FOV to medium and there you go
Hope this works for you :)
That was an awesome video! Extremely helpful!!
Good tutorial easy to follow thank you
Your camera separates the files into different folders after you take 1000 photos, so you just need to put them back together in one folder on your computer.
thank you finally a vid that makes sense!
I just bought and downloaded your book based on the helpful information found here. One question, I noticed after downloading that the book is about the surf edition. Is it safe to assume that the tips on the book apply to the Hero 3 Black model? Thanks for the very detailed time lapse tutorial.
I only started time lapse with a new gopro hero 3+ silver and found 2 sec interval gives a smoother video especially when doing HD. The GoPro software though is not the best for enhancing the pictures so i have edit in another program and get it to generate the video them import back into GoPro and export at the resolution I want,
another excellent video for complete dumb faks like me who cant read the instructions !!, many thanks , please keep them coming
How do you get "GoPro CInaform Studio" ?? and great videos i really enjoy them and they have helped me a lot could you make one long video explaining what setting are good for all the modes and why.
Thanks mate