Video Timelapse Maker

Extract frames at intervals from video to create timelapse sequences.

Tested tool guide Tested browser tools Checked August 16, 2026

What Video Timelapse Maker does, with a checked example

A timelapse is made by discarding most of a video. This page plays the file you pick, takes one frame at each stop of an interval you set - one frame every 2 seconds of footage, say - and joins the kept frames into a new clip played at a normal rate. At 30 fps playback, an hour of recording collapses to a minute. The thing people most often misread: output length is not a setting you choose. It falls out of the interval, because the result is simply the extracted frames shown at normal speed. Everything runs locally; the video never leaves the browser.

Worked example

A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.

Input

A 60-minute video, sampled at one frame every 2 seconds, assembled at 30 fps.

Expected output

A 60-second timelapse built from 1,800 frames - 3,600 seconds of footage divided by 2 seconds per frame.

Each 2-second interval contributes one frame, so 60 minutes yields 1,800 frames; played at 30 fps those frames last exactly 60 seconds, compressing an hour into a minute (a 60x speed-up).

How the result is produced

Sampling the source

The video's playback timeline is walked in fixed jumps of the interval you choose, and the frame at each stopping point is kept; every frame in between is dropped. On a 30 fps recording with a 2-second interval, 1 frame out of every 60 survives, so the spacing between kept frames is the interval you set, measured in seconds of source time.

Assembling the clip

The kept frames are placed back in order and shown at a normal playback rate, so each frame now stands for the whole interval of real time. Output duration is not independent: it equals the number of kept frames divided by the output rate. Halving the interval doubles the length of the timelapse and halves the speed-up.

Good uses

Compressing hours of a slow, steady subject - a construction site, a sunset, a growing plant - into a clip short enough to watch in one go.
Skimming a long dashcam or security recording for what changed, without sitting through every second of it.
Producing a progress clip for documentation: one frame per minute of a renovation or repair, exported as a compact timelapse video.

Limits and checks

Output length is a consequence of your inputs, not a direct setting: frames equals source duration divided by interval, and output seconds equals frames divided by the playback rate. Work the arithmetic before running; a pleasant-looking interval often yields a clip far longer or shorter than expected.
Short sources collapse fast. A 10-second clip sampled every 5 seconds yields only two or three frames - not a timelapse but a near-static slide. If the interval exceeds about a tenth of the source duration, expect a jerky result.
Sampling loses whatever happens between stops. A sunrise, a passing truck, or a light switching on can fall entirely between frames and never appear. And the output cannot exceed the source's own stored frame rate - a low-fps source simply has fewer candidate frames.

Common questions

How do I predict the length of my timelapse?

Divide the source duration by the interval to get the number of frames, then divide that by the output playback rate. Example: 60 minutes at one frame per 2 seconds gives 1,800 frames, which is 60 seconds at 30 fps. To make a longer or shorter clip, change the interval - not the file.

Can I timelapse a full 24-hour recording?

Yes, if the interval is sized for it. At one frame per 10 seconds, 24 hours (86,400 seconds) yields 8,640 frames, about 6 minutes at 24 fps. Expect the job to take a while: the page processes the whole file in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, but a long source needs time and memory.

References and verification

The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.