Nearly a month after unveiling Bolt, a Snapchat-like app that allows users to send short-lived photo and video messages from their mobile devices, Instagram has now announced an all-new standalone app that shoots professional-looking video clips. Dubbed Hyperlapse, the app lets you capture high-quality time lapse videos even while in motion.
Timelapse is a popular photography technique used to make motion movie footage using a stills camera. Images are taken at set intervals over long periods and is sped up in the final video to make it appear as if time is passing quickly.
While time lapse videos depend on holding your phone or camera still while you film, Hyperlapse lets you create moving, handheld time lapses, adding a cinematic look, quality, and feel to finished videos.
The app, which the company says is designed to be as simple as possible, doesn't require you to login; you open up straight to the camera. Tap once to begin recording and tap again to stop.
Playback speed can be adjusted from standard 1x, which is the normal speed at which the video was recorded, to as high as 12x. Once you're done, tap the green check mark to save direct to the camera roll.
You can shoot a video for up to 10 minutes if you have an iPhone 4, or up to 45 minutes if you have an iPhone 5. Also, you can share finished videos on Instagram, although the platform's 15 second limit still applies.
"The most obvious people we expect to really have fun with it are creatives and photographers", an Instagram spokesperson said. Although the app is currently only available for iOS, Instagram hopes to develop an Android version soon.
You can download the app from Apple’s App Store.
