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How to Slow Down a Time-Lapse Video

A time-lapse video allows you to view the footage of a progression of events at a much faster pace. With this technique, you can watch a completed video of the moving clouds, the sunset, the blooming of a flower, a cocoon turned into a butterfly, a construction of a building or a landscape from night to day in a matter of a few seconds or minutes. When you edit this footage using a video-editing program, you can also alter the speed of its playback.

Things You'll Need

  • Time-lapse video footage
  • Video-editing program
  • Computer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Open your time-lapse video in your preferred video-editing program. Although each program may vary when it comes to the exact name and location of its buttons and functions, the basic features typically include speed-altering effects that allow you to slow down or speed up the playback of your original video footage.

    • 2

      Drag your time-lapse video from the "Project" or "Import" window to the "Editing Timeline." This part of the editing interface is where the actual editing process happens. The timeline features a number of audio and video tracks where you place your sound and visual elements.

    • 3

      Select the program's "Speed" feature. This is typically under a specific menu program like "Video" or "Video Effects." Most programs also allow you to alter the speed of a video by right-clicking the actual clip from the "Editing Timeline," then choosing the "Speed" or "Duration" option.

    • 4

      Select the speed you want to use from the window that appears. The default speed for your video is 100 percent. Choosing a percentage lower than this makes the video play slower, while a higher percentage makes the video play faster. Select a program that allows you to choose the time duration as an alternative to choosing the speed-change option, if desired. For example, you can instruct the program to play a two-minute time-lapse video for a duration of three minutes. The program computes the applicable speed to slow down the video playback into a three-minute footage.

    • 5

      View the edited time-lapse footage using the program's "Preview Window." If your program doesn't provide automatic or real-time rendering, you must first render the edited video before you can properly view it with the applied speed or duration change. Rendering refers to the process of generating a new image based on the effects or edit done in the video.

    • 6

      Export your slowed-down, time-lapse footage using your preferred video file format like AVI, MP4, WMV or MOV.

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