Drone hyperlapse
Also known as: aerial hyperlapse, moving time-lapse
A time-lapse flown rather than fixed, where the aircraft travels between frames so the whole scene moves as well as speeding up.
Updated
What it means
A normal Time-lapse stands still and lets the world change. A hyperlapse adds travel, so the camera moves across a distance while time compresses, and the two effects multiply.
On an aircraft it is automated. The drone flies a line or an orbit, pauses for each frame, and assembles the result in camera, which makes it one of the few genuinely hands-off moves.
The output is short. Several minutes of flying become a clip no longer than the cuts around it, which is why one hyperlapse per location is the normal ration. Flying a second one at a different altitude wastes a battery for almost no editorial gain.
How it works in practice
A clear subject makes it work. A pier, a ridge line or a single building gives the movement something to orbit, while open water produces motion without a reason for it. The subject is what the viewer measures the travel against.
Smooth results need a locked exposure and a long shutter, so an ND filter for drone is effectively mandatory. Without one, frames are sharp individually and flicker as a sequence.
The aircraft wants calm air and a battery with room to spare. A Drone battery cycle late in its life turns a planned route into an interrupted one.
What to watch out for
Flicker is the signature failure. Any automatic exposure change between frames shows up as pulsing brightness, which is why Exposure lock is set before the first frame rather than after.
The in-camera assembly also throws away the frames. A hyperlapse rendered on the aircraft leaves no stills to re-time or re-grade, so a mistake means flying it again. Keeping the frames is the safer setting where it exists.
Editorially it is a difficult guest. The speed matches nothing around it, so dropping one into a cut without a deliberate Speed ramping transition makes the sequence stumble.
How RawClip handles it
A finished hyperlapse arrives as a short, fast clip, which analysis reads as a transition rather than as action. It tends to be placed between sections instead of among the riding, where its speed works with the music instead of against the shots on either side.