Software for time compressing a video

[Dave Nelson]

hi gang,
Been a while since my last post.

I did a nice video of a LP supercell here in Sydney, Australia a week ago
its 15 mins long. What software is available that DOESN'T cost a fortune
that I can use to speed up the video so it plays in say 2-3 mins. and save it in that mode ?

Googling for timelapse only talks about software for stitching together
many stills to produce a timelapse movie, rather than what I want to do

googling time compression ony lead to file compression ... ie. reducing the
physical file size

Cheers
Dave N

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Are you using Windows? If so, use Windows Movie Maker 2, which is free. Load up the video on the timeline, then click "Add Effect" (or something along that line)... Choose "Speed Up (2x)". You can then add effect several times, speeding up the video 2x each time. That should allow you to do an effective timelapse video (i.e. play a 15 minute vid in only a few minutes).

 

[Chris Kennedy]

I work with mac, but I assume that Windows Movie Maker 2 will allow you to export the video in smaller formats

 

[Chad Cowan]

+1 for Windows Movie Maker. The Vista version is all I use for my timelapse stuff. If you want to speed it up more than 5x you will have to render it after applying the "Speed Up Double" effects then edit that new file.

 

[Dave Nelson]

re speeding up video

Are you using Windows? If so, use Windows Movie Maker 2, which is free. Load up the video on the timeline, then click "Add Effect" (or something along that line)... Choose "Speed Up (2x)". You can then add effect several times, speeding up the video 2x each time. That should allow you to do an effective timelapse video (i.e. play a 15 minute vid in only a few minutes).

Jeff,

ahhhh thats interesting I actually did load it into WMM2 earlier in the day but when I saw that it was only x2, I said to myself darn not fast enuf replay didnt realise I could add the effect.

Just confirm please... I can add the effect multiple times (at once) before I save or do a save between each addition of the effect.?

hmmmm not well worded .... do you understand my meaning ?
using XP Home

Dave N

 

[Dave Nelson]

OK .... just loaded the file back into WMM and found that I can drag the
x2 effect onto the clip more than once and dragged it down 3 times so
should be x6 ?? 3 lots of x2 or is it 2x2x2 = a total of x8 ? hmmmm

anyway the 15min video is now 2min40sec round figures and has achieved
the desired effect

thanks Jeff and the other responders appreciated
the WMM help files for the effects never hinted that you could drag the
same effect multiple times and compound the effect

additionally....
the just on 1gig (997MB) .avi file is now a 17MB .wmv file (yes I still have a copy of the original )

cheers

 

[Scott Roberts]

Looks like it's 6x

2:40 = 160 sec.
15 min = 900 sec.

160/900 = .177
1/6 = .166

I would have thought it's be 8x...but 1/8 = .125...