Time Lapse on GoPro Hero 7 Black is a wonderful feature that lets you turn longer events into short, shareable videos.
Your action camera does this by taking a frame of video at set intervals. You need to just press the Shutter/Select button on your GoPro to start recording a time lapse shot and press the same button again to stop.
In this guide, you’ll learn all about GoPro Time Lapse, and its various modes & settings for the GoPro Hero 7 Black.
GoPro Hero 7 Time Lapse Modes
The GoPro Hero 7 has four different Time Lapse capture modes, each of which has its own settings: Time Warp Video, Time Lapse Video, Time Lapse Photo, and Night Lapse Photo.
Time Warp Video
The TimeWarp video mode is for you if you want to capture a time lapse video while your camera is moving. The GoPro Hero 7 Black lets you capture super stabilized time-lapse videos even while you’re on the move. This makes it perfect for mountain bike runs, hikes, and more.
The default settings for TimeWarp are 1440p video with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a Wide field of view (FOV) at 10x speed.
Time Lapse Video
The Time Lapse Video mode lets you turn longer events into short shareable videos. It is for those who want to capture time lapse video when your GoPro Hero 7 Black camera is mounted and still. It’s great for capturing sunsets, street scenes, and more.
In this mode, the GoPro Hero 7 Black records 1440p video with a 4:3 aspect ratio, Wide field of view, and 0.5-second interval.
Time Lapse Photo
When you choose the Time Lapse Photo mode, the GoPro Hero 7 Black captured a continuous series of photos at set intervals, which you can look through to find the best shots later.
The default settings in the Time Lapse Photo mode on Hero 7 Black are 0.5-second intervals with a Wide field of view.
Night Lapse Photo
The Night Lapse Photo mode is meant to capture a series of photos in dark and low light conditions with your Hero 7 Black. In his mode, your action camera’s shutter stays open longer to let in more light.
When you choose the Night Lapse Photo mode, the GoPro Hero 7 Black automatically adjusts the camera’s shutter speed to let more light in and picks the interval that will give you the best results. The FOV is set on Wide.
GoPro Hero 7 Time Lapse Settings
In this section, you’ll discover the different time lapse settings available on the GoPro Hero 7 Black, like speed, interval, resolution, etc. You can tweak these settings to get the best results for different situations.
TimeWarp Video Speed
The TimeWarp Video speed on your GoPro Hero 7 Black can be increased by up to 30x to turn longer activities into shareable moments. For example, recording at 2x speed for 4 minutes will give you approximately 2 minutes of TimeWarp video.
It is recommended that you select a lower speed (2x or 5x) for short activities. For longer activities, you should go for higher speeds (10x, 15x, or 30x).
Recommended TimeWarp Video Speed for different activities:
- Driving through a scenic route: 2x-5x
- Hiking & Exploring: 10x
- Running or Mountain-Biking: 15-30x
TimeWarp/Time Lapse Video Resolution
The GoPro Hero 7 Black is capable of shooting TimeWarp and Time Lapse videos in four resolutions. By default, you get 4K resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio and Wide field of view while shooting timewarp/time lapse footage.
Here are the four options you get:
- 4K (16:9 aspect ratio)
- 1080p (16:9 aspect ratio)
- 2.7K (4:3 aspect ratio)
- 1440p (4:3 aspect ratio)
Depending upon the aspect ratio, you can select either 4K or 2.7K resolution to get optimum video quality. However, if you want to save battery life and don’t mind having a bit lower resolution of your footage, go for 1080p or 1440p resolution.
Time Lapse Interval
Time Lapse Interval sets how often your camera captures a shot in Time Lapse Video and Time Lapse Photo modes. In Time Lapse Video mode, you should choose shorter intervals for quick activities and longer intervals for extended activities.
The available time lapse intervals on the GoPro Hero 7 Black are 0.5 (default), 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, and 60 seconds.
Recommended Time Lapse Interval for different activities:
- 0.5-2 seconds: Surfing, biking, or other sport
- 2 seconds: Busy street corner
- 5-10 seconds: Clouds or outdoor scenes for long durations
- 10-60 seconds: Lengthy activities, such as construction or artwork
Please note that the time interval you set also affects your time lapse video recording time. For example, when you record for 5 minutes with a 0.5-second interval, you’ll get 20 seconds of time lapse video. Similarly, recording for 15 minutes will give you 1 minute of video.
Night Lapse Photo Interval
Just like time lapse interval, you can also choose how often your GoPro Hero 7 captures a shot in Night Lapse Photo mode.
The available Night Lapse Intervals are Auto, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 seconds, and 1, 2, 5, 30, and 60 minutes. By default, the camera has an Auto interval set. This setting syncs the Interval with the Shutter speed. For example, if the shutter speed is 10 seconds and Interval is set to Auto, the camera will capture a photo every 10 seconds.
Recommended Night Lapse Interval for different activities:
- Auto: Great for all exposures
- 4-5 seconds: Evening city scene, street lighting, or scenes with movement
- 10-15 seconds: Dim lighting conditions with slow scene changes, like night clouds with a bright moon
- 20-30 seconds: Very low light or very slow scene changes, like stars with minimal ambient or street light
How Long Can GoPro Hero 7 Time-lapse?
The maximum duration of a time-lapse on the GoPro Hero 7 depends on a few factors, such as the time-lapse interval, battery life, and available storage on the SD card.
Time-lapse interval
The GoPro Hero 7 allows you to set time-lapse intervals ranging from 0.5 seconds to 60 seconds. The longer the interval, the longer you can record a time-lapse.
Battery life
The GoPro Hero 7 has a battery life of approximately 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on usage and settings. If you need to capture a longer time-lapse, you can use an external power source, such as a power bank, to extend the recording time.
Storage
The duration of your time-lapse will also be limited by the available storage on your SD card. The higher the resolution and the more frequent the intervals, the more storage space will be required. Using a larger capacity SD card will allow you to capture longer time-lapses.
To estimate the maximum length of a time-lapse you can capture on your GoPro Hero 7, consider these factors together. For instance, if you have a fully charged battery and a 128GB SD card, you can potentially record a time-lapse for up to 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on your chosen settings. However, using an external power source and a larger SD card can further extend the time-lapse duration.
What is The Time-lapse Interval on GoPro Hero 7 Silver?
On the GoPro Hero 7 Silver, you can set the time-lapse intervals to capture photos at specific intervals and later combine them into a video. The available time-lapse intervals on the GoPro Hero 7 Silver are:
- 0.5 seconds
- 1 second
- 2 seconds
- 5 seconds
- 10 seconds
- 30 seconds
- 60 seconds
You can choose the interval that best suits your needs based on the scene and the desired effect. For example, shorter intervals like 0.5 or 1 second are suitable for fast-paced scenes, such as traffic or sporting events, while longer intervals like 30 or 60 seconds are ideal for slower-moving subjects, such as clouds or sunsets.
How Long is 2 Hours in Time-lapse?
The duration of a 2-hour time-lapse video depends on the chosen time-lapse interval and the frame rate of the final video.
To calculate the duration of a time-lapse video, you can follow these steps:
- Choose a time-lapse interval: This is the gap between each photo captured (e.g., 1 second, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds).
- Calculate the total number of photos: Divide the total time (in seconds) you want to capture by the chosen interval. For a 2-hour time-lapse: (2 hours * 60 minutes * 60 seconds) / interval
- Choose a frame rate for the final video: Common frame rates are 24, 25, or 30 frames per second (fps).
- Calculate the duration of the time-lapse video: Divide the total number of photos by the frame rate. This will give you the duration of the time-lapse video in seconds.
For example, let’s assume you choose a 5-second interval and a 30 fps frame rate for a 2-hour time-lapse:
- Time-lapse interval: 5 seconds
- Total number of photos: (2 * 60 * 60) / 5 = 720 photos
- Frame rate: 30 fps
- Duration of the time-lapse video: 720 photos / 30 fps = 24 seconds
In this example, a 2-hour time-lapse with a 5-second interval and a 30 fps frame rate would result in a 24-second video.
Concluding Remarks
All the above-mentioned settings and modes would help you shoot some amazing time lapse shots with your GoPro Hero 7 Black. Just ensure that you use the right setting at the right time. Also, since the lengthy time lapse sequences can take a lot of space and consume a lot of battery, ensure that you have a large memory card and some extra batteries when shooting. You may also consider connecting your GoPro to a power source while shooting if that’s possible.
Thanks for reading!
I hope this guide helps you with the knowledge about how to create a quality time lapse with your GoPro Hero 7 Black, and how to tweak its various settings 🙂
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