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time-lapse round-up 2014

News Time-Lapse Systems: our 2014 round-up

31 December 2014 Daniel Curtis

That is that for another year. 15 years of the “New Millennium” are up (kind of) and 2015 is now just around the corner.

For us here at Time-Lapse Systems, it has been a busy year. Our cameras have faced the usual, unpredictable British weather, we have continued to provide market-leading service to regular and new clients and we have added more highly skilled members to our dedicated time-lapse team.

With the turkey dinners just about out of the way and the preparations for New Year’s Eve parties beginning, we take a look at some of our highlights from 2014.

"An Incredible Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall" title screen

At the turn of the year

Despite it being New Year’s Day, the first day of this year was pretty busy. Not only did our Facebook page rack up it’s 650th ‘like’, we also released our first public video of the year – and what a video it was (and still is). Having captured 12 month’s worth of events for the Royal Albert Hall, we edited the images into a seamless time-lapse sequence. The finished video was hugely popular and was picked up by the likes of the Daily Mail and WJ London.

Regenerator head being craned into position at Essar's Stanlow Refinery.

More than just time-lapse

In February our edit for Essar was released. Our Technical Director Andy Piekarczyk spent a number of days in Ellesmere Port, capturing part of the £25 million refurbishment project. Our award-winning team and expertise in short-term capture and video were behind this stunning piece, which we are all very proud of.

Meeting the team

Our “we get into some interesting places” series proved hugely popular – and gave a little bit more insight into the challenging conditions we are faced with in our work, and our success in overcoming them.

The Sentinel also picked up on the news that we had expanded our team.

Going international

Merlin Entertainments are a regular client of ours, so we were particularly pleased when our time-lapse of Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park was so well received. In fact, the video hit 100,000 views in April and has since been watched a further 25,000 times. Certainly a popular ‘hit’ with baseball fans in the States!

That is not to say we have not enjoyed our work here in the UK. London is the construction hub at the moment, with over 30 of our camera systems installed across the capital to help with site monitoring and to provide marketing images for a range of high-profile clients. And our Facebook post about it was viewed over 22,000 times, showing there is a huge demand for systems in London at the moment.

Keeping our clients informed

Being at the forefront of long-term photography and video we have been busy trying to make contacting us as easy as possible. As a result, we launched brand new Google+ and YouTube accounts, to run alongside our LinkedIn, Facebook and Vimeo profiles.

More recently we completed a full re-brand of our Twitter account, meaning it is now completely mobile friendly (as well as operating as usual on a desktop browser). We have also had fun keeping our followers up-to-date with other photography-related content, like this brilliant video we tweeted out in November.

Completed Beacon Barracks housing development
We joined in with the #HousingDay campaign that trended on Twitter throughout Wednesday 12 November.

The good, the exciting and the bizarre

We launched a new blog in the first part of 2014, allowing us to deliver relevant content that is not necessarily directly related to what we do. Some of our favourite entries from this year include:

> Julian Tryba’s inventive new technique – “layer-lapse”
> First person “hyperlapse”, being developed by Microsoft
> And the bizarre bit, involving two things you might not associate with each other: the Statue of Liberty… and cheese!

Our more traditional news section was still as popular as ever, including the announcement of our use of off-grid power and capturing work being done at the former RAF base in Lyneham.

Some top reasons for using time-lapse

The blog also let us highlight a lot of the reasons why our site monitoring services are becoming an integral part of our clients’ processes. Some of the top entries included (click on the final three words of the quote to read the blogs in full):

“The online portal is not just for watching the building go up. Use the images as a tool and scrutinise the arrival of materials, plant and even labour.”

“Rather than trusting professionals to install bespoke camera systems, construction firms look to hire the equipment themselves. And that is where the issues begin.”

“Ensure the company you hire has the expertise to turn the pictures into an engaging edit, fit for marketing purposes. That can include removing periods of inactivity, selecting the best images and fitting it all in-time with legally licensed music.”

“The final products come at a relatively minimal upfront cost, but have the potential help increase your reach and revenue.”

Thank you for taking the time to read through our 2014 round-up. Have a very happy New Year and we look forward to hearing from you regarding your time-lapse needs. All our contact information is available right here.

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Time-Lapse Systems are a part of Hideaway Media Ltd (est. 2007). World leader in the provision of bespoke time-lapse capture and site monitoring solutions. UK and Worldwide.