News The Ultimate Guide to Time-Lapse Cameras For Construction: Selection, Set-Up and Best Practices

What is Construction Time-Lapse?

Time-lapse shows the passing of time in a compressed format, offering a range of creative and practical applications. Time-lapse captures at a much slower interval rate but is played back at the usual frame rate per second giving the appearance of time sped-up.

Here we offer our ultimate guide on time-lapse for the construction industry, giving a range of hints and tips on how to capture images in the best quality possible

Why is Construction Time-Lapse Important?

Time-lapse is the perfect marketing and communications tool to show the construction process and a project’s development visually. Many years of construction can be compressed into a short video showing the evolution of a site against the contextual story of its creation. Time-lapse is gaining widespread popularity with developers in the construction industry as it quickly, efficiently and effectively shows a project’s progress, it can easily be shared on social media and can be used for communications, online marketing and construction exhibitions. Time-lapse can also be beneficial when images can be accessed as the project is underway, as it can increase construction productivity by improving project visibility and team communications. Additionally, it offers an accessible visual document of a project’s history which can be used in legal disputes.

At Time-Lapse Systems, we are the leading provider of time-lapse videos for the construction industry and have worked with many high-profile and prestigious clients. Our extensive experience means that we understand the challenges faced on construction sites everyday.

What factors need to be considered when creating a construction time-lapse?

Environmental Resistance and Durability

Most construction projects take place over a number of months or years and for this specialist equipment would need to be used to withstand changing weather conditions such as an all-weather enclosure to protect the camera. Here at Time-Lapse Systems we ensure that we capture each shot in the best quality possible and our systems are designed to withstand environmental resistance. It is not advisable to use wiper blades on time-lapse cameras as the wiper blades can frequently obscure a shot, instead we take a range of measures to mitigate the effects of water and the sun. Our housing glass window is protected with a specially formulated coating which reduces the effects of the sun’s glare and rain. Additionally, our systems are all fitted with a heater which helps to remove condensation. Our housing systems are all fitted with a hood which also helps to shield it from rain and over-exposure from sunlight.

Remote Access

A construction project would usually need to be continually monitored and its capture controlled by a wireless network, which would allow a photographer to amend settings and check equipment ensuring that all important stages of construction were captured in the best possible quality.

Power Supply

A power supply is often generated through mains power or for a short-term project through a battery pack. At Time-Lapse Systems we offer a range of off-grid solutions for our clients such as solar and in exceptional circumstances, wind-turbine power. Our solar powered systems are custom made in-house and are never off-the shelf or supplied by a third party. This means that we can fully bespoke all of our equipment to the exact requirements of our clients and the site. We can also fully manage the solar charge off-site ensuring maximum efficiency.

Storage

The images generated would need to be remotely managed and stored. At Time-Lapse Systems many of our projects take place over long periods of time generating thousands of images which need to be continuously managed and stored. Our highly-trained team manage the data for each project we work on and can create a fully-bespoke edit for our clients’ specific needs.

Ultra HD Resolution

Additionally the best quality equipment would need to be used to show off a construction project and each phase of activity in all of its glory. Many professional time-lapse companies would only use a full frame sensor DSLR with professional lenses to capture at 8K. It is this combination of a professional set-up, the use of the best equipment and installation methods which would ensure that a construction project was captured in the best quality possible. Additionally for optimum results a specialist editor would need to edit the images together to ensure that the final video correctly articulated each aspect of the build.

How We Choose Time-Lapse Cameras for Construction Projects

At Time-Lapse Systems our in-house development team fully bespoke our systems for our clients needs. For a very short-term project a camera may not need to be networked, whereas a project that is more lengthy in duration will need to be remotely monitored, controlled and managed and would need a power supply. We only use the very best DSLR cameras with professional lens which ensures that we capture the highest quality images.

How Long Should a Construction Time-Lapse Video Be?

There is no hard and fast rule for how long a construction time-lapse video should be, as it entirely depends on the project. If a full documentation of work flow and process was needed this video would be longer in duration than a snippet to be used on social media or to show a particular element of construction. At Time-Lapse Systems we are alway happy to provide edits to the exact requirements of our clients.

Work With Us for Your Next Construction Time-Lapse Project

We have provided time-lapse and site monitoring solutions for over twenty years to a range of clients in a number of sectors. We pride ourselves on the quality of our work coupled with our ability to provide value for money to all of our clients. We never use inferior third party applications and have our own in-house development and editing team to ensure that all of our work is delivered to the exact requirements of our clients. We use up to 8K above Ultra high definition capture which is completely custom built and remotely controlled by us to guarantee results. We also offer drone photography, aerial footage and internal fly-through, 360 and specialist rigged photography. Our own viewing platform, iRis, offers archived and live images for a project which can be accessed quickly and easily on any device. It is our experience, our talented and accredited team, our use of only the very best equipment and our in-house development team that can fully customise each system, which means that we can provide the best time-lapse photography for our clients.

As the UK’s go-to company for construction time-lapse we understand some of the challenges our clients experience on site and pride ourselves on our solutions. We are specialists in this industry and can fully guarantee high-quality results on every project. Please see testimonials from our clients who have trusted us with capturing their projects.

If you would like to hear more about the services we offer and how time-lapse can benefit your project please get in touch.