Timelapse videos are a neat way to show
the making-of process of your project. There are several different
ways to record these digitally. If you want to see a specific method,
please use the timestamps to skip ahead. To record your timelapse you can use some
kind of screen or window capture software. I recommend using OBS. It is free
and has many convenient features. But of course other recording
softwares would work too. So at first I will tell you how to set it up. Before you start recording, go into
the settings and click on "Video". For the resolution I chose the one
of the screen that I'm recording. Which framerate you choose is up to you. Timelapse videos don't really
need a very high framerate. It depends on how much you speed up
your timelapse later during editing. For example, if you speed up the
recording to 10 times faster, then a recording framerate
of 3fps will result in 30fps. If you are not sure, just go
for a higher framerate. Having too many frames is better than having too few. Then go to "Output" and "Recording". These settings will determine
the properties of your recording. MP4 is a good recording format. If you have the option to use
a graphics accelerated encoder like this one by NVIDIA, then choose that one. You can choose which output
resolution you want to use. And the settings down here will determine
the quality and file size of your recordings. I normally use CQP, Constant
Quantization Parameter. It is varying the bitrate depending on how much
visual change is happening in the recording. The bitrate basically
determines the picture quality of your video. The CQ Level is for the maximum quality allowed. It ranges between 1 and 30. The lower the number, the higher
the maximum and average bitrate. Now this depends on how much visual
change is happening on your screen. I have a very high number, because I just
use it for recording Clip Studio Paint. All the menus barely change
visually. Mostly just the canvas. Most of the time I just do
some kind of brush strokes. When I move or zoom in and out then there is more
going on, but only for a short amount of time. So 27 for the CQ Level is enough for me. How much you need might be different though. Normally you won't need a
value lower than 20 though. If you are not sure, just do some quick
test recordings with different CQ Levels and look closely if you see
any quality differences. Alternatively you could also
use VBR, Variable Bit Rate. With this setting you have more control
over how high your bitrate can go. Higher resolutions and framerates will
require more bitrate to ensure a good quality. For timelapses you won't need a very high bitrate. For 1080p and 30fps, 3000Kbps
could already be enough. Again, if you are not sure, just go ahead and make some quick test
recordings with different settings. You also have the option to set
up global hotkeys for starting and stopping the recording under the "Hotkeys" tab. If you set it up to be the
same hotkey, like I did, then it will switch back and forth, and not
do both of these commands at the same time. Alright enough with the settings stuff. Next up you'll need to create a new scene, name
it however you want, and then add a source. You can either use display capture, which, as the name suggest, records anything that
is going on on the screen that you choose, or window capture, which only
records a specific window. Choose whichever one you prefer. Window
capture in my opinion is more convenient, but might be weirdly cut off with some settings. Changing the Capture Method can fix that though. Make sure your capture is
fully shown on the screen here. You can also hide the cursor if you want to. The Display capture has that option, and so does window capture, but
only on the BitBlt capture method. And there you go, you can simply click on "Start
Recording" and begin doing work on your project. It's also possible to pause the recording. However, if you are anxious like I am about
the program or your system crashing and losing the entire recording, then just stop and start
the recording every time when you take a break. It is safer this way. So, this is one of the most straight forward
ways to record footage for a timelapse. With this method you show everything that is
going on on your project, exactly how you saw it. This also means any scrolling,
rotating and zooming. That can result in your timelapse looking quite
hectic and confusing if sped up really fast. Depending on what software you use, you can record the full canvas
without any of that hectic movement. I know that this works in Clip
Studio Paint and Photoshop. And I'm sure that other programs
could also use this method. While you have your project open in
Clip Studio Paint you go to "Window", "Canvas", and then click on "New Window". In Photoshop it would be "Window",
"Arrange" and "New Window for so-and-so". This will open a duplicate window of your project. Any changes you make in one of these
windows will be applied to the other one, since they share the same file. This side by side view makes
the canvases a bit too small for working on them and recording though. However you can drag the duplicate
out so that it has its own window. The only thing is that in this state
it always stays above the main window. So if you want to record it while working on the
other canvas, there are two things you can do. If you have two monitors, move the duplicate
to another monitor and record it from there. The downside is that it shoves
itself above other programs too, as long as those programs don't
have a "Stay on Top" option. If you don't want that, or you only have
one screen available, another thing you can do is to drag one of the canvases out,
and place it right above the other one. Then you window capture the main window of the
software, so what is below the extracted canvas. The downside of this method is that the recording
of the canvas part will be smaller in total, and switching between
projects is more of a hassle. By the way, if you change the
canvas size mid-way through, make sure to check the zoom
level of the duplicate canvas. It might get cut-off or appear too small. You can take care of that by using "Fit
to Screen" in "View", or on the navigator. The last method I want to show you is
offered by the graphics program itself. Recently Clip Studio Paint
got a new timelapse function. Procreate has something similar. And maybe
some other programs too that I don't know of. In Clip Studio Paint you go to "File", "Timelapse" and there you have "Record
Timelapse" and "Export Timelapse". Alternatively you can put these on
your command bar and quick access menu. When you click Record, it saves all the
changes to the file in the file itself. Warning, the save file can
get quite large this way. Click on Export Timelapse
and this window will show up. It gives you a little preview of the timelapse. The highest export resolution is 1280
pixels for the LONGER side of the canvas. If the horizontal length is larger, than the max.
resolution for the horizontal side is 1280 pixels, and the vertical side
adjusts to it and is smaller. If the vertical length is larger, then the same
would be the case but with the sides switched. It is not a real-time recording,
unlike the previous methods I showed. Instead every single frame is one change. One brush stroke, transformation,
color adjustment or whatever else. A slow brush stroke that took 3 seconds to draw therefore becomes equally long as a quick
line, drawn in a fraction of a second. The framerate of the exported video
is always 30fps. You cannot change it. This method does not deal well
with changes to the aspect ratio. It basically just crams everything
into the aspect ratio you chose, so parts of the video can end up really small. If you want to pause the recording,
then that's not a simple thing to do. It has no pause function.
When you stop the recording, it deletes all the timelapse data recorded so far. So you would have to export everything at first, stop the recording, and then start
it again when you want to resume it. All in all, it is a convenient feature, but
definitely has some limitations and downsides. So there we go, those are a couple
of examples that I can give you. They all have their up- and downsides. Which one you want to use
depends on what you need. I hope this video was helpful to you. If you have any questions or constructive
feedback, then please let me know in the comments! Have fun recording!
