# Time-lapse

Motion / Subject motion and speed / Speed. Checked 2026-10-13.

Compresses time: clouds race, crowds flow, a day passes in seconds.

- Use when: Openings, construction, a shop through the day, before and after.
- Phrase: locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/motion/time-lapse
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/motion/time-lapse.json

## Watch out

- Keep the camera fixed and say so. A moving camera turns a time-lapse into a hyperlapse. (film-craft; Director Chair field notes on video prompting)

## Reference: Time-lapse

> locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time.

Credit: AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com). Source: https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
Clip: https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
Poster: https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.jpg

## Prompts

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): Locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves. Locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time.
Reference clip (Time-lapse): https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1: Locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves. Locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time.
Reference clip (Time-lapse): https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. Locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves. Locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time. The scene is [your setting].
Reference clip (Time-lapse): https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
```

### Veo 3.1

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves. Locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.
Reference clip (Time-lapse): https://directorchair.ai/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4
```

## Look further

- https://aicameramovements.com/ : a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)

## Goes well with

- Hyperlapse: https://directorchair.ai/motion/hyperlapse
- Static shot: https://directorchair.ai/move/static-shot

## Source

The first Director Chair spec and aicameramovements names

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.