Instagram's new Hyperlapse lets you take time into your own hands

Hyperlapse uses software to turn jittery videos into smooth time-lapse shots. Instagram releases the new app Tuesday.

The new Hyperlapse app from Instagram puts control over time into the hands of iPhone and iPad users. This stand-alone app turns videos into a fast-forward reality with stabilized, moving time-lapse videos.  

Instagram released a video to Wired demonstrating how the app allows users to create sophisticated time-lapse videos worthy of a DSLR.

"The app prompts you to record a video, after which it uses an algorithm [to] map the motion in the clip and spits out an ultra-smooth, floating-through-space type effect,” according to Gizmodo. 

You can choose the speed at which your video plays back, ranging from real time to 12-times faster than reality.

Another feature of Hyperlapse is image stabilization. Most people use a tripod or internal hardware to help reduce any camera jitters. Hyperlapse, on the other hand, uses an algorithm to digitally still your shaky human hands, according to Wired. 

If all this talk of creating time-lapse films has inspired you to try your shaky hand at creating an old-school film or video version, there are PC options out there to get you started.

According to Time Science, which creates time-lapse and data-capture software, the long, hard, expensive, and technically intricate way filmmakers take to create the best quality time-lapse videos is to shoot stills with a digital camera and then assemble the images on a computer. 

Some PC solutions for this kind of work can be found via Adobe Creative Cloud, which costs $29.00 per month. Time Science also suggests: Movie Salsa for Windows, $20; HandyAvi for Windows, $40; GBtimelapse for Canon Cameras and Windows, $50; IStopMotion from Boinx for the Macintosh, $40 for standard version or $350 for high-resolution version.

For now, Hyperlapse is available for free in the iTunes App Store.

It’s a rare opportunity to take time into your hands and exercise some control over how fast or slowly it moves – in video at least.