DJI Mini 5 Pro Time Lapse and Hyperlapse Tutorial

Hyperlapse is one of the most spectacular techniques in photography and videography. But it is also one of the most technically demanding

Drones are ideal tools for hyperlapses as they can move in a smooth path, like a huge slider in the sky

In this video, I will show you how to get the most out of the Hyperlapse mode with the Mini 5 Pro

Other articles you may find interesting:

Settings

Time lapses and hyperlapses consist of a series of photos taken at a constant interval assembled as a video sequence

There is a difference between the two terms:

In a time lapse, the point of view is static; in other words, the drone hovers. It is used when the scene already contains a good amount of movement
In a hyperlapse, the aircraft moves, adding extra movement to the scene

There are three important variables to set for the best results:

The Interval between shots
The Length in seconds of the short movie
The Shutter Speed value

It is crucial to use Manual Exposure to control the Shutter Speed value and manual White Balance to avoid color shifts.

Hyperlapses can also be taken in Portrait mode, a big plus for users active on social media

At the end of the shooting process, a short 4k movie is generated by the app

It is possible to save the individual photos as RAW or JPEG for processing the sequence and assembling the images in a video editor; however, with the Mini 5 Pro, on most occasions, this is not needed, as the quality of the auto-generated short movie is excellent

Number of Photos

I like to shoot 300 photos, as it makes it easy to compute the time needed for shooting, according to the interval between photos

At an Interval of one photo every 2 seconds, the shooting time will be 10 minutes
At an Interval of 3 seconds, it will take 15 minutes
At an Interval of 4 seconds 20 minutes, and so on

With 300 photos, the length of the resulting hyperlapse will be just above 12 seconds when using a frame rate of 24fps. This is the minimal length for a meaningful short movie. With ground-based cameras, we can go for much longer movies, but with drones, we are limited by the battery life

The Mini 5 Pro has a Battery Life of about 3 minutes longer than the Mini 4 Pro, which is particularly useful for hyperlapses. Considering the time for taking-off, setting the hyperlapse, and returning home, we can comfortably get at least 15 minutes of actual shooting

To stay on the safe side, we should aim for 300 photos, although in my tests, I have been able to take 350 photos at an interval of 3 seconds for a movie of almost 15 seconds

The intelligent flight battery Plus adds extra flexibility with an extended flight time, which is a big bonus for hyperlapses. It is not available in EU countries

Shutter Speed and Motion Blur

The Shutter Speed value is the most important factor for hyperlapses, as it controls the Motion Blur in the moving elements within the scene

The correct amount of Motion Blur is crucial. If you are serious about time lapses and hyperlapses, you can find out more here

For time lapses and hyperlapse with drones, the ideal shutter speed value is between 1 and 2 seconds. What happens if using faster values?

At the very fast shutter speed of 1/1000”, the movement of the cars is very jumpy, totally different from what we see in real life. Unwatchable
At 1/50”, things get slightly better, but the car movement is still stuttering
At ¼”, the result is acceptable; we are almost there, but not quite
At 1”, we get the correct motion blur and buttery smooth movement

For such a long shutter speed, a set of ND filters is required . I use, the Freewell all-day six pack for Mini 5 Pro. It offers a wide range of ND values, from ND 16 to ND 1000, suitable for all light conditions for video, photo, and hyperlapses

With the Mini 5 Pro Fly More combo, DJI offers a set of three ND filters, suitable for video; however, they are not strong enough for hyperlapses or photography.

Interval between Photos

The Interval between shots affects the speed of the movement within the hyperlapse. Due to the battery life, we have fewer choices with a drone than with a ground-based camera

Intervals of 2 or 3 seconds are a good choice when the moving elements of the scene are people walking or vehicles

An interval of 4 or 5 seconds is more suitable when the movement is mostly in clouds. In this case, we have to reduce the number of images for a shorter movie

With a 2” interval, we can aim for at least 400 photos and a 16” clip. With previous lightweight DJI models, the slowest shutter speed available is 1/4 “, so we cannot set the ideal 1” one. However, the Mini 5 Pro has a faster buffer, so the 1” Shutter Speed is available

If you need a longer clip, the interval of 2” is a good choice. If you prefer faster-moving subjects, an interval of 3” is the better option

Hyperlapse Modes

We access the Hyperlapse functionality through the icon above the shutter. A vertical menu appears to the left with the four hyperlapse modes:

Free
Circle
Course Lock
Waypoint.

A small window appears in the lower part of the screen. We can open it by tapping on the arrow to the right. Here we can enter the Interval between each shot, the Length of the movie in seconds, and the Maximum Speed

Just above, we can check the resulting Shooting Time and Number of Photos. This window applies to the first three modes, while the interface for Waypoint mode is different

Free

In Free mode, it is possible to move the drone in any direction while shooting using the two wheels of the remote controller. I do not find this technique useful, as it produces jumpy footage

I much prefer using the powerful Waypoint mode for more flexibility and smoother results.I only use Free mode for time lapses with the drone hovering in a static position

Circle

In Circle, the drone orbits around a target, which is useful, as circular moves are difficult to replicate using Waypoint mode

After selecting this mode, we choose a subject that will be the center of the rotation by drawing a box around it with a finger. Then we enter the values for Interval, Length, and Speed. We must also specify the direction of the rotation: Clockwise or Counterclockwise

I suggest very low Speed Values like 0.1 or 0.2

Course Lock

In Course Lock mode, we disconnect the camera orientation from the flight direction. The settings are similar to Circle mode, but this time, a lock icon is above the small window.

We orient the drone toward the desired flight direction and tap on the lock icon, then we choose a target by drawing a box around it for the camera direction. The camera will remain pointed at the target while flying diagonally

If we do not lock the flight direction and simply choose a target, the aircraft will advance toward it in a straight line

I never use Course Lock, as we can obtain the same result with more flexibility using Waypoint mode

Waypoint

Waypoint is the king of hyperlapse modes and the one I use most often

It is possible to set up precise paths by creating several points. For each point, the drone’s position, elevation, camera orientation, gimbal roll, and zoom level are stored in memory. The software will handle the smooth transition between points. At each point, it is possible to modify the speed of the flight

Each mission can be stored in memory and performed at different times of the day, in various light conditions, or in other seasons. We rarely need many points; in most cases, I only use two or three

I will only show here the basic settings, as I will do a dedicated article about Waypoint Hyperlapses with the Mini 5 Pro

After choosing Waypoint in the Hyperlapse menu, the small window on the screen prompts “Set Waypoint”

I want to start from a top-down view of the square of the little village. So I position the drone and the camera, open the small window, and tap the empty icon on the left to set the first point

I then move backward, lowering the altitude and tilting the gimbal slightly upward to maintain the view of the center of the village. I tap on the next icon to set the second and last point

I set the interval to three seconds and the movie length to 12 seconds. In Waypoint mode, the speed of the move is determined by the distance traveled and the number of photos; the longer the distance, the faster the move.

This is the result, a sort of reversed crane move, a classic shot in cinematography

A new functionality of the Mini 5 Pro compared to previous lightweight models is the flexible gimbal rotation. It can be applied to hyperlapses

After flying to the first point, I rotate the gimbal by 30 degrees to the left using the wheel of the controller while pressing the function button. For the second point, I add a 30-degree rotation in the opposite direction