top | item 8227198

Hyperlapse, Instagram's new video stabilization app

438 points| bpierre | 11 years ago |wired.com

149 comments

order
[+] davidu|11 years ago|reply
It's weird that they called it Hyperlapse two weeks after Microsoft Research published a paper on the exact same topic, with the exact same name:

PDF here: https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyp...

Examples here: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hype...

It's even more weird that the WIRED writer didn't mention this. It was major news all over the place two weeks ago. Good PR folks at Instagram / FB.

[+] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
>It's even more weird that the WIRED writer didn't mention this. It was major news all over the place two weeks ago. Good PR folks at Instagram / FB

This article seems like an exclusive that Wired got, probably been in the works for ages and timed for the release date.

Fine line between this kind of thing and just letting the company write the article themselves (aka "native advertising".)

[+] izendejas|11 years ago|reply
I was using Instagram Hyperlapse before the MSR paper was published. It came out of a Hackathon project at Facebook.

And yes, the concept existed well before both.

Note: FB employee.

[+] higherpurpose|11 years ago|reply
I'm confused. So is this the same technology/project, or are they completely different?
[+] JoblessWonder|11 years ago|reply
I also find it weird that they chose a name that was already taken in the Apple App Store. If I search for "Hyperlapse" they are the second result. I bet you the developer of that $0.99 app is seeing an exponential increase in revenue!
[+] weka|11 years ago|reply
My exact though. I was like.. wait... didn't Microsoft release the SAME thing a week or so ago?
[+] omouse|11 years ago|reply
Yep I was thinking that as I saw this but we all have to remember that Facebook and Microsoft have a partnership. Maybe Microsoft has finally been kind enough to let all the good stuff from the Research division to be implemented into consumer-ready products! A welcome change! :D
[+] jianshen|11 years ago|reply
For folks who haven't seen the Hyperlapse technique before, here's a great example of the style done professionally blended with traditional timelapse:

https://vimeo.com/53043267

[+] aflinik|11 years ago|reply
Is it also weird that Apple called their maps, well, "Maps", when Google has been developing their own product called "Maps" for so long?
[+] oneweirdtrick|11 years ago|reply
Maybe Instagram saw the Microsoft project and decided to push their product out as soon as possible, hence no Android version yet. Also helps them give them an edge over Horizon, although a similar tactic failed to have them squash Vine. Full disclosure: I have no idea what I am talking about.
[+] mikeyk|11 years ago|reply
Mike from IG here. Here's the direct App Store link while it propagates: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id740146917
[+] ctdonath|11 years ago|reply
"No sign up or account required."

Thank you. Oh, thank you.

Not that I won't, I just hate apps requiring signup when not inherently necessary.

[+] heyheyhey|11 years ago|reply
I was wondering why you didn't link an Android version until I read the article. :(

Apps coming in iPhone first is by far my most frustrating experience with Android.

[+] philip1209|11 years ago|reply
I wish there was a native or web app for this - I'd love to throw some GoPro videos through the algorithm without trying to load them on my phone.
[+] Albuca|11 years ago|reply
Thanks for the link Mike! I wasn't able to search for it on the App Store yet, but it is currently live on the Instagram, Inc. app page. Cheers!
[+] oneweirdtrick|11 years ago|reply
Wait don't go yet - where do you see Instagram in five years?
[+] netcan|11 years ago|reply
I have a category in the back of my mind labeled 'Stuff Apple should do to prove that they can do it without Jobs." Top of that list is an iOS laptop. But just below that is getting back to their tradition of being a popular easier to use option for professional and prosumer media/art.

Stuff like this should be coming from Apple. For example, it would be awesome if they created prosumer software for filming with a wireless multi-camera setup and edit it all live on a macbook. would love it if upstart young-Turks like web shows could get closer to the production quality of TV talk shows.

Something that makes the right people go wow.

[+] nezza-_-|11 years ago|reply
I think (and naturally don't have a source) that most people would say "Oh god that would never happened with Jobs" if they launched an iOS laptop...
[+] ericras|11 years ago|reply
Apple seems to not want to get into the prosumer market because it is a tiny fraction of the size of the general iPhone/iPad/Beats consumer market. The buzz about future Apple products seems to be about things that could achieve that sort of scale. (TV, watch, something video game related, etc)
[+] hyperpape|11 years ago|reply
Amusingly, Jobs actually panned the idea of a laptop with a touch screen. Doesn't mean he wouldn't have done it if he changed his mind/marketing, but he did state it was an ergonomic disaster, and the history suggests he (and Apple) believed it.
[+] cpr|11 years ago|reply
Apple's consumer apps do have image stabilization options.

Wait, is iMovie still a thing?

[+] nkozyra|11 years ago|reply
Getting a bit of hyperbole out of this (shocking, I know).

Stabilization is not something that costs $15k, at least at this quality. Yes, it's interesting on a technical level (both with Instagram and MS), but there are low-tech solutions that handle this aptly.

So in essence we're talking about a video accelerator (and presumably decelerator)? This doesn't exactly wow me, but then again Instagram was founded on applying filters to photos, so I should recognize the value of hype (and subsequent audience size).

[+] theworst|11 years ago|reply
I think the $15k references a gyro stabilized camera rig. The stabilization is the hard/novel/neat part, not the playback speed.

Playback speed is the UI feature people notice, but it wouldn't be interesting if the image weren't stabilized.

[+] dang|11 years ago|reply
Ok, we changed "$15,000" to "stabilizing". Let us know if something else would be more accurate.
[+] DEinspanjer|11 years ago|reply
I think that the MS Research project probably has a few advantages over this although I've only looked at Instagram's example videos on Vimeo so far.

The main advantage I see for MS Research is that they enable the full dropping of multiple frames to remove large camera motions such as having a head mounted camera and briefly looking from side to side.

In the Instagram examples, the camera stays on a fixed subject and their Hyperlapse algorithm reduces the shake. I suspect that if there were large camera motions, they would be translated into the final product which could detract a lot from the appeal of that video.

[+] burkaman|11 years ago|reply
The major advantage is that Microsoft's solution just requires the video. Instagram's app needs data from a gyroscope, so if you exported the video or you filmed it on a camera without a gyroscope, you're out of luck.
[+] Houshalter|11 years ago|reply
The MS Research Hyperlapse and this are totally different. This is just video stabilization but it's not as computationally expensive and so can be done quickly and on a phone. MS Hyperlapse requires an absurd amount of computing power, but it goes above and beyond stabilization, creating an entire 3d model of the world and then rendering that. The downside is it has a lot of weird artifacts and jumpiness.
[+] colinbartlett|11 years ago|reply
For me the biggest advantage of the Microsoft project is that it has the potential to be stand-alone software.

I'm not interested in using something that's a part of Facebook's ecosystem or sharing it with my friends on Facebook.

[+] madeofpalk|11 years ago|reply
Well, MS Research's approach required large amount of computing power - not a possibility to do on the phone.

The main advantage I see for Instagram's Hyperlapse is that it's a real app on the app store. It actually exists and isn't just a research project.

[+] chrischen|11 years ago|reply
"What was once only possible with a Steadicam or a $15,000 tracking rig is now possible on your iPhone, for free."

This statement is undeniably false.

[+] djfumberger|11 years ago|reply
Great app.

On a side not it's kind of depressing / scary / crazy that it's now just common place to release these apps for free.

Indie development if not suffocated already on the App Store has little hope competing going forward.

[+] nkg|11 years ago|reply
I just tried it. The result is really better than an un-stabilized video. But I found it a bit blurry.

I can't wait until someone copies it on Android.

[+] dharma1|11 years ago|reply
Nice!

Non-timelapse but related - I wonder how long until mobile phone manufacturers start using in something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VphxfCXu984

Post stabilisation is good but it's so much better to get it right in-camera

[+] thisjepisje|11 years ago|reply
The tech demo from a few weeks ago was much more impressive.
[+] vardump|11 years ago|reply
Interesting it can be done real time on the phone (I assume).

Personally I've been using free video stabilizer Deshaker for 10 years with similar (or better) results. The downside is two-pass rendering. Upside is that it is fairly configurable and can stabilize existing videos. You can get ok results with fairly terrible source video.

http://www.guthspot.se/video/deshaker.htm

[+] hagope|11 years ago|reply
I was excited to download and try it, but honestly it didn't seem like it was stabilizing the frame at all...the camera shaking was still in the video...
[+] seeingfurther|11 years ago|reply
It's available in the app store. You find it by searching Instagram then clicking 'related'. I couldn't find it with normal search.
[+] seivan|11 years ago|reply
I might be wrong here but I thought 'Hyperlapse' (functionality) was builtin on the iOS 8 Camera app?

Am I missing something here?

[+] mattkirman|11 years ago|reply
iOS 8 has timelapse, implemented as a series of photos taken a few seconds apart and then stitched together. This appears to be a video stream that is then smoothed and then (optionally) sped up.
[+] qzervaas|11 years ago|reply
Looks like it only has native share options for Instagram and Facebook. Seems a bit petty not to offer Twitter. How about let me decide where I want to share?

From an implementation point of view, this app doesn't use UIActivityViewController, but instead one they've rolled themselves.

They could in fact have added Instagram to the built-in share view controller but decided not to. This also takes away options of Twitter, SMS, email.

[+] corobo|11 years ago|reply
It saves to your video roll, use any number of apps to upload from your video roll. The decision is yours!