How To Speed Up Your Insta Videos, Bc You've Got So Much Footage, So Little Time

If you've ever scrolled through a particularly amazing Instagram feed, you'll know that a few things are key: consistency, interest, and some awesome angles. In the world of social media, attention is currency, and everyone is always vying for the coolest posts that will garner the most likes. Be that as it is, the app is always updating and innovating its features, and it can be challenging to keep up with it all. For those who aren't already in the know, here's how to speed up Instagram videos, because super fast videos can take your grid to the next level.

You probably most often see time-lapse videos during tutorial videos or vlogs. They allow users to record a long video and play it very quickly so that the viewer can see the entire thing without actually having to sit through the real-life duration of it. Hours of coverage can literally be condensed into seconds. You can use it to track a sunset and sunrise from your bedroom window, share how well your baby sleeps (or doesn't) throughout the night, host your own cooking demo, or show off how you reorganized your entire pantry one afternoon. Give the people what they want! The video below from YouTuber New York City Files shows some of the coolest time lapse videos.

There are multiple ways to upload a time-lapse video to your Instagram.

One, you can shoot a video the OG way, by using Hyperlapse, the secondary Instagram app. When the app feature was first released, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger told Wired: "This is an app that lets you be in the moment in a different way. We did that by taking a pretty complicated image processing idea, and reducing it to a single slider. That’s super Instagram-y." Using this app, you can run footage up to 12 times faster than its original speed, and it even has a stabilizing feature to give your video a more “cinematic” feel. Here’s how the app works:

1. Open the Hyperlapse app on your device.
2. Tap the circle button at the bottom of the first screen.
3. Begin recording. You'll see a timer on the left that shows the video length, and a timer on the right that shows video length once it's been sped up.
4. Tap again to stop recording.
5. Use the slider feature to choose your video's speed. The default timing is 6x.
6. To save, tap the checkmark on the top right corner of your screen, and the video will be downloaded to your device's photo/video stream.

Hyperlapse was definitely the go-to way to upload time-lapse videos when the app first launched. But another way to share a sped-up Instagram video is by filming it in “time-lapse” mode using your phone’s built-in camera, which will save directly to your camera roll (an app you’re probably in all the time anyway). From Instagram, you can upload the speedy video from your camera roll the same way you would upload any other video from there.

There are also various apps you can download to do more than just speed up a video. Depending on which one you choose, you can slow down footage, add stickers and filters, and more. If video-editing is your forte, you probably have a software or app you already enjoy using. Edit your video within your program of choice and once it is Instagram-ready, save it to your camera roll. Sign into Instagram and grab the video from your camera roll.

While you’re creating cool content, keep in mind that you can do more than just upload a speed up video to shake things up. All the fun stickers, songs, and filters available on Instagram Stories can also be on full display within your feed. Start a new Story with the video, give it all the bells and whistles, and instead of adding it to your story, save it to your device. Then go back to the “add new post” window and upload the video from there. Remember, you’ll be editing your content as a rectangle from stories, so if you plan on uploading it as a square in your Insta feed, then you’ll have to make sure you edit accordingly. But you can also upload the video as a rectangle as well.

Since Instagram first launched in 2010, they’ve undergone a ton of changes, and are offering more features than ever before. Between all the Snapchat-like filters, stickers, Questions, and shopping capability, there’s enough to do within the app (both as a content creator and consumer) to keep you busy for hours. It's clear that there's absolutely no shortage of ways to get creative and start documenting your life, whether that's with a horse face filter or an incredible Hyperlapse of your latest yoga routine.