Procreate's time-lapse feature offers a high-quality recording of the process and work that goes into a user’s final painting. You can post these recordings to show off your process or use them to gain a more objective view of your work.

This article will give you a run-down of how to effectively use this in-built canvas recording tool, including tips on how to ensure your video exports at the highest quality.

How to Turn On Procreate’s Time-Lapse Feature

Procreate’s time-lapse feature works by recording the process of a painting or project. This tool compresses hours of work into both a 30-second and full-length video. If you are new to the app, it's worth looking into how to get started with Procreate before using this feature.

To turn on the time-lapse feature in Procreate, open up a canvas within the app. This can be a new canvas or a previous project. Select the wrench icon in the Actions menu at the top left of the screen, select Video, and then tap the button to the right of the Time-lapse recording option.

Activating this feature in one canvas should automatically apply it to any other project that you then work on in Procreate. Double-check that the time-lapse tool is on before starting your painting to ensure that the app will record all your hard work.

The Best Settings for High-Quality Time-Lapse Videos in Procreate

Nothing is more frustrating than finishing a digital painting in Procreate, only to be faced with a blurry or pixilated recording at the end. To avoid this, you need to edit the canvas settings of your project.

For a new custom canvas, tap the + (plus) icon at the top right of the New canvas option menu. To edit an existing canvas, half-swipe left on the canvas name to reveal the Edit and Delete buttons, and select Edit. You will be directed to the same Custom canvas settings menu either way.

Next, select Time-lapse settings. For the absolute highest quality, you can choose the dual setting of 4K recording combined with Lossless quality. If a standard high-quality video will suffice, which often is the case for simple paintings, then 1080p with Good or Studio quality is ideal.

The HEVC setting is off by default. It is a type of video compression for advanced motion graphics creation in Procreate. For simple paintings or designs, you can leave this off as that level of extreme compression isn’t necessary.

Keep in mind that the higher the quality of your time-lapse video, the larger the file will be, which is something to consider and plan for if you are going to share or edit the recording at a later stage.

For social media and other online platforms, you might need to compress and reduce the file size of your video, as most sites can't support enormous files.

How to Pause Your Procreate Time-Lapse

If you don't want certain parts of your creative process saved in your final time-lapse recording, such as lots of scribbling or sketches mid-painting, then you can use the pause option.

To pause your recording once you have started the painting, select the wrench icon again to open the Actions menu. Tapping on the Time-lapse recording button under Video again will deactivate the feature, and you will be prompted to choose whether to purge the existing video.

If you select Purge, the recording of your process so far will be deleted which can not be undone. If you select Don't Purge, then your recording will only be paused with no deletion. Pausing your video is ideal if you want your process to be edited in the final time-lapse.

To resume the recording, go to the Video settings to turn the Time-lapse recording back on. You can do this as many times as you like, but remember that too many jump cuts from pauses may be disorientating for viewers and therefore isn't ideal for persistent use.

How to Hide Reference Imagery in Your Time-Lapse Videos

Every great artist draws inspiration from already existing imagery. However, this may be something that you want edited out of your time-lapse recording.

To add in any imagery that won't be shown in the time-lapse recording, open your canvas and select Add in the Actions menu. Next, swipe left on either the Insert a file, Insert a photo​​​​​​, or Take a photo button. This will reveal a Private insert/take option, which you can select to add any images or files or take a photo that won't be shown in the time-lapse.

This inserted photo or file will be displayed as a normal layer which you can edit and draw on. No changes you make to this layer will be shown in your time-lapse. For extra help, look into tips for using layers in Procreate.

How to Export Your Time-Lapse in Procreate

In order to export your time-lapse, select the wrench icon to open the Video settings in your current project. Select Export Time-lapse video and choose between either a Full length video or a 30 Seconds compressed recording.

Procreate supports a huge variety of apps when it comes to sharing time-lapse videos. Selecting Save Video will save the time-lapse to your device, which can then be shared or edited. Alternatively, you can choose any other icon to send your video elsewhere for further use.

Tips for Sleek Time-Lapse Videos

For a sleek and professional time-lapse video, it's best to try and limit the number of times you insert high-contrast images into your project, as this can cause a flashing light effect. Likewise, using Procreate's Fill tool to recolor the entire canvas will have the same effect, which can potentially stun your viewer.

Pausing the time-lapse is a great way to avoid this if you are referencing an inserted image, so long as you remember to toggle the feature on again! For any promotional work or shares on social media, it's best to only feature your own work, especially if your content is monetized.

Hours of Painting in Under a Minute

Making a time-lapse video in Procreate is a fantastic way of creating a visually captivating recording that shows off your personal creative process. You can use them for online content or as a way of revealing patterns in your work that you might not have realized beforehand.