Create timelapse video from images with FFmpeg

I take a lot of timelapse shots with a GoPro camera. Usually, I do this with the camera’s photo setting instead of the video setting. That is because I find it easier to delete unwanted pictures from the series that way. It also simplifies selecting individual photos when I want that. But then I need a way to create a timelapse video from the photos easily.

Here is an FFmpeg one-liner that does the job:

ffmpeg -r 10 -pattern_type glob -i "*.JPG" -s 1920x1440 -vcodec libx264 output.mp4

To break down the different parameters a little:

  • “-r 10”: the framerate (fps)
  • “-pattern_type glob”: to allow for selecting all JPGs using “*.JPG”
  • “-s 1920x1440”: downscales the images to a pseudo-like HD format
  • “-vcodec libx264”: force to use this codec