Planning a timelapse in Dubai: duration, camera and permits

Planning a timelapse in Dubai starts with one sum: how many seconds of finished clip you want, times the frame rate, gives the number of frames, and that number times the interval is how long the camera has to stay put. Everything else, the camera, the power, the shade and the permit, follows from that time on location.

I already wrote up the settings I use on iPhone, Android and the Sony FX3. This post is the step before that: how to plan the shoot so the settings have a chance.

How long should a timelapse shoot run?

Work backwards from the clip. Say you want a 10-second sequence at 25 frames per second. That is 250 frames. At a 2-second interval the camera has to run for 500 seconds, a little over eight minutes. At a 5-second interval it runs for about 21 minutes. The interval is the dial that decides how much real time becomes how much screen time.

• Sunset over the skyline: around a 2-second interval, starting well before the light is good and running through blue hour, because the transition is the interesting part. The finished clip is the trimmed best of it.
• Traffic and crowds: an interval of a second or less, so movement reads as one flow rather than separate cars.
• Construction progress over hours: around a 5-second interval, with the camera locked off and left running.

Always shoot more than you need. A timelapse you have to stretch is a timelapse with visible steps in it. Trimming is free; a second visit is not.

What about a build that runs for months?

That is a different job, and I want to be straight about it. The timelapses I have written up run for hours, in one visit. A months-long construction record means a camera that stays on site, powered and weatherproof, or scheduled repeat visits from the same spot, with the same lens and framing every time. I have not documented running that for a client, so I would scope it as its own project rather than promise it from a phone-shoot recipe. If you need it, tell me the project length and the site access and I will tell you honestly what I would do.

Which camera should I use?

For anything I am charging for, a Sony FX3 in manual mode with a variable ND filter, manual white balance and locked exposure, shooting to a fast card because the frame count gets big. The FX3 has no built-in timelapse render, which suits me: I shoot an interval recording, keep every frame, and build the clip in DaVinci Resolve or Premiere.

For a quick social clip a phone is fine, with an app that lets you set the interval and lock exposure. The plan is the same either way. The camera only changes how many things you have to control by hand.

What does the Dubai heat do to a timelapse?

It stops the recording if you ignore it. A phone left in direct July sun on a balcony can overheat and stop inside ten minutes. My rig sits in shade with only the lens out, and the power comes from a bank rather than an internal battery when the shoot runs long.

Wind is the other one. On a high balcony a light tripod moves, and it takes an hour of frames with it, so it gets weighted. And in full daylight you need a strong ND filter to drag the shutter to around a quarter of a second, which is what gives each frame the slight blur that makes the finished clip smooth.

Do I need a permit for a timelapse in Dubai?

If it is commercial, assume yes and check. Dubai draws its main line between personal content and paid or branded work, and commercial work on a public road or with a recognisable landmark in frame goes through the Dubai Film and TV Commission. A client's own building or a private balcony with the owner's permission is a different conversation, and anything airborne is a separate approval track entirely. I keep a full write-up of how that works for car shoots, with sources, and the same logic applies.

What does a timelapse cost?

I do not publish a timelapse price. It is project work quoted from a floor, because the time on location is set by the subject and not by the number of clips. The pricing overview shows where project work like this sits among the packages. What sets the number is the total hours on site, whether you need one location or several, the length of the finished sequence, and any permit or location charges, which are third-party costs.

A planning checklist

• Length of finished clip, in seconds.
• Interval, and the real time on location that produces.
• Where the camera stands, who owns that spot, and whether a permit or a written permission is needed.
• Shade, power and a heavy enough tripod for the wind.
• Where the clip will play, so the file is the right size for the page or screen.

Frequently asked questions

How many frames do I need for a 10-second timelapse? At 25 frames per second, 250. At 30, 300. Shoot more than that so you can trim.

Can I shoot a timelapse on a phone for a client? For social content, yes, with an app that fixes the interval and exposure. For a client sequence that has to hold up on a large screen, I use the FX3.