Time Maps

What is a Time Map?

A Time Map is a new computer graphics technique that shows multiple points of time from the same scene, in a single image. The illustration below shows a very simple example: Three pictures, from three different times of the day, are cut up to make a single image -- a Time Map.

A simple Time Map made of three images from three different times of the day

A Time Map composed of parts of three images taken in the morning, afternoon, and night.
Source images: Hong Kong traffic camera.

In this website we'll illustrate how Time Maps are made, and present a number of movies that illustrate the range of possibilities made available by this technique. Our discussion is broken down into the following sections:

Traditional time lapse techniques
Subdividing an image into moments in time
Changing spans of time
A basic Time Map movie
Time Maps gallery
Time Maps: Calendar views
Seasonal views (sampler)
Seasonal views (4 months)
Credits, papers, and acknowledgments

Before going any further, you may want to make sure you have QuickTime installed to view the samples. If you've already got it, then let's start by looking at a traditional time lapse movie.

Next: Traditional time lapse techniques