Record Your Coding Sessions as a Timelapse Video

Why Developers Record Coding Timelapses

Coding timelapses have exploded on Twitter/X and YouTube. Watching someone build an entire app in 60 seconds is mesmerizing. It's great for:

• Documenting your side project journey
• Sharing vibecoding sessions with AI assistants
• Building your developer brand on social media
• Reviewing your own workflow and finding inefficiencies

The Problem with Traditional Screen Recorders

Most screen recorders (OBS, Loom, etc.) record at full framerate. A 4-hour coding session becomes a 50GB file that you need to import into Premiere or DaVinci Resolve, speed up 100x, and re-export. That's an hour of editing for a 30-second clip.

ChefLapse: Built for This

ChefLapse captures screenshots at intervals and compiles them directly into a timelapse MP4. No video editing required.

Best Settings for Coding Timelapses

Capture interval: 1-2 seconds

Code changes happen fast. 1-2 second intervals capture every meaningful change without creating too many frames.

Output FPS: 30

Smooth playback that works on every platform.

Window capture mode

Select your VS Code, Cursor, or terminal window. ChefLapse captures it even when it's not focused — so you can browse docs, test in the browser, and your recording stays clean.

Enable cursor tracking

Viewers love seeing where you click and type. It makes the timelapse feel alive.

Sharing Your Timelapse

The output MP4 works directly on:

• Twitter/X (under 2:20 for best engagement)
• YouTube Shorts (under 60 seconds)
• Instagram Reels
• LinkedIn posts

Pro Tips

• Record your IDE in fullscreen for cleaner videos
• Use a dark theme — it looks better in timelapses
• Set auto-stop for the length of your coding session
• The auto-pause feature means bathroom breaks don't create dead frames