How to Record a Blender Timelapse in 2026

Why Record a Blender Timelapse?

Watching hours of 3D sculpting compressed into a 60-second video is incredibly satisfying — both for you and your audience. Timelapse videos of Blender sessions are some of the most popular content on YouTube and Instagram for 3D artists.

But Blender doesn't have a built-in timelapse feature. OBS is overkill for this. You don't need a full screen recorder running at 30fps eating your RAM while you sculpt.

The Simple Solution: ChefLapse

ChefLapse is a lightweight timelapse recorder designed exactly for this. It captures screenshots at intervals you choose (every 1-5 seconds works great for sculpting) and compiles them into an MP4 when you stop.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Select your Blender window

Open ChefLapse and select your Blender window from the dropdown. It captures the window directly — even if it's behind other apps.

2. Set your capture interval

For sculpting, 2-3 seconds works well. For animation work where changes are slower, try 5-10 seconds.

3. Set output FPS

30 FPS gives smooth playback. A 2-hour sculpting session at 2-second intervals = 3,600 frames = 2 minutes of video at 30fps.

4. Enable timestamp overlay (optional)

Turn on the timestamp to see exactly when each part of your sculpt happened. Great for reviewing your process.

5. Hit record and sculpt

ChefLapse uses only ~35MB of RAM. You won't notice it running alongside Blender.

6. Stop and get your video

Press stop and your timelapse MP4 is ready instantly. No manual export, no FFmpeg commands.

Tips for Better Blender Timelapses

• Use a consistent viewport angle or lock your camera
• Enable cursor tracking so viewers can follow your workflow
• Set auto-stop if you tend to forget to stop recording
• The auto-pause feature means locking your PC won't waste frames

Why Not Just Use OBS?

OBS records at full framerate (30-60fps), creating massive files. A 2-hour session = 10-20GB of raw footage that you then have to speed up in a video editor. ChefLapse gives you the timelapse directly — no editing required, and the recording uses almost no disk space or CPU.