Interval Films

Interval Films is a pioneer in the Time Lapse film making industry. They install proprietary camera units to capture beautiful images of building construction, engineering projects and spectacular art exhibits. Gravitywell designed and delivered from MVP to a best-in-class software platform for clients to view their feeds from the hi-res cameras.

We started with 3 workshops, where we reviewed the current system, gathered requirement and learnt about the brand. The industry is highly competitive and a high quality software interface would be a key selling point.

It’s worth mentioning the unusual process we designed for the project. We adapted our ‘Hackathon’ approach, which meant the whole team focusing on the project, and just one week for completion. Seriously concentrated! Daily feedback with founder Ollie Larkin during end-of-day demos allowed for a fluidity and flexibility of workflow, something not possible within the confines of a more traditional process.

To ensure that Interval Films’ new platform would be truly best-in-class; features and functionality were crucial. The primary UI element, an innovative ‘Time Scrubber’ was designed to be more user-friendly and intuitive than anything on alternative platforms. Where they tend to use something more akin to a file browser, the Time Scrubber allows the user to scrub through time like a YouTube video without lag. Not only is this far more reactive than an image gallery or scrolling tool, but it’s also a function the user will feel instantly familiar with.

Another aspect that received a lot of effort was the process of taking images directly from Interval Films’ remote DSLR cameras, converting them into various formats and sizes, and then passing them on to longer term storage servers. The platform is designed to process more than the estimated 8.4 million hi-res images Interval Films is generating every year.

Considerable time was also spent optimising speed and performance. We had to deliver what was appropriate for each user based on variables, such as device and internet connection. To improve the experience further, our system would anticipate the needs of the user and buffer images based on user activity like zooming in/out, scrolling left/right etc.

From a design perspective, the interface aesthetic needed to deliver a level of sophistication and professionalism. We took inspiration from industry innovators Lightroom and Spotify, whose unobtrusive interface design allows the content to remain the focus for the user.

The process was a huge success and the results speak for themselves, a ringing endorsement for the hackathon approach. Concentrated effort, lots of client input and a creative tech team was the perfect combination.

If you would like to speak to us about how Gravitywell would exceed your expectations for your mobile app, web app or bespoke software project, get in touch.