Time Flow Sketch
Reshape time by drawing
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
A sketching app for reshaping the way time flows inside a video.
You draw the shape of that flow as a black-and-white gradient over the clip you loaded. The brightness you paint becomes a moment in the clip, or a playback speed, so different parts of the image start running on their own time.
Only where your finger traced runs ahead. Another part plays backwards. One area stays frozen while everything around it keeps moving.
You can even draw time that twists — forward and backward unfolding at once. Take the single, even flow of time in a video, pull it apart, and put it back together. Reflections shifting on water, drifting clouds, the movement of familiar things and creatures: there may be something new waiting in the everyday scenery you thought you knew.
■ Main features
[Making a map]
• Draw — trace with a finger to draw the flow of time. Five brush tones, a bleed brush, and a smudge tool
• Gradients and presets — start from a regular pattern
• From motion — build the shape of time automatically from the movement in the clip
• Cut & slide — split the map along a line and slide the pieces to make time slip
[How the map is applied]
• Apply mode — Vertical / Horizontal slit works band by band, Surface works pixel by pixel
• Time map — brightness sets which moment of the clip is shown; black is the start, white is the end
• Rate map — brightness sets the playback speed, from reverse to fast forward
• Space map — brightness sets where on screen the picture is taken from
[Checking what you made]
• 3D plot — see the shape of time as a solid
• Time graph — see time, rate and space as line charts
[Live camera]
• Time-shape the camera image as you film — it keeps the last few seconds, so the map you draw can show the past or freeze parts of the picture
• Tap “Stop & capture” to turn it into a clip you can edit and export
[Sound and export]
• Sound — the audio goes through the same time processing as the picture
• Export — save the result to your photo library as a video
All video processing happens on your device, and nothing you make is sent anywhere.
more • Now on the Mac. The same app runs on Apple silicon Macs. On the Mac, videos open from files (drop one from the Finder onto the window, choose “Open With”, or press ⌘O), exports ask where to save, and the camera can be the Mac’s built-in camera or an iPhone used as Continuity Camera, chosen by name. How much video can be loaded grows with the Mac’s memory.
• Added “Open File” under Load, so videos in the Files app can be opened directly.
1.19 1d ago
• “From motion” now works with the live camera. The map keeps adding up the movement in front of the camera, so the places that move change in time as you film (time map or rate map in Surface mode).
• “Trail” sets how long the traces of movement last, and the invert button leaves the past behind wherever something moved. How much movement counts as white adjusts itself slowly to what the camera sees.
1.18 6d ago
• A Gradient button now sits at the bottom left of the map on the main screen. Tap it and the map becomes a striped gradient you can shape right there, without opening the editor: drag to move it, pinch to change the spacing, and twist with two fingers to change the angle.
• The edit button on the map is a little larger, so it is easier to find.
• The Help screen now shows the app logo at the top.
1.17 Oct 19
- Live camera rate map: when the lag reaches the length being kept, everything now realigns to now automatically, so a gradient's slope becomes the slope in time. Choose Cap under the gear to keep the lag instead.
- Live camera: choose how long to keep (8, 15, 30 or 60 seconds).
- Top screen: a new button at the bottom left of the map repaints it with a preset such as solid gray or a left-to-right gradient.
- Fixed the ends of a gradient flattening out in the live camera rate map.
1.16 Oct 19
- The output's full-screen view is now the Monitor view: show the input, map, output, 3D plot and time graph in any combination, side by side.
- The space map now keeps a separate drawing for each slit direction (vertical / horizontal).
- After a video was loaded with frames dropped, narrowing the range now offers to reload it at full frame rate.
- Fixed some live camera messages that appeared in Japanese when the app was set to English.
1.15 Oct 6
• New “Live camera”: time-shape the camera image as you film. It keeps the last few seconds, so the map you draw can show the past or freeze parts of the picture. Tap “Stop & capture” to turn it into a clip you can edit and export.
• On the top screen, tap the label on the map to choose its kind (time, rate, space) and its mode right there. The gear at the top right opens settings such as the black and white rates and the displacement.
• Choose the brush for drawing on the top screen (five shades from black to white, plus a finger tool) at the bottom left of the map. You can also draw by dragging over the output video.
• After "Undo" on the map, you can now "Redo".
• Choose the input video's resolution from the label on the video (for example 960×540); the video reloads at that size.
• With Surface, you can now choose the direction of the space map (vertical or horizontal).
• The buttons over the videos and maps now share one size, for a cleaner screen.
1.14 Oct 5
• The opening screen has a new, more graphic design.
• The editor is tidier: the method button now sits at the bottom right and the view menu at the bottom left, leaving the top bar clear.
• The input video on the top screen now shows the frame rate it was loaded at (e.g. "60 → 30 fps" when frames were thinned).
• Notices about the loaded video (frame-rate reduction, and "outside the loaded range") now appear over the input video itself.
• Fixed portrait videos sometimes loading in landscape.
• The buttons on the full-screen output now match the size of the top-screen menu.
1.13 Sep 28
• Draw straight onto the map on the top screen: trace anywhere away from the red line to paint with a black brush, and step back with the button next to the pencil.
• Gradient generation can now be shaped directly on the map: trace to move the pattern, pinch to change the period, and turn two fingers to change the angle. The sliders are tucked away by default.
• The 3D plot is drawn larger, and the one on the top screen can now be rotated by dragging and zoomed by pinching.
• The buttons on the full-screen output now sit in a single row, and "Re-edit" is now "Edit". Closing the editor always returns to the top screen.
1.12 Sep 27
• Reworked the iPad layout: in portrait the input, map and output panes share the same width, the menu sits vertically along the right edge, and Help and Settings open full screen.
• The rate map now defaults to grey = frozen, black = reverse, white = forward.
• Rewrote the in-app guide: the editor is explained in five steps, each choice labelled with the app's own icon.
1.11 Sep 24
• Slo-mo clips from the iPhone camera now load at the speed they were shot (120/240 fps). The app may ask for photo access to do this
• Reverb rebuilt: the wider the span of time inside the frame, the more the sound crosses from the source to the reverb
• Changing the number of voices no longer changes the volume
• Added a Re-edit button to the full-screen output view
• Time from / Time to are shown in seconds, and the 3D plot no longer draws its end faces
1.10 Sep 23
• When a newer version is on the App Store, the app now tells you at launch
• You can update straight from the version shown in the Help screen
• The time graph gains Rate and Space pages — swipe sideways, or use the arrows at its edges, to switch
• The time graph's horizontal axis now has second marks, and its notes and legend have been tidied up
1.9 Sep 19
• In the editor's Draw mode, the button at the far right now steps back one change (press and hold it to reset to default)
• Added "Reset to normal playback" to the list of editing methods (it appears once you have edited the map)
• The 3D plot now reflects the space map in the position of the surface (for maps that show a single column, it draws a plane at the slit's position)
1.8 Sep 18
• Swipe the map on the main screen to switch to the space map (once you have edited one) and the 3D plot
• The 3D plot can now fit its time axis to the use range when the use range is shorter than half the clip
• Help now includes diagrams showing how to read the 3D plot and the time graph
• Time graph lines are coloured by their position in the picture, with a legend
• Help now shows the app version and a link to the support site
• Fixed clipped buttons and headings in English, and sound voices not updating when you switch modes
1.7 Sep 17
- New 3D plot, in the output's full-screen view and in the editor: see the clip as a box of width x height x time, and watch how the current output frame slices through it, with the real footage mapped onto that surface
- New time graph: across one output loop, a line for each part of the picture showing which moment of the clip it is showing
- The editor's layout menu adds "Split: 3D plot + map" and "Three panes: video + 3D plot + map"
- New sessions now start on a vertical slit with a time map
- Fixed: after changing the range in use, Settings > Video Loading would not offer to reload that range
1.6 Sep 16
- Added "i" buttons that explain each setting, including the Granular and Rate playback sound methods
- In the input video's full-screen view, you can now adjust the start and end of the use range
- Cut & slide: new Straight mode. Tap a start point and an end point to cut along a straight line
- Cut & slide: a loop now closes where the line crosses itself
- Removed the notice shown the first time you load a video
1.5 Sep 15
• The input and output videos can now be shown full screen. Check the playback position and the original and loaded resolution and frame rate, and export the output to your photo library without leaving full screen.
• New editing method "Cut & slide": split the map in two with a line and slide the pieces apart. The gap that opens is filled automatically by blending the values that used to sit on either side of the cut.
• The "Video Loading" settings are new. Choose the resolution and how many seconds to load; if it does not fit in memory, frames are thinned out automatically and you are told about it.
• For a surface rate map, the output length is now the time it takes the fastest area to use up the video exactly once, so the footage no longer loops partway through.
• While you drag an end of the use range on the main screen, the input video shows the frame at that end, making the range easier to set.
• Space map editing adds "Reset to default". Tap "?" in the list of editing methods to read what each one does.
1.4 Sep 15
• Slow-motion (high frame rate) footage now plays back at normal speed as soon as you load it.
• The audio engine has been reworked. With no time manipulation applied, playback now sounds almost identical to the original recording.
• Sound settings have been reorganised. Vertical and horizontal slits use a voice division count at right angles to the slit, while surface keeps the familiar grid (3×3 to 9×7). With a horizontal slit both channels carry the same signal and stereo width is disabled.
• Surface with a rate map is now the default, so you can try "brightness becomes speed" straight after loading a video.
• Layout fixes on the main screen: the wasted gap around the map image and the height mismatch between the input and output views are gone.
1.3 Sep 12
Time Flow Sketch now speaks English.
The interface, the built-in help, and every label in the editor are available in English. Devices set to Japanese keep the Japanese interface.
Main screen
• Source video, map, and result are shown together, each with its own playback bar and speaker button. Only one audio source plays at a time.
• The map shows its kind (time, rate, or space) and opens the editor from its corner.
• A cleaner start screen and a calmer, mostly grayscale layout.
Fixes
• Switching between vertical and horizontal slit now regenerates the default map in the right orientation.
• The clip range set on the source video now applies to rate maps, surface mode, and the source playback.
• Loading from the photo library no longer converts the file first, and a failed import no longer leaves the screen stuck.
Editor
• Presets for the space map are labelled with what they do.
• Drag on the map outside drawing mode to scrub the playhead.
• Brush size now runs from 1 to 300 px on a curve that keeps the small end precise.
1.2 Sep 11
トップ画面を作り直しました。
・入力映像 / マップ画像 / 出力映像 を並べて表示するようにしました。マップが映像をどう変えているか、その場で見比べられます。
・入力と出力にそれぞれ再生バーを付けました。出力側の再生位置は、マップ上の赤いラインと同じ印で示します。
・起動直後は「動画を読み込む」だけのシンプルな画面になりました。
外部ディスプレイに対応しました。
・HDMI や AirPlay でつないだディスプレイに、映像だけを全画面で出力できます。手元の画面は編集画面のまま使えます。
編集画面を分かりやすくしました。
・編集手法の名前を「グラデーション生成」「プリセットで塗り直し」「モーションから生成」に変えました。
・プリセットの各ボタンに、いまの設定でどう再生されるか(通常再生・逆再生・時間停止など)を表示するようにしました。
・マップの種類と適用モードを1つのメニューにまとめました。
その他
・使い方の説明を見直しました。
・読み込みに向いた動画の目安を案内するようにしました。
1.1 Sep 10
• Now on the Mac. The same app runs on Apple silicon Macs. On the Mac, videos open from files (drop one from the Finder onto the window, choose “Open With”, or press ⌘O), exports ask where to save, and the camera can be the Mac’s built-in camera or an iPhone used as Continuity Camera, chosen by name. How much video can be loaded grows with the Mac’s memory.
• Added “Open File” under Load, so videos in the Files app can be opened directly.
more Version 1.19 1d ago
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.