# Temporal

> Control time in an AI video clip. Combine speed, freeze, direction and shutter, such as Slow Motion, Bullet Time or Reverse, from 18 tested options.

Source: https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/temporal

The **Temporal** picker controls how time behaves in a video clip. You combine up to four parts — speed, freeze, direction and shutter — with options such as Slow Motion, Time-lapse, Bullet Time, Reverse / Rewind and Motion Blur. Nodaro adds tested wording for them to the prompt of every video node you connect it to. The picker never calls a model, so it costs no credits.

- Found in: Creative Controls › Motion & Time
- Output: text
- API type: `temporal`

## When to use it
- Slow down the peak of an action, such as a jump or a splash, with Slow Motion or Super Slow-mo.
- Show time passing over a city or a landscape with Time-lapse or Hyper-lapse.
- Freeze a music-video moment with Bullet Time or Frozen Subject.
- Tell a moment backward with Reverse / Rewind, or loop it with Loop / Boomerang.

## How to use it
### Add the picker

Open the node picker and choose **Creative Controls › Motion & Time › Temporal**.

### Turn on the parts you need

Click the node. In the settings panel, each part is a section with a switch: **Speed**, **Freeze**, **Direction** and **Shutter**. Turning a section on selects its first option; then choose the one you want. A new node starts with **Speed** set to **Real-time**.

### Connect it

Drag from the picker's output to the **Look** input of a [Generate Video](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/generate-video) node.

### Run the video node

The time description is added to the prompt when the video node runs.

Workflow: A Temporal picker and a Camera Motion picker shape a clip made from an uploaded photo.

- Upload Image → Generate Video (start frame)
- Temporal → Generate Video (look)
- Camera Motion → Generate Video (look)

## Settings
| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Speed** | How fast time runs: Real-time, Slow Motion, Super Slow-mo, Time-lapse, Hyper-lapse or Speed Ramp. A new node starts at **Real-time**. |
| **Freeze** | A freeze treatment: Full Freeze-frame, Bullet Time, Frozen Subject (the world moves around a frozen subject) or Moving Subject (the subject moves through a frozen world). |
| **Direction** | The direction of time: Forward, Reverse / Rewind or Loop / Boomerang. |
| **Shutter** | The shutter signature of the motion: Long Exposure, Crisp Shutter, Motion Blur, Stutter / Strobe or Stop-motion. |
| **Custom text (before)** | Your own words, added before the time description, for example `ramping`. |
| **Custom text (after)** | Your own words, added after the time description, for example `with a strobing flicker`. |
| **Prompt hint** | **Full** (default) adds a longer description of each part. **Compact** adds only the short terms. See [Full or Compact](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls#full-or-compact). |
| **Items per row (node card)** | How many picks the node card shows per row, from 1 to 4. The default is 2. It changes only the card, not the prompt. |

Each part is optional. The parts you turn on are joined into one description, and a part that is off adds nothing.

To see the exact words the picker will add, switch the node to the **Prompt** or **Both** display mode. The settings panel shows the same text under **Will inject into prompt**.

### Video only

Temporal works only with video nodes. Still-image nodes, such as [Generate Image](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/image/generate-image), never receive its wording, and the Look input of Generate Image does not offer it.

## Every temporal option

Filter by part or search by name. The words under each name are the term the picker adds in **Compact** mode.

**Speed**

- Real-time: `real-time playback`
- Slow Motion
- Super Slow-mo: `super slow motion`
- Time-lapse
- Hyper-lapse
- Speed Ramp

**Freeze**

- Full Freeze-frame: `freeze frame`
- Bullet Time
- Frozen Subject: `frozen subject, world in motion`
- Moving Subject: `moving subject, frozen world`

**Direction**

- Forward: `forward playback`
- Reverse / Rewind: `reverse playback`
- Loop / Boomerang: `boomerang loop`

**Shutter**

- Long Exposure
- Crisp Shutter: `fast shutter, sharp motion`
- Motion Blur
- Stutter / Strobe: `strobe stutter effect`
- Stop-motion

## Tips
- **Slow down the peak.** Slow Motion reads best on a clear action, such as a jump, a splash or a punch.
- **Freeze on the beat.** In a music video, use Bullet Time at the drop, and pair it with an orbit from [Camera Motion](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/camera-motion).
- **Add events to slow them down.** Combine Slow Motion with [Action FX](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/creative-controls/action-fx), such as Airborne Glass Shatter or Large Explosion.
- **Change a finished clip instead.** To speed up or slow down a clip you already have, use [Adjust Speed](https://nodaro.ai/docs/nodes/video/adjust-speed).

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the Temporal picker do?

It adds a description of how time behaves in a clip, such as slow motion, a time-lapse, bullet time or reverse playback, to the prompt of every video node it is connected to.

### Does the Temporal picker cost credits?

No. Pickers only change the prompt. You pay only for the video node that uses it.

### Can I use Temporal with Generate Image?

No. Temporal describes time, so it works only with video nodes. Still-image nodes never receive its wording.

### What is the difference between Temporal and Adjust Speed?

Temporal asks the video model to generate the clip in slow motion, reverse or another time effect. Adjust Speed changes the playback speed of a clip that already exists.