Innovation in Offenbach - The Timelapse Documentation of the Samson MainChange Project
- MK timelapse
- Aug 27
- 4 min read
Major Construction Project – The New Samson AG Facility Captured in Timelapse
MainChange: The Future of the Samson Offenbach Site
With the MainChange project, Samson AG is investing around 400 million euros in its new headquarters in Offenbach am Main - marking the largest innovation and construction initiative in the company’s 117-year history. A modern industrial campus is being built on a 14.3-hectare site, bringing together administration, development, production, and logistics in one location.
The project includes five major new buildings, totaling around 147,000 square meters of gross floor area. The aim is to consolidate previously scattered facilities so that, in the future, approximately 2,000 employees will work together on the new campus.
Sustainability, digitalization, and energy efficiency are at the heart of MainChange: over 21,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels are expected to generate more than 4 gigawatt hours of electricity annually - most of it consumed directly on site. This positions Samson for a nearly carbon-neutral future.
MainChange represents a profound transformation - and a clear vision of what modern industry can look like in the 21st century.
We are documenting the construction of this new facility on the banks of the Main River with our timelapse cameras, capturing the site’s transformation in progress.
Our Role and Technology
We at MK timelapse are responsible for the visual documentation of the construction project and have been delivering minute-by-minute images of the site since November 2023, even before the official start of construction.
In the end, the entire transformation of the Samson site will be captured in a high-quality timelapse film.
We are using two of our MK V50 timelapse camera systems, each with a 50-megapixel resolution, a 100-degree field of view, and a capture rate of one image per minute.
This setup creates a seamless visual archive of the construction progress - with consistently high image quality and impressive detail depth.
Our tool MK SiteView provides a current high-resolution image every 15 minutes. The platform offers seamless zoom functionality, allowing the progress on the site to be tracked with impressive clarity and from various perspectives - anytime and from anywhere.
A special highlight: The footage is streamed live on the Samson AG website, allowing the public to follow the construction progress online in real time.
Furthermore, we ensure full compliance with all data protection regulations: an adjacent area outside the site is already pixelated during recording to obscure sensitive zones and protect individuals’ privacy.
Technically, visually, and organizationally, our systems make a crucial contribution to the transparent monitoring of the construction project - from the very first image to the final film.
Systems
2x MK V50
Resolution
50 Megapixels
Interval
One image per minute
Field of View
100 Degrees
Highlights
Live pixelation
Our Installation - Reaching New Heights for the Best View
For documenting a project like MainChange, the correct positioning of the cameras is crucial. To capture the large area of the site completely, our cameras need a wide field of view and must be installed at an elevated position.
Camera 1 is located on the side of a tall chimney at the edge of the site - with an unobstructed view over the entire construction area. The installation on the side of the chimney was anything but ordinary: Our CEO Max personally took on the setup, climbing the chimney free-hanging with full equipment, and secured the camera using a specially designed mount made of high-strength ITEM aluminum profiles.
Unfortunately, there are no photos of the installation - he literally didn’t have a free hand...
Camera 2 was installed on one of our mobile telescopic masts of the type SMAG FTM 25/6. These decommissioned Bundeswehr radio masts were technically upgraded and specially prepared for use on construction sites.
The mast was delivered directly to the construction site by the dealer, where our team converted it on-site to run on solar power and battery. This way, we supply not only the camera but also the mast electronics - completely autonomous.
After the conversion, we installed our camera system at the top of the mast, raised the mast, aligned everything - and started recording. A great team effort, executed on-site with a lot of commitment and expertise.
These projects and the challenge of implementing even demanding installations are what particularly drive us and stay memorable.
What's Coming Next
The Samson MainChange project is not just a construction endeavor but a visible symbol of change, progress, and future orientation at the Offenbach location. We are proud to contribute visually to the documentation of this project with our cameras.
For us, it is always fascinating to watch how such a vast site transforms step by step - how what was once fallow land becomes a modern campus for innovation, production, and development. MainChange makes visible how industry can be reimagined - open, sustainable, and technologically advanced.
We will accompany the project until completion - continuously, reliably, and with the goal of delivering an impressive timelapse film in the end.
A big thank you to Samson AG for their trust in our work and the opportunity to be part of this venture. We look forward to everything that is still to come.
More about our technology: https://www.zeitraffer.org/baustellenkamera
Live-View on the Samson website: https://mainchange.samsongroup.com/de/das-projekt/webcam/sicht-aus-suedwest/
More about the MainChange project: https://mainchange.samsongroup.com/de/
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