I can't figure how to get started with the demo, LRTimeLapse 3 with Lightroom 5 with Camera Raw 8.1.

My source files are .CR2 Canon raw. The file directory tree display shown in LRTimeLapse does not correspond to what I see in the Finder.

The Finder is simple - .lrcat and .lrdata are several megabytes each.

The file tree in LRTimeLapse shows an enormous folder hierarchy. I can't tell what this is all about - perhaps looking inside file folder packages or what. But no pictures are displayed or available.

My folders contain more pictures than the demo limits, if that is a factor.

I'll buy this straightway, but I did want to first have a look at workflow.

It depends where you have your Images - it has nothing to do with .lrcat files...
If the images are on an external harddrive, check under "Volumes" in LRTimelapse.
If you are not sure, just right click on an image in Lightroom and select "show in finder" - then you should see where it is stored and can navigate there with LRTimelapse. Once you have selected your image location LRTimelapse will remember that for the next time. It's not LRTimelapse that is messing things up - it only shows the contents of your file system - it's the finder that sorts them differently.

Let me know if you can get it going and make sure to check the tutorials: http://lrtimelapse.com/tutorial