Cruise TIMELAPSE Videos!!!

[miraflores]

I love making timelapse videos, and this is my collection of cruise-related timelapses.

They were shot all over the world, on many different ships, and I hope you enjoy them.

 

Ice Carving:

 

Sunset@Sea:

 

Rio Sail-in:

 

Rio Sailaway:

 

Lifeboats!:

 

Santos Sailaway:

 

Strait of Messina:

 

Venice Sailaway:

 

Athens Sail-in:

 

Dubrovnik Sail-In:

 

Inside Passage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8HiT6TMdEg

 

Hubbard Glacier 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8beCXY6waAE

 

Hubbard Glacier 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh0CudPT8Kg

 

Chilean Fjords: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-6OQImCgsU

 

Panama Canal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vi19z4LEi0

 

3 Day Cruise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GPkCB6zYH8

 

Be sure to watch them in HD (except the Panama one, sorry).

[ehewell2000]

That's so cool Would you mind sharing how you do the time lapse video? I'd really love to try to make one on our next cruise.

[miraflores]

I have a Sony AVCHD-format video camera. I record everything as video (in real-time) and then speed it up afterwards in editing. You can also use a DSLR still camera to record stills every 30 seconds or so, and that works nicely as well...but I don't have a good DSLR camera, so I do it this way. My Panama Canal video is actually shot that way. You can see the difference in how it looks. Personally, I like the raw video method better. It's way smoother, and when I get another chance to go through there, I'll shoot it that way.

 

I want to be sure I catch moments (like glaciers calving). So, I like this way better. You can miss stuff if your DSLR camera is set to only record half a second every 30 seconds. This way you miss nothing.

 

Some of the raw shots are 4-5 hours long, but they compress nicely when I speed them up (between 1000x-1300x speed), and it doesn't take long to do once it's loaded. I don't mind just leaving my camera in a spot for a few hours, but don't want to spend hours editing stills, or dealing with complicated speed issues when doing it the DSLR way, so this is nice. Not too much time spent at a computer...and the end result is pretty cool.

 

It does take hours to load the footage though, so that balances the time out in some ways with the DSLR method. But, I just set it up, leave it overnight, check it in the morning, and it's ready to go. Pretty easy stuff.

 

But, I don't want to sound negative, but on ships it's tricky to film in good locations for extended periods of time. I'm not sure how successful you'll be if you don't set it up with the ship beforehand to get access to the bridge and off-limits areas (which are where most of mine were shot from). I was really lucky because I was the senior video tech on every ship I was on, and had full access to everything...including the sweet spot right at the Pilot's table on the Bridge whenver I wanted it (always for the best stuff too).

 

I always did these, and the bridge officers LOVED them, so I kept doing them. We would play these at all-crew meetings in the theatre, give out copies in the crew offices, and I have multiple copies of most of the videos you've seen (from different weeks), and I've only posted my favorites on YouTube. I was lucky because I could set up a shot, and then leave knowing my camera was okay. I would never stick around on the bridge though. I'd usually be out in the rescue boats shooting video of the ship (and the glaciers), or onboard shooting video of the guests watching the scenery for the onboard videos I had to produce. These were my little hobby, and I was pretty lucky to have that kind of access. I'd add them to the cruise videos, but they're my personal videos.

 

It might be tricky to have that kind of dead centre, bridge shot I had...but there are other things you can shoot that would look just as interesting...and depending on the ship, you can find spots to shoot from that are pretty interesting.

 

What I would do it plan to be somewhere for an entire event, and then put the camera on it's little tripod right next to you for the whole thing (don't touch it once it's recording). Then, when you think the event is over, you go somewhere else with it, and do the whole thing again. Hiding cameras and not being there is not a good idea. They could legally throw you off the ship for that kind of stuff (terrorists do stuff like that, not guests), so I wouldn't suggest it if you want to stay on your cruise.

 

Plan ahead, be at events early, find a good spot to put the camera and be right near it...and you'll get some great stuff. I can't wait to see it. Be sure to let me know if you shoot something! Hope that helps!

[miraflores]

The Panama Canal video has been updated:

[miraflores]

Just added a couple more videos:

 

BC Ferries (Vancouver/Victoria):

 

BC Ferries (Nanaimo/Vancouver):

 

Enjoy!

[ste17l]

Great videos. I am thinking about doing some timelapse with my dslr on the next cruise. Hopefully i can find a spot where people wont find the tripod bothersome.

[miraflores]

They're a lot of fun to make, and a great way to look at some of the events and sights you see on a cruise!

[miraflores]

Now that I'm back at home, it's not nearly as interesting. I'm forced to do stuff like this...haha.

 

Victoria Beach Drive Timelapse:

 

I miss being able to make these...this was my favorite part of the job. I tried to catch as many days as I could...wished I would have had the camera sooner!

[wgraves]

These were very fun to watch. :)

[hockeyluver]

wow these video's are truly amaizing thank you so much for sharing them!!!

[Manatee Mom]

great videos.

[miraflores]

great videos.

 

Thanks! I put together a complilation of my favorite stuff so far here: