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Roadtrip Time Lapse Video
Last year, I did a roadtrip with my good friend Dom Panarello. I wanted a simple way to remember the 45-day excursion, so I rigged my car with a windshield-mounted webcam that snapped a picture every 60 seconds while the car was running. The other day I looked at the 15,100+ images, and I decided to string them together as a time lapse video:
[Music: FC Kahuna - "Hayling"]
Sure, it's not Matt Harding dancing on the dark side of the Moon, but I think it's still mind-blowing. Each frame of the seven-minute video equates to one minute behind the wheel. If you don't blink, you'll experience the entire 16,748 mile trip across 45 states. The drive includes tours through national parks*, national forests, and historical sites. You'll also see thousands and thousands of miles of open tarmac.
* Acadia, Joshua Tree, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Yosemite, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Carlsbad Caverns, Mesa Verde, Mammoth Cave
[Music: FC Kahuna - "Hayling"]
Sure, it's not Matt Harding dancing on the dark side of the Moon, but I think it's still mind-blowing. Each frame of the seven-minute video equates to one minute behind the wheel. If you don't blink, you'll experience the entire 16,748 mile trip across 45 states. The drive includes tours through national parks*, national forests, and historical sites. You'll also see thousands and thousands of miles of open tarmac.
* Acadia, Joshua Tree, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Yosemite, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Carlsbad Caverns, Mesa Verde, Mammoth Cave
Filed under: Video
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brent Schmidt Jan 15th 2010 9:21AM
Really late but just saw this post linked from the recent road trip blog... How quickly did you go through the batteries/how many did you have for this? I'll be embarking on a 1000 mi trip to OK today or tomorrow from PHX and may want to try this out. I currently only have two batteries though.
Willy Mar 28th 2007 12:34PM
Dave, can you describe how you made the video. I wanted to do something similar on a recent trip to Miami, but I don't know how.
Justin Glow Mar 28th 2007 1:27PM
[this is awesome]
Dave Luna Mar 28th 2007 2:36PM
Justin -- Thanks!
Willy -- Normally, I'd import the images into Adobe Premiere and throw an audio track under the video. That method would probably suit most purposes. If you do not have Adobe Premiere, you may be able to accomplish the same thing with Microsoft Movie Maker (bundled with Windows) or Apple iMovie (bundled with Macs).
However, I made this video in an unconventional way because Premiere wouldn't let me put 15,100+ images in one project file. It was just too much. I didn't have an alternative video editing program, so I wrote a slideshow application to display the webcam pictures in chronological order at 30 frames per second with a 320x240x16 resolution. Then, I recorded the slideshow window using a screencast (screen capture) program. I imported that video into Premiere, added the music track and Double-D-America logo, and exported it to an MPEG.
If you're going to work with that many images, you might want to try using Apple Final Cut Pro (only available for Macintosh). An Apple Genius assured me that it could handle that many pictures.
Enoch Root Mar 28th 2007 6:47PM
Similar project, except with backing from Kodak:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/onTheRoad/home/index.shtml
One picture shot every mile.
I'm considering a similar project for a trip south on US 395 and back north on US 287. GPS, webcam, and a web server. :-)
Breezy34 Apr 1st 2007 8:43PM
Dave, where did your trip start and where did it end? What general route did your trip take? Thanks, I enjoyed it!
Jamie Rhein Apr 1st 2007 8:46PM
Really neat!
For some strange reason I started counting the McDonald's signs since I noticed one and wondered how many more I could find. I may have started seeing the double arches where there weren't any and missed others, but I saw nine.
I also enjoyed the sunsets and the rainbows that showed up in some of the shots. At first I thought, Wow, they saw a lot of rainbows, then I got a clue that it had to do with the sun on the windshield or something.
Brian Apr 2nd 2007 2:21PM
my friend from Spain made a video very similar to this with a super 8 cam like 5 years ago. he sold it on ebay. if anyone knows Nino Blancafort e-mail me at zlnger@aol.com
pamela Apr 1st 2007 11:23PM
what i wanna know is - how does anyone gat the TIME off for a 45-day road trip? or ANY kind of trip for 45 days? I can hardly take 1 week off, much less 6.
I must be doing something wrong here..
Dave Luna Apr 1st 2007 11:42PM
Thanks for the kind words everyone!
Breezy -- We took a rather circuitous route across the US. If you'd like to see the route, you can check out the trip map on http://double-d-america.com . There is also a lot more information about the trip.
pamela -- I requested the time off from work, and surprisingly, they just gave it to me!
DJ JAZZY JEFF Apr 2nd 2007 12:25AM
WOW THIS SO COOL
WHAT MADE U THINK OF THIS
YOURE SO TALENTED
A 5TH GRADER COULD OF DONE THIS LOL
dan Apr 2nd 2007 12:25AM
I wish I would of thought of this when I took my cross country trip. Nice work!
Pooua Apr 2nd 2007 2:47AM
You are a photobug after my own heart! My co-workers tease me because I typically photograph almost every mile between Dallas and my destination when I go on trips. I have hundreds of photos of the desert between Texas and California, for example, all taken from my window seat in a jetliner. I would love to install enough cameras in my automobiles to capture a hemisphere of high-quality video and stills. And, I want to be able to retrieve those images at any time via a wireless PDA (which, maybe, could also control the cameras).
Matthew Apr 2nd 2007 3:19AM
Simply....Amazing. And! You could not have chosen a better song to go with the vid. "Kudo's" on your project.
DJ Matthew Baker
Matthew@pinkplanet.net