NB! Download links are no longer available, but are left in the article for the historic reasons. If you are interested in a copy, please reach out to me in comments or by e-mail.
Bergensbanen Minute by Minute set a trend for a series of shorter real-time railway ride recordings, performed by NRK staff.
NRK created a major programme around Holmekollbanen, an above-ground branch of Oslo subway (T-Banen), which runs from the centre of Oslo (Majorstuen) and all the way up to the Holmekollen ski jump facilities. The program was recorded during the Ski World Championship in Oslo in 2011. NRK created a wonderful interactive site, which shows the Holmekollbanen’s route, elevation, stops and history (in Norwegian).
The front and side view camera recordings from the trip with Holmenkollbanen in Oslo were published by NRK under the Creative Commons license.
“Holmenkollbanen” – NRK
http://nrkbeta.no/2011/03/07/holmenkollbanen-minutt-for-minutt/
I have created a timelapse of the trip at 8x of its normal speed. It can either be downloaded in multiple versions below or viewed directly from my site. Each version is archived with WinRAR for ease of download and verification.
NRK Programme
- Low-res/iPhone (82MB, MP4, 640×360, 25fps, 2000kbps)
[Download]
- 720p (163MB, MP4, 1280×720, 25fps, 4000kbps)
[Download]
- 1080p (267MB, MP4, 1888×1060, 25fps, 6550kbps)
[Download]
- Real time for iPhone (Video: 556MB, MP4, 640×360, 25fps, 1600kbps; Audio: AAC, 96kbps)
[Download]
3-Way Camera Combination View Timelapse
- Low-res/iPhone (78MB, MP4, 640×360, 25fps, 2000kbps)
[Download]
- 720p (156MB, MP4, 1280×720, 25fps, 4000kbps)
[Download]
- 1080p (256MB, MP4, 1920×1080, 25fps, 6550kbps)
[Download]
Rear Right Camera View Timelapse
- Low-res/iPhone (81MB, MP4, 640×360, 25fps, 2000kbps)
[Download]
- 720p (163MB, MP4, 1280×720, 25fps, 4000kbps)
[Download]
- 1080p (245MB, MP4, 1920×1080, 25fps, 6000kbps)
[Download]
Left Camera View Timelapse
- Low-res/iPhone (86MB, MP4, 640×360, 50fps, 2200kbps)
[Download]
- 720p (273MB, MP4, 1280×720, 50fps, 7000kbps)
[Download]
- 1080p (394MB, MP4, 1920×1080, 50fps, 10100kbps)
[Download]
Pseudo-3D
Even when one has only one camera source, it is still possible to create a pseudo-3D image, using frame shifting. I got the idea from Frank Eivind’s blog and it, naturally, had to be tested. The basic idea is to let the right eye see the video stream, which runs 1-5 frames ahead of the left-eye view. With enough forward or lateral motion one will get almost the same effect, as from two separate camera sources. The downside: the stereoscopic effect disappears as soon as there is no motion in the video.
As I used AviSynth, I could get away with a much simpler implementation, than what is described by Fran Eivind. Here is a fragment of the AviSynth script, responsible for the frame shifting. The anaglyph rendering itself is done by a plug-in, created by Gabor Kertai:
frame_depth=1
left_eye=Tweak(sat=1.2)
right_eye=Trim(left_eye,frame_depth,0)+BlankClip(left_eye,length=frame_depth)
Anaglyph(left_eye,right_eye,"optimized","rc")
I encoded the forward view and the left side views using this technique. For the forward motion, a shift of 2 frames was used, while a much faster sideways motion required only one frame to achieve a strong stereoscopic effect. Note how the feeling of depth disappears once the train stops.
- 3-Way Combination, 720p (176MB, MP4, 1280×720, 25fps, 4500kbps)
[Download]
- Left View, Low-res/iPhone (86MB, MP4, 640×360, 50fps, 2200kbps)
[Download]
- Left View, 720p (273MB, MP4, 1280×720, 50fps, 7000kbps)
[Download]
- Left View, 1080p (394MB, MP4, 1920×1080, 50fps, 10100kbps)
[Download]
Those interested may also download the AviSynth scripts, used in production of all the videos on this page.