On a recent cruise aboard the Disney Fantasy, I set out to capture video of our arrivals and departures during our Eastern Caribbean sailing, but technical issues (more on that later) caused the plans to change. For years I’ve watched the amazing time-lapse video of the Disney Wonder in Alaska, and I figured this may be a good opportunity to give it a shot myself. Rather than set my DSLR for a series of timed interval shooting, I mounted a GoPro from the verandah overhang with the intent to speed up the footage afterwards.
I hope you enjoy the following time-lapse video of the Disney Fantasy sailing away from Port Canaveral.
I learned an important lesson while using the GoPro HERO3 White Edition camera and I hope by reading this that it will prevent you from experiencing this problem first hand. Make sure you have a memory card that plays well with the GoPro. I originally purchased a Samsung 64GB Class 10 card which appears to meet the GoPro SD card recommendation of any Class 10 MicroSD card up to 64 GB. I quickly found out during the cruise that this particular card and camera were not friends. It would appear as the camera was recording just fine, but the majority of the files were corrupt. In fact, I discovered that the micro SD card was corrupt as I was getting ready to snorkel in St. John USVI. I would later discover that the footage I had captured of the planes a day earlier at Maho Beach in St Maarten was lost. I now have a SanDisk Ultra 32GB MicroSD card and from a few tests around the house, the card and camera appear to be compatable. Not a single problem since I changed memory cards!
If you are buying a GoPro, or any camera or video camera for your upcoming vacation, spend some time using it before your trip. I purchased the camera on a whim during a pre-Thanksgiving sale, and it had been sitting on my desk untouched for a few months. If I would have used the camera a just once before our cruise, I would have discovered the issue with the memory card.
Nice video! I had seen your comments before about memory card issues with your GoPro. I get my GoPro next week and ordered the SanDisk 64 GB cards for it!
It is funny, I limit the size of my DSLR memory cards to reduce the amount of loss if one memory card were to become corrupt, but I did not follow my own advice for video. Based on my experience, I would test that card out and shoot a few long and a few short videos to make sure the card is working well. It pains me that I lost what I lost considering all appeared fine on the camera. By the way, if you have a smartphone consider the GoPro app that will allow you to control the camera and acts as a real-time viewfinder! It was perfect for framing shots.
Agree – I use mostly 16GB or even 8GB for video. I’d rather loose a few videos or pictures than the whole trip. Also, beware of fake SD cards. As you move up to 64GB you may end up with SDXC and could require a firmware update. Nice video in any case!
Great video! What cabin number were you in? Looked perfectly down the centerline of the ship.
I always love the view at the START of the cruise! 🙂
I truly appreciate your video. We sailed on the Fantasy last week, and with all the activities vying for your attention, I’ve never taken the time to watch the ship leave the port. After the Sail Away deck party, I did take the time to go up one deck to wave at the other vessels passing by. It was the 1st time I didn’t rush back to the cabin to unpack, and it was pretty cool to have people wave back! 🙂
Which settings did yot use? I’m planning to make a video like this this summer on the Magic when sailing out of Venice.
Dave, I recorded the video in real time and adjusted the speed in iMovie. I considered shooting stills using the built in time lapse feature, but I figured it would be easier to manipulate the speed of the video in post. Additionally, I did not like the aspect ratio choice from the GoPro.
I’d love to see your video when it is ready later this summer!
Did you use 1080 and 60 fps?
Dave,
Close to that yes, but I have the GoPro Hero3 which is only capable of shooting 1080p at 30 fps.