Jesse Watson has just published a time-lapse he shot of the recent SpaceX launch. You know, the one that looked really strange, and not like any rocket we’ve seen before. However the video is of course over a much longer period of time, and shows a wider angle of everything that went on.
He filmed it from Yuma Arizona, roughly 400 miles away from the launch site. And it took quite a bit of planning:
I scouted four locations that had foregrounds to add depth to the imagery and was uniquely inspiring to my hometown. Location choices were between a favorite local hiking mountain, the Imperial Sand Dunes, or a small hill that resides in the historic downtown area overlooking the city. I ended up choosing the location that overlooked the city, partially because it was the easiest to access with all of my time-lapse gear. I used The Photographer’s Ephemeris and Google Maps to help scouting and initial line up.
I have never shot a rocket launch before, so I did not know exactly what to expect as far as exposure or precise location of the rocket in the horizon. I wanted to be prepared to capture comprehensive coverage of the spectacle. Therefore I packed four cameras and five lenses, to cover wide to telephoto details of the scene. Three of the cameras were rolling time-lapse and 1 was setup for telephoto video.
It’s certainly an interesting story, and also a fantastic video.
Watch below in the embedded player, or if that fails, it’s on Vimeo along with his story.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Official Trailer #
I don’t care how cliché this storyline is, but they’re going back to the island!
And I can’t wait!
Because, as we all know, life will always find a way.
🦕🦖🌋
Spoiler Warning!
Description taken from YouTube page:
It’s been four years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles.
When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who’s still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times.
YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017 #
YouTube have again, of course, released their annual Rewind video.
I’m always impressed with the overall production quality of these videos, and maybe I’m forgetting the previous ones, but this looks really well made.
It gets very cheesy at times, which I guess that’s it’s meant to be. But the music is mixed well, and it contains a huge number of Youtubers. It would of been funny for PewDiePie to be involved as well though.
Youtube Rewind Website
YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017 Video
A Precise, Three-word Address for Every Place on Earth #
Chris Sheldrick had an idea to make addresses better for the entire planet, and inside just one TED talk he explained how it works, the current progress, and how it can make everyones lives better.
With what3words, Chris Sheldrick and his team have divided the entire planet into three-meter squares and assigned each a unique, three-word identifier, like famous.splice.writers or blocks.evenly.breed, giving a precise address to the billions of people worldwide who don’t have one. In this quick talk about a big idea, Sheldrick explains the economic and political implications of giving everyone an accurate address — from building infrastructure to sending aid to disaster zones to delivering hot pizza.
Watch on TED.com, or below if the embedded video works.
Papyrus #
This is just brilliant.
The Essential Adapter for the New MacBook Pro #
If like me, you’ve got a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, you may get yourself in a situation where the ports just aren’t enough.
With the MacBook Pro, the ports you have access to are:
- 4 x USB C / Thunderbolt
- 1 x 3.5mm Headphone Jack
This is all perfect, until you need to plug in an external display, or have an old USB A drive you want to use. For sure, there are adapters everywhere, and you can literally find any combination of dongles.
The problem arises when you have adapters that break over time, or when using multiple adapters, they tend to get lost.
Well, a while ago I backed something on Kickstarter called HyperDrive. It’s an adapter that is more of an extension, as it just slots on to the side of the Mac, and turns 2 USB C ports into a lot more.
I was going to make a video for this when I first received it, but that just never happened. But ever since Apple released Clips for iOS, I’ve been making small videos.
So I’ve created one for this. I won’t share here what the actual details of the HyperDrive is here, because I don’t want to spoil the video!
You can’t get a HyperDrive from Kickstarter anymore, but they are now running an IndieGoGO campaign where you can find them.
It’s truly a game changer for me.
IINA - The Modern macOS Video Player #
I’ve just found IINA on Product Hunt, which in my opinion shows great potential to be the video player for macOS.
Of course as I’m currently writing this, it is only v0.0.1 build 1, so there’s going to be some bugs, and maybe a few missing features. But this is one hell of a first build.
Here are the features from the GitHub page:
- Based on mpv, a powerful media player
- Designed for modern macOS (10.10+)
- User-friendly interface
- All the features you need for videos, audios and subtitles
- Supported basic playlist and chapters
- MPV config files and script system are available for advanced users
- Written in Swift, followed up on new technologies like Touch Bar
- Still in active development
The best bit in my opinion, is the video, audio, and subtitle controls you get. It’s such a simple aesthetic, but it certainly packs in some power!
Here are some screenshots:
You can check out IINO on the website, or on GitHub!
Touch Bar Apps! #
So I made another video!
It shows a few of the many Touch Bar apps that have been released, but these ones are clearly the best 😉.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Teaser Trailer #
STAR LORD IS BACK!
Typing Noises #
There’s a bit of talk over the new MacBook Pro’s keyboard, and the noise it makes. So I decided to make this little video, to show the noise of the new keyboard, against my old MacBook Pro, and also an Apple Wireless Keyboard.
P.S. I love the new keyboard noise.
Devices:
- MacBook Pro – Late 2011
- Wireless Keyboard – 2007
- MacBook Pro – Late 2016
Developers Read 1 Star Reviews #
Coming from the Úll conference, a few developers worked on a small video, that will definitely make you laugh.
How do iPhone App developers feel about their reviews? For Úll 2016, We asked some of our friends to share their reviews
Developers Read 1 Star Reviews from Úll on Vimeo.
Find the video on Vimeo, and for more information about Úll, check out their website for 2017.
Before the Flood - National Geographic #
National Geographic have just released a documentary called "Before the Flood", in which Leonardo DiCaprio explores the world in regards to the effect of climate change, and what we can do to prevent even more harm to our planet.
Before the Flood, directed by Fisher Stevens, captures a three-year personal journey alongside Academy Award-winning actor and U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio as he interviews individuals from every facet of society in both developing and developed nations who provide unique, impassioned and pragmatic views on what must be done today and in the future to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.
It’s an incredible film, and while I was aware of most of climate change, it still opened my eyes up to a lot more harm we are doing. There’s also some people that are actively trying to turn it around, but they alone won’t be able to fix the planet, everyone needs to make themselves aware. Then the process of fixing things, won’t be as difficult.
You can watch the video on YouTube, or below if the embed works on your device. And after that, you can watch more videos on the National Geographic YouTube channel, and everything else they do on their website.
Also, Leo’s speech at the end! Wow.
20 Years of Apple.com #
Youtube user waxonaxon has created quite an interesting time-lapse, it’s 20 years of Apple.com.
You can watch the video on YouTube, or directly below:
The one thing that intrigued me, was the whole process of simplifying the design, and comparing the 1996 site to the current version.
Planet Earth II - Extended Trailer #
There’s another trailer for the upcoming Planet Earth II series! It’s amazing.
Check it it on Youtube, and make sure you set it to 1080p!
Some more exciting news, it will feature an original score by the Hans Zimmer!
Timelapse #
A while ago, I was experimenting with my (very) old DSLR in my garden, paired with a pretty cool application – DSLR Assistant. I decided I wanted to check out time-lapses, especially trying to capture one at night.
Well, I was just on Vimeo, and I noticed that it was the only ever video I have uploaded!
So if you’re interested in seeing how it turned out, then the video is below. The whole timespan of the images was about 75 minutes, and it was taken with a Canon EOS 1000D with a cheap 50mm prime lens.
Timelapse – Stars from Chris Hannah on Vimeo.
Also, I’m starting to get very interested in videos, more specifically creating them. So you may see more small experimental creations from me soon.
How to grow a forest in your backyard #
I watch TED videos a lot, but I thought this one definitely had to be shared.
Forests don’t have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are — even in cities. Eco-entrepreneur and TED Fellow Shubhendu Sharma grows ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of native species in urban areas by engineering soil, microbes and biomass to kickstart natural growth processes. Follow along as he describes how to grow a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years, and learn how you can get in on this tiny jungle party.
It’s just under 10 minutes, but I found it very fascinating, and it proves there are things we can do to kickstart nature.
Glass Skateboard? #
If you’ve ever wondered what a glass skateboard would look/ride like, then check out this video by Braille Skateboarding.
They also have some other videos, where people have sent in some interesting skateboards, so check them out as well!
I personally would love a skateboard that I can ride in any weather.