Dubai takes timelapse photography to the next level with Dubai 360

Timelapse photography has in the past years become a popular tool for travel videos not only with amateurs but also with professionals and increasingly with tourism offices. Not long ago we featured Rob Whitworth's beautiful flow-motion video of Barcelona here on Imaging Resource, which was in fact commissioned by the Catalan Tourism Bord.

Rob Whitworth's flow-motion technique can be seen as the culmination of timelapse photography, which evolved from static camera positions to the so-called hyperlapse videos that include camera movements, and finally to the elaborate technique that Rob Whitworth epmloyed in his Barcelona video. Now the Arab Emirate of Dubai has taken timelapse photography another step further with its new Dubai 360 project.

The Emirate is currently building Dubai360.com, a website that allows visitors to explore the city through interactive, 360-degree panoramic timelapse videos. Currently still under development, the website so far only hosts a single interactive timelapse video showing the Dubai International Airport. During the runtime of the video, you can watch how planes land and take off, and how the time of day changes, all from atop the airport's control tower -- all while panning the camera around yourself.

The video, which was shot over a period of 30 hours, was created using four Canon 1D X cameras equipped with EF 8-15mm f4 L USM fisheye zoom lenses. 88,000 individual frames were taken by the four cameras, which were stitched together to 22,000 panoramic pictures that were then assembled into the final interactive timelapse video.

In addition to the interactive timelapse video, there's also a shorter three minute "little planet" video that was created using the same source images. You can watch the Dubai airport little planet video below. Future videos to be published on Dubai360.com will feature the Burj Al Arab, a bird's eye view of the city, and several locations throughout Dubai.

(via ePhotoZine)