train keeps a-rolling

February 6, 2011 12:35 AM

I love this 7+ hr video of the Bergensbanen in Norway. The scenery is amazing and the fact that it's just one shot means that I can just leave it on on the background as a kind of moving landscape. I'm looking for your recommendations for something similar to play via computer on a pc, tv or flat panel monitor.

It doesn't have to be trains. I'm looking for video that is HD (well HD by youtube standards), lengthy and one shot. What other youtube playlists or other online videos are out there? Aquariums? Nature footage? Other picturesque train rides?

I do want something streaming instead of a download so I'm looking for youtube playlists instead of individual 10 minute videos. I know they have those sometimes cheesy HD promo blu-rays that the A/V stores use. I was thinking about something like that but with longer shots. Any ideas? Is there anything like this on vimeo or other video sites that you've come across?

posted by thecjm to computers & internet (7 answers total)

The NRK website offers the full movie as a download via torrent. It's pretty big, but that might be a better option long term than streaming from the web. IIRC, Win 7 lets you set a video from your HD as the background
posted by Throw away your common sense and get an afro! at 12:48 AM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

One of the places I'd be viewing these is in the office on old workstations hooked up to wall-mounted monitors. I saw the torrent but the workstation are old and can't handle individual files that big. Streaming the playlist over youtube was the compromise I made with my IT department. Now I'm looking for other things to stream as well.
posted by thecjm at 12:56 AM on February 6, 2011

Perhaps this and some of its related videos?
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 2:08 AM on February 6, 2011

Careful on devices susceptible to burn in (plasma TVs); the "nrk" logo at top right may never go away.
posted by orthogonality at 2:15 AM on February 6, 2011

I'm not sure if this is quite what you're looking for, but I really enjoy time lapse videos. There are lots of good ones on youtube - you can do a search for preexisting time lapse playlists. There are even channels of time lapse footage, like this one of HD time lapse videos of Japan.

I haven't seen anything where there's one cohesive video (even in parts) for anywhere near 7 hours. The longest I could find was 3 hours, and as it's a fixed webcam, it might not have enough visual interest for you.
posted by clerestory at 2:22 AM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Google's Trans-Siberian Railway video is a very similar setup; not sure if it's also a single shot, but it looks that way from what I've seen.
posted by thesmallmachine at 3:09 AM on February 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

Also from NRK: "Flåmsbanen" (57 minutes), "Bybanen" (27 minutes), and they are planning "Hurtigruten" (Google translation), documenting the Norwegian Coastal Express in a format similar to "Bergensbanen". This will be a five day (= 8040 minutes) continuous broadcast and internet stream, starting around June 21 this year.
posted by iviken at 9:11 AM on February 7, 2011 [1 favorite]