Author Topic: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008  (Read 17238 times)

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Online Brandon Sterkel

Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #45 on: May 11, 2018, 08:51 PM »
After much troubleshooting and hassle for me and my Dad, I finally have all the video footage my Dad took on our last QE2 voyage. Now to edit it in software that'll accept the file formats and be reasonably easy to use without pulling my hair out... Da Vinci Resolve (free version) is out of the question, iMovie with it's annoying save system is out of the question, so I need to wrap my head around Lightworks (free version too) having not really used it and not used it for about 4 years. The trials of video editing haha!

Never before seen footage will be the bulk of the footage my Dad has given me permission to edit and upload on my YouTube channel.

Great news Thomas and looking forward to seeing the footage!

Will it be uploaded on your dad's YouTube channel with the other QE2 videos?
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Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #46 on: May 11, 2018, 10:28 PM »
Great news Thomas and looking forward to seeing the footage!

Will it be uploaded on your dad's YouTube channel with the other QE2 videos?

On my YouTube channel as my Dad doesn't want (some of) the footage that doesn't meet his high standards on his channel despite my encouragement over the years as "historical" and "record/archive" footage. This isn't the footage where he or we made obvious mistakes but footage such as some of the interior footage that is quite grainy in places as my Dad was new to his video camera at the time and didn't know all the different settings etc.
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #47 on: May 12, 2018, 02:11 AM »
Thanks to Liam Fjellstedt  :) , I now have the footage in an easy to use video editor that also accepts the file format of the video files (Shotcut is the name of the video editor - it's free, cross platform, and open source).

I've attached a teaser photo.
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #48 on: May 16, 2018, 05:04 PM »
Just an update - been having quite a bit of continued hassle with trying to edit the footage but seem to have got somewhere with a video editor called Davinci Resolve (the free version) by converting the files to .mp4, just trying to improve the file quality now through the file converter as it's worse than the original .mpeg files for technical reasons I won't ramble on about but I think are solvable! Have been having issues with the other video editors I've tried (Lightworks is too tricky for me to just use but handled all the footage, Shotcut can't handle the 1 hour 30 minutes of footage on either my powerful Windows machine or my Macbook Pro, and iMovie on my Macbook almost makes it take off as well as chewing up the remaining little storage on its SSD - now rectified though but not after a lot of hassle in itself)!

Oh dear I've gone into technical detail and started rambling again...some things never change!
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Rob Lightbody

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #49 on: May 16, 2018, 06:18 PM »
Just an update - been having quite a bit of continued hassle with trying to edit the footage but seem to have got somewhere with a video editor called Davinci Resolve (the free version) by converting the files to .mp4, just trying to improve the file quality now through the file converter as it's worse than the original .mpeg files for technical reasons I won't ramble on about but I think are solvable! Have been having issues with the other video editors I've tried (Lightworks is too tricky for me to just use but handled all the footage, Shotcut can't handle the 1 hour 30 minutes of footage on either my powerful Windows machine or my Macbook Pro, and iMovie on my Macbook almost makes it take off as well as chewing up the remaining little storage on its SSD - now rectified though but not after a lot of hassle in itself)!

Oh dear I've gone into technical detail and started rambling again...some things never change!

We'll need to split this into a new topic!  I've been using "VSDC Video Editor" recently - works very well and is free, although the interface is a bit clunky.
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Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #50 on: May 16, 2018, 06:32 PM »
We'll need to split this into a new topic!  I've been using "VSDC Video Editor" recently - works very well and is free, although the interface is a bit clunky.

Yes, splitting up the topic may be a good idea! I'll look into "VSDC Video Editor" if needed with this footage  :)

The first clip of not seen before footage is being rendered and exported as we speak, so an embeded YouTube link will appear sometime soon this evening!
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #51 on: May 16, 2018, 07:03 PM »
And who is this bumbling, slightly awkward and definitely not for being in front of the camera person?  ;)



Just a basic edit without any volume changes (volume is louder in some places than others as it was when recorded on my Dad's camera so that QE2 when she was fully alive can still be heard)!
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 09:24 PM by Thomas Hypher »
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Rob Lightbody

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #52 on: May 16, 2018, 07:17 PM »
Oh how lovely to see some fresh footage of QE2 looking so alive.

Your Dad adopts a very clever camera angle at around 1:50 that I've not seen used before.  Those lovely smooth, bleached wooden decks on the observation deck - I remember thinking they were like warm sand on a beach under your feet - and I remember placing a glass of champagne just there so I had my hand free to take a photo.  What a great thing to have that footage of yourself as a child.

I remember the sunken boat in Gibraltar - anyone know what it was and what happened to it?

Love the shot of you waving up the stairs.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 07:21 PM by Rob Lightbody »
Passionate about QE2's service life for 40 years and creator of this website.  I have worked in IT for 28 years and created my personal QE2 website in 1994.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #53 on: May 16, 2018, 07:29 PM »
Oh how lovely to see some fresh footage of QE2 looking so alive.

Your Dad adopts a very clever camera angle at around 1:50 that I've not seen used before.  Those lovely smooth, bleached wooden decks on the observation deck - I remember thinking they were like warm sand on a beach under your feet - and I remember placing a glass of champagne just there so I had my hand free to take a photo.  What a great thing to have that footage of yourself as a child.

Plenty more to come, that's not already all on my Dad's channel (and some longer edits of footage already on his channel)!

I remember that was partly to try and reduce the wind noise coming through the camera's microphone (a common problem even with a dead cat). It also shows part of QE2's clever, old bridge front night lighting arrangement that I hope is active again at somepoint although with low energy light bulbs such as LEDs). I miss the smooth, light coloured teak decks too although QM2 is the same in most places (but not her lowest aft deck for reasons I don't understand).

I am very grateful to my Dad for this footage, as I am to both my parents for the voyages on QE2 between 2003 and 2008!

I remember the sunken ship/yacht when she was floating (I took a photo with her from QE2's aft decks in October 2004). I did some research on her a while back and she was basically abandoned by her owners some years before and left to fall apart, and as it turns out sink - a massive shame as she was a lovely looking vessel.

Trying to look up for any length of time was quite difficult!
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 07:58 PM by Thomas Hypher »
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #54 on: May 16, 2018, 07:35 PM »
Here's M/Y Irrational Exuberance floating in my photo from October 2004 (with one of the older NCL ships then named "Bolero" and still, just about, around):

QE2 Mediterranean, October 2004 by Thomas Hypher, on Flickr
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Isabelle Prondzynski

Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #55 on: May 16, 2018, 08:45 PM »
I agree, great video, lots of lovely QE2 sounds, and a beautiful angle for the Bit Beneath the Bridge. I also love the views showing the strength of the wind, something that QE2 will never experience again.

And the excellent capture of the boy at the bottom of what surely was A Stairway made me smile... very cleverly done.

Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #56 on: May 16, 2018, 09:25 PM »
Just had to quickly amend the video and re-upload it (as YouTube's built in "video editor" doesn't allow parts of the video to be trimmed etc), all sorted now!
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.

Online Brandon Sterkel

Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #57 on: May 16, 2018, 11:56 PM »
What a wonderful video, Thomas! Its always great to see never before seen, footage of QE2 in service.

I like the shot of you under the QE2's bow. :)
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Offline Trevor Harris

Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #58 on: May 17, 2018, 12:03 AM »
And who is this bumbling, slightly awkward and definitely not for being in front of the camera person?  ;)


Just a basic edit without any volume changes (volume is louder in some places than others as it was when recorded on my Dad's camera so that QE2 when she was fully alive can still be heard)!
Thomas,


Amazing footage! Brings back a sense of what she was.
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Online Thomas Hypher

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Re: My last QE2 trip, Mediterranean, late July 2008
« Reply #59 on: May 17, 2018, 09:37 AM »
Brandon - Thanks to my Dad! It's becoming like someone having film of them on QM as a child when she was in service as time inevitably goes on and on.

Trevor - that's my goal with my edits of my Dad's footage (with his permission of course and guidance as the owner of the footage and person who filmed the footage in the first place as with this first edit of mine)! She was fully alive back then in every sense, which will never be the case again even though Dubai can make her alive to an extent they are also limited in that sense.

Here's one of my Dad's videos on his channel for some of her "living" sounds that will not be heard again and haven't been since 2013 at the latest for some:


« Last Edit: May 17, 2018, 09:39 AM by Thomas Hypher »
First sailed on QE2 in August 2003 aged 6 years old. Last sailed on QE2 in July 2008. Last saw the seagoing QE2 in person from the decks of QM2, on QE2's last Transatlantic crossing (Eastbound tandem) in October 2008. Visited QE2 in her new life, in Dubai, in January 2020 and August 2022.