The RTVE Lab recreates the first trip around the world in an interactive route and a 360º trip on the Elcano ship

The immersive video documentary 'In the wake of Elcano: a 360º journey' allows the user to climb aboard the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano to explore all its corners.

He Lab de RTVE.es launches a interactive project where users will be able to discover the most important milestones of the expedition that achieved the first circumnavigation of the world and live in 360º a day aboard the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano, one of the most emblematic ships of the Navy.

Through videos, illustrations and graphics and in an interactive route, RTVE's audiovisual innovation department recreates this feat in the V Centenary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth. It was an almost impossible mission that sought to find a new route to “the spice islands” and that ended up changing the history of Humanity by demonstrating that the Earth is round.

They left Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) on September 20, 1519 and of the 239 sailors who began the expedition aboard five ships, only 18 survived, and they returned three years later on the only ship that withstood the adventure.

Magellan's dream was fulfilled by the Basque sailor, from Guetaria, Elcano. After docking in Sanlúcar, the expedition headed to Seville, where they definitively landed on September 8, 1522. They completed a feat that created the concept of globalization and whose history is known thanks to the chronicler Antonio Pigafetta.

A 360º journey

The immersive video documentary In the wake of Elcano: a 360º journey allows the user to board the training ship Juan Sebastián Elcano to explore all its corners and learn from two midshipmen, a man and a woman, what it is like to study, work and live on a ship like Elcano throughout a six-month voyage.

To show the daily life of the students and their life on board, a team recorded four days of crossing between Getxo and Marín, in a project that has the collaboration of Vision. They were programmedmultiple camera positions to show the boat from all angles, including moving shots and aerial plans with drone. The objective is not only to explore a unique and exclusive ship from within, but also to make the user feel surrounded by the sounds of Elcano in a totally immersive experience.

The main chamber (Kandao Obsidian) with 6 optics it was used in general scenes and especially indoors; other smaller 360º action cameras, such as the GoPro Fusion and the insta360, were used to record on the masts and in more complex positions. To take shots in motion and at height of the deck, a 'cablecam' was used and for aerial and overhead perspective shots a 6-rotor drone was used.

Virtual reality

The documentary In the wake of ElCano: a 360º journey It can be explored on the RTVE website and YouTube channel. A free download is also available at app RTVE VR 360 to live a immersive experience using virtual reality glasses. From a mobile phone or tablet you can also look around or slide your finger across the screen to move to the ship and become part of the life of the ship. The experience is available for Android, iOS and Samsung Gear.