Reality Reduced Episode #6 - DCE

[bicknell]

Reality Reduced Episode #6 is out: http://blip.tv/file/1069314

Reality Reduced visits the Derby City Express!  See a 30 year old railroad that still looks great, visit some great home layouts, see a cool lift bridge, and hear what some manufacturers have to say.  Yes, we have more Derby City footage for future episodes!

Many of you were interested in the "around the layout" video we shot at DCE.   Our first look at the footage is quite promising, look for an announcement soon!

[wm3798]

Best episode ever.  Better re-edit that ending though... ;D

What format do you need for more layout tour submissions?  I've got a canon S-2 that shoots video, and would be happy to send you coverage of one of our infamous ops sessions...  (There will be lots of beer and giggling, but as long as Ed keeps his shirt on, there shouldn't be anything the kids can't watch... )

Also, for the layout tour where the guy's intro was shot dark, couldn't you splice the soundtrack of his intro over the video tour of the layout? 

I have to chuckle about your dinner train footage... being a "full figured" guy myself, it's obvious you were impressed by the fare!  I mean, out of what, a two hour train ride you got 45 seconds of the flower vase...  And I suspect you got that because the camera was accidentally left running while you went back to the buffet for seconds...

Can't wait to see more.  Great stuff, Leo.
Lee

[chuck geiger]

It's tough to squeze days of model railroading into 20:00. I would vote for less interveiws and more model railroading. There were some great layouts, most of the segments were the owners talking about the layout. Try showing the layouts with the interveiws over the footage of the layouts. This is a major contribution to model railorading and will only get better as it continues.

[bicknell]

It's tough to squeze days of model railroading into 20:00. I would vote for less interveiws and more model railroading. There were some great layouts, most of the segments were the owners talking about the layout. Try showing the layouts with the interveiws over the footage of the layouts. This is a major contribution to model railorading and will only get better as it continues.

I believe there are two more full episodes of DCE footage you will see in the future.  I came back with 7 hours of video tape!  It takes a while to edit it all.

Trust me, lots more railroading to come; although this was the first time I ever tried to film something like this so it was a bit new.

As for submitting footage I'm happy to talk to anyone about that.  Drop me a note at nscale@realityreduced.com and I'll discuss the particulars with you.

[Chris333]

Yeah this episode kicks butt!

Leo, you really need to be sipping a drink while relaxing outside 

[wcfn100]

I enjoyed the episode as well but the panning hurts my eyes.  Is that from the compression?

Jason

[bicknell]

I enjoyed the episode as well but the panning hurts my eyes.  Is that from the compression?

At least partially.

I've watched it in a few formats (I have the raw HD, I produce a larger and smaller file, and then Blip's flash encoding) and while the raw HD looks great in particular the three parallel NTrak tracks turn into a bunch of sparkles at various resolutions and bitrates.  The bright parallel diagonal lines are very tough for the compression codecs.

I think at least one of the reasons is there was a low light level (for photography) in the hall, so the camera was working extra hard to get the shot.

I also need some better tools.  I need a better tripod with a motion head, and a steadicam style rig for moving shots.  Both require bumping up the funding sources though.

[chuck geiger]

Charge those rat bastards at Atlas and Athearn for it. Have them off set the costs. Or go to Kalmbach and have them help with production costs. How about brass bridge boy in California? - You are giving these kooks free advertising, nothing is free. Or sell sponsorships to the episodes.

[bicknell]

Charge those rat bastards at Atlas and Athearn for it. Have them off set the costs. Or go to Kalmbach and have them help with production costs. How about brass bridge boy in California? - You are giving these kooks free advertising, nothing is free. Or sell sponsorships to the episodes.

I am working on it.   I'm 6 episodes in with a medium many of them have never seen before.

Tell your favorite manufacturer to sponsor/advertise with me.  I'm happy to talk to them!

[Chris333]

Really whatever production problems there are don't bother me. I mean what else are you comparing them to? Who else is putting videos like this together and posting them online?. This isn't a show on TV and I'm sure Leo isn't rolling in $$$ from it.

If you can fix the little problems, that is great. But don't stop because of it. I like the videos!

[John]

Charge those rat bastards at Atlas and Athearn for it. Have them off set the costs. Or go to Kalmbach and have them help with production costs. How about brass bridge boy in California? - You are giving these kooks free advertising, nothing is free. Or sell sponsorships to the episodes.

Kind of harsh there Chuck .. I don't think Cory and Paul are "rat bastards" ... brass bridge boy is a pretty squared away dude .. none are kooks .. I hope you were trying to be funny

[wcfn100]

I also need some better tools.  I need a better tripod with a motion head, and a steadicam style rig for moving shots.  Both require bumping up the funding sources though.

I guess I was thinking more along the line of avoiding the pans and zooms or at least take a couple secondary stationary shots in case there is a problem with the compression effecting the video.  I used to work with video editing equipment from time to time but that was before You Tube and such so I don't know that there would be some sort of filter pass you could run before posting.  I would think that this is a known issue and there are either fixes or guidelines when posting HD video on-line.  I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with the production or that you need to spend any additional money to make it better.  I just think it's another part of the learning curve, especially for on-line videos.

Keep up the great work.

Jason

[chuck geiger]

Kind of harsh there Chuck .. I don't think Cory and Paul are "rat bastards" ... brass bridge boy is a pretty squared away dude .. none are kooks .. I hope you were trying to be funny


Dude - come on - Of course. BTW/ Your layout is looking non-rat bastardo.

[bicknell]

I guess I was thinking more along the line of avoiding the pans and zooms or at least take a couple secondary stationary shots in case there is a problem with the compression effecting the video.  I used to work with video editing equipment from time to time but that was before You Tube and such so I don't know that there would be some sort of filter pass you could run before posting.  I would think that this is a known issue and there are either fixes or guidelines when posting HD video on-line.  I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with the production or that you need to spend any additional money to make it better.  I just think it's another part of the learning curve, especially for on-line videos.

I don't profess to be an expert in video, I'm solidly in the Prosumer class.  The real challenge with many of the events was basically you were shooting "live" without people experienced talking to the camera.  For instance, for the layout tours it was a one take affair working inbetween the 30 other people on the bus who wanted to talk to people and film the layouts.  I got what I got and had to make something out of it.  Hopefully something like the Clinchfield, where I had more time to get more shots worked out better for everyone.  I also badly need multi-track audio and a portable recorder with timecode.  For instance, then I could have set down a mike to get John Voller while filming more of the layout.  As it was I had to keep the camera pointed at him to get good audio.

As for the compression, if you want the best quality ditch the flash for the MPEG-4 source video.  It's 960x540 4Mbps MPEG-4 and will look a lot better.  It's also 600-700M to download an episode.

I think when I get back in the train room the quality will be a lot better.  I've been planning before doing more filiming, the DCE footage gives me a little break to rework a few things.  That said, if I could get some sponsors there are some fairly cheap equipment and software upgrades I could get that would likely make things better.  So far sponsors have been reluctant to sign up, but I think a lot of that is they want some track record so they know what their money is going to buy and I'm only starting to get good episode to episode statistics....

[tom mann]

Leo, please come out to the DC area so I can be on one of these videos...I can do a little weathering tutorial and can plug my upcoming book...