TWO New BLMA Videos

[Craig Martyn]

Check'em out!  (Click on either video after it starts to play to watch in large screen HD)

[Mark5]

Check'em out!  (Click on either video after it starts to play to watch in large screen HD)

Thanks for torturing us by reminding us that HO has Details West! 

(Nice video!)

[wm3798]

Dear Marketing Major...

The layout video is quite nice, but it would have been perfect if you'd used cross fading between clips to smooth out the transitions between the various camera angles.

Signed,
Mass Comm Major.

[rochsub]

Dear Marketing Major...

The layout video is quite nice, but it would have been perfect if you'd used cross fading between clips to smooth out the transitions between the various camera angles.

Signed,
Mass Comm Major.

... and I think there were a few too many handshakes.

Cool video and layout though, even though it is HO.

Daryl

[John]

Tough crowd

[tom mann]

I would have cross faded the handshakes!

nice work, craig.

[Craig Martyn]

Dear Marketing Major...

The layout video is quite nice, but it would have been perfect if you'd used cross fading between clips to smooth out the transitions between the various camera angles.

Signed,
Mass Comm Major.

Dear Mass Comm Major:

Per a professional video editor who graduated from LA Film School and is currently enrolled for another Major in "Radio, TV and Film" at Cal State University Fullerton, 'cross-fading' between clips is only used to show the lapse of time - otherwise, it's noted as amateur editing technique. 

Signed,
Advertising Major
w/ Minor in Business Administration
w/ 2nd Minor in... Let's See Your Videos   

[tom mann]

craig is right - plus, it would have added up to about 45 seconds of blurry video in his clip.

craig, please, for your next video, make it look like a wes anderson directed movie,  with "CRAIG MARTYN / Model Railroad Producer" in yellow lettering, slow motion with cool music overdubbed, etc...

[wm3798]

At the very least then, cross fade the sound behind the cuts.  It would make the transitions less jarring.  And I thought the handshakes were both firm and authentic .

and since you asked...

Lee

[GaryHinshaw]

Thank you for bring back Switcher Madness Lee.  I LOL'ed the whole way through.

Love the NS video too Craig - great detail. (But I'm still underwhelmed by onboard sound.)

-gfh

[bicknell]

I don't have any issues with the video editing per-se, overall I think it's not bad.  There are a few things I might have done slightly different, but then there are always style differences.

I think the real issue is the video is just too long.  This is something I still don't get right in my own videos.  The video is out there to sell top-gons, yet by 3 minutes in I can count probably 8 different angles of the engines coming into frame.  One, followed by top-gons, with maybe one more inserted after several top gon shots would have been enough.

As my videos (hopefully) get better I find myself leaving more and more on the cutting room floor and trying to make it more and more compact.  How I script them has also changed.  While I enjoy Craig's ~9 minute video, many people interested in TopGons will be hard pressed to sit through more than 2-3 minutes of it.

All that said though, I want to give major kudos to Craig.  I wish more manufacturers had videos on YouTube, even if they aren't perfect.  Video is a great medium to show off models, and I think it is being under-utilized.  Craig is out there on the front, blazing the trail.  Another half dozen and he'll have it perfect.

[ednadolski]

Dear Mass Comm Major:

Per a professional video editor who graduated from LA Film School and is currently enrolled for another Major in "Radio, TV and Film" at Cal State University Fullerton, 'cross-fading' between clips is only used to show the lapse of time - otherwise, it's noted as amateur editing technique. 

Signed,
Advertising Major
w/ Minor in Business Administration
w/ 2nd Minor in... Let's See Your Videos   

LOL, the 2nd minor 

I enjoyed the videos a lot, but FWIW and not to be nit-picking, I agree that the cuts were a bit jarring in some places.  For example, if you look around the 5:00-6:00 marks or so, there are some shots of the train moving right-to-left immediately cut with shots of the same train moving left-to-right (and vice-versa).  Such changes in screen direction can be considered jarring/disorienting, esp. if they occur in quick succession.  It's not only a matter of editing, it's also a matter of planning the scene coverage and flow of the shots during filming.

Sorry, I don't have too many of my own videos, but if you closely watch TV & movies, they don't usually change screen direction like that, unless they want to create some particular effect.

Again, FWIW 

Ed

[Mark5]

Craig, make your vids any way ya want.

I only care about the products.

[Craig Martyn]

There are a million different way's to produce a video like this; however, let us remember that we're here for FUN, and at the end of the day, they're just model trains....   

On the issue of length, I disagree.  I posted a 10 minute video of this same layout earlier in the year and that video has OVER 26,000 views.  The point of this new video isn't necessarily to sell TopGons, rather, to bring something new to modelers and showcase a great layout with awesome motive power.  Here is the first video shot of Tim's layout on a run day earlier this year:

Anyway, it's all in good fun.  Enjoy!

[Chris333]

I like the blue push pin derails.