First Railfan Trip Video (to inspect track)

Very Nice. Watching on my iPad between soccer games.  My son says we need rail sounds   after watching that.

Alex great video thanks for the ride,

awesome engine with beautiful sounds.

Layout looks great and so does the layout room

THANKS,ALEX

Alex:

Very good video with intro titles. I am personally partial to the grey version and yours shows very well. I look forward to seeing this wonderful layout someday.

Nice video. Looks like your track is ready to ballast.

Bruce

Very nicely done Alex!

Wonderful layout!

Soo Line

Well, I wanted to run the trains, and while at it, might as well take a few video shots. And test my old camcorders - they are not the best anymore, but they still work OK.

And since I had to remove three PCB's from the Challenger tender and send them to Lionel for repair, I thought that having a video record of how nice the locomotive runs and sounds would be a good idea.

Thank you for your nice comments (about the train, layout, and room!) - much appreciated.

Alex

Alex, your video is like your layout....VERY WELL DONE. Guys if you are EVER in the St. Louis area, this layout is a must see. The Mid America 3 Railers Club members got to visit this layout last weekend and it was fabulous. Alex has this much of the layout done in less than a year. Makes me think that I am one lazy guy.

Just checked out the video, and as usual..... Looks great. Its guys like yourself that really have a knack at bringing this hobby to life! Thanks again 

There you go Alex.  There is something wrong with the Hoop.la software the easy way to post videos is not working.  I just used the embed code option form Youtube with the "use old embed code" option checked.  Then used the HTML option in the post editor.

Roger, Louis - thanks for your kind words.

(Roger, there is no way that you could ever be thought of as "one lazy guy"!)

Ted - Thank you for posting access to the video the proper way. AND thank you for your very helpful series of instructive OGR forum videos.

Alex

Great job Alex! Really neat configuration! 

 The new forum isnt working to good for uploading videos. Sometimes they never load, the gears just keep turning and turning, and other times it uploads right up. Maybe they are still tinkerin.

Thank you, Patrick!

Using both a stationary camera and a moving camera on the parallel track turned out fine.

Yes - the video uploading needs to be improved. I would like to post a short video of Judy's Shay pulling log cars from the area I just added last week, but have decided to wait a few days.

Thanks!

Alex

PS. Patrick, did you receive my email reply I sent you last Thursday 09 Feb?

Alex,

Thanks for posting the video. I especially like the pacing shots. I'm sure it took alot of time to put all that together. Layout is looking great.

Mike R

Mike,

The moving shots were not bad at all. I varied the speed of the engine that was pulling the car with the camera mounted on it to get close ups of the engine (by its side) and then ahead of it for the leading shots. I ran the trip two times, and a small portion another time.

My biggest problem was that I had forgotten how to use Corel Video Studio (I bought the latest - Pro X4), but after a few tries and misses, it all came back quickly. I suspect that the Pro X4 is more powerful than the earlier version I had, but that will be for another day.

Another hurdle was that the camcorder I have (Sony DCR TRV20) is old now. It used to be great, but after 12 years, "it wants to be replaced". It uses the mini tapes and firewire, and that is not so compatible anymore with a lot of software and hardware. The moving camera, the Flip (mounted on the car) is just a few years old and is fine.

I was going to use my Nikon D3100 for the stationary part, but even though its video quality is great, it does not have the functions and ability to track a moving object as well as the Sony does (to stay in focus and in low light, that is) and does not have a power zoom, which is so important.

Thank you for your comments and for looking.

Alex

Alex...didn't know you had posted this video until Roger PM'ed me.  Roger is right folks, Alex had done a lot of work in just a year and just keeping up with him is a contest in itself!  The layout is going to be a museum masterpiece....that wooden trestle is incredible.  Alex and Judy along with Scott Miller made our group's meeting worth 10 times as many miles as we had to travel to see their layouts. 

Alex....you are a top notch guy and I am SO GLAD you are part of our group and this forum....

Alan

Alex,  One thing about Sonys hands down over all the years I have been messing with video is that they are some of the better off the shelf consumer cameras in low light.  I still shoot with a MiniDV camera.  What is interesting about tape is that the data is stored uncompressed.  Most if not all chip based cameras employ compression to store the file.  Then you bring the file in your computer edit and compress again and you could even have software that compresses on the import from the camera.

On the Flip, Kodak Zi8s and other shirt pocket cameras, the rolling shutter is pretty severe.  The light weight factor of those cameras can really translate shakes into the picture and you pans have to be very deliberate.

As for Nikon - they make top of the line still cameras - their foray into video has been exciting to watch, but Canon has been better at incorporating the video functions into a DSLR as Canon has been in the video space for years.  Canon will continue to have the video edge over Nikon. 

Anyway you did a great job with an older camera.

Alan,

Thanks! It's always nice to read your well thought and very nice comments.

Ted,

I have been looking at the new camcorders, and there are so many that it is difficult to make a selection whether online or visiting the 'brick & mortar' stores. I finally ordered one yesterday, a Canon Vixia HF M40, which I believe has been replaced with a newer one (M50), but the newer one's reviews do not necessarily rate over the older one. Among other things, the M40 has 16GB internal memory plus two SD card slots, and the M50 has 8GB plus one card slot - go figure! The M40 I ordered is factory-refurbished, and that saved me close to $200. I'll post a video as soon as I get it (welll withing a couple of days, anyway).

BTW, the old Sony is not going anywhere; not only does it still work fine, but I also need it to play back the many MiniDV tapes I have.

And thank you!

Alex

I have the same issue 

Hi Alex - Great video - Thanks for posting it.

BTW - Need to update link to your site - Still lists old OGR forum pathway.

George -

Thank you for pointing that out. I changed it, and now the links does take you to the proper location. I don't know how to make it look as it used to, and it does not open a separate window, but it is OK.

I guess I'll have to watch Ted's videos again.

Thanks for your comment and help!

Alex

I have the same camera and if you figure out how to make it take great video please email me.I have been playing with mine for a while now trying every different setting. LOL.  Great for stills for sure.

As for the email , yes i replied the same day. Free room and board here