Revised N Scale video using a Looxcie Video Camera

[Bfagan]

Revised video of my N Scale UP railroad.  Original video was fading in and out because Youtube made changes during the upload.  I pulled it and reloaded this new one without the changes.

Bill

[Flagler]

That was cool,thanks for sharring.I wish I could find someone in Atlanta that could film a run around my layout.I dont want to spen the bucks on a new one

[Bfagan]

Flagler,   How about posting some still shots of your layout.  I'm sure we would all appreciate them.

Bill

[Lemosteam]

Bfagan, I really liked the video and it's clarity!  I would like to mention a few things that in no way are meant to disrespect you, your layout or video in any way.

1.  I think it's amazing how the LH to RH rail head height affects the locomotive's shimmy as viewed from the camera.  I think Unitrack is about a level of a product one can get (if laid on a level surface to begin with) and unless the loco is stabilized, I can't see a way to correct it from a video perspective. This also convinces me that the double stick tape method used by David K. Smith is best for that aspect when laying flex track rather than variations in glue thickenss affecting rail head height.

2.  I would love to see comments added to the video in YT as to the loco's location, i.e. "Entering helix tunnel to lower level", etc.  that always interests me in terms of time and place and editing.

Thanks alot for sharing!  i will definitely want to buy one of these recorders in the future.

[Zox]

Thanks for posting the revised version. It definitely looks better without the "enhancement."

I suspect the "shimmy," as Lemosteam put it, is due to a high center of gravity. (I take it you basically taped the camera to a flatcar/well car?) Probably correcting the issue would involve dismantling the camera.

And speaking of dismantling the camera, somebody over on Trainboard already has, and mounted the guts in a Z-scale commuter car:

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?143404-Using-a-Looxcie-for-a-camera-car

The actual camera head is on the end of a ribbon cable, so articulating it might just be do-able.

[peteski]

I agree with Zox (that the wobble is probably exaggerated by the camera sitting on a flat car).  If you look at one of the videos I took with the camera mounted inside a locomotive, it is much more stable (there is almost no sway).  The video quality is not as good since it uses 2.4HGHz live wireless feed (it is not a recorder).

The layout in that uses conventional cork roadbed and Peco flextrack.  The roadbed is glued to 1/4" plywood base using white glue and the track is glued to roadbed using Pliobond contact cement. Ernie did a good job making sure the track is smooth but Kato Unitrack should be at least as smooth as Ernie's trackwork.

My take on this is that N scale flat cars are quite wobbly since they are suspended on the truck pretty much only in the center.  That makes them prone to swaying from side to side (especially with a relatively top-heavy load). N scale locomotive trucks have much more stable suspension.

[Lemosteam]

You guys are right- I assumed the camera was in a locomotive and that it should be more stale as Peteski suggests.  Yeah flats are wobbly but you would think with a lower center of gravity and the extra weight on the flat would mitigate that a little.  Maybe some styrene pads on each side above one truck would create a three point support for the flat as I havew seen done on passenger cars?

[rogergperkins]

Thank you for taking time to make and share this video of your layout.  I have done a few videos of my layout with a camera and loaded them to youtube, thus I can appreciate the amount of time invested.
It is nice to see Kato Unitrack, which I also use, put in a very creative layout design.

[up1950s]

Outstanding , how about a snap shot view of the very successful camera mounted on that car . Oh , and that layout is huge . Thanks for sharing .