More video experiments...

[lashedup]

I've been messing around with a video camera slider from work and doing some tests with it using one of Bill Denton's modules. This is a short clip with some footage. Click on the You Tube logo in the video and change the resolution to 720HD for better quality.

I need to finish that Indiana Railroad unit now that Kato's version is nearly here. 

- jamie

[rochsub]

Wow.  Excellent shots. 
Crash at the end was a surprise!

[SkipGear]

Very cool. 

The lawn in front of that farm house in the end could use a trim. It's amazing how real everything looks. My son's first words were, "Where is that at? I want to go see that Indiana Railroad loco."

[GaryHinshaw]

State of the art - both modeling and photography.  I wonder how this would look with a larger depth of field, and perhaps a subtle backdrop.  One would be hard pressed to say it was a model at all.  Thanks for posting.

-Gary

[Chris333]

Who makes that gas station?

[Wutter]

Depots by John, its N-6012 Radtke’s Filling Station

[conrailthomas519]

Awesome work.  Hmm? Inspired by the movie Blackhawk Down perhaps?

[sizemore]

That was gorgeous!

The S.

[wm3798]

I like how you focus on a particular plane, and there's not "autofocus" shifts going on.  I also like how smoothly the camera tracks.

Lee

[Pomperaugrr]

That is a very nice effect.  The smooth movement of the camera really is effective.

Eric

[Jmwilson]

Very cool, makes me want toshootsome video and also take a closer look at my modeling, very nice modules.

[Ian MacMillan]

EPIC!

And this video proves that unmarked black helicopters are everywhere.

[lashedup]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Depth of field is an issue that is hard to overcome for the same reason we have to use Helicon focus to overcome the depth of field issues in photography. I did a number of experiments using a digital SLR, a standard video camera, a GoPro video camera and a point and shoot. It is possible going wider angle to get some improvements in the depth of field but then you end up with a lot of extraneous crap on the periphery getting into frame. The other way to try and improve depth of field is to adjust aperture down to F22 or smaller. However that means the amount of light coming into the camera sensor is greatly reduced which manifests itself in lots of noise/artifact in the shadows and dark areas. So with the 35mm 1.8 that I filmed this with, I settled on F14 as a compromise between depth of field and low-light noise. This is an improvement over the 60mm Macro lens I shot with in the past. I'd also like to experiment with a few other lenses that I have.

I made a few tweaks and added some additional footage at the end in a newer version that I posted on Vimeo: Not a valid vimeo URL
I also made an attempt to add some sound FX this time around. I don't know why, but I've never been a big fan of pumped in railroad sounds. Maybe because they are usually two loud or not timed right or whatever. I didn't spend a lot of time tweaking them, but I did try to make them a little more accurate. The skys in the background are colored in the video editing software and I also tweaked the exposure, saturation and a few other things to get the mood I'm looking for. Maybe I'll try and do a before and after clip.

Anyway... It has been fun playing around and I've learned a lot so far. Just another aspect/diversion to the hobby. 

- jamie

[Sokramiketes]

Good notes.  The B&O video was shot at F22 on the 18-55mm VR lens on my D5100.  It was generally dark, but had good depth of field.  During the operating session over there I shot 20 mins of video but made the mistake of shooting higher than F22 and the video is dark, grainy, and otherwise unusuable. 

With some additional lighting F22 might works out well on the kit lens... or one or two steps up from there.   

[DKS]

Most excellent! I was only a wee bit disappointed that the only thing that moved was the tricked-in copter... otherwise, it sets the bar very high.

Edit: Just watched the revised version on Vimeo. That's just what it needed. Very nice indeed.