Making Videos


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NP2626

Guest
First thing you need to know about me is I know absolutely nothing about actually shooting a video. I have no video cameras excepting my HP Digital Camera, which has a movie option that I have never used. While I have no specific video making experience, I do know what makes for a good video of model railroading. I go to the various You Tube and other places where I can watch videos and I have also watched a few minutes of Ron' Trains and Things videos enough to know that that is about all I can take of his videos.

Here is what I do know:

1). Don't take 4-5 minutes of introduction discussing yourself, who you are and what your going to show. Minimize all the forward stuff and get right to the video! If you have a point to make or want to demonstrate how to do something, do it. In particular this is what I see RTnT doing and I feel he is wasting my time! I don't want to sit and listen to Ron expound upon himself;or, what he feels is important.

2). There is a video on the NMRA Website of Kathy Millatt discussing the typical difference between layouts here in the U.S. and layouts in the U.K. The discussion is very well done; but, the person shooting the video is holding the camera in his hands, making for a very lumpy ride! I have watched about 2-3 minutes of this video and can not continue as I start getting sort of sea sick. This is bad as I am a sailor and have spent hours out on the water in very rough seas and never had a hint of sea sickness!

3). Don't shoot 10 seconds of a train moving somewhere, shut off the camera and move to another scene and start shooting. When making a video, edit out these short sequences and try to find the most interesting things to take videos of.

I know, I Know, here is another instance of Mark Belly-aching about something! However, in making videos, I think there are points needing to be met, otherwise I think you should not attempt doing so.
Surely you have points you feel should be met and I invite you to make them here. I also realize making videos is likely akin to building a model railroad and nothing can replace experience. However, to put videos here; or, at other locations on the internet there is minimum criteria to be met and you need to know what they are!

Certainly there are other important facts that we all can make here. If you have suggestions for helping people do better jobs with their video making, by all means suggest them here!


Maybe I am meaning to ruffle a few feathers here
 
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Ruffle indeed! Let's see if I can out-ruffle you!:cool: However, I mostly agree with you though. It seems that many people with a camera are making crap videos and posting them, on YouTube not necessarily on this forum. This is more prevalent on non-railroading topics. On the other hand, most people do not have the equipment to make quality videos either. I don't mind some handheld motion as I realize that it's just part of the process. Some are better than others.
As far as suggestions go, your third one hits it on the nose. Whether it be prototype or modeling, show me more of the train, not just the engines roaring by. An exception would be modern unit trains unless there is a variety of equipment like covered hoppers. I do realize that people film and post what they like, not necessarily what I like.
I really like "cab-view" videos. But I suggest editing out the trips through the tunnels where the video goes black for a duration of time, or is just a collection of 2" x 4"'s. Really short tunnels are not really too problematic to me. Another thing that I dislike about these videos are scenes where the train is traveling through a scene where the backsides of buildings are blank styrene or cardboard sheets. Takes away much of the realism. I know this was in fashion long before "cab-view" videos were possible, but if you're going to do a video, finish off your damn buildings first or skip that scene. That's just me as I at least partially detail all sides of structures regardless of whether they are visible or not.
Another suggestion is to minimize panning, zooming and special effects. Some is really well done, but many people overuse it (especially zooming) just because it's available. Lots of panning is done too rapidly to provide a good look at anything.
In some cases, add the narrative later. There's only so many times that I can listen to someone say "Let's see now...", "...and moving along now..." or clearing their throats during the video. Again, having the right equipment is necessary.
I have not seen the Kathy Millatt video that you reference so I cannot comment, but I have viewed many of her others and I think they that are well done. I have never seen the end of any of Ron's videos because I think that he "overdescribes" and I get bored quickly. However I admire the fact that he is trying to help others.

Willie
 
My opinion is I am not picking on anyone in particular. Just wanting people to consider my suggestions and spend some time thinking about what they are doing. I agree that Ron's Trains and Things is done for a noble cause, helping people, I just think he simply over does the narrative. It appears to me that he really likes to hear himself speak.

Another suggestion is to get rid of the Music, let the trains make the noise, whether they have sound systems; or, not. i find music to go with railroading similar to fingernails making scraping noises on the chalk board.
 
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From a videographer's perspective, I see a lot of stuff in videos that drive me up the wall. Some video is done so poorly that I would have rather just read about the event that to be annoyed by a cell phone, portrait perspective and when a stunning event occurs, the camera points to the ground while the person recording lets out profanity.

Good video requires some basic understanding of the whole process from start to finish. The most important is: What is the purpose of the video? and who is your audience going to be? These two points may vary a bit with vacation type movies but other recording events can be set up to target those points quite well, i.e. a birthday party, a wedding event or a "How to" video. For the most of us, capturing video is an "on the fly" operation. No rehearsal, no retakes, no script or plan to follow, just shoot what looks interesting. These are the videos that most people will complain about the appearance of. Professional wedding videos seldom are recognized for the camera control because the good control disappears from the attention of the viewer as intended.

Getting a good picture is called "composition" of the subject either in still photography or video. When we see a picture of a person from the chest up, most of the time the face is in the center of the frame with a lot of room above their head. This is called bulls eyeing. In other words, we put the focus ring in our camera viewer on the person's nose. The ideal composition is to put the eyes of the subject at the upper 1/3 dividing line of the frame. In other words, divide the picture frame into thirds vertically. You will have to horizontal lines across the frame. The eyes of the subject will be right about at the upper line. Look at paintings of people, you will see the same composition. Watch the composition of movies at the theater on news programs and talking head programs, same thing, upper line.
When movement starts you will see the tendency of the shooter to go high with the camera and the picture turns into heads of people at the bottom of the picture frame.

Moving the camera. Most people will "fire hose" a subject area, i.e. go back and forth with the camera as if trying to put out a fire. That's one thing that makes video hard to watch. Camera stability. Use a tripod if possible, if you don't have one, use something to steady your hand, i.e. furniture, fence post, park bench, anything that is stable that you can use to steady the camera. Make your hand movements slow and intentional to follow action. If you have to walk while shooting and you don't have a gimbal, be mindful of how your walking effects the capture of video. When shooting a scene, watch the event through the view finder, not directly. That's what causes a video perspective to drift off the subject. It takes practice, practice, practice.

Camera equipment. For the most part, a lot of videos that we see on TV now are from cell phones. You get the image but not the detail. That's because of the size of the camera lens. Notice the size of the camera lens of professional cameras vs. the size of the lens on your cell phone. Big difference.

Video editor. There are video editing software packages available for $20 - $50. You load your video into your computer, pull the video file onto the editing timeline and cut away the parts of the video that look bad. You can add titling in the video and even do sound overlays as well as add stills in the video. One of the drawbacks that people do with these is to over use the transitions. That's the part of the video that goes from one scene to another. The twirling, flipping, window blinds transitions look cool to the editor, but to the viewer, they are boring. It takes away from the event being recorded. Remember what I said earlier about professional wedding videos? A good transition will last about 1/3 - 1/2 second at the most. That's about 15 frames of the video, just enough so it's not a hard flick to the next video perspective or event.

A video software package may work with your computer if it has the horsepower to process at a decent clip. There is a phase in the editing process were the computer has to change the format from an editing format to a writing or viewing format. This is called "rendering". This is also required for some of the more complex transitions or special effects that we may want to put into the video, i.e. picture in a picture. This is where your computer will be put to work. The faster your processor(s) the faster it can render a video clip. An HD video in full screen mode will typically take about as much time to render as the actual running time of the video. If ya want to go faster, by a faster machine, usually with 4 or more processors running several gigs per second and video storage that writes to several discs (RAIDS) at the same time. For BlueRay video, buy an even faster machine. If you are going to do that, you might consider a higher quality of video editing software. The Adobe Premier software is inexpensive and will do what most laymen videographers need. GrassValley sells Edius software which is a good professional quality video editing software that you can really let your creative juices flow with.

Just some thoughts of mine on the topic from a professional videographers perspective.
 
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Windows 10 users can download Microsoft's free Photos app that includes basic video editing capabilities. Photos is included with some Windows 10 upgrades, so you may already have it.

Many Windows 7 users already have Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker, which was part of the free Windows Essentials suite. Microsoft has officially withdrawn support for the Windows 7 version of Movie Maker, but some sites continue to offer it for download. I use it on a weekly basis to edit videos.

A free Windows 10 version of Movie Maker is available from the Microsoft store. Many other free (and some paid) video editors are also available from the Microsoft Store.

A quick Google search will return quite a few free video editors for Windows 7, 10, Mac, and even Linux.

- Jeff
 
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Iron Horseman said:
Not mine, in general I don't watch videos. I think the growing dependence of young people in America on videos for instruction is really lowering their ability to communicate.
Click to expand...

True, but videos can also be very useful. Our clothes dryer stopped heating last night, and thanks to YouTube I was able to find and fix the problem. Total cost: $0.
 
One of the other things I notice that puts me off, is people popping up in the video and people talking. Many videos are of what I assume to be Club Layouts; or large home layouts. I would guess that the Video is supposed to show the club's; or, home layouts in the best of light. So, why is it done when the club is having operation night with people walking around, talking; telling jokes; or, complaining about Joe Blow, the wife and children; or other? At least from the couple of Ron's Trains and Things Videos I've seen, he seems to control these types of FOO PAS very well. If Ron would just keep his monologues to a minimum he would have great videos. If I were a club; or, owner of a large, well done home layout that I wanted a video of, I would have it done with a minimum amount of people there to run trains with the express direction to keep out of the video and to be quiet while the cameras are rolling! With a club, I would do what ever needed to be done to gain access without the typical club group there.
 
I have quite a few videos on YouTube but am a complete beginner. I am an avid photographer and try to frame scenes for the best angle, but haven't figured out how to link videos together. I am guessing that there is a way to do it in the camera itself, but once I stop recording, that's the end of the video. Going back to my old 8mm video camera, the video would continue. I liked being able to fade out of one scene and into another. I do have a decent video camera but haven't taken the time to find out more about it. The directions must have been translated from Japanese and are hard to understand. This is how I take cab ride videos

Camera.jpg

Mark, I agree with you when it comes to people popping up or some igit smiling and waving at the camera as it passes by. Another thing that I have seen in a few videos was the operator following the train from in front of the camera instead of behind.

When taking videos at clubs or modular layouts open to the public there isn't much you can do about people being in the video unless you can take the video before people show up. I have been able to take videos at the club in Livingston before the layout is open to the public.

I like Willie really enjoy cab ride videos. It really gives a unique perspective of a layout. I also agree with building without the rear of buildings missing or lacking any detail plus not editing out the long periods I have seen going through tunnels of hidden track. Unfortunately, my main line isn't long enough for a long video. Ken D&J has an awesome main line and his videos are outstanding. Can't wait to see how his layout progresses with more scenery. The possibilities are unlimited.
 
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These are some of the cameras that I use for the train videos that I have produced over the years. Other footage, i.e. trains in Arizona were shot with my older Sony TRV900s because they were easier to transport.

This is a Sony HDR AS20 minicam. Cost about $200. I use this for all my on board the train type video. Excellent video with clarity and I can operate it with an app on my droid. I can see what the camera sees using my Droid phone and I have control of the start and stop function with the phone as well. I made the white camera holder out of plastic material and secure it to the flat car using rolled up duct tape.

0326181003a.jpg

These are a couple of my FX series Sony HD cams; FX1 on the left, FX7 on the right. Costs from $1700 - $2700 10 years ago. Tripod, another $500, Verizoom control, another $200 or so.
0326181009.jpg
 
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That some really nice equipment. Makes me drool. I have some excellent digital cameras but the video camera is the only one we have. We got the Cannon pictured as a gift. Excellent video quality, but too large to pass through some tunnel portale.
 
NP2626 said:
One of the other things I notice that puts me off, is people popping up in the video and people talking. Many videos are of what I assume to be Club Layouts; or large home layouts. I would guess that the Video is supposed to show the club's; or, home layouts in the best of light. So, why is it done when the club is having operation night with people walking around, talking; telling jokes; or, complaining about Joe Blow, the wife and children; or other?
Click to expand...
For the museum videos done by Bill Rodgers we go in on a special day the museum is closed. Not only for what you are talking about, but also so that the extra lighting for the cameras can be set up and moved about without public interference.
 
That's the best way to do it, have the whole room to yourself. As usual though, there will be the one guy who doesn't have a clue of what's going on and will walk right into your shoot, oblivious to what you're doing or be off somewhere with his ear buds in, occasionally whistling along with his music or using a loud drill or hammering something. Or the other guy who knows all about it and wants to tell you how your shoot should be done. Doesn't own any camera equipment himself nor does he ever do any video work.
 
I would think that how Iron Horseman has explained that they shoot videos of the Museum's layout, when the Museum is closed so the Video Crew can control who has access to the layout. Also, if a home layout, that the owner have the video made without people being there. This is really pretty simple logic, to show the layout in the best light, you want all the non-scale heads removed from the scene!

Some of the better Videos I am aware of are:
1). Ken Patterson's What's Neat in Model Railroading. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHMtWOsO3KU>
2). Videos done by a fellow using CNLVN as his handle. He has a series on Mr. Bill Scobie's Rio Grand Southern that is excellent. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaZC9KP1vZI>
3). Lex Parker has done a great series on building a layout. <www.drgwrr.com>
4). Craig Symington has several videos on building his HOn3 Rio Grande Southern that are pretty well done. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2zJToBPN6U>

These are examples of what I feel are videos worth watching!
 
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A couple of comments. I've done a few videos, but not a lot. That said, I do know what works.

1) Make your shots rock solid steady. Buy and use a tripod. Have the camera level. If you're shooting on a train, try to make it as stable as possible.

2) Edit, edit, edit. Make it tight, make it crisp. How many railfan videos have you seen where you're waiting 30 seconds for the train to show up. I have been involved with movie, TV and commercial production. Hours, days and even weeks of shooting. 99% of it ends up on the cutting room floor. Go through, cut to the bone, let it rest a day and then cut it again.
 
BTW, once I've converted the forum over to the new software, I'll be exploring the idea of having a video gallery along the lines of the existing photo gallery. So you'll be able show off your work in the gallery as well as posting a link in the forum.
 
My personal gripe comes from the fact that I am classically trained as an actor. I have done film, TV and stage both domestically and international (don't worry... nothing you've ever seen...). I simply CANNOT STAND these monotone drones that sit there and read a script or cue card. Drives me up the wall. I'm not asking for an Oscar quality performance, but at least try to make sound human.
 
I know what ya mean about the recited script. I always make my talent learn the lines so they can say them without looking at the print. Even if I have to shoot in shorter clips, it sounds so much better when they are conversing their lines rather than reading them.
 
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