Making Videos - Tips & Tricks

[Super]

Making Videos - Tips & Tricks

Getting ready to do some filming ( I know, I hear the jeering, you all have heard it before) and I thought that there are so many veteran train videographers here that they might share in some of their tips, tricks and experience of what to do, not to do or anything that may help a novice out. This could include simple things like camera angles to resolutions, lighting and equipment. Won't you please share your thoughts? Also knowledge of YouTube and the best formats to upload would be helpful. So what say you train video Pros?

good idea, super! i have a few videos on youtube, but they are just basic "shoot the video on a standard cam, dont do any editing and upload" lmao. if they turn out bad, then tough luck. hehe

[HankAmericanEngine]

To begin, the video is a masterpiece made uniquely by you-- It's your beautiful masterpiece, made of your footage and editing work. You make your own decisions of what goes where, what audio is used, and the camera angles. For example, I'll give you my advice on a series I have under my belt called, "Railfanning on Sodor".

For the footage, I usually consider an interesting angle to follow the sort of train I am going to film; I also consider which way the engine and its consist are going, as some of the engine audio I utilize goes from one side of the speakers to the other. I then ready the camera for filming, making sure lighting and angle are ideal to what time of day I would like my audience to see; once I'm sure everything is ready, I make a practice run(camera not recording) of the engine and train going through the shot to make sure I am satisfied with it. Whatever adjustments, major or minuscule, I would like to, or must, make are carried out, I then reset to have the shot and hit record on the camera; before letting the engine steam across the scene, I say the engine's name and train it is hauling before I activate the motor and watch the work happen. Once the end of the train has passed, and the motor deactivated, I give the camera between 3-5 seconds before ceasing recording for the sake of editing. Once I finish getting what footage I would like, I clear up the set and make sure everything is put away and ready for another day's shoot.

For the editing, I silence the original clips' audio and replace it with the audio of a real life engine to the locomotive and train; some engines, such as Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Duck, Murdoch, Hank, C57, have their real life's basis's audio for them while others, such as Percy, BoCo, Gordon, Mavis, Salty, have other real life audio of a diesel/steam engine with a consist behind it; once transitions, audio, and footage have been nicely assembled, I contemplate the sort of music I would like in the background for the "season" I have portrayed(If you are a bit confused, please view "Railfanning on Sodor: The Little Western" for clarity). Once I publish in whatever quality, I upload to YouTube and let my audience enjoy!

Long explanation short, your videos are your own creative mark-- choose whatever angles you wish, run whichever engines with a consist you want, and let loose whatever audio you desire; your own work comes from your own creative spark.

[Ucwepn]

What sort of camera will you be using? (720p and 1080p HD is of course best), do you have a small tripod (gorilla pod) to suit? (it really helps!). I use a very simple editing program that comes with windows 7 called movie maker, I put all my files in order and name them appropriately either by numbers or by names to shuffle them into order then I drag the whole lot across to movie maker and it joins them all together. You can also make adjustments to each scene like starting and finishing at a different point and scene transitions, effects, text etc, and adjusting the audio etc. Then you save the project (I just use the default setting) and you can upload it as per normal.

[Super]

Thanks for the input. In addition to me, of course, I would like this thread to be for all present and future members to get ideas or to ask for help from those who have the experience in filming these trains. Who knows, maybe even Super will be able to give some advice once he has a few videos under his belt.


@ Sunhuntin

I think you have done a good job with your videos. We all do have to start somewhere but at least with this thread all of us rookies won't have to start from scratch with the tips learned here.

@ HankAmericanEngine

Those Railfanning videos are awesome and the way you have edited the sound is fantastic. Real sounds coming and going you are a sound editing genius. Your skills in adding the real sounds to your videos is the first thing that attracted me to your YouTube Channel especially the long freight trains running buy in your feature video. That amazes me and must have took a long time to just find the correct sounds let alone editing it into the video at the correct time start to finish.

@ Ucwepn

I have bought a 1080HD Camcorder just for this filming as my first tries with video from my regular pocket camera just wasn't clear enough for my standards. I also have a HD wide angle key fob camera for the onboard shots. Funny you should mention Movie Maker and I am glad that you like it because I just used it for the first time with videos I took the other day of my Grandsons spring concert at school and one of his soccer practices. Took a little bit to learn some of the basics so I look forward to learning more of what I can do with it. One thing I can't figure out is how to remove the existing sound from the video. It gets pretty load when I have a dozen or more trains running. Might there be a way to remove it or should I just turn the mic off while filming...hmmm...I wonder?

[HankAmericanEngine]

I'm glad you enjoy my videos Super; I can say it's a lot of work setting up the set and piecing together the consists for the engines to pull. I have lots of fun watching the trains come and go with their load behind their bunkers or tenders; sometimes the simple beauty during the filming is just watching the train roll by. The simple beauty of the locomotive at work, accompanied by the consist behind it; all of that before editing comes into play. With the real sounds of an engine and the train behind it is simply a melody all its own; finding the audio is its own journey of new discoveries, new engines, and new sights to see. I always enjoy viewing those videos, and receiving permission to use the audio for my series; it's fun to create the consists for the engines, and I hope to put some more real life engines with longer trains very soon.

[Super]

I love your passion and I can tell you have an artistic along with a romanticistic mind my friend. Can't wait to hear and view new videos.

[Ucwepn]

I love Hanks vids too! Anyhow Super in the project tab of movie maker there are some audio options for volume levels etc.

[Super]

Super in the project tab of movie maker there are some audio options for volume levels etc.

Thanks Ucwepn, I will have to play around with that. I hope that turns down the volume for the original but still allows me to edit in some music or sound effects that is not turned down. All I have done with it was add music to a slide show which of course has no sound to begin with.

Thought this thread could use a resurrection.

My advice applies to all models. Your videos will be a lot more interesting if you stay down low. Keeping your camera grounded can give your layout a sense of sheer size if buildings are placed correctly, even if it is just a basic oval or straight line.

For example, the first image is up high, to give me a track plan to work from should I ever give this layout a revisit.

However, the second image is a screencap from an uncompleted video of mine. See how the layout in the background seems to sprawl on for further than it actually does.