Computer and Software Specifications - July 2020

Just a short blog to update information on what I'm using to produce the videos.

In the latest series of videos on the channel I have been using multiple videos of the real world and merging them with the videos made on the model.

I have had many requests to make a video on how this is achieved and I will do this in the near future.

(First video released 2nd August 2020).

 

In the meanwhile, some notes on what I am using.

I'm sure you will be familiar with the many packages you can get for very little money which removes backgrounds and unwanted items from photographs and allows you to replace these items with virtually anything, well that's the same as what I am doing, but, I am using videos instead of still photographs. 

You can do this sort of photograph editing on virtually any domestic computer without any specialist hardware.

The videos I produce are all made in 4k. This produces very high quality video which can be viewed on the latest widely available high definition televisions. (8k is on its way but is a while before its widely available). 

When you see one of the latest videos of mine, post June 2020, chances are it will be a combination of at least 4 x 4k videos running all at the same time, one or two for the sky and background, one for the model, one for foreground plus the soundtrack. 

In order to edit multiple 4k videos you will need a high spec machine and this what I use, there will be better spec'd machines and later video cards, but this combination suits me and allows me to produce my videos in a reasonable amount of time.

Computer 

Dell Dual Xeon 3.5GHz 8 Core Processors (16 cores total)

64 GB RAM

Nvidia M4000 Video Card 8Gb VRAM

Nvidia K20 Video Tesla Accelerator 5Gb VRAM

1Tb SSD

Elgato Stream Deck

Software

Magix Vegas Pro Suite Version 18

Update 04/05/21 

Camera:- Gopro 9 Black

 

 

Updating the Camera, Computer and Software

Updating the Camera, Computer and Software

There are always lots of questions about filming of the layout, many are too complicated to answer within the small confines of the comments section of a video on YouTube. This article is an update about the latest films and the equipment used.

The filming of Trenholme Junction is as important to me in this project as the designing, building and operating the layout. There have been many experiments with different cameras, software and computer equipment along the way, each one achieving better results than the previous one. 

Inevitably, there has to be some technical details here and computer speak, but I will try to keep it simple for those not so well versed.  

By far the longest period of production has briefly used a Sony HDR-AS10 1080p Camcorder and editing was carried out using Sony Movie Studio Platinum Production Suite version 11. The computer was a seven year old 32 bit machine. 
The arrangement produced about 300 videos and generally the quality was satisfactory to very good. 

1080p is the quality you would see on the generally available flat screen televisions widely used today.  

In the wings is a new generation of video standard called 4k. Already, television and films are being produced in 4k as well as live television broadcasts. You do need a 4k television to get the full benefit of this new standard, but, you can watch the same 4k production on a 1080p monitor or television. The quality is superb however you see it.

If follows, if you want the same quality to watch, then you need to record it at the higher quality.

To this end I needed to upgrade my equipment. A new camera with 4k recording capablilites. Editing 4k videos are extremely heavy on computer resources and a multi processor 64bit with lots of memory was required. 

The new setup

Gopro Hero 5 Session

Dell Precision with Six Zeon 2.8Ghz Processors, 48Gb RAM, 1.6Gb Video RAM, Windows 10 Professional

Vegas Movie Studio Platinum version 14

All the films produced from now on (October '17) will be produced in 4k format. Youtube shows the videos in all the lower formats so they will be available to view on older equipment.

Notes on the new setup

Camera

The Gopro is a super camera which is very small, so can fit into places none of the previous cameras would go and opens up new possibilities.

The sound qualities of this camera are a little disappointing compared to my previous ones. It doesn't pick up the sounds that I took so much trouble create on the layout as well as the Sony camera did. I have decided to live with this slight annoyance as it is my intention (as I have previously said) to re-visit all the videos and put authentic sound tracks on them.

One of the down sides of the Sony camera is no view finder so trying to get the perfect shot was always difficult, I had to shoot the scene and then put it in the editor to see if it was right and then re-shoot it again if it was not. The Gopro also doesn't have a view finder, but, it allows you use your tablet as a view finder, its absolutely brilliant.

Software

I've used the Vegas software throughout all the productions and like it very much. My previous version (11) was good and produced very good 1080p videos. It was the 32bit version which was always running at the limit.

There are four parts to producing a video.

• Filming. This is recording the scene onto the camera. The video is stored on the memory card on the camera.
• Editing. This part involves moving the video from the camera into the editor and then removing the unwanted pieces and enhancing the remainder.
• Rendering. This part is compiling the edited version into a finished file which can then be uploaded to the internet.
• Uploading. Once the finished rendered file is complete, upload to YouTube.

I have mentioned these parts for those who've never done this before and is a most asked question, but also because each stage can take a long time to execute, more especially with 4k productions. 
Moving these large files from the camera to the computer can take a serious of amount of time therefore the need for a fast computer is almost essential.
Once on the computer, the files need to be prepared for editing and again the time thing comes up again.
Once edited, another machine hungry operation is the rendering of the file into the finished product. 

The new version (14) together with the higher power machine handles these processes with ease and makes production much quicker. Some of the highlights (in comparison to 11) 

• the video can be viewed live without leaving the editor giving a view which is almost as good as the finished product  
• the video can be rendered on the video card cutting down rendering time dramatically
• produces a much smaller file to upload to YouTube although the quality is significantly better than the 1080p version

The latest version is superb   

Internet Speed. We are out in the sticks so our BT internet was appalling, 1.8 Mbit was about the best we could get, and, it went off regularly.
We now have mobile internet from EE and no land line, typically get 70 Mbit speeds and the new files take around 10 minutes to upload a 10 minute video in 4k, a far cry from the BT days when it used to take between 10 - 12 hours to upload a 1080p of similar duration.  

These notes are about telling you what you need if you want to do a similar thing to me. There are many very good tutorial videos on YouTube which will give you an idea of the capabilities of the software if you would like to give it a go and you can trial the software free for a month as well. 


  

Here is my pitch from my Patreon Page. If you want to know more, click the link at the bottom.

The Story so far.......

I began to build the model railway as a film set around fifteen years ago. The project is a one man effort, everything has been designed, built and operated by me. 

It took ten years to complete the original set to an operational standard, capable of producing the videos.
The cost of the materials for the initial build was around £100,000. 

The model is a re-creation of what I saw, just around the corner from where I grew up, a snapshot in time when I was nine years old.

The time is 1962 and the place is heavily industrialised Teesside in the North East of England.

The videos produced are uniquely from the perspective of a nine year old child, standing by the track side, or, riding on board the trains, recorded using high quality miniature cameras.  

This carefully thought out model allows the viewer to experience what it was like to see the complexity of an operational railway at the end of steam and the beginning of the Diesel Electric era. 

There has been more than 300 videos released up to now, all available free of charge on my YouTube Channel. This part of the project in known as Trenholme Junction. 

Future plans are to build another junction (working name 'Ingleby Junction') and link both the junctions together, by building intermediate layouts (sets). There has been modifications made to Trenholme Junction recently adding tunnels to give access to the intermediate layouts. The next stage is to build three intermediate layouts, one scenic and two station based to give added length to the journeys. Each of the intermediate sets will have access tunnels to the new Ingleby Junction.

Who am I....

I am a 63 year man who lives and works in beautiful North Yorkshire. Electrically trained, I spent most of my professional life in heavy engineering mainly in the oil or oil related industries. Semi retired now, I have a wife, four children and nine grandchildren.

Release Frequency

New videos are produced every other week, released usually at 8:30 GMT on Sundays. I usually choose the subject matter, but have produced many based on the requests of others.  
There has been over 350 videos produced on Trenholme Junction, the fictitious name for place which this is set. Each week an average of 20,000 watch the videos, with nearly 1.5 million views in total so far.
All the videos are available on YouTube, free of charge.
Each minute of video takes one hour to make. It's a labour of love.

There is a detailed blog which is regularly updated. Usually the subjects are a full explanation of the matters which arise from the comments posted on the videos on YouTube. The blog has been read over 43,000 times.  

Why use Patreon?

Patreon is an ideal way to raise funds on a regular basis to give a predicable, deliverable, fulfillment of the project. 

A lot of people subscribe to the YouTube Channel (dougattrenholmebar) and even more watch the videos on a regular basis, a small donation, even of around a pound a month ($2), could make a very big difference to the future development. The current viewer base has had free access to the videos for the last five years and will continue to do so.   

Why I need your help.

When I started this project around 15 years ago I had a business, financial resources to fund the build, and time to carry out the work. On approaching retirement, I have the time and the inclination to expand current set and continue to produce more videos, but need the financial resources to fund the building of it.

Assuming sufficient patrons are forthcoming, the majority of the funds will be used to build the new sets, but any surplus will be used to replace the cameras with 4K specifications and upgrade the software to produce future films in 4K format.

For further information, use the link below.

http://www.patreon.com/dougattrenholmebar

Doug Wilson

Trenholme Junction - the next phase

The following notes are to accompany the film 'Cab Ride 1 - Trenholme Junction Calling All Stations' published 19th February 2017

In my first blog, I spent a lot of time discussing the entertainment that is derived from building a layout and this layout has certainly provided me with a great deal of that. After making over 300 films from it that people still enjoy watching, it's fulfilled its role. However, there is a limit to even a layout of this size and complexity can produce and I think this limit has been reached. Thinking of new film subjects and routes has become increasingly difficult so now its time to make changes to the layout for its future.     

Tunnels

I have had more questions about the tunnels on Trenholme Junction than on any other subject, particularly about filming in these dark, featureless places. Up till now I have merely faded out the film on entry to the tunnel and then faded in the emergence, usually with a text 'tunnel' for a few seconds. I did this because filming inside the tunnels only reveals the baseboard bracing and the wiring of the board above plus a narrow chunk of illuminated wall. My films are about creating the illusion of the real thing, and, although I've said it before, the unfinished underside of a baseboard destroys this illusion. 

Since I published my thoughts of the 'Infinitive Layout' I have started to make the changes to Trenholme Junction, in preparation for its dismantling, and the links to the new layout. The new layout has a working title of 'Ingleby Junction'.

The two layouts will be linked by tunnels, filming will take place on Trenholme Junction (TJ) before the layout is dismantled and subsequently on Ingleby Junction.(IJ). 

In order to have continuity I have decided to model the inside of the tunnels. Joining the two films together is much easier in the darkness afforded by the inside of a tunnel. 

Of the films made on TJ, many are of trains entering and leaving the existing tunnels already on the layout. I have kept all the original footage and will use this stock to link these films to others made on IJ in the future.

There has been four new tunnel mouths added to TJ over the last few weeks. Note the use of the words 'tunnel mouths'. Deliberate. Complete tunnels are no longer required for this stage of the project. The 'tunnel mouths' are the exit (or entry) points to (and from) the new layout. Three of the tunnel mouths are permanent fixtures on the layout built in the traditional way but the fourth is not.

The fourth tunnel mouth is built on a portable baseboard and can be moved around the layout. This allows for a pop-up tunnel, at the end of a siding for example. The new layout will have several portable tunnels, standard sized, which will be plugged into the new layout (or its modules) to create many variations and filming combinations. 

This film is a cab ride on board a first generation DMU using all the new tunnels and is intended to demonstrate how the tunnels allow so much more flexibility to even the existing layout let alone the possibilities for linking to others. Each tunnel you enter could emerge anywhere, on any layout, in any part of the world. Or even in the Garden Shed.

The film also indulges my love of DMU cab rides from all those years ago.  

Please post all comments on the YouTube page.

To view the film Click here 

  

New Track Layout and Parcels Station

Executing the Infinite Layout 

In previous blogs I have mentioned about the idea of the infinite layout. 

The idea is all about building a series of layouts which all have tunnels and then to film the layouts from on board the trains, entering and leaving each like scenes from a film. 

This development on Trenholme Junction is the first of the points where this idea will be developed. The South Bay of the Main Station was really unfinished when the layout was originally built and now it has a new tunnel and track leading off to a branch? or another tunnel maybe.

This film is the testing shots and is intended to show up any building faults which cannot be seen from the human viewing point. Its quite remarkable how something which looks right from a distance but when subjected to the scrutiny of a HD Camera does not look right. The station platforms show to be different heights but they were fine when I built them in the warm house, its quite a bit colder in the train shed, maybe they'll settle down when they become acclimatised, otherwise I'll have to make some adjustments.

The tunnel is unfinished in this film.

All buildings, walls, platforms and tunnel mouth are built from Metcalfe Kits. 

It's possible now to have several different routes through this part of the layout which previously was no more than a set of three sidings. From the tunnel end arriving trains can run through the original Platform or the new Parcels Station. From the original station trains can still depart on the original route but also to the new branch. From the new station the same routes can also be followed. Locomotive hauled stock can also run round their trains within the confines of the Bay area. It is possible to use this area as a terminus between to other layouts (each with its own tunnel).

There are several other points on the layout where there will be similar take off points going off into tunnels and I intend to make a stock of films ending entering the tunnel mouths to be used later to make films to places which have not even been thought of yet.

This is a rough film to test the finished product and to show routes.

To see the film




     

Thanks a Million!

When I set out to build this layout over ten years ago, I could never have imagined that so many people would see the results of this endeavour. 

As I have said in previous blog's, it was my intention, originally, to allow people on the internet to log onto the layout and drive the trains live on line. Everything in the build was to lead up to this goal. 

When YouTube came along and the 'live driving' seemed to be less of a good idea (see previous blogs), the filming of the layout seemed to be a good way of letting a lot of people see it rather than a small number driving the trains. The experience of watching the trains as a passenger is not too dissimilar from the driving, the camera positions are the same.

I first put films onto YouTube around four years ago for my own entertainment and I was quite surprised that very quickly others were watching them, even though they were poor in quality and content and, the layout was bereft of virtually all scenery.

At this point, I was still working towards the notion of 'live driving' and I was trying to see the practical implementation of this idea in order to progress to the next stage which would be to write the software to do the work of controlling the trains. The YouTube experiment was to see the quality of the films that could be achieved and then to start the selection process of the cameras. The initial experiments were using covert spy cameras with transmitters which worked surprisingly well, although the quality left a lot to be desired.  

YouTube was still on the rise at this time and there was some good content being generated connected with model railways and the potential of doing something different presented itself when YouTube had the idea of allowing a collection of videos to be grouped into one place and so the YouTube channel was born. At this point I decided, together with other factors (see previous blogs) to opt out of the 'live driving' idea and simply film the layout. This way I could demonstrate what I really set out to do, show the operations of a 1960's railway.

Initially, the films were a little hit and miss in content but the latest are in themed series, are quite often they continued from one another in the numbered sequences, a bit like a soap.
All the film footage is stored in an archive including all the unused scenes, its my intention to re-make some of them using different editing techniques and adding authentic sounds.  

I thought that maybe if I could get a thousand views of the layout, that would be a great thing, but I never dreamed it would pass a million. I've really enjoyed making the films and I would like to extend my thanks to all of you who have encouraged me, made comments and all of you who have simply watched, I have made some really good friends along the way.

Some statistics include a monthly average audience of around 25,000, the most popular places are UK, United States, India and Australia. 
The blog has been read 25,000 times.
The Track Plan has been downloaded 1,150 times. 
Initially, almost 100% of the audience watched the films on a computer, now that's only 50%, 40% are on Tablets and Mobile Phones.
The channel has 280 published films, one film has been watched a third of a million times.
Sundays are the most popular days for watching. 

To view the channel click here


         

Driving J94 at Peak Rail

My children clubbed together and bought me a Steam Engine Driver Experience for my birthday. 

If you'd asked me what I wanted to do in life, from the age of nine, driving a steam engine would have always been the answer. Around twenty years ago I had the money to buy a locomotive and a place to put it. There wasn't any for sale that I could find. I never thought there would be any substitute for driving the real thing, but decided to create a model that would simulate the experience which is what you see in the films I produce today. The model was built without ever standing on a footplate. Had I got it right? Would this experience show that what I had already shown to the world was completely wrong?  

I know there are plenty of videos and lots of literature around about how to drive a steam engine. 
I had a choice. 
I could read everything, watch all the videos or even have a go on a simulator. This means when I went on the day I could roar out of the station in a cloud of smoke and steam and impress the living daylights of everybody.
The alternative was to go with no preconceived notions or detailed knowledge and let the crew show me what was required, bearing in mind I fully understand how a steam engine works.
I chose to do the latter.

The only preparation I made was to read about the history of the line.  

On the day I was incredibly nervous, I can't remember feeling this trepidation even when I took my driving test back in the seventies.

After a brief introduction from the station staff at the buffet, I was introduced my driver and fireman for the day. Jan the driver and Richard the fireman.  

I was still in two minds whether I should have acquired more detailed knowledge before climbing the six foot from the ground to the footplate of the already fired, awaiting locomotive. 

Even an 0-6-0 shunter seems huge when you are standing on the footplate. The first thing that struck me was the very poor visibility the driver has. After a tour of the controls, it wasn't long before I was moving off along the track towards a level crossing with real cars crossing!

After a couple of runs between the station and the level crossing, through the beautiful countryside, being waved at by the passers by, I was passed to Richard who gave me the full low down on how the machine worked and the intricacies of the role of the fireman.

One thing I do know about is putting fuel on a fire, we have coal stoves at home so I thought this bit would be a piece of cake. Wrong. Out of the nine shovels full that Richard told me to put onto the fire, I only managed to hit the hole cleanly about twice, the aftermath of this effort was all three of us standing on a liberal layer of coal on the footplate (there was probably the odd bit on the line side as well). 
Joking aside, the fire man's job is a very skilful part of this team effort, and I suddenly realised why you must first be a fireman before you can become a driver.

The literature you receive in preparation for the day tells you that you would be driving a light engine and this seemed to be a little disappointing, but when Jan asked me if I would like to shunt some wagons, I was delighted. Those of you who are familiar with my film productions will know that this is my kind of heaven. Pulling four wagons out of the yard onto the head shunt and replacing them back into the yard again was absolutely brilliant.   
The restricted views the driver has comes into sharp focus when you add even four wagons to the locomotive, the length of even this short train seems enormous, and, you can't see the end. You also have to remember not to shake the poor guard at the back off his feet when starting and stopping all this metal. Also at this point, you realise how much the driver has to rely on the judgement and information given by the fireman. A truly intertwined team effort.

The entire day was an absolute pleasure. At the end of it, all my doubts of whether I had achieved a good representation in my films had evaporated.  

My grandson Tommy, who is the same age as me, portrayed in the films, was the official photographer for the day and produced some excellent shots.

My very grateful thanks are extended to both Jan and Richard for their excellent tuition.

Its worth giving a plug to this super Heritage Railway, thoroughly recommend a visit, even if you just want a ride (excellent home made food in the buffet too).

To view Peak Rail website:-
http://www.peakrail.co.uk/

To view my channel follow this link:-
https://www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar