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




      

Further notes on filming issues.

Further notes on filming issues.

There are continual questions about the filming of the layout. Any of you who have followed either the YouTube channel or this blog will already have seen some issues addressed in previous Youtube answers or the blogs, and I will try not to go over old ground. For those who have stumbled across this item, it may well be worth reading some of the older blogs shown under 'Archive' on the right hand side of the page.

The aim of the layout was to operate and view it from the inside out. That is to say, rather than look at the layout from the 'helicopter' view position, look at it as it would have been seen from the real life perspective.

There were no books or examples of how to achieve this goal when I started out simply because nobody has ever attempted to do this before, except in the movies where certain model scenes are inserted into a film. 

My project was to apply the principle to the whole thing and many of the things I did were on a trial and error basis. 

My last blog gave information about the cameras and editing software I use, but that is only a fraction of the story. This blog goes into some of the other considerations to be taken into account when filming.

Lighting

When I started out on the project I probably knew about as much about photography as our cat.

My memories of using my Kodak camera to take photos indoors usually resulted in spending an entire weeks paper round money on a set of twenty four photos of which probably two were worth keeping.   

I remembered having my photo taken for an ID badge and noticed the professional taking the photo having several lights. This memory made me think about two things when I was designing the train shed. 

1) Lots of light from large windows for natural daylight.

2) Plenty of lights in order work on the layout during darkness.

The second consideration was also important because as I got older then poorer eyesight would be helped by good lighting.

My background is in the electrical industry and my experiences of lighting large areas effectively was to use fluorescent lights. There are 28 off  6 foot 65 Watt fittings in the filming area. 

At the time of building there was't really any other practical mass lighting devices other than the fluorescent light, but now, there is a myriad of LED lighting systems which I am sure would do an equally good, if not better, job. (I would like to hear from anybody who has experience of LED lighting of their layout)  

Lighting on its own, no matter how good, will not give what is required for good consistent photography. The colour of the background is also a major factor. Reflected light is as important as direct lighting. The ceiling of the train shed is painted brilliant white and the walls are painted light sky blue. (As a side issue, the walls below baseboard level are brilliant white to reflect light to the underside baseboard, handy when you are working underneath).

Its also worth noting that the lights are all place across the baseboard with the starters accessible from steps on the floor area. Nothing worse that having to stand on the layout to service lights.   

If you intend to do as I have done and build you layout for filming, than all the things I have discussed in this section are considerations which must be addressed before commencement of the building of the layout.

One thing I got wrong when I was doing this was the texture of the walls. I wished I'd have had the walls plastered instead of just painting the breeze blocks. I never though the texture would show up on the filming. 
And why wouldn't I have thought about that? 
Simple, HD cameras hadn't been invented then....... 

Filming

One thing that didn't work out as I had planned was the windows and the door. 

Once the track was laid I started to experiment with different cameras and angles, and, as I particularly wanted to film on board the trains I found that there was an unrealistic look every time the train went past the windows. This view destroyed the illusion of riding on a real train.

I also realised that the pools of light created by the windows (especially on sunny days) gave problems adjusting from light to shade for the cameras on the moving trains. This situation was completely unacceptable. I did notice, however, that a film I made late one night (when it was dark) was really good, and, apart from the reflections in the windows' glass, achieved the desired result. 

The solution was simple, blank out all the windows and make a duck under for the door (which also could be seen in most films). Using only the lights in the building predicable results are achieved by controlling the light at a constant level.

Fortunately this solution could be implemented after the layout was built.

Windows are not the only thing which will destroy the illusion, visually speaking. The human eye filters out what it doesn't want to see and when you look at your railway, you see only the part you want to see, the camera sees everything. Any clutter e.g. the step ladder leaning against the wall, pictures, light switches etc., all conspire to destroy the illusion. 

Sound

On my layout, I wanted the natural sound that the rolling stock makes recorded on my filming. It is quite surprising that when a microphone is situated closely to even a OO piece of rolling stock how realistic the sounds they make actually are. 
I went to great lengths in order to achieve what I wanted and the methods for choosing the baseboards and laying the track is explained in an earlier blog, the link which is below.

http://dougattrenholmebar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/north-east-model-railway-matters.html

My focus at present is to produce the films concentrating on the visual side and I intend to add additional sound effects to all of my films at a later date.

The above notes on sound (and those is the blog referenced above) are ways of achieving intentional sounds. 

The other sounds which can appear on films are the unintentional ones. As with visually unintentional things appearing and spoiling the effect, unintentional sounds can also have the same negative effect. The sound of a soap from the television, phones ringing, the sound of a ringtone on a mobile phone (especially if filming a steam railway) will destroy any of the ambience.   

Editors

Apart from inanimate objects, the human kind also destroys that vital ambience. I was recently watching a film on board a train on a fabulous American model, completely lost in its world of stunning scenery only to pass somebody operating the layout. A little bit of editing would have easily improved the whole experience a great deal. 

There are lots of free editors on the internet, a good easy one is on Youtube, upload any video and you can play about with. Its an easy, free way to see what can be done. If you want to do more sophisticated editing then the sky's the limit as to what's available.  

When I make my films I leave the cameras running, even when I intervene, picking up the cameras, changing views, refocussing and dealing with derailments and crashes. I then edit out all the bits I don't want. 

The details of the editor I use are in the first part of this blog on filming.

I've deliberately left all the earlier films on the channel so you can see what the differences are once the finishing touches to the layout make, bear in mind the cameras weren't as good as today's, so don't be too cruel with comments about the quality.....

There is no right or wrong way about how you go about filming your layout. I decided what I wanted to achieve, what quality I wanted and how I was to present my results. People ask me questions like 'Do you think this is OK?' or 'What do you think of this?' or 'Is the quality of this acceptable?' 
The problem I have, these questions can't be answered. You have ask yourself what YOU want and then look at your own work and then you should be able to answer your own questions.  

To view the channel, click the link below:-

https://www.youtube.com/user/dougattrenholmebar