OK, well the likes of Dave Vollmer got me working.... And my video-savvy kids.... So here's everything I learned over Christmas break! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CqkkxeYL6I&hd=1 It 'should' come up a 720 format to get the sound to work.... I'll be curious if it works right out there....
Randy, very nice; all that and a caboose at the end... I love it. Nice music too. Happy New year! Otto
I used the YouTube "AudioSwap" idea on putting on the music track without violating their copyright posting laws. If it were just me, it would have the Eagles and "take it easy" in the background..and you know why! .. anyway, the sound track that is there is something on their catalog called "Arizona Dust" which caught my attention, and worked for that test. The AudioSwap sound track replacement thing is really dicey and people have put up all kinds of posts with problems using it, so this is kind of a crash-test dummy to see how well it really works. That's by far the most complicated video I've tried myself. I will say that the Windows 7 MovieMaker is much superior to the Microsoft predecessors, particularly on the ability to handle the file formats off my JVC Everio camera directly without format conversion, and to handle the brightness/saturation conversion issues without a second program. At least this is quicker and more fun than photoetching! One thing this DOES show better than any still photo is just how cool the Richmond Controls lighting packages are for DC. You can see the headlight snap from dim to bright way before the train moves, and about another volt later the strobe comes on, then THEN the train starts to move. Nothing but a video can do that justice. All of my lead units are equipped with something - from this to the Gyralites to Mars lights, etc., and it's nice to finally find a way to show it.
Oh, yeah. But I'd rather build models than shoot movies. I've been so unsatisfied with my videos that it wasn't worth it. My sons encouraged me to try some new tools, this was the test. So I'll be putting more up. But doing 3 1/2 minutes of that part of the layout took me pretty much the better part of two days!
