Filming Suggestions and Tips
Hey everyone, it's Drift!
So now that my track is set up and I'm ready to film I'm just wondering about any tips or suggestions about camera angles, editing and stuff. I have watched an extensive amount of diecast racing on YouTube but it's mostly downhill track courses. Being that my track is a '18 drag strip I have to believe it'll be different than how they film the downhill courses. I've seen some other people's videos and it looks like they just follow the track with their camera for the most part. I am going to be using an iPhone 13 Max for the most part but have considered getting a go pro to set up more near the end of the track to capture finish gate in slow mo gor really close races. Any and all suggestions and tips are appreciated ????
Discussion
Mr Mom's is a good channel for ideas with drag racing, but a GoPro is always a good option because of the fixed focus and stabilisation.
I would always recommend, especially for drag racing, having your highest speed camera at the finish line for any close finishes and then you can just have a chase camera to catch the actual race. If you want extra, then a start gate camera looking down the track but the cars move away from it so quickly, they get very small very quickly.
The other thing to keep in mind for slo-mo filming is having more light than you think you need. The faster the shutter speed the darker the image.
- Mr Mom's is NEXT LEVEL for drag racing production value — Chris_Hood
- the amount of light needed really surprised me, and I still need more — dr_dodge
I've used 2-3 I phones for my races...but my biggest piece of advice is really get you motion down when you're following the cars with a handheld chase cam...the cars run very fast and without practice can run out of frame quite easily...figure out where it's comfortable to stand and shuffle along as well. It's a lot more difficult than you think. Also, edit in segments and drop those into your final video. Will save you loads of time if you're doing multiple videos of a single event. Last...don't put too much pressure on yourself...it's supposed to be enjoyable...remember that...because there is A LOT that goes on behind the racing.
I my self use a bunch of old phones I had broken the screens on to record and then edit on my computer. I have 5 older Samsung Galaxy phones I used for mine, but mine was also not a drag strip.
Want to echo Canuck's point, develop muscle memory in filming. That goes for any track. I've seen instances of a nice setup, layout & diorama, but some lacking in that crucial aspect of keeping the group or at least the leader in frame. Also, look into either a camera gimbal or image stabilisation in your editing software to smooth out the footage
There was one fellow in Canada who had an inventive filming arrangement. One camera on the start gate (four lane drag course), one to capture all the way to the finish including timer display, and a third for his "pit area" where he'd blind-pick the four for the next episode. He once used the pit camera to provide an overhead view during races. This provided two competing perspectives of each run on screen, and the idea was scrapped soon after. Just a lesson in how you actually CAN "over-film" a drag race
My experience with GoPro is that they work great outdoors in natural light. Indoors with artificial light, not so much. Slow mo at the finish line can be hard to capture. You can't just use a really high frame rate and slow the video in the editing phase. 120fps is as fast as you can set it without getting the dreaded strobing effect in your final work. GoPro battery life is usually pretty poor also.
With that being said, you will need a camera with adjustable frame rate, shutter speed, exposure and a lot of light to get the best image of these cars as they cross the finish line.
iPhone cameras are pretty darn good. They actually have really good image stabilization. You will need a lot of light still for best results. Dont bother with a gimbal, they don't move fast enough to keep up with the cars on a drag strip. Get a grip mount for your camera and learn how to run your races by looking at your phone screen. That is usually the best way to keep the cars centered in the frame.
- Use non-florescent lights to stop the strobe — JBlotner42
- Any 120v 60hz light will give you the strobe, including fluorescents. — ScaleRacingChannel
- The strobing is tied to your lights, more than the camera. You can test inshore with your phone first, to see if there is any strobing. I am now using LED garage lights. They are awesome, with heaps of light and zero flicker. I film with all GoPros at 240FPS with no flicker — Chaos_Canyon
All of these are good suggestions, but make sure you have pleanty of light on the track. Also I would suggest searching which camera settings to use to make sure you have the best quality image. I figured this out the hard way.
www.redlinederby.com/topic/make-your-video-less-blurry-without-increasing-your-current-/4102
Always a good read from Chaos Canyon an experienced showrunner, hope this breaks it down well
Well I don't have a channel myself but from a viewer's perspective I would say following the cars and making sure you have some way to record who wins close races. You could have a camera for photo finishes or a digital finish gate. I suggest checking out Craigster at Hot Nuts Racing and Dutch at Dutch clutch racing, they both have dragstrips. They're others but these two are my favorite dragstrip channels.