test video

The The Track Was Halfway Set Up Just For Test Video Purposes.

Very good....I need a much better camera to try that.....

At First I Used A Digital CamerA But Couldnt Get It TO LoaD Onto Movie Maker So I Just Used My Phone.

looked at video cameras at best buys this am, they have an in the box samsung return for $119.00...reg. $179.00...
... what camera did you use ?
it appears that you need a starter guy to video races with a hand held camera...
your official judge guy and starter guy did great jobs...oh, video was cool too...

Thanks. Its ActuallY A Little Harder Than It Looks

Good racing action...and the camera work was great. Now I Know what cars I need to buy.

Preacher

I Can't Wait To Video My full Track. Approx 21 Feet. Better Racing.

Looks good to me Kharvest

Hey...what kind of rig are you using as a starting gate? Do you mind putting up an underside pic?

Man, shooting and cutting video is one of the biggest pains in the arse. I typically race by myself on a Sunday morning so I don't have anyone to hold a camera for me, so all I can do is shoot the finish line and while that gets the point across, it's not that exciting. For the next video(s) I shoot I think I'm going to take the ESPN approach - highlights only.

You have to take video of every race, obviously, but then I plan on just editing together the close/exciting races into a highlight reel and put it to some music. Just the fact that you're shooting video of a Hot Wheels is proof enough for anyone that might be suspicious so at that point there's no sense it taking the time to cut together the entire event (unless it's something special).

There is one simple rule to making a good racing video - Watch your video over and over until the pacing feels good. If at any point YOU'RE getting bored then there's a good chance the audience will to.

So far I think this is the best video I've put together. It probably does't have as much car labeling as it should but it's a little over a minute and gets the point across while (hopefully) being somewhat engaging:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pie7i_4-N1s

Getting better at cutting video is easy, it just takes practice, time and a little creativity. But getting good footage is another story entirely since that depends on so many different factors; light, camera, camera operator, etc. Shaky camera syndrome is just about impossible to eliminate unless you have some sort of super camera. One feature that alludes me that I think our racing really needs is an affordable high speed camera. I often slow down the video for finish line clips but that only does so much...it doesn't really show how close things were. If anyone finds a consumer-grade video camera that has decent high speed options, please post and let us all know. I'm not looking for Mythbusters quality here, just something that is passable and not just "slow video down by 30%" type stuff.

And always remember that putting together video is a MAJOR time suck. A full 16-car tournament like I run takes about 20 minutes of video. When I was putting together complete results videos that were just finish line shots and text, it took me easily an hour or more to put together what ended up being about 5 minutes of video...and while I'm no pro, I consider myself pretty efficient at using the software. Even if I was happy with the end result, knowing I killed a few hours of my day to produce 5 minutes of video that will be watched less than 200 times is sometimes discouraging. Nonetheless, it's all about making the process as painless as possible, so you gotta keep at it.

(Sorry, that ended up being a lot longer rant than I had expected! I suppose the 10 years I worked in TV and radio have shaped my opinions quite a bit. Watching someone boil down hours of raw video into a 60-second clip that communicates clearly is fascinating.)

Getting better at cutting video is easy, it just takes practice, time and a little creativity. But getting good footage is another story entirely since that depends on so many different factors; light, camera, camera operator, etc. Shaky camera syndrome is just about impossible to eliminate unless you have some sort of super camera. One feature that alludes me that I think our racing really needs is an affordable high speed camera. I often slow down the video for finish line clips but that only does so much...it doesn't really show how close things were. If anyone finds a consumer-grade video camera that has decent high speed options, please post and let us all know. I'm not looking for Mythbusters quality here, just something that is passable and not just "slow video down by 30%" type stuff.

And always remember that putting together video is a MAJOR time suck. A full 16-car tournament like I run takes about 20 minutes of video. When I was putting together complete results videos that were just finish line shots and text, it took me easily an hour or more to put together what ended up being about 5 minutes of video...and while I'm no pro, I consider myself pretty efficient at using the software. Even if I was happy with the end result, knowing I killed a few hours of my day to produce 5 minutes of video that will be watched less than 200 times is sometimes discouraging. Nonetheless, it's all about making the process as painless as possible, so you gotta keep at it.

(Sorry, that ended up being a lot longer rant than I had expected! I suppose the 10 years I worked in TV and radio have shaped my opinions quite a bit. Watching someone boil down hours of raw video into a 60-second clip that communicates clearly is fascinating.)

I just posted this on our FB page! Super cool

Preacher

Nice racing--and cars--KHarvest! One thing I'll say--some of those results would probably be different if the track had the full straightaway set up. Excellent job as far as the videoing goes.