Video speed for races on a drag strip

BlueLineRacing Friday, 4/30/2021

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I'm looking for feedback from people who have watched my tournaments. My track is a 20' 6" track with a 39" drop. I like to call it the fastest quarter mile in diecast racing because I've not seen one faster. I could be wrong but for now that's my claim.

  Problem with the speed is when it comes to doing video on the races. The cars fly by in a blur and you're left with a quick second and the timer to rely on for the finish. A second slow motion video really isn't an option because it would significantly increase the length and editing time of the races. I'm contemplating slowing down the races slightly for the next event. If you've watched my races, please comment on whether you'd like full speed or a slightly slowed down version. I know there have been other discussions on this but I'm interested in quarter mile drag races only for the feedback. Particularly on my track which is a less than 2 second race. 


Discussion

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CrazyEights 4/30/21

Your races are some of the best compiled footage in the game. Period! I love recorded premieres so much better than live racing.


  • Thank you, I just wonder if people would like them in a slower speed or real time — BlueLineRacing
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SpyDude 4/30/21

Probably bumping the speed down by increments until you get one ghat looks "right" is the way to go. Obviously, you don't want the cars crawling down the track, but you don't want it blurred, either. Try going from 100% down to 50% in increments of 10 - "Okay, 90% is still too fast, let's try 80%...... 50% is too slow, let's bump it to 60% ...." Just keep going back and forth between the two scales until you find a more-or-less happy medium. I think Redline says he records his at about 65% - not full-on blitzing down the track, but not crawling, either.


  • The problem is I don’t know if it’s too fast. That’s the question I have. — BlueLineRacing
  • For the viewer — BlueLineRacing
  • Just have to play with it, try a few diffeeent speeds. We’ll tell you one way or the other — SpyDude
  • ???????? — BlueLineRacing
  • Sorry, emojis turn to question marks here. It doesn’t seem to be a hot topic so I’ll leave it alone for now, lol — BlueLineRacing
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redlinederby 4/30/21
Site manager

Spy is right about just trial-and-error until you find something that feels right. I think 100% is too fast and pretty anticlimactic.

Your setup is pretty much like mine where I just stand mid-track and follow the cars from start to finish. I don't move hardly at all, no need. Unless you have multiple people supporting your operation, or multiple cameras, then I think you're right on with your approach.

I slow my races down to 82% speed during editing. Less than that and I felt things went by too fast...and slower than that, I got awful blur and just looked shoddy. But perhaps a key point is that I do the slow down in my editing app. I don't use my phone's slow-mo video feature when recording the races.

Now, if there's some good close action, I may slow things down more to show it or in a replay, but to keep my editing time minimal and easily repeatable. I loathe editing even though I'm pretty proficient at it at this point. I'm not trying to be fancy with cuts or transitions, and I'm not even commentating anything so that saves a ton of time. It's bad enough as it is that I spend hours producing a 15-minute video...anything beyond that has to really be worth it (for me and for my audience). 

I hear you but my question is, if you watch my races. Do they seem to fast? I would assume if you brought yours down to 82 percent that you would slow mine down also. This is more a poll of what people think who watch my races.


  • Some people like real speed. I think slightly slower might work — BlueLineRacing
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redlinederby 4/30/21
Site manager

I don't think your videos are too fast. I might move your camera a little closer to the hill so when you follow and whip around to the finish we get to see more of cars moving before they hit the end. I have the same problem but your track is a little longer/bigger so it might work better.

And I appreciate your polling (sorry the site doesn't offer polls yet!) but I have to chuckle only because when I was trying to figure out what speed was good for my videos, I didn't take the time to ask what other people thought at all - lol. I kept tweaking until I felt good with it and then stuck with it. Shame on me, I know, but if I can't enjoy what I produce then I can't expect anyone to be either.

I guess I also just believe that people will like my style of video or they won't. Their decision to watch won't hinge on whether my videos are at 50%, 80%, or 100%. If they like commentary and dioramas, then they won't watch mine anyway. 


  • Tough thing for me is the track is on the floor so it’s hard to move along with it. I am pretty set in one place. I have a choice of moving like you said for a better view down the track or being closer to the end and being able to show the timer clearly. Without a timer I would’ve agree to move up the track. — BlueLineRacing

I'm a fan of the real speed in your drag races.  It matches the perception of speed that I have on my own track/testing.  That said, I'm not sure I could tell if you slowed it down 10-20%.  For instance, I didn't know that Redline had slowed-down footage.   


  • Thanks for responding. I don’t think I knew either — BlueLineRacing
  • The "not knowing" is important. I got to 82% because that's where the video could be slowed enough where it didn't look too obvious in either direction, fast or slow. Oddly enough, 80% felt to slow and 85% didn't feel slow enough... — redlinederby

Hi BLR!

I am quite ok with the speed of your racing videos.

After the first viewing, I will go back and rewatch, elements, I need to review, and will slomo myself as needed.

Cheers thanks for the great content!


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DXPRacing 5/1/21

I think you do excellent work with your videos. The presentation is on point and the racing is quality!  If you slowed it down a bit, I might notice but I think that is your option as the host.  


  • You would notice, and that is the point to give people more time to view the race. I did a test just now slowing my last race down to 80 percent and I kind of enjoyed it. But yes you will notice and it won’t be real speed. This is the question, sacrifice the real speed for the ability to get a better look at the cars going down the track. — BlueLineRacing
  • You would notice, and that is the point to give people more time to view the race. I did a test just now slowing my last race down to 80 percent and I kind of enjoyed it. But yes you will notice and it won’t be real speed. This is the question, sacrifice the real speed for the ability to get a better look at the cars going down the track. — BlueLineRacing

Hey Bud, I think you do real well on your video's.  But Yes, sometimes the races git a lil blurry.  So as some have suggested I would also say, I would slow it down it a bit and see how you like it for editing!

Thanks, Po'Boy


  • Thanks, it won’t be too much extra editing to make them slower. It’s just a matter of what people enjoy viewing — BlueLineRacing
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Mattman213 5/3/21

I like Redline Derby's races slowed down slightly allowing the viewer to see the action.  Your videos however are just fine speed wise if you ask me!

Matt

Just a random thought from someone who hasn't tried videoing races yet, but if you lower the drop, the cars would be naturally slower.


  • Thanks but I don’t want them to be slower I just want the video experience to be enjoyable — BlueLineRacing
  • *gasps* Lower the drop?? Slow down the cars??? -heads off to find my pitchfork and torch crowd- — SpyDude
  • As I'm sitting here editing race video, I'm reminded how figuring out speed is pretty easy compared to spending hours upon hours editing video. Grrrrr... — redlinederby
  • I opened myself up to this, haha, I have a feeling things won’t be any clearer afterwards. If anyone is interested, check out my next video, it will show you what 80% looks like. — BlueLineRacing
  • Yeah editing is the worst. Slowing down the races will add a little time but I think it would be manageable — BlueLineRacing
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_cause_analysis — TheMakersBox

Having been dragged down your track on multiple occasions i can say that slowing the video down only increases my agony that much longer!!! Lol, in all seriousness though the races look fine to me. If you were looking at shooting multiple angles i could see the need to slow some of the action down. Voxxer jumping the track would be a good example. 



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