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[rip|ChITty]

This is just something I slapped together in a few hours. 

This is mostly just trying to get a template/format structured and learn a completely new video editor.  I feel like this is a decent start, but I definitely can make it much better.  First and foremost, Indy oval is kinda a hard track to do this sort of video with since all the action runs together.  I figure during a 30+ minute race w/ qualifying and pitstops, there will be more distinctive action to capture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kfKmUw3YMQ

Things I'd like to add to this basic format:
Starting grid scrolling graphic including AI racers
Stock footage of the skinned cars instead of race by race
Important car setup differences
A quick track overview
Picture in picture racing action if there were multiple good angles for pass
Voice over?

Thoughts?

[rip|buzinator]

Nice!
I LOVE the old-school F1 intro music btw...I miss that.

ok, in order of importance IMO:

I think one of the lower number keys lets you cycle through various HUD modes, you could kill the tacho display and have a clean screen.

The Grid intro, i think it could be quicker, with less of the spinning around part, perhaps even just screenshots that fade in and out (quickly), that way you can get rid of the in-game playback controls that show up.

Sometimes it might be nice to have playername tags turned on, for quick identification

Maybe some tv-style onboards? ... like certain views from the side looking backwards then switching forwards during a pass (not for all passes, just once in a while)...though i know that's probably a lot of editing work.

With the 'important car setup differences' ... do you mean in general terms? like, if a track is hard on brakes, or low downforce etc? Like on Inside Grand Prix? That would be cool ... not sure i want my pit strat publicized though

What editor/s are you using btw? I've been using Sony Vegas lately (eg for the rFactor Top Gear stuff) ... Was able to figure out how to do PiP with that and so can recommend it as worth checking out.

[rip|buzinator]

I think one of the lower number keys lets you cycle through various HUD modes, you could kill the tacho display and have a clean screen.

Actually, I guess this might not need to be taken away altogether ... but perhaps clean for external views and tacho shown for on-boards?

EDIT - Just noticed you messing with this towards the end. So obviously you're aware.

[rip|ChITty]

I think one of the lower number keys lets you cycle through various HUD modes, you could kill the tacho display and have a clean screen.

Yeah, since that track didn't have very good tv cameras (alot of clipping and weird angles) I was forced to go with the standard in game camera.  So I figured if I was going to do that, I might as well have a representation of speed.  Hopefully the other tracks don't have gimped TV cameras.

The Grid intro, i think it could be quicker, with less of the spinning around part, perhaps even just screenshots that fade in and out (quickly), that way you can get rid of the in-game playback controls that show up.

Excellent idea.  I was thinking that the full surround would help people identify the cars from all around, but the camera moves to quick and I hate the in game controls that I couldn't do it without.  There is a freemode camera, but spinning around provided some very jerky video.  Plus, with the custom skinned cars it should be pretty easy to identify.

Sometimes it might be nice to have playername tags turned on, for quick identification

Agreed.  Couldn't get it working in replay mode.  I didn't spend too much time tinkering around with it, but I'm not sure I can.

Maybe some tv-style onboards? ... like certain views from the side looking backwards then switching forwards during a pass (not for all passes, just once in a while)...though i know that's probably a lot of editing work.

Totally.  On that track with non-custom skinned cars I tried to stay away from the directly behind view of another car since Kal and I had similar looking cars.  If I could get the playername tags to work, then that's not a problem.  I want to play with the picture in picture which could be on boards or vise-versa.

With the 'important car setup differences' ... do you mean in general terms? like, if a track is hard on brakes, or low downforce etc? Like on Inside Grand Prix? That would be cool ... not sure i want my pit strat publicized though

I was thinking if between the contestants there were significantly different car setups it'd be worth highlighting that up front.  Example might be where I run with comparatively little downforce on a track to maximize top speed, while you and kal are running with a lot of wing.  Truth be told, I'm not sure if that would be interesting or even if our cars would be set up differently.  Plus either you'd have to tell me or I'd have to get your car setups, which seems like too much of a hassle.

What editor/s are you using btw? I've been using Sony Vegas lately (eg for the rFactor Top Gear stuff) ... Was able to figure out how to do PiP with that and so can recommend it as worth checking out.

I used Sony Vegas.

I'd like to stress that this was only a proof of concept and slapped together in a couple of hours with no previous experience with the software I was using prior to this video... on a track with shitty tv cameras, with undifferentiated cars, with a lot of meaningless action and few standout moments.  The first race summary should be much better. 

As another trial run to get a feeling for how long it'd take to slap different video in, I was thinking of doing it with the Monaco race we did last night.  I'm thinking there'd be a lot more passing action to highlight and pitstops.  It was still only a 15 lap race, but I think I could find enough for a 10 minute video.

Now that youtube has added that HQ mode which is limited to a 1 GB, 10 min file, I was thinking about shooting for that.

Some additional ideas I've been knocking around
Doing a running order at 25%, 50%, and 75% complete that would show time differential, fastest lap, # of positions gained/lost
PIP comparison of human contestant race fast laps synced up.
Occasional scrolling position overlay at the bottom of the screen

[rip|buzinator]

I'd like to stress that this was only a proof of concept and slapped together in a couple of hours with no previous experience with the software I was using prior to this video... on a track with shitty tv cameras, with undifferentiated cars, with a lot of meaningless action and few standout moments.  The first race summary should be much better.

Totally understood - and it does it's job well. I think it's a sweet idea.

Hopefully other tracks will be much better with tv angles and so on, as we know from the stretch between turns 3 & 4 ... this particular track is a little crude.

[rip|ChITty]

2nd attempt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMEzqyIEt_U

Thanks for the awesome title/section screens Kal!  Please provide feedback on the format or any clunky visuals things.

Things I don't like:
- The dark bar behind the updates at the bottom not going all the way down. - Template Fixed
- Race results are just slapped together, not representative of actual race summary quality - Will try pausing occasionally.
- Camera work on the race overview - Process Fixed - Foot Pedal works to control camera speed
- Track demonstration lap title disappears too quickly - Template Fixed
- hurky jerky motion on the grid video - Process Fixed - Foot Pedal works to control camera speed
- I should have made the PiP video a little larger.  I'm sure once the HQ version is done by youtube it would be more visible.
- I didn't use the same transition throughout
- Grid music was too soft - Template Fixed - New music will be used.

Questions
- Visual ideas for the race results screens?  - Will try pausing occasionally.
- When Kal slid off the track on lap 1 I have a comment appear in the corner of the screen... more of that or never again? - Never again
- Should I add some background music during the racing action like what is there for the lap overview (not the same music), just much more quieter?  - Will try it.
- Additional track detail in the lap overview?  Like a PiP window with a layout of the track and a market to indicate where the car currently is or in car video? - Will add track corner names, if available.
- Different grid music? - done.
- Different results/standing music?
- Suggestions about the in progress race order screen?  I changed the visual format in Excel half way through, so I intended to do one at lap 5 and I did, but it had different colors and stuff.  Only do it once at the midway point or break it up into 3 segments like I originally planned?  (one screen at 33%, one screen at 66%)  - Doing lower thirds during pits and where appropriate.  Retaining the 50% running order display.

Notes:
- I will add more PiP with a race that meant something.  (It'd be interesting to see Buz's 3rd lap incident from the in car as well.)
- Race progress screen - I'm going make the position G/L values green or red based on whether the value is positive or negative.

[rip|Kalian]

I love it! The PIP fastest laps are awesome, and let you really see where one driver outdrives the other for speed. Didn't really like the comment in the corner, but mainly because it looked like 5th grade A/V club stuff. Same with the black bar at the bottom, is there a way we can just make a bottom bar picture, with logo and such and just type over it? Like ESPN bottom bar stuff?

We need to do something about the jerkiness too, as it's a little distracting on the track preview and grid. Maybe look at setting camera speed to the gas pedal or something so it's not all on or all off movement? Or perhaps a mouse delimiter program that would slow and smooth mouse movements?

Overall, stellar improvement over your first attempt, and I'll take time over the weekend to put together more static images for intro, racer intro, green flag, checkered flag, and possibly standings after 10 and at the end if you want. Still not quite happy with the Q&D images I came up with, think they could be reworked and polished better, and I can make a psd template with all the track outlines and names that can be swapped out by removing and adding visible layers.

[rip|ChITty]

I love it! The PIP fastest laps are awesome, and let you really see where one driver outdrives the other for speed. Didn't really like the comment in the corner, but mainly because it looked like 5th grade A/V club stuff. Same with the black bar at the bottom, is there a way we can just make a bottom bar picture, with logo and such and just type over it? Like ESPN bottom bar stuff?

- corner comments will never appear again.
- I will definitely fix the black bar.

We need to do something about the jerkiness too, as it's a little distracting on the track preview and grid. Maybe look at setting camera speed to the gas pedal or something so it's not all on or all off movement? Or perhaps a mouse delimiter program that would slow and smooth mouse movements?

- kickass idea, I'll give the foot pedal idea a shot for the grid
- I'll hunt around in the .ini file for a camera speed setting

Overall, stellar improvement over your first attempt, and I'll take time over the weekend to put together more static images for intro, racer intro, green flag, checkered flag, and possibly standings after 10 and at the end if you want. Still not quite happy with the Q&D images I came up with, think they could be reworked and polished better, and I can make a psd template with all the track outlines and names that can be swapped out by removing and adding visible layers.

- The race in progress standings are super simple for me to create in Excel using the race file buz kicks off, it's mostly a question of colors, content, and location that I'm worried about.

[rip|buzinator]

...I can make a psd template with all the track outlines and names that can be swapped out by removing and adding visible layers.

Wikipedia has many good images of tracks...generally you can get a PNG with transparency.

[rip|buzinator]

Demo lap ... awesome idea, will just take some practice. increasing familiarity with the tracks should help with figuring out camera placement and ideal tracking.

I actually don't mind the black bar how it is. but whatever you guys want will probably be cool with me too.

Perhaps when there's contact (eg, 4m 30sec) an onboard replay could sometimes be good?

Love the Pit coverage ... will be cool if we get folks pitting together, or watching a pit exit to see if someone is able to beat a car already on track...

Otherwise, generally what Kal said. Coming along really nicely!


side note ... everyone should check out Chitty's pass at the 4 minute mark ... absolutely beautiful work.

[rip|buzinator]

Re: The Race Order update (lap 10 in this case) ... not sure how hard it might be but if it was translucent with some kind of racing action just barely visible (and just barely audible) behind it, that'd be kind of cool. as it is, it's a bit jarring, removes you from the race mentally.

[rip|ChITty]

High def version just became available.  The framerate looks a touch choppy to me.

[rip|ChITty]

The gas pedal camera forward really smoothed out the track overview for Imola I did last night.  Great idea Kal!

The pip will be properly visible in the final video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cOoVuAORI

[rip|buzinator]

yep - definite improvement, really smooth now.

Only suggestion would be perhaps ... a tiny bit lower altitude, in order to see the car a little more clearly. If this can't be done due to the camera flying through tall objects (trees, signs etc), no biggie.

[rip|Kalian]

Ok, can I make a suggestion for an event to be in next season?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB74LJXAKYc


Also Buz, I have a car skin I'd like to use for v1.1. More in line with convention, and should work better in video than the hash-marks on the current one. I'll catch you when you're on to get it to you. Also, helmet and suit are beyond PAINT.net to work with, so if you're into a throwtogether mood, add me to the list for anything, brother.