If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Cathedrals Express 16/4 6201 to Chester

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by Paul42, Apr 11, 2011.

  1. Steamage

    Steamage Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2005
    Messages:
    4,736
    Likes Received:
    1,107
    Location:
    Oxford
    Yes, and no. It's great until about 1:15 and then it starts to distort quite badly - at least, on my speakers. The problem becomes less noticeable as the loco gets close, which suggests to me that the camera's audio level control isn't responding to the loud-quiet-loud variations rapidly enough - or maybe it's the compression software? I heard the same on your video of 5043, Ralph. There's lots of distortion at Miles Platting in the middle part of the climb, and at Copy Pit there's rather a lot of wind noise, especially when the train's in the middle distance. Do you use a separate mic? If so what sort? Does it have a wind gag? These are minor quibbles though and don't really detract from a record of a fine day.
     
  2. shedbasher

    shedbasher Member

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2010
    Messages:
    376
    Likes Received:
    3
    Occupation:
    musician
    Location:
    bedford
    That is a great sound and it just keeps you watching Ralph in anticipation .Nice one
     
  3. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2007
    Messages:
    35,121
    Likes Received:
    20,772
    Occupation:
    Training moles
    Location:
    The back of beyond
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I'm never that critical of the quality of clip when viewed on YouTube as I doubt it's ever as good as the original. It would be similar to judging my original high sample rate/uncompressed sound tracks by listening to a 64kbps version via the internet. On a general note though, there are many clips on YouTube spoiled by a lack of a decent wind gag.
     
  4. Neil_Scott

    Neil_Scott Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Messages:
    3,155
    Likes Received:
    302
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Railway servant
    Location:
    Worcester
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I watched on my Macbook and it started to distort at about 1.06 until 2.40 with the worst section around 1.40 - 2.00. The sound of the engine is fantastic - what was the gradient it was working up?
     
  5. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Messages:
    35,446
    Likes Received:
    9,144
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired-ish, Part time rail tour steward.
    Location:
    Northwich
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Neil, the gradient there is 1:177.

    Mark, I use a Sennheiser MK300 directional mic with foam sleeve and Reinhardt furry outer, mounted on a bracket alongside the camera, which is a small Sony HDR HC9 on Mini DV tape. The sound settings used during editing are the default of 128Kbits/sec but the max available is 192 if you think this might help, and the sample rate, fixed, is 48kHz.
     
  6. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    5,921
    Likes Received:
    3,827
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Grinstead
    I had a every enjoyable trip behind Lizzie yesterday . Load 13 coaches. We had a Diesel attached on the outward run as far as Rugby.The path we had was a great improvement on the run behind the Duchess last October. Plenty of fast running.We were given the Fast Line from north of Wolverton to Wembley on the return( Due to engineering works?). We were checked a couple of times outside London, had a slow run from Wembley into Euston and arrived about 10 - 15 minutes late.

    Thanks to Steam Dreams, West Coast, and support crews.

    I posted a number of updates to railtours live including the one for Ralph.

    I will post some photo's tomorrow.
     
  7. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Messages:
    35,446
    Likes Received:
    9,144
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired-ish, Part time rail tour steward.
    Location:
    Northwich
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Thanks Paul, glad to hear you had a good run, the update was appreciated.


    Mark, regarding sound quality, one thing that perhaps has not been considered, video cameras in the under 4 figure price range are probably not designed with a high quality sound capability in mind, so this could be where the problem lies. You would probably need to go to broadcast standard equipment to find top quality sound recording.
     
  8. Steamage

    Steamage Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2005
    Messages:
    4,736
    Likes Received:
    1,107
    Location:
    Oxford
    You're probably right, Ralph. That Senn. mic is pretty good and the Reinhart fuzzy should cut out the worst of the wind noise, though they're not perfect and need to be sheltered from gusty winds. The places that the distortion is occuring suggest it's the camera's audio circuits rather than the mic. The compression will tend to exaggerate the distortion a bit, and the greater the compression, the harsher it will sound. As I said, it's only a small blemish on a nice bit of film.

    Anyway, let's not wander too far from the subject - maybe we should start a "sound for video" thread in the photography section?

    Thanks for the updates, Paul. I managed to see Lizzie at Althorpe on the down journey and Madeley on the up. I got her and 5043 at the same place in the evening so, when I get a bit of time, I might do a split-screen comparison, just for fun. It won't be this side of The Cathedrals Explorer, though!
     
  9. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2005
    Messages:
    35,446
    Likes Received:
    9,144
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired-ish, Part time rail tour steward.
    Location:
    Northwich
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    If someone were really clever my two clips of 5043 and 6201 could be knitted into one as 6201 was on the fast and 5043 on the slow, parallel running anyone?

    If you open two windows in youtube and resize alongside each other, with a bit of juggling you can get them running together.

    It's also worth noting that Lizzie was I believe checked to a stand at Basford Hall, whereas at the same point 5043 would be doing around 30 mph, Lizzie had 13 on and 5043 9. So the fact that 5043 was going quicker past my position is not a straight comparison.
     
  10. Paul42

    Paul42 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2006
    Messages:
    5,921
    Likes Received:
    3,827
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    East Grinstead
    A selection of my photo's from the trip are now on my Zenfolio site.
     
  11. railway

    railway New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2006
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0

Share This Page