JConcepts J82 Challenge @ ROAR Nats - Now In HD
 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...g/j82video.jpg

Here is the first of several races we shot at the recent 10th scale off-road nationals. My production company is working on creating some "proof of concept" material for an RC show we're developing (driving vehicle focused - no birds or boats). This is being posted primarily to solicit feedback from potential viewers, though the fully-produced race we use as our sample will be presented in the same way you're accustomed to seeing full-scale auto races on television. But since there's been some demand for race footage from the nats here, I've decided to go ahead and put up a few rough cuts of our "warmup" races and get some early feedback, which can be incorporated into our development work.

This race is the first one we shot with all cameras rolling (because I was interested in the J82 and thought it'd be a good warm-up race for our cameramen) but this video is missing one camera; unlike the other three cameras, that one stores video on a hard drive and I haven't had time to pull in that footage yet. I kind of wanted to just get cutting on something and see what we had. I'll follow up with a few more races in the coming weeks, as Vimeo's upload limit allows.

Also be aware that while we shot at 1080i/60, Vimeo only supports 720p/24 so the frame rate is going to stutter a little bit, where it wouldn't on an HDTV set. I thought I'd give Vimeo a try though. Anyway, feedback here or on Vimeo is more than welcome...that's why we're doing it!

Wow.

Impressed.

Nice video.Would love to see more.

There'll be several more coming, all in a rough cut form similar to this. Vimeo has a weekly upload limit, so I'll have to work within that. The others shouldn't be quite as large, though - this was twice the duration of the other mains.

Don't be shy about giving feedback or things you'd like to see, if you watch this...it's why they're being posted. The aspect that is conspicuous in its absence is the camera on the driver's stand - that's the one I have yet to get the footage off of.

at 4:17

when talking to someone who was being in the way visually

"good lord, is that a gas racer?"



keep the division between classes nice and wide there flashlight boy.

That would be Jimmy Babcock himself, working the stick. Not sure what he was referring to but the running joke of this 10 minute main seemed to be the duration being similar to a nitro/gas race, without the need to refuel.

Looped was right...
 

Sounded to me like Jimmy was refering to a guy that was obviously being a knot-head. "Gas Racer" was a derogatory term in this instance. Jimmy is somewhat of a smart-axe. Usualy makes for entertaining commentary, but this particular comment was kinda stupid. As both a 'smoker' and a 'flashlight boy' I was mildly offended. Just chocked it up as a stupid Jimmy quip...

Not realy a big deal though. Gotta have a thick skin or life's impossible to enjoy!!!!!!!!!!! :D



What was MUCH more iritating is that Jimmy and Canyon kept pointing out Hotties, without ONCE using a 'Hottie-Cam' and putting the images on LiveRC!!!


Oh, and your video looks GREAT Kevin! Didn't even 'stutter at all for me. Keep 'em coming. Gotta see the Mod 2WD Buggy, Truck, and 4WD AAA mains in particular.

Looks good ! Hope to see more .

Getting some good feedback and suggestions! There will be several more coming. Shooting RC racing brings unique challenges with it and we learned a lot at this shoot. We want to be close enough to the action that you get a real sense of not only the handling and speed, but also identify each driver's car fairly easily. However, getting TOO close really works against you.

The other factor is, if broadcasting races actually makes it into the final show format, we'll have a director and radios communicating with each camera, so we'll be able to get other battles happening on the track when the leader "checks out" on the field. Since this shoot was more about producing a "proof of concept" piece, we weren't quite so concerned with that aspect of it - but that's definitely going to come into play, down the line.

I didn't notice the hotties he was talking about but our other camera might have picked some up, I haven't looked at that footage yet. :)

keep them coming.
that is best rc vid quality wise i have viewed at full screen on my computer.

Wow.

I am seriously impresseed.:nod: I think all RC races should be filmed in this manner.

This is the best raceI have ever watched on video. I love the aspect ratio, and the clarity was great when I put it to full screen on my computer monitor.

If this kind of footage ever becomes available for purchase or a race series, I would totally buy it with the quickness.:D

Pete

That is absolutely spectacular!

Great job :nod:

Very very nice camera work and switching.
I would love to see some 'picture in picture' with the inset being the driver on the stand and the main picture following the vehicle around on the track. Maybe some closeup shots working the remote. :nod:

Obviously, RC racing is not like auto, motorcycle or other forms of racing where you can see both the rider and vehicle and how they're getting it done!!! I think an RC video showing both vehicle and driver simultaneously would really be SWEET! I'll check back tomorrow for that. ;)

Hope to see some more footage!!! mod truck cough cough:D

my only suggestion would be to follow more than just the leader

he checked out from the pole and i got sick of watching him effortlessly drive around the track. maybe try and find a battle going on in the pack somewhere else

and some split screen of the driver/car would be sweet

Good comments, guys.

Yeah, Rdub - as this shoot was done for "proof of concept" and viewer feedback, as well as to produce something to show the networks we pitch to, it was done relatively "budget" and so we didn't do radios. If we had done that and I'd brought on one more camera operator to take over mine, I could have acted as director and we'd have been a little more proactive about getting other battles shaping up on the track, etc... As it was, I told everyone to basically follow the leader since this was more or less just a sample to demonstrate what we're talking about.

The missing driver's stand camera has yet to get imported - it stores its video on a hard drive and I haven't had a chance to pull that footage in, yet. There will be driver's stand cutaways, though not picture-in-picture because it takes up too much screen real estate. We have to produce for both HD and center cut SD (chopping off the left and right sides for standard definition televisions). Our concept for involving the drivers is similar to putting microphones on NASCAR drivers so you can hear the banter between them and the pit crew - we want to hear and see that stuff. It's a big part of racing and it also serves to establish the "characters" of RC, which is a biggie for us. You do hear some of that early in this race, with the controversy over 2nd place and two computers being used to track the racers.

A lot of the stuff people are saying they want to see is definitely part of our plans, I'm looking forward to being able to put up our fully-produced race and get the feedback from potential viewers, but more importantly, the people who aren't really into RC or know much about it. I've been getting good and constructive comments though, it's appreciated!