Garden Railway Forum

Very poignant - especially the last bit of Part 2. Looking forward to seeing the new railway develop. I assume the garden was a critical factor in the selection of the new house. Rik The size of the garden and the fact that it only has a relatively gentle slope did help us decide on the property. A...

Thanks for all of the really nice comments. Sorry I haven't replied sooner but I've only just got internet access connected. Work on the new railway will not start until next year but Thomas and his friends will be involved in helping me with the work and I'm sure that their adventures will be recor...

-steves- wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:01 pm That is absolutely superb, looking forwards to part 2, very well done

Thanks, and here at last is a link to the eagerly awaited second and concluding part of the video - https://youtu.be/_kKMqEGuDqA.

A bit of time spent on that sequence I imagine, nice work. While working for ABC TV doing drama, we shot chroma key work to be cut into the series we were shooting. I had always believed the camera never lies, but it doesn't always tell the truth either. Grant. Thanks Grant. From initial idea to fi...

The Sandwell Valley Railway used to be very busy transporting both passengers and goods, but recently traffic has all but dried up. What will happen to the railway, Thomas and his friends? <object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtu...

Brilliant.

Fans of Sandwell Valley Railway videos will remember that the line was blocked by a landslide in the Christmas special. A couple of weeks ago Thomas and some Troublesome Trucks helped to clear the line. Needless to say the action was filmed and now it has been edited the footage has been uploaded to...

Here's a short video showing how Thomas to the Rescue was made. <object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NXnX7mciVM8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true&...

I assume it's 12v, but does anyone know the typical running current?

No idea of the running current but mine runs happily off a 12V battery pack of 10 900mAh AAA cells.

Another great video. Very clever use of Crazy Talk(??) and green screen. Must have taken ages. Rik Hi Rik, It is CrazyTalk 8. I take a still from the video, import it into CrazyTalk, add a chroma-green background and then add the clip back into Final Cut Pro. From starting to assemble the clips to ...

tom_tom_go:120571 wrote:So is the accident you had, looked nasty!

I hope you are feeling better now?

Thanks I am fully recovered now also but the fall clip wasn't me.

Thomas's branch line takes him near to an old quarry in which there are a number of caves. One day a caver has a nasty fall and Harold the Helicopter is asked to take him to hospital, but it's too foggy to land so Thomas comes to the rescue. <object width="640" height="480"><para...

Hi Al. Pleased you like it. I'm planning an extension of the railway into the side garden so no more videos for a while, but it should be a good location, when finished, for future videos.

Thanks Rik. This video was quite ambitious and took quite a time to make, but it seems it was worth the effort.

Pleased you like it. I used Windows Movie Maker for years and for a free piece of software I think it's excellent. When I retired I treated myself to an Apple Mac and used iMovie - also excellent. I now use Final Cut Pro X. It was expensive but worth every penny to me. The facial animation was done ...

do you do green screen first and then get the garden shots or the other way round? I filmed most of the garden shots first and then matched the angles on the green screen. Some worked and some didn't so it was back to the garden to capture different angles then back inside. It was all a bit hit and...

What a fantastic fantasy world you have created there.

Thanks. I get as much fun making videos as I do running trains.

Over the Winter James and Toby have spent a long time in the Sandwell Valley workshop. During their stays they were both fitted with smoke and sound units. It's now Spring and time for them to resume duties on the railway. <object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie&...

What face animation software did you use? I use an Apple Mac for video editing. The facial animation software is CrazyTalk 7 and the final putting together was done using Final Cut Pro X. So the Bachmann stuff is as true to "life" as it gets. Also I've seen some serious kit bashing done b...

Hi Brian,
I've just dowloaded this facial animation software and I couldn't resist trying it out on Thomas and co. The dialogue was inspired by a thread on another Garden Railway Forum. In my humble opinion some people take their hobby far too seriously. I'm just in it for maximum fun.
Keith