Garden Railway Forum

Brilliant, just brilliant...

Love the way you show ground and high level shots to show off that superb line of yours Rik. I always love to see videos of how a line should look. Our's sadly, isn't going to be a patch on your's. Still watching videos from you Rik, compensates somewhat....

Thanks guys. Glad you appreciated it. I spent more time on this video than any I've recorded for a long time. I shot the on track sequences first and then a few of the Lineside shots to go with them, but wasn't happy with it after editing. So, a couple of days later, I ran the same service again and took a few more Lineside shots to make more of a story. I was quite pleased with the outcome eventually.

On another issue, I had a comment on my blog from a chap in the US who says he enjoys my videos but could I please do them with spoken commentaries rather than written, as he finds the text stops him from watching what's happening. I must admit, I'm not too keen on the sound of my own voice and assumed people would prefer written commentaries so they can watch without having the sound turned up ( eg when on trains etc). I' d be interested in what you chaps think. Do you prefer written or spoken commentaries?

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 10:58 am I must admit, I'm not too keen on the sound of my own voice...

I am the same (my voice, not yours). Have you considered finding an acquaintance with a voice you consider appropriate and asking them to read the captions for you, or maybe even a short script.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 10:58 am “...a chap in the US who says he enjoys my videos but could I please do them with spoken commentaries rather than written, as he finds the text stops him from watching what's happening... Do you prefer written or spoken commentaries?“

Ah ha! We’ve discussed this before.

Everyone (sorry, most people) hate the sound of their own voice. I couldn’t believe what a **** I sounded, it made me want to hide under the bed. But actually I think you do voiceovers very well. And your videos tend to have a lot of info to get over; his point about watching the action rather than reading the subtitles is well made. And removing large, frequent subtitles will make your excellently shot and edited videos look even better too.

Rik

Your spoken commentary would be very interesting as you'd get far more across than is possible in text - and it would be more personal too.

Maybe you need to practice you're 'received English'. I look forward to productions in the manner of British Transport Films at their finest!

Andrew

Rik... great video.

I'll cast my vote for voice narration. Ya'lls spoken English somehow seems pleasing to my ear.

Great video again Rik.

On the question of narration vs captioning. In this recent video, I tried combining the two by using short captions and trying to 'expand' then with some narration. Like others I always assume that others would find my voice a bit grating (especially with my aussie accent). But I find your voice very easy to listen to.

https://gardenrails.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12790

Voice or narration Rik. You could combine the two, then all would be happy.
I know I am with either .

Another cracker.. I've watched it a couple of times.

As for your own voice, I agree with everyone. Everyone hates the sound of their own voice and your is fine. I quite liked the one you did with the voice over, added to the video a little. But, do what you are happy with!

gregh wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:26 am Great video again Rik.

On the question of narration vs captioning. In this recent video, I tried combining the two by using short captions and trying to 'expand' then with some narration. Like others I always assume that others would find my voice a bit grating (especially with my aussie accent). But I find your voice very easy to listen to.

https://gardenrails.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12790

That combination of text and voice does seem to work well Greg. Your voice sounds just right for the commentary to me.

Rik

Thanks for the feedback chaps. I'll give the combination of text and voice a try on the next video. Just need some decent weather, now!

Rik

I agree with voice narration for your videos Rik.

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:13 am I agree with voice narration for your videos Rik.

Thanks Tom, I think you've mentioned this before. I'll give it a try on my next video when/if we get a spell of decent weather.

Rik

Well, I've given voice narration a try. Not sure I've entirely got it right - but be interested in feedback.


A wee bit longer than my usual - hope you manage to make it to the end....

Rik

Excellent video Rik, the story-line makes sense and the camera positioning just wonderful, many of the locations I don't recall seeing previously. Where audible the voice-over is both entertaining and informative, but on my laptop much of the speech was lost due to the locomotive noises, which I find distracting, particularly the steam loco sounds.
I'm sure it is a matter of sound balance and experience will soon master that.
Well, you did ask!

Rik... I like that you added the narration. Unfortunately your voice was drowned out by the lokies as Peter mentioned above.

All in all, I prefer voice narration over having to read captions.

The voice narration works for me Rik, I prefer it to the random captions you normally display.

Great stuff. I used headphones and had no trouble hearing the narration at all, even with the cattle! If anything, you could possibly even add a bit more wallop to the (trains) sound track where appropriate. The volume of the voiceover varies a little from scene to scene sometimes, which is just something else to look out for in the edit, but hardly a serious issue. I think it works really well. And will open up all sorts of future story telling and editing possibilities, I’m sure. Very enjoyable.

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:49 pm Excellent video Rik, the story-line makes sense and the camera positioning just wonderful, many of the locations I don't recall seeing previously. Where audible the voice-over is both entertaining and informative, but on my laptop much of the speech was lost due to the locomotive noises, which I find distracting, particularly the steam loco sounds.
I'm sure it is a matter of sound balance and experience will soon master that.
Well, you did ask!

Thanks Peter
I did wonder if I'd got the balance right in places. I know what I'm saying and so can follow it, but a couple of scenes were a bit dodgy even for me to hear. I'll try dropping the video sound a couple of notches.

Rik

BertieB wrote: ↑Sat Jun 27, 2020 11:05 pm Great stuff. I used headphones and had no trouble hearing the narration at all, even with the cattle! If anything, you could possibly even add a bit more wallop to the (trains) sound track where appropriate. The volume of the voiceover varies a little from scene to scene sometimes, which is just something else to look out for in the edit, but hardly a serious issue. I think it works really well. And will open up all sorts of future story telling and editing possibilities, I’m sure. Very enjoyable.

That's interesting. Thanks. I was using a new (old) Mike, one my daughter had passed on to me. I thought it was stereo but it turned out to be mono and so works better facing one way than the other. I only discovered this when I went back to re-record a couple of scenes. Maybe I should have re-recorded them all? Some scenes took ages to record, though, with dozens of fluffed lines or getting the timings wrong in relation to the action. If I'd kept some of those, i would have needed a bleeper!

Rik