I rode in a friend’s Ferrari (1978 308) recently and while I love how it sounds… I often can not get enough of the turbocharged sound. So if you love the sound of turbochargers doing work here you go:
Link for you RSS peeps.
It may be an older video of ours, but I love it and cannot get enough.
Update: Apparently I decided to post this exactly two years after uploading it to YouTube. Odd.
In June of 2008 I wrote an article lamenting about Rally America’s rules on sequential transmissions. Turns out they’ve caved…a bit. I was reading the rules and I stumbled over this on page 89 section 6c:
Gear Change: The use of an unassisted manual sequential gear change mechanism is allowed.
Neat! You can use a sequential given that you have direct access to the mechanical selector. That is only one step away from an electro-whathaveyou sequential with paddle controls. Although you cannot control many parts electronically (yet), as seen on page 89 section 6b:
Electronic Controls: No type or form of electronic control is permitted for the following components:
i. Suspension, steering, braking, gear change/clutch, front and rear differentials.
ii. Simple engine cut operating during a mechanically activated gear change is permitted.
So you cannot control the clutch/transmission electronically yet. But you can flat shift, which means you keep your foot planted on the gas pedal during shifts and electronically cut the engine’s power. Either way, there is hope for Rally America to become the premiere rally league in the future. Not for a while though.
It is the first time in a long time that a private (not really factory supported) team has podiumed in the WRC’s top class. While we’re stuck with two manufacturers, there are still plenty of teams. One of my favorite teams is Petter Solberg’s self run rally team and he happened to finish 3rd in Rally Cyprus. That really is indicative of the talent Petter Solberg has and it really makes me wonder about Subaru. Maybe there really was something wrong with how Prodrive was making the Subaru WRC car.
In usual fashion Sebastien Loeb finished first. I don’t know how he keeps that up. Many people would lose focus after winning as much as he has. He keeps getting faster too. It really is quite amazing.
Mikko Hirvonen, Ford’s favorite for the WRC pulled out a 2nd place finish. He’s now only 8 points behind Loeb in the championship standings and with 75% of the season’s points still up for grabs he has plenty of hope to be the World Rally Champion.
The next WRC race is April 2nd, 2009 and it is Rally Portugal.
Last time I went through a basic run-through of setting up the camera and what not. Now let’s figure out some angles to film with. If you pick the wrong angle your viewers stop watching for a number of reasons: the driving seems too slow, there is nothing interesting in the shot, it makes the viewer sick, they’re tired of the same view everyone else is showing.
Picking the right angle(s) makes any footage that much better. The viewer will start to pick up on the feel of speed (matters in racing videos) and they will keep their attention focused on your video (rather than your YouTube comments).
If you are filming racing events you are going to be limited to angles by how versatile they are. You can only put so many cameras on a car (or on a track) and editing in footage from non-race events would confuse people. If you are filming to cut pieces together for a highlight-esque reel you can get a lot more creative with your angles. First lets cover some basic effects of angles:
Basic Effects
The inside and outside of the car require different placements for the same effect, they’re essentially opposites. The higher inside the car you are, the faster it will seem, while being on top of the car will make it seem painstakingly slow. This is because you need a reference to feel speed. Inside the car, if the camera is in your lap you might have clouds or reflections off of the windows as a reference. Clouds are far from the car, making it seem slower. While if the camera (or even your eyes) were higher up and looking down onto the ground close to the car, the perceived speed increases because the speed reference is moving that much more.
Getting the camera too high outside the car results in cutting off the close speed references and again makes the viewer focus on the ones that are far away (horizon). Unless you angle the camera down and can include closer ground.
I think of it this way: including mostly ground is like an extreme close-up, it increases the energy of the frame. Including mostly sky/non-moving parts is like a wide shot, it reduces the energy of the frame.
Now lets cover your bread and butter angles:
Behind the Driver(s)
This is one of the more common, especially in Rally, shots to see. It includes both drivers from behind. But height placement and angle from vertical are the most important aspects of this shot. You will hardly ever see a non flat setup of this shot as it will confuse the viewer and make them feel like the car is rolling (even when it is not).
Most of the action comes from the windscreen and whatever is on the other side of it. However, the drivers do provide an acceleration reference with their heads, but that is besides the point. So getting the camera up high enough in the rear of the car is the best idea as you want to see some of the road and at least the horizon. A low shot with no horizon/ground is one of the more boring shots available. Not only can we barely see the human aspect of the racing, but there is hardly any perceivable speed.
Good example of this shot.
A great example incliding Colin McRae’s wild driving.
Cop Car Shot
The POV view, the driver/passenger view, whatever you call it, includes almost none of the interior and at least some of the car for reference. This angle is great because it lets the viewer think they are driving or a passenger. It includes a good amount of ground for speed and some of the car to remind the viewer that this was filmed in a car and not on Superman flying super-low.
This angle is subject to some problems. In bad weather much of the view can be obstructed by rain/mud/snow on the windscreen. The more centered this is in the windshield the less likely that problem is.
Example of this shot. I included too much of the interior and not enough of the outside in this shot, but it’s acceptable. The setup was largely due to the limitations of camera and camera mount. Now that I use a lipstick style camera much better shots can be setup.
Better framing of the same shot in the same car.
Facing the Driver(s)
One shot many people like to see is of the driver’s face. This even applies to full face helmets. Seeing the helmet, or the face connects the viewer with the driver. This shot is even more effective for open face helmets. It really highlights the driver’s concentration and sometimes hilarious facial responses. It can even show off the wheel work (which is plenty in most racing).
When framing people, the two thirds rule really helps. Keep their eyes about 2/3rd up in the frame. If the shot is from the side, give them what’s called lookspace. Lookspace means there is space in the frame in front of their face (to where they’re looking). It may seem obvious to put the back of their head at one end, but I’ve seen some awkward framings. A tip: don’t zoom in too much, get the bottom of the frame to include at least their shoulders or chest.
Looking up from below the people also makes people look better, to an extent. An extreme up shot would be awkward but a camera placement at around neck level or a little below aimed upwards could add some depth and perceived good feelings about the driver(s) to the shot.
Example with lots of lookspace. It gave me enough room to fit in the pedal shot, but this is more of a “I need to talk to the viewer” shot.
Great example with some tilt. Notice the walls for a speed reference. Because of how close they get to those walls, they can use them as a speed reference.
Creative Inside Shots
There are so many interesting shots available to you, but most of them will involve either the moving components of the car (wheels, suspension, guages, etc…) or the people and the outside world. This is where your imagination as a producer comes into play. Some ideas for some more shots inside the car are:
So get at it and be creative. Just go out and play! Next time we’ll cover putting the camera outside of the car, but still attached to it.
Rally Norway took place this past weekend and the results were not far from expected. Loeb (Citroen) took the top of the podium with Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) close behind with Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) rounding out the podium.
Petter Solberg had an outstanding performance for his first competition in a Citroen. He placed 6th grabbing 3 points for himself. He was squeaked out of fifth by Daniel Sordo (Citroen). Ford had a strong presence in the top eight(5 out of 8), but then again there are only two manufacturers in the competition so they should be split pretty evenly.
Link for you RSS peeps.
So I was flipping through the TV to look for something fun to watch for an hour. I ran across 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana story being aired on MTV. My buddy texted me a few hours later asking if I was watching it on MTV2. So I guess MTV is airing it somewhat regularly.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. Check out MTV or MTV2 one of these days. It is a documentary worth watching, granted most of it doesn’t have to do with his Rally career.
If you want the DVD buy it on amazon (affiliate link).
So unlike the WRC, most of the teams in Rally America are back for the 2009 season. However there was a significant change of vehicle for one of the top contenders. Tanner Foust drove to second place at this years Sno*Drift in his Hyundai Tiburon. It’s good to see that a non-Subaru/Mitsubishi can be competitive.
Travis Pastrana took first place in his 2009 Subaru, but worried about deer strikes through out the competition (it ended his 2008 Sno*Drift lead). ACP rallied his Mitsubishi Evo into 3rd place, although I think he should’ve done better…he’s Canadian. They get a lot of snow up there, eh (har har har I can make canned jokes about Canada. WOAH! Puns too ).
These results make me happy. They give me hope for Rally’s future. Some diversity is present in the field, unlike the Citroen v Ford WRC. I’m eager to see how this season shapes up. Next up for RA is 100 Acre Wood in Missouri. Woo!
The WRC’s Rally Ireland opener for the 2009 season took place this weekend. No surprise that the dominating force Citroen took 1st and 2nd place (Loeb and Sordo respectively). But that’s not the interesting part of Rally Ireland. What is more interesting is that there are only 2 manufacturers placing. While it is technically considered 4 manufacturers (for points) it is only Citroen and Ford.
What the hell? I know the global economy is in shambles but only two manufacturers in the premiere Rally racing league? It is good to see that Chris Atkinson tranistioned into a Citroen succesfully (and Solberg will be showing up in a Xsara in Norway), but it is sad to see such homogeneity in what used to be one of the most diverse racing leagues ever.
Maybe the P-WRC will be the league to watch for diversity’s sake. Subaru hinted that it might stick around for some P-WRC action. Redbull just confirmed a Skoda for their 2009 P-WRC team. I imagine you’ll see some Puegeot S2000s kicking around too.
Or better yet, 2009 could be the year the US Rally viewership approaches that of Europe (we can hope).
It turns out that Petter will be racing in a Citroen Xsara in the upcoming Rally Norway. That’s some pretty exciting news, since it will be the first non Subaru he has competed in since the year 2000. Almost a decade ago.
Citroen Xsaras were fast a few years ago, and I wonder if Petter will be able to claw out a decent position in a non-factory supported car. However, for all we know he could be factory supported by Citroen, but I doubt it if he is running a Xsara.
I’m real excited to see Petter back for another year.
This is a series on how you should film your driving and show the world what you’re doing. We’ve been getting lots of questions regarding camera setups and mounting options so what better way to exlpain it than with a series. In this entry you’ll learn how to setup a camera and explore some mounting options.
Camera Settings
When I refer to the camera I’m talking about a video camera, whether it is a camcorder, helmet camera, point and shoot digital camera in video mode or even a high end film camera. Our videos have been shot with a Canon Elura100 (camcorder) and a VIO POV.1 (helmet camera). We have used point and shoot cameras for pedal shots before we had the helmet camera but we were always disappointed with the quality.
Most cameras will have options either buried in software menus or are controlled by physical things (buttons, dials, rings). The most important one for driving is focus, specifically auto-focus. Turn off auto-focus. Since most of the shots you setup in a car are going to be static shots (the camera stays still in relation to the car) you just have to setup the focus of the camera once before you drive. With auto-focus on you can get all sorts of annoying focal length changes that may distract/annoy viewers. This gives you a chance to learn how to set focus on your camera too, which you must do if you turn auto-focus off.
Zoom out as far as you can. Zooming in multiplies the visual effect vibration of the camera has on the video. Couple that with any camera that has digital zoom, in effect, lowers the quality/resolution of the video and you end up with some terrible looking video. You can always digitally zoom in later during editing.
Some cameras also have vibration compensation. Some do this really well, but most don’t. This is now in the realm of getting to know your camera, and the only way to know it is to use it. So here it is up to you, but try out both on and off and see which you prefer visually. For securely fastened cameras on stable mounts, vibration reduction usually does not help.
Mounting the Camera
Mounting the camera inside a car is a bit tricky. Most decent solutions will cost money. I forked over some dough for a Sticky Pod mounting system back when I bought the Elura. I am glad I did too, it has been more used than I thought it would be. I use the extra suction cup it came with to mount my helmet camera to the car. The full mounting system is still used for the Elura and has been used to make every single non-helmet cam video we’ve made (barring how to install vinyl stickers). There is a downside to the suction cup style mounts: you have to have smooth surfaces like glass in and around the car.
However there are DIY mounting solutions far from the simplicity of duct tape. Threads all over the internet have talked about how to make a DIY headrest mount (fits on your head rest poles and is secured by the headrest). These provide 1 or 2 shooting positions but provide a “Driver’s View” for your video. These are also usually more secure than a suction cup mount.
If you’re filming with a full on race car I’ll assume you can make a mount that fits on your rollcage. Tube frames provide great mounting points using zip ties/clamps. Helmet cameras (lipstick cams) work great for tube frame mounts. This will let you get great shots of everything in the car including pedals, driver+dash, inside looking out shots, faces of the driver(s), etc…
Sound Considerations
On camcorders or any tape based camera there are spring loaded heads in there. Cars have a tendency to vibrate and those vibrations are passed through the mount to the camera. The big problem happens when your microphone is in the same area as the heads (such as with the Elura). The microphone picks up the vibration of the heads and any loose items in the camera, so consider picking up an external mic (example at amazon). I have, but before I did driving videos sounded terrible. Here is an example of the rattling:
Placing the microphone in different spots also gets you different sounds. With an external mic you can put it inside engine bays, near exhausts, near a window crack (so you get a wind buffeting sound for “speed”), etc… I’ve done it as an experiment inside the WRX’s intake and it ended up sounding pretty sweet. Here is that example:
So go grab your video camera and start playing! Make sure to focus on driving while driving and not the camera. You dont want to record a silly accident (but if you’re in one hope you’re recording).
That’s it for this entry into How To Film Your Driving. Next time we’ll talk about angles and and their effects.
Last year I complained about how caked in snow my wheel wells got. My solution for the past year was to get out of the car and use an ice scraper to remove chunks of snow/ice. That worked, but there has to be a more elegant solution. Some people suggested non-stick cooking spray (also for camera lenses I hear). Others suggested wax compounds like Rain-X. So I figured I would try them out.
A few days ago I decided to spray my rear right wheel well with PAM (the oh so famous spray on oil). So far that wheel well has been accumulating much less snow than the other wheel wells (I also didn’t spray that well), so the initial trial seems promising. So over the next few weeks as it snows and I go and play in said snow I’ll be testing out various chemicals to prevent buildup.
Before I get started officially, I was wondering if you had any ideas as to what else would work? I’m looking for cheap/elegant solutions.
So far:
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