A trip along the line (with animated plan)

[ge_rik]

I've been dabbling around with a draw program (Serif Draw starter - a freebie) to produce a few animations. The latest is an animation of a train negotiating a plan of the line which I've synched with an on-train video I shot last year (when the sun was shining - remember that?). It took nearly 800 individual images, stitched together with another freebie program, 'Images to video' to produce the animation - even then it's a bit jerky. I don't think it's a competitor for Wallace and Gromitt or Ice Age - but it sort of does the job.

http://youtu.be/Da3go1oZksQ I...with some proper jobs on the list!! Rik

 

[annieshalt]

WELL DONE RICK, WHAT A GOOD VIDEO. ALLAN.

 

[ge_rik]

WELL DONE RICK, WHAT A GOOD VIDEO. ALLAN.

Thanks Allan
I spent far more time on it than it deserved - but once I started doing the animation I felt I had to carry on.
Rik

 

[shropshire lad]

Thats really good Rik. Not sure I've got the patience to do it myself tho!!

 

[ge_rik]

Thanks for the encouragement chaps. At least it kept me off the streets!

Rik

 

[GrahamMills]

Very very impressive.

That's the sort of thing that I would like to do but would never find the time, nor perhaps the expertise.

 

[mbiff]

wot an awsome video - enjoyed that

and wot a wonderfull line and track plan

 

[beavercreek]

Teriffic work Rik...and a lovely layout beautifully matured

 

[Don Gilham]

Thank Rik, I really enjoyed that !

 

[DaveB2]

Excellent piece of video you've created. As another option for animation software you might try "monkey jam", it is (was?) a free piece of software that some schools use.
800 images - ouch, my 9 year old was fascinated with how animation worked so one wet afternoon we made a 47 second video, can't remember how many frames we took but nowhere near 800.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TDFVafU1UA&feature=bf_prev&list=ULg_7aofp4qOA&lf=mfu_in_order
But as others have said great video of a lovely line and I can appreciate the effort that went into the animation.

 

[yb281]

Fair play Rik, that's brilliant. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I agree with Paul, your track plan is brilliant. Really extensive without looking too crowded and a nice feel of a narrow gauge railway.

 

[Gizzy]

That's really clever, and a smashing railway too....

 

[ge_rik]

Excellent piece of video you've created. As another option for animation software you might try "monkey jam", it is (was?) a free piece of software that some schools use.
800 images - ouch, my 9 year old was fascinated with how animation worked so one wet afternoon we made a 47 second video, can't remember how many frames we took but nowhere near 800.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TDFVafU1UA&feature=bf_prev&list=ULg_7aofp4qOA&lf=mfu_in_order
But as others have said great video of a lovely line and I can appreciate the effort that went into the animation.

Loved your video Dave. Like you, I've dabbled with various animation packages - but at the end of the day no matter what the package, it comes down to creating each frame in some way. To get the animation smoother I should have gone for around 5 times the number of frames - but moving the train forward a pixel at a time seemed a bit OTT.

Thanks for the comments about the railway, folks. Like most I started off with a circuit and then decided to add an end-to-end option. This means I can have trains tail-chasing when I have visitors (or just fancy watching the trains go by), or can run a pretend timetable with (sort of prototypical) goods shunting. You'll see from the animation that I use some parts of the line twice to extend the distance between the stations. A bit of a cheat but makes operation a bit more interesting.

The other animation I've done shows the growth of the railway over the years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RucyByGqnc Rik

 

[Round n Round]

WOW
TOP JOB, Well Done.

 

[JRinTawa]

That was great, well worth the effort.

 

[ge_rik]

Very impressive work Rik.
Your trackplan is excellent, really like the complexity and feel of your railway.
Still need to get over to see it !

Thanks Paul
My turn to repay your hospitality - but I don't tend to get things running again until Easter - any time after then. You'll be more than welcome!

Rik

 

[royale]

Excellent - I really enjoyed that.

 

[KeithT]

V clever stuff and a brilliant railway, puts mine to shame.

 

[Shawn]

That was a great ride along the line. You dod great editing the movie. I use indows movie makers. Seems to be pretty easyto use although your program seems to do more neat things. ell done. Thats one thing I found I really enjoy doing, making videos of the layout.

 

[ge_rik]

Thanks again for all the positive comments, chaps. I've had another go (the Director's Cut?) - a sort of vice-versa. I think this version is better as it shows off the animation and I'm happier with the music.

http://youtu.be/t6b4zqDeE6Y Rik