Pure Eye Candy

The Car vs Drones film is focused on visualizing the concept of Speed and Agility set within a cinematic battle of superiority between two nimble machines, a Holden Astra and a fleet of custom-designed Quadcopter Drones. Working with Vice and The Creator’s Project from the inception definitely influenced the treatment, lending the aesthetic more to a transparent lab experiment than a hyper-polished film.

From the initial brief, they wanted all the components of the exercise revealed, from the Drone Pilots to the various Technologies on set, exposing the Lighting setups, the Camera rigs and Computer Monitors displaying each machine’s trajectory during the film. They wanted the film to be an entirely honest rendition of the experience the team went through during the filming process; and to the naked eye if a person entered the studio stage everything they would see was captured in the final film..

From a stylistic standpoint, it was a natural choice to infuse Munko’s favorite medium into the equation, the element of Illumination. Light can be interpreted over time as a lateral, striking way to show speed when captured as a long-exposure — it’s the equivalent to a motion path in an animation program, it’s how we can quantify speed and maneuverability in an easily digestible visual representation. So they outfitted every machine in the film with addressable LEDs which allowed them to play with this exciting ingredient of light painting and the ability to manipulate their motion constructs, fully exploring form and composition which paved the way to an array of seductive visuals.

These various techniques of light manipulation positioned this entire exercise more towards an art film than anything else, allowing the dramatic, abstract competition between the drones and the Astra to create a beautiful dance of light, form, color, performance and technology..

Car vs Drones Credit List

AGENCY: VICE

EDITORIAL & CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Royce Akers
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Georgia Field
PRODUCER: Ramona Telecican
PRODUCER: Katy Roberts
HEAD OF ACCOUNT SERVICE: Damien Miller
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Myki Slonim

AGENCY: AJF

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Glenn Dalton
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: George Freckleton

PRODUCTION COMPANY: AIRBAG

DIRECTOR: GMUNK
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Robert Stock
LINE PRODUCER: Kate Merrin
CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST: Steven Nicholson
TECH CHREOGRAPHER: Nick Wright
VFX SUPERVISOR: Travis Hogg

PROD. MANAGER: Justine Pitcher
DP: Ed Goldner
1ST AD: Eddie Thorne
CAMERA OPERATOR: Chris Child
1ST AC: Jesse Minter
2ND AC: Michelle Marchant
DATA WRANGLER: Ellery Ryan Jnr
VTR OPERATOR: Michael Gibbs
2ND UNIT DP: Travis Hogg
GAFFER: Con Mancuso
BEST BOY: Antonio Argiro
ELEX: Gene Van Dam
GRIP: Robbie Hansford
GRIP ASST: Jason Hansford
GRIP ASST: Jacko Panagiotou
SFX HAZE: Tim O'Brien
SAFETY OFFICER: Adrian Kortus
WORK EXPERIENCE: Georgia Conheady
WORK EXPERIENCE: Darcy Newton
PRECISION DRIVER: Davin Taylor
BTS DIRECTOR: Alex Watkins
BTS ASSISTANT: Ben Helweg
AERIAL CAMERA OP: Chris Lansell
DRONE PILOT: Sean "Radar" Kane
DRONE ASST: Josh Gray
BTS PHOTOGRAPHER: Mia McDonals
UNIT MGR: Richie Young
CATERING: Fringe Benefit
PRODUCTION ASST: Rob La Terra
PRODUCTION RUNNER: Dyllan Corbett
PRODUCTION RUNNER: Annelise Hickey
PRODUCTION RUNNER: Bridie Connolly

POST FACILITY: AIRBAG

EDITOR: GRAEME PEREIRA
COLORIST: CJ Dobson
MUSIC / SOUND DESIGN: Rohan Rebeiro

DRONE TEAM

DRONE CAPTAIN: Nick Jaffe
DRONE PILOT: Paul Paws
DRONE PILOT: Gavin Nash
DRONE PILOT: Alex Benn
DRONE PILOT: Tony Matulic
DRONE PILOT: Alex Doucas
DRONE PILOT: Dale Pearce
DRONE PILOT: Justin Power
DRONE PILOT: Ben Van Deventer

Drones over Monaco

Freep, you know you need one....      (Via FS Aviation )

Mclaren MP4 GT3 in HD

Go ahead, click the HD button, full screen and turn it up!

.

Helicam Drift

Brilliant.
Our Freep is a pilot and into all these RC contraption, I have to get him to get himself one of those! All you need is a Trex 700, a Canon DSLR and some a lot of skill...


(DK Video productions)
end of post

HD Four Way

Scooby Canada sent up this clip, interesting for a couple of reasons I thought. It's a user selectable multi angle clip, something I had not seen before on YouTube. You can choose a front bumper cam, an over the dash view, a rear side and driver action angle. Pretty cool and all shot in HD.

The other nice bit is that it's a clip of someone doing rally in North America who is not either Travis Pastrana or Ken Block, WIN!

Here is the caption from Subaru Canada

"We strapped four High-Definition cameras onto a Subaru WRX rally car, so now you can control the action.

Choose between four explosive angles to watch Subaru Rally Driver Pat Richard and navigator Alan Ockwell take on the tough Stage 4 of Tall Pines. It's rally racing like you've never seen before, and it's the type of performance at the heart of our newest creation - the 2011 Subaru WRX STI. "


end of post

Traqmate Traqdash Full Color Display

It's what I want for Christmas: this new display from Traqmate is compatible with your existing sensor unit and uses a touchscreen, iPhone style interface. Lap times, Shift lights, assignable gauges, Warning lights, predictive lap timing, but also text input which allows setting up the unit without the need for a computer.

UPDATE: After some sensible comment from you guys, I checked in with Traqmate to see how they solved the issue of a touchscreen device which would be operated with gloves.

As I imagined, being track guys, they had that taken care of: the screen does not work with finger contact, like the iPhone but rather is made to work with pressure. So using gloves is not an issue.

Along with the Traqdash display, Traqmate announced integration with Racecam HD. An HD update of the well known specialized motorsport camera, the RaceCam HD features 1080p video, a built in screen and external mic input all wrapped in a tough aluminum case. It will be able to be started and synced from the Traqmate.

The TraqDash display will be priced at $799.00 while the RaceCam HD will be $1499.00 (more after jump)






Traqmate Announces
TraqDash Full Color Touchscreen and the
RaceCamHD Motorsports Video System


Dec 2010 - As shown at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, Traqmate is now taking Pre-Orders for the both the TraqDash and the RaceCamHD systems. Supplies are limited, first come, first serve.


Traqmate introduces it's new full-color TraqDash touchscreen display unit. TraqDash is extremely powerful, easy to read and even easier to use. Features include multiple record modes, user-selectable gauge screens, built-in shift and warning lights, large easy-to-read numbers, awesome graphics, and Traqmate accuracy. TraqDash works with existing or new Sensor Units, cameras, and accessories.
Full Gauges and Shift Lights
Assignable Warning Lights
Compact 5.2" x 3.6" x 1"
Locking Connectors
Standard SD or SDHC Card
Superbright 4.3" Wide-Format Color Touchscreen
Works with all Traqmate Peripherals
Works with all Traqmate Sync Cameras

Click link below to for more information and to pre-order.

http://traqmate.com/traqdash/

The RaceCamHD is designed specifically for motorsports use, producing up to 1080P, the highest HD resolution. RaceCam is a pioneer in the commercial motorsports video market, with 16 years of experience. RaceCam has developed the next generation digital video recorder to continue their reputation as providing the highest performing in-car camera available. The RaceCamHD produces colorful, clear and stable, true High Definition video, with incredible picture balance, rarely seen when it comes to in-cockpit camera applications.

The RaceCamHD is a compact self-contained camera and digital video recorder which stores HD video files to a standard removable SDHC card. The RaceCamHD has playback capability either through the built-in color LCD or through an HDMI output connector. You can also display real time video in idle mode on the LCD screen or through HDMI, so you can effortlessly aim your camera.

1080p Full HD Recording
Wide Angle Lens
Top & Bottom Mounting
Compact 4" x 2" x 2"
Standard SDHC Card
H.264 MPEG-4 Video
Built-in Keypad Control
Color LCD for Aiming and Playback
Syncs with Traqmate
Built-in Mic w/External Option
Click link below to for more information and to pre-order.

http://traqmate.com/racecamhd/

Recording your passion: in-car camera roundup

What a great time for tracktard photo and videographers, there have never been better or more affordable tools to capture our passion. Check out this great clip shot with a still camera, a Canon 5D MkII. Creative possibilities have hugely expanded even in just the last year or so and after the jump we'll look at some of the best tools available to you.



Cool video right? It comes from Chean's Weblog via this other great page : Bulgogibrothers.com. Make sure you watch it full screen in HD to really see how good in car video can now be.



While some tracktards out there only want an onboard camera to have a record any incidents which might happen, the boundaries of what's possible, practical and affordable in terms of image quality have been radically shifted in the past year or so.

For a long time now the the gold standard for in-car video has been the ChaseCam system and for good reason. Compact, rugged, simple to use, the system was designed by car people for motorsport applications. But ChaseCam has an inherent flaw: it was designed for watching videos on a 4:3 televisions which means interlaced video. I don't think I'd be too off the mark if I said that 95% of all chase cam videos are watched on 16:9 computers screens today. Interlaced videos on computer screens simply don't look as good as progressive scan pictures from even a first generation GoPro camera, with all it's flaws.

The advent of inexpensive HD video has effectively rendered the first Chase Cam system obsolete in terms of image quality. Chase Cam has announced a new HD based recorder will be on the market this year and it will likely become the new standard. But there are a number of other solutions with great image quality available for al you "Motographers" out there.

GoPro updated their camera with impressive specs and some cool features: 1080P, 30 fps with a maximum 15Mbit/s data rate, the ability to do time lapse stills so, for example, you could make a video like this:



Personally I find the GoPro's ergonomics and the need for it to be in it's bulky case a bit frustrating and it does suffer from a bit of that dreaded "Rolling Shutter" artifact which makes it impossible to use so many CMOS based camcorders for in car footage (CCD camcorders don't have this problem but ...you can't find any now, HERE is an extreme example of the problem).

Here is a clip filmed with a GoPro HD


An alternative to the GoPro is a camera which has wide popularity with the extreme sports crowd, skiers, mountain bikers, base jumpers but for some reason not as popular yet with the four wheel motorsport set, the ContourHD1080p. Specs for the new ContourHD 1080p are comparable to the GoProHD but the ergonomics are in my opinion vastly superior. The design philosophy is to make a camera as simple to operate as possible. There is a power on/off button and a large record switch and you aim it with the aid of two built in lasers. All housed in a sleek metal water resistant housing...Done.

There is one hidden switch that allows the choice of two resolutions, preset via computer software. Via software you can also set the mic gain and the exposure as well a choice of three exposure metering modes, spot, center weighted and average. The ContourHD 1080P does a very good job in tricky lighting conditions (though it does get grainy in very low light), The video below was shot in the late afternoon with the sun low, you can see what a great job the camera does not only at picking a balanced exposure but also not freaking out with the changing lighting. (try fullscreen)




Another alternative is to use the video feature of many point and shoot cameras, results can be pretty good but these cameras are generally delicate and most don't have a wide enough field of view... this one was shot with a Canon PowerShot SD780IS




For the ultimate in quality and image control you can use a Canon SLR (Nikons have the wobbly rolling shutter issue) with its wide choice of lenses but of course, SLR's are expensive, heavy and relatively delicate and for a similar cost you might have a look at something like a Sony HXR-MC1 but frankly I think it's not worth the money, the Sony lacks crucial "pro" features such as external mic inputs for example while not providing a drastically better picture.

Of course both the Contour and the GoPro lack a remote start feature but they are $300. You could buy a SmartyCam for about $1000 it features a live data overlay and connection to AIM systems but the image quality is just OK and the data overlay has some sync problems. Convenient, especially if you already have AIM but Traqmate's TraqstudioHD produces a cleaner overlay and final result. (example HERE)



So, while we wait to see ChaseCam's second act, a number of simpler, lower priced alternatives have raised the bar very high. Best time ever for tracktardographers!.

Please share your thoughts, expertise and setup as reference.

Speed in Slow Motion

(YouTube)



Home

Bavarian Concerto M88, second movement, andante moderato.

A very nice in car High Definition camera setup in this BMW M1 Procar. I recommend turning up the volume and hitting the "full screen" button on the lower right.

The M88 still produces one of the best engine notes ever, even when not pushed to the max. It just never gets old.

(HD onboard cameras by DriveData)



More Bavarian Symphonies on Axis HERE and HERE