Steam & Excursion > Cumbres & Toltec from the Air

The title pretty much says it all. - After many years of line side filming the first efforts with a drone. Gosh, Cumbres & Toltec country is spectacular. Make sure you watch all the way to the end - It's only 5 minutes long - for a clip that didn't go so well.

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Awesome!

Good film and I enjoyed watching it.


Chris

The pacing shots are all but surreal!
SR

THIS is one of THE best drone films I can recall seeing!!!! Thanks for posting this. Out of curiosity what drone are you flying?

Good footage for a TV ad!

Superb!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Thank you.

A DGI Mavic. The sound was recorded separately and added later.

It took me quite a while to get this, and with more practice I will get better at it. I have some footage of double headers coming soon.

This is some excellent work for a new drone videographer! Others including Wacky Roger have done some excellent work and they have shown us a whole new dimension to photography and videography!
Thank you, Steve Rippeteau

Thank you. I know Roger and I'm a great admirer of his work. He has been very generous with his time and knowledge which help me get started.

Questions: Is the drone camera also able to record the sound by transmitting to your base controller? Or is the sound recorded from the ground where you are standing? If the sound is recorded separately then the sound would have to be dubbed in later? The reason for asking is at 2:30 at the start of the excellent pacing the #1 safety valve appears to be open. However we do not hear the loud hissing. Then later near the top of the hill, at 4:00 the safety valve is again blowing off and we hear it, loud and clear. What is happening?
Hope the drone was recovered in good condition after that cool shot of pulling back into the trees with the view of the bridge?
Wind and power/phone lines need to be avoided. It is amazing at how the camera remains steady.
So yes we would like to know more about your drone and equipment. What brand and cost?
Steve Rippeteau

Steve,

Thank you for the questions. The drone was successfully recovered with just a few minor scratches. After replacing one set of rotor blades it performed flawlessly for the rest of the time that I was in Chama.

The drone used was a DGI Mavic. It costs around £1000 here in the UK.

I was wondering when someone would ask about the film sound. Any sound recorded by the drone is unusable because of the sound of the rotors. Other than one short segment, none of it was recorded at the time of filming. The sound track has been made up from recordings made over the years with my friend, funnily enough also called Steve, when we visited the railroad. I edited the clips together and then went through the archive of recordings matching picture to sound.

As for your point about the safety valve lifting and not being able to hear it, there is nothing going on other than the fact that I'd missed that. When you watch the clip as often as I have putting this together you often become blind to some of the most obvious things that without a second pair of eyes, and quite frankly often with them, get missed.

I have a sequel in the works. The Cumbres & Toltec From The Air 2: Double Headers. I will be very careful not to make the same mistake again.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/18 10:38 by Rattie.

No problem with the sound, it is excellent! I had just remembered that Roger said something in one of his earlier posts on TO that he had recorded the sound at ground level. So now it easy to understand that your work involved a lot more time, video equipment, skill and knowledge of steam locomotive sounds. My father made a career in the motion picture business in the Chicago area. Most of his work was freelance so he worked as a film script writer, film editor and sundry other jobs to get the film "in the can". He took an interest in my hobby of photographing trains when I was a teenage mutant railfan. So he trained me well, but that was over 50 years ago. So while I am video challenged we can all appreciate your work.
Thank you, Steve Rippeteau

That was a great series! Thanks so much for putting it together and sharing it! Also glad to hear that the drone was okay after that last scene.

-Brian

Awesome wants you head to Chama for a ride

Wayne Crabb
San Gabriel, CA

Great work. In 2018 hopefully someone can drone film Tanglefoot Curve as a westbound climbs the hill.

Fantastic.. Thanks for posting..........
........Swede...........Albany,OR...........

Wow! That is some nice footage.