[Don Sofranko]

Rob...
I am a big fan of your work, and have only known 1-2 other guys capable of doing this caliber of video work. I am really enjoying my look back into old home movies, old racing films, and exploring what is out there on youtube, over this winter.

Could you explain how you get videos over 15 minutes to upload? My transfer process from S-VHS master video tape, is done with a DVD based system. I use a Phillips DVDR-3455H DVD recorder, which is a non HDTV recorder made in 2006. They sold them at walmarts back in the day, and they have a 250 Gig hard drive on board. Pretty cool items still valued today. I import into the hard drive with video settings at 4:3 ratio LB letter box, and then have my best luck splitting the film into just under 15 minutes each. Then four 15 minute sections are burned into a 1 hour DVD-R disc, and taken to a computer and uploaded from there. If I just make a 1 hour disc with no sections, it often makes 4 sections on the disc recording process, in places I don't want.

Then when I upload from the burned dvd, youtube splits my films into near 15 minute sections, and this sometimes creates a splice where I don't want it. Sometimes the uploads are unreliable if I try to add sections in longer or shorter sections.

I am wondering if I should be using imovie on a mac or something else? It seems like your editing and title adding is professional quality. Your camera work is also pretty steady, good job! Do you have a premium youtube subscription? Are your films edited and spliced on imovie and then formed into a master upload file?

Here are a few of my tips for good racing films, for everyone.
1- my focus isn't always perfect, as I set it to manual, then fully zoom in on the scoreboards, then focus for that length, and leave it there. Autofocus will change if anything gets in the line of sight. Many new cameras don't allow manual only focus, and that sucks not to have the option. The focus also suffers because its just hard to see how correct it is in the tiny viewfinder.

2- I get laughed at for having such an old shoulder mount camcorder, but the TV news guys have big old shoulder mount cameras, so that must be best. I know this camera kicked out some great work in my day, and have ran some newer cameras that didn't make smoother films, so old reliable stays with me. I like to keep a firm grip on the camera, lower my right elbow to my chest (to steady), and use my left arm as an additional steady support, and digital still freeze effect. Even with all this, its hard to hold it perfectly still for 1 hour straight.

3- Film with the sun to your back on early and late day shots, video and digital cameras don't like rear light, or rear flood or musco lights.

4- Film from the 60foot clocks, so you can see the rear tires on both cars, and then, it helps to know which car is likely to leave first, or is a favored customer, in case you have to let one car get out of the view finder.

5- after the run is over, do a simple continuous pan and capture both ET's off the scoreboard. If the announcer is fun to listen to, I have a digital still button, which holds the last image, and continues recording the sound.