Production Standards
Images
All digital footage is filmed with 3-CCD Mini-DV cameras. Occasional use has been made of Super-8 (movie) material,
professionally transferred to video. Use of Super-8 footage, where it appears, is always indicated in descriptions of the videos.
All editing is digital. There is no loss of quality in the editing and production processes.
Stills
Computer-generated graphics are used for additional explanatory data, such as maps, gradient diagrams, and diagrams
or sketches of mechanical features.
Supporting stills are drawn from a number of sources, including archival material from public and private collections.
Selected 35mm slides, from a collection dating back to 1959 for some subjects, are also used where required. Some
stills and moving sequences sourced from the video footage itself are also used with descriptive voice-over.
Audio Recording
Field recording uses
professional microphones, with windshielding wherever conditions require. All record to a 16-bit DV soundtrack. |
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Audio on the final video
All sound heard on
the final video is from field recordings. There is no music in action sequences. Sometimes music and other noises
will be heard in the background; these are "ambient" sound recorded at the same time as the video footage.
Where present, they have been left in to enhance the atmosphere.
Most DVD productions now have Dolby 2.0 (AC-3) sound.
On the final production, voice-overs are limited to explanatory material such as stills, diagrams, and historical
information. Technical details are explained, but they do not clash with the action, in order to avoid spoiling
the enjoyment of the trains at work. It is quite probable that viewers will tire of the explanations long before
the excitement of the action; by limiting voice-overs to particular segments, these may easily be skipped if desired.
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In addition, all recent DVD productions
permit the viewer to switch the voice-over commentary on/off. |
Further information
Each production is
supplied with a printed sheet containing summary information about the subject matter, and maps, diagrams, or gradient
profiles where required. Sources of further information, such as books, journals, etc., are indicated where known,
and information about relevant organisations is included.
DVDs include .pdf files of diagrams and source material (including the summaries) and may also include slide shows
in some cases. |
