My wife's cousin sent us this video. It is entertaining in itself, but it caused me to think 'what if....'. Can you imagine having passengers walking down your station platforms? That's just one possibility. Have a look:
Granted the technology is still limited. You have to have a surface on which to project the images, and the viewing perspective would seem to require that the viewer be pretty much straight overtop of the image, but I can see this stuff becoming part of this hobby and many others.
The ultimate would be 3D projections. The technology already exists to make them crisp and clear.
What do you think?
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterWhat do you think?
Where's Brent?
That sure looks like Meryl there
Meryl by Edmund, on Flickr
I've seen a few model RR videos that use a "green-screen" video background that can look pretty convincing.
Neat Stuff! Regards, Ed
gmpullmanWhere's Brent? That sure looks like Meryl there
They're everywhere! They're everywhere!
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
BATMAN They're everywhere! They're everywhere!
Perfect rejoinder Ed
The initial difficulty is that immensely bright edge-to-edge illumination is needed, the viewing angle is fairly critical, and of course anything that casts a shadow interrupts the image.
Some of the anamorphic issues can be handled with modern gaming techniques if you have some way to head- or eye-track the viewer. The original approach to "3D" haptic images required a relatively large number of projectors/lenses, a bit like a gamma knife in reverse, or extensive robotics to move a smaller number.
Something I have wanted to do for decades (crystallized, in fact, after seeing Bednar videos although desired earlier) is use of video techniques to put human images in the windows of locomotives and cabooses, animated as individuals and 'acting out scenes'. I was hoping to adapt something like small high-resolution phone screens to fit in or behind cab windows, using data fusion to display a 'seamless image' where needed across angled screen transitions. Going along with this is ACTUAL cab-chatter or conversation effects, as actual people running the trains might engage in. To me this promised as much of an increase in model verisimilitude as the introduction of accurate mechanical sound.
OvermodSomething I have wanted to do for decades (crystallized, in fact, after seeing Bednar videos although desired earlier) is use of video techniques to put human images in the windows of locomotives and cabooses, animated as individuals and 'acting out scenes'. I was hoping to adapt something like small high-resolution phone screens to fit in or behind cab windows, using data fusion to display a 'seamless image' where needed across angled screen transitions. Going along with this is ACTUAL cab-chatter or conversation effects, as actual people running the trains might engage in. To me this promised as much of an increase in model verisimilitude as the introduction of accurate mechanical sound.
Hi Overmod,
That is a very interesting concept! In addition to rolling stock, it could be used in structures. Imagine having a scene showing the Diner with Vinnie hovering in the back corner and the waitresses and customers moving around! The screen technology is already here. The images could be animated or taken from a real live action scene.
Absolutely, and even 'static' detail in walls could be provided that way. There was a posted picture a couple of months ago, taken at an angle that showed 'posters' and other personalized decor inside an apartment in a model building. That's the sort of thing that gives life to a good scene.
In that respect, something that didn't get the full 'press' I expected was E-ink, especially the color kind that is essentially pixel-addressable. This can be programmed and rewritten but requires no power to sustain the image; I saw reasonable slow-scan video done on a couple of samples. This would let background or details change periodically but 'stay' effectively permanently once changed.
As with some other technology the expense of a 'programming device' for the material could be shared, or the equipment provided on a rental basis or 'via the cloud'.
When I came back to this hobby in 2004, I was still involved in my high-tech computer stuff and simulation. To my great surprise, I found that my greatest pleasure wasn't in DCC or the other electronics of the current era, but rather in the simple pleasure of creating a hydrocal casting from a latex mold.
There is just as much satisfaction from the old techniques of scenery and painting in model railroading as there ever was. Please don't forget the art that is layout construction, the old fashioned way.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I dunno, Dave. It reminds me again of the giraffe car or the conductor slinging milk cans all over the landscape. Has nobody the imagination to fill-in whatever "blanks" they might feel exist on their layouts?
My layout's DC powered, but my locomotives still belch smoke and steam, the bells ring and the whistles sound their mournful tones, a crew member in the cab strikes a match on the backhead to light his smoke. When I'm running a train, whether just a jaunt around the layout or an actual run, where the train drops-off and picks-up cars along the way, it takes me back to the days when I was three years old and they ran past my front porch, while I took in the sights and sounds, and smells of that whole experience. That wonder and that enjoyment, has never left my mind, so I can live it again and again, just as real as it ever was. No artificial sweeteners required at all.
Wayne
Hi Wayne,
You do make a good point. A major part of the enjoyment of the hobby is using our imaginations. Using electronically generated scenes could be like a lot of modern kid's toys where they look neat but all the kid can do is sit and stare at them.
I think the best application would be in structures. It would have to be done in moderation. Having something going on behind every window would be overwhelming, but having a few scenes where things move would be very entertaining for visitors. In fact, I think the primary purpose would be to entertain guests. Also, most model structures are boring to me. Blank windows totally turn me off. Unless there has been a lot of effort put into creating 3D scenes with proper lighting, most structures are lifeless IMHO. This is just another option to liven things up.
hon30critterUsing electronically generated scenes could be like a lot of modern kid's toys where they look neat but all the kid can do is sit and stare at them.
If you have seen some of Mike Bednar's videos, where he calls out who is on the engine and what some of their history is, and they wave to him like they know him, it adds worlds of humanity to what, before, was no more personal than machines moving cars around. It is that sense of individual, living personhood that makes the 'chef' video so special, and the thing I have wanted to add to 'operation' interest.
Yeah, break the fourth wall and have the engineer wave up to the big people once in a while. It doesn't have to be like that sig where the owner runs the model hobo off his train...
This topic got me to thinking how neat it would be for a brakeman or in modern times a conductor walking to a switch to throw it. A modern yard conductor with a belly pack..
Although I never been a big fan of electronically generated doodads but, this one has merits.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"