Production history, and the future

We love doing what we do on Machine Zealots. Working on cars, attending car shows, and even just driving around. However, none of that is as important as documenting it on video and sharing it with the world. I started filming what we do from an iPhone 3GS, which doesn't even shoot HD video, then I went onto using strictly GoPro Cameras. Big thanks to GoPro for their help and support.

Shooting with GoPros.

Ever since the Machine Zealots' YouTube channel was born, I've already put in constant upgrades into our arsenal of production hardware. We started with a GoPro HD Hero and recorded both the audio and video on that one camera. However, the GoPro camera didn't have the sound quality I needed, so I ended up buying a Zoom H1 audio recorder. Later on, GoPro sponsored two of their newest cameras for Machine Zealots to use, the GoPro HD Hero 2.

Autocrossing with an arsenal of cameras.

While these cameras are both versatile and powerful, there are things they just can not do. That is why I have been asking around for camera advice, and doing tons of research. We plan on investing in a DSLR, which is a much more powerful camera, but also within our budget. Most importantly, this camera will have a lens, so there is much more to play with from here on out. I am very excited for the future, and I'll do an entire write up of our equipment and editing software for you guys some day. I've been asked many times what we use to make our videos, so I suppose I owe you guys a behind the scenes look at Machine Zealots.

Two birds with one Car

I know some of you don't care when and how often we air the YouTube episodes, but I like to make strict schedules and procedures, and follow them to the letter. However, sometimes work and other things pile up, and these YouTube episodes get delayed. This week's episode will have to be delayed till next week. There is just no way I can maintain the quality I had intended for this episode, and air the episode in time.

The coming episode will touch upon the Bridgestone Potenza RE070s Extreme Summer Performance tires, as well as a slight overview of the current state of the STI on our show, our very own Project Impulse.

I'll be trying out some new editing techniques on this episode as well, and if successful we will be using it on many future episodes. All of the above takes time, so please be patient. However, because we aren't airing the episode on time this week, I thought it would be nice to show you guys some screen captures of our work in progress.

Three live cameras, synced together.

Spades doing most of the driving for the episode.

As mentioned earlier, there was an accident during our shoot. One of the GoPro cameras mounted on Puyang's lead camera car, fell off and made a huge tumble on the pavement. Camera C mounted on his car, caught the whole thing on film. Below are a sequence of four images, depicting what happened:

GoPro camera (Camera B) loses suction on the Honda Prelude and falls off. Both the Camera car and Subject car are moving at 40 MPH.

Distance between the two cars are consistent, as seen in the picture sequence. The camera is bouncing off the pavement, and flying towards the STI at an alarming rate. 

Spades behind the wheel, does a quick steering maneuver to avoid it. Not knowing it was the Camera at the time.

After the maneuver, Spades looks up and sees the missing Camera B on Puyang's car.

We actually have the footage from the falling camera as well. I went through that footage frame by frame, and counted the amount of times the Camera did a complete 360 degree tumble. It had done nine complete tumbles before coming to a complete stop on the pavement face down. In the footage, you see the back end of the Honda Prelude, and you see glimpses of the STI's hawkeye headlights coming towards it. There were some glimpses of the sky, trees, and other things as well. The footage was massively distorted, but I think I will include that footage for you guys anyways, lol.

It's just a thought right now, but I might use the footage we have right now for two episodes. Since this week's episode will be delayed, I'd like to make it up to you guys, and possibly give you guys two videos on back to back weeks. I'll see what I can do to keep you guys entertained.

That's it for now! Stay tuned!

The Good, the Bad, and the Handsome

This morning, the Machine Zealots team set in motion to do some massive filming for the next episode. One of the viewers had asked us to talk about the difference between Performance Summer tires and Performance Winter tires. The episode in progress was meant to touch upon that subject, but mainly, it has been a while since we've shown some good old driving videos! That is all the information we are going to release on this episode for now. However, if you are interested in todays process, feel free to continue reading.

GoPro Cameras setup!

We'd like to thank GoPro for sponsoring us these two new cameras, because for shots like these, having more than one camera is very benefitial. If you are a frequent race car driver, investing in one or two of these cameras are a must. More cameras, means more angles, means more footage in one pass. We actually had to rotate the three cameras around three times in different locations, giving us nine different angles to use in our final edit.

STI ready for action!

Puyang, as our second camera man today.

We woke up at 9 AM this morning, planning out our shooting route, pit stops, and the different angles needed for today. We left home base around 10 AM, packed up all the cameras, tripods, and other equipment. We proceeded to shoot on our most familiar location, which I like to call it, the Machine Zealots' Test Track, lol.

Puyang and the STI.

Admiring the STI, while the car cools down.

We finished shooting part one around 12 PM. We went back to home base and set up Puyang's car to be the camera car. This would give us more dynamic shots of the STI as it's driving. On the way to our destination, one of the GoPro cameras fell off his car and did a massive tumble on the pavement! I was behind Puyang at the time, thank God, and saw some plastic thing fly towards the STI. We went back to pick up the camera, and found it like this:

GoPro lens and case is beat up from falling off moving car.

As I ran for the dropped camera, several cars seem to have just ignored it, and drove on through it. Luckily the camera avoided its ruthless demise since it had dropped in the middle of the street, and avoided all the tires of the oncoming cars. We met up at the nearest pit stop, and checked the condition of the camera. The good news is, the camera was STILL SHOOTING! I'll be sure to include the dropping of the camera in our final edit, it made us all laugh. We finished up around 12:30 PM, giving today a total shooting time of two and a half hours. I'll have more previews from our edit for you guys to see as soon as I find the time to compile them!

Stay tuned.

Oh yes, one last thing, we are on Instagram, so be sure to follow us if you are interested in some Machine Zealots daily life adventures!

GoPro HD Hero 2 tests on the Audi R8

I had an opportunity to test out the capabilities of the new GoPro camera yesterday as Puyang and I headed down to the showrooms of Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. We were looking at some of the new 2012 models, and when we weren't test driving, or just sitting in the high end leather wrapped interiors, I took the opportunity to try out some of the new features and sought to see if GoPro's claim of the camera being two times better held any truth.

Now, these are actually screen captures I took from a test video I've edited. The original footage was shot at 1080p HD and rendered out as 720p HD. I've also adjusted the color and contrast so it looks extra sharp. However, the video quality was indeed better than the previous GoPro version. I'm not sure if it's really two times better, but there is a definite added crispness to the videos. The test video I shot was with one of the new functions included in the HD Hero 2: 90 Degree Narrow FOV (Field of View).

With the new FOV options, the new GoPro really is a lot more versatile than before. Now I don't have to be forced to make everything look so distorted with the fish eye lens. 90 Degree FOV works really well capturing things like cars, because it won't distort the lines too much. To be really honest, I was getting tired of the wide angle lens. This is sure to change the game!

I won't be posting this test video, sorry for the people who want to see it, but it has been a great experiment as I got to try out all sorts of new techniques for editing and shooting. Hopefully, you guys will see it in the future videos.

2 Heroes to the Rescue

There has been an ongoing business conversation between GoPro and Machine Zealots for a couple of months now. At the end of 2011, just when the GoPro HD Hero 2 was being released, I got in contact with the person running the sponsorship programs for GoPro asking for a partnership/sponsorship.

Obviously, we've all come across people on Forums, and what not, who ask for Sponsorships with the sole intention of getting free stuff. It's really hard to pitch for a sponsorship these days because of that.

Our pitch to GoPro was a tough sell, but luckily some people are just willing to give you a chance to prove yourselves. We were given a list of objectives to complete, and we ended up completing it on our Taiwan Special episode.

Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Machine Zealots' new companions:

GoPro HD Hero 2 with some stickers.

A close up on the Camera.

Motorsports Edition.

Features!

More features!

The new GoPros are priced at $300 per camera, although very pricey, it is still a very good investment in my honest opinion. Apparently, it is two times better in every way, and even has better low light sensors, giving you the best quality in low light situations. There are so many new features on this new camera, I can't wait to try them out!

We are very excited to be able to shoot our new episodes with the GoPro HD Hero 2!

Thanks a lot GoPro!

There's a storm coming

We are finally approaching the last few days of winter, and as always, this means we are all psyched to take our cars out for road trips, attend race tracks, and car meets! I'm just going to take this time to update you guys on current events, and a small forecast of what storm we, at Machine Zealots here, are brewing up.

First off, if you guys have seen the most recent episode, Subaru Engine Oil Change, you may have noticed about two minutes into the episode there seems to be something blurring the lower left hand corner of the lens. Now granted, no one has commented on it yet, but I'm sure most of you have seen it, lol. This was due to myself being clumsy and dropping the camera on the pavement, lens first. You can hardly see it on the outside, it's such a small scratch, but of course, GoPro's fantastic wide angle lens just amplifies the scratch making it into a huge blur. This episode was aired a week later than planned due to this issue, but as they say, "The show must go on."

I finished the episode, hoping that my editing skills could divert the attention away from that awful blur. If you guys had no idea of the blur, then I suppose I did a good job, but then again, I ended up telling you guys I made a mistake anyway. Oops.

Well, I admit to my fault because this has something to do with the upcoming weeks. I got a new set of lenses from GoPro for this camera, but then I got hooked on the GoPro HD Hero 2, so I'm now trying to get my hands on one, lol.

Lens replacement kit. Comes with 2 lenses, waterproof seals, screws, and a screwdriver.

Anyway, I thought to myself, while I'm waiting for the new GoPro Camera, I may as well shoot the new episodes with it. So what to do in this waiting period? Well, I remastered two episodes from my old Project Spades V6 days. I plan on airing them starting Friday, March 2nd, back to back weeks. In the show business, they would just play re-runs while they were catching up to airing schedule dates. Sadly, I can not do that for Youtube, since viewing videos online is not totally linearly based. Therefore, I am hoping these videos will keep most of you guys entertained for the next couple of weeks as I get my affairs in order.

Airing March 2nd - Caliper Painting with the G2 Caliper Paint Kit.

Airing March 9th - Camaro Engine Oil Change with Castrol Edge.

For those who have watched these episodes in the past, keep in mind that these are remastered, not just re-rendered. New background music, removed a lot of unnecessary stuff, and applied new filtering effects. For those of you who are just looking for videos on the STI, I'm afraid you will have to wait.

I've also made a new tab on the blog called "MZ Projects". Although it is under some construction, I plan to have this page feature all the cars Machine Zealots gets their hands on. You can also refer to it for upcoming modifications planned for each Project Car. I'll be expanding the page as time goes on, but as you can see, there are several things on the plate for the STI already. A couple of other people I've talked to recently want to help with the videos with their cars, but I'll tell you guys more about that when we get there. Some car club meets, and car shows are just over the horizon as well. Needless to say, this is looking to be one of our busiest years!

20 Dollar Tripod

As some of you know, I am very dedicated to improving my videos. I invested in a GoPro camera because I was tired of making videos with my iPhone. I invested in an external microphone because the built-in mic on the GoPro was terrible. My most recent investment is an aluminum tripod. I used to stack the camera on boxes, or got someone else to hold the camera.

With my own lightweight tripod, I can shoot better videos anytime, and anywhere!

I'm not making any money doing these videos, so I am always finding ways to crunch my budget, but at the same time deliver the best content I can produce. This tripod costed me only $20! It's actually pretty good too. It has every function you can think of, and maybe a little bit more.

A little leveler, nice.

Another leveler, plus a compass!

Next week's video has already been shot and edited. It will be another DIY tutorial. Eventhough it will be a simple one, I'm pretty sure you guys will enjoy it. Stay tuned!

Information Overdrive

It's been busy lately, and my packages purchased during the month have all arrived on the same day.

Seatbelt Pads from Hong Kong purchased on eBay.

Squash scented air freshner also from Hong Kong purchased on eBay. I needed this because of the odor the previous owner had left in the car.

A Zoom H1 portable microphone with an Audio-Technica Lavalier microphone. This is just a small investment for the show, so you guys won't have to listen to the GoPro's crappy mic quality.

Other than my packages arriving, two of my best friends decided to stop by to chat and hang out. I took this opportunity to take some videos, and pictures of all of our cars on my driveway.

2010 Subaru Impreza STI, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, and a 99 Honda Prelude. Pretty cool line up of cars, I just wished my driveway could fit more. lol.

The Big, The Bad, and the Camaro

Feels like I can't do things fast enough. With work and daily life, I feel like I've been locked up, and I really want to burst out of this cage of excitement!

For those of you reading and coming to this blog on a regular basis, I appreciate it, and it will only get better. How much better?




My friend and fellow Camaro owner and I were hanging out yesterday. I tuned his car via the Trifecta tune, free'd up some locked ponies, and got rid of the nasty Check Engine Light left from his BBK Long Tube Headers. All in all, I think he was satisfied with the tune. Although, we are waiting for results of the tune's datalog. The video above was just a test video we shot with the GoPro HD Hero. In my opinion, the quality is top notch, though the Mic is crap. After my superior editing skills, and some epic background music, I thought it would be best if I made it into something more fun. Thus, I made it into a teaser for the upcoming videos.

For those of you who haven't yet, please subscribe to the Spades V6 Youtube Channel, and Join the Facebook page as well. For those of you who have, thanks!

Outrun and Spades

In other news, B&M Racing's own Kenji has e-mailed me this morning, telling me the paddle shifter paddles has shipped, even gave me a tracking number! It could possibly be arriving tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. At that time, I will post teaser pictures for you guys, but no review. With consent from Kenji, and the B&M Racing team, I will do a full video review and install for you guys.

Going Pro, being a Hero

A couple of days ago, my GoPro HD Hero camera came in the mail. I've been trying to get used to it, so when I amp up the Spades V6 youtube channel, I'll know what I'm doing. Off the bat, the camera is super compact, and very impressive for such a small device. Frame rates, Angle of View, and Image quality are all top notch.

Yesterday, my family and I went to the local Auto Mall and checked out some cars. I used this time to try out the camera. Got a couple of pictures here to share with you all.

Whether you are a Camaro lover or not, who could deny the beauty of expensive cars? I had a good time, and fun experimenting with the camera.

Anyway, I haven't had time to really update any substantial Camaro posts these days; all in due time though.

I have a couple of things on my list I will be working on soon. I have to do an oil change, tune a friend's Camaro, wash my car, and apply my Grand Sport Stripes. All of which, I will be video documenting. In other news, I am expecting two more packages in the mail. Kenji from B&M Racing, has contacted me and told me that their prototype paddle shifter paddles have been successfully made, and he is sending them out to me for my thoughts and review. While the other package is a secret... only a select people I trust know what it is. I can tell you right now, some people will hate me for it, and some will love me for it. You'll have to stay tuned to find out. =D

If you haven't already joined the Spades V6 Facebook page, or subscribed to the Spades V6 Youtube channel, please do, and you'll be getting any updates I shout out.