Fast as Funk is back - A new Sand Scorcher movie

[Wireless]

Hi All,

After a long absence of movie-making (I simply have not had the time), I have made a comeback with a brand new Sand Scorcher movie...! Shot during the summer of 2006 at Shell Island in Wales with Moosey, Stevo309, Volksrod, Zakspeed and myself. Five of the best looking Sand Scorchers you will see being pushed to their limits in the best location ever...! Over 10 minutes of action in this long-play special. It's a big file and busts the size limits for TC, so you will have to click over to Tamiya101.com to check it out. Link below... :

http://www.tamiya101.com/show_web_movie.asp?id=14

I really hope you enjoy watching it as much as I had fun making it...! Thanks to the T101 guys for hosting it for me...

Cheers,

Roop (Wireless)

[Dr.Robotnik]

I would very much like to see your movie but it would appear that you have to join tamiya101.com. I am not adverse to doing this and was thinking of doing it anyway, however for others, perhaps it would be easier if it was hosted elsewhere?[]

[Wireless]

Perhaps it would be easier if it was hosted elsewhere?[]

No problem, if you can find free hosting for a streamable 20+MB movie that allows direct hotlinking without popup ads then I'll go for it...! Trouble is it's almost impossible to find. It's a Tamiya movie in a Tamiya environment - If it wasn't so darn big I'd have put it on TC...!

[supergreg]

I know you guys are making money out of Tamiya101.com, but wouldn`t it be better to host a lower res version of less than 15 Meg on TC at least?

[volksrod68]

'dy ell! everyone wants things for nothing! Top movie mate, just a shame weve gota wait another year for the next trip there :-(

[Badboy]

Yepp!!

Awesome movie!

Beats the Tamiya Promo with Truck length!!!

Volksrods Baja looks awesome in slo´mo´...

If I didn´t knew better I´d think it was the real stuff!!!

Next time Tmaiya101 realese a new Buy DVD Please make it "play all" mode, so you just hit the button and watch the hole vid!!!

Cheers

Badboy

[Dr.Robotnik]

Perhaps it would be easier if it was hosted elsewhere?[]

No problem, if you can find free hosting for a streamable 20+MB movie that allows direct hotlinking without popup ads then I'll go for it...! Trouble is it's almost impossible to find. It's a Tamiya movie in a Tamiya environment - If it wasn't so darn big I'd have put it on TC...!

Sorry Wireless, I am not aux fait with all things internet related and didn't realise it was hosted there because of the size and the other things you mentioned. I wasn't having a go either it was just meant as a suggestion.

Out of interest, does youtube or putfile not allow the things you mentioned? As far as I am aware they don't have popup ads, are free and allow direct hotlinking, you could even embed a video link in your post. Just a thought.

 

[Wireless]

Whoa...! What an assault...!

 Thanks for the kind comments, but I should answer a few criticisms here. First off, I am not affiliated with T101 in any way and I do not make anything from Tamiya101. No money, no free DVD. Zip. Nada. Nothing. All I get is some kudos off those guys as they were able to host my video and TC wasn't. The reason I couldn't put it on TC is because it was too big (over 10 mins and bigger than 20MB). The bitrate had to be cut to 384kbit/s to go on T101. The next step down makes the quality unbrearable and it is seriously not worth uploading - trust me, I tried it...!

 Dr.R - no worries mate, no offence taken - you have a good point. I have got a YouTube and Google Video account and I will probably put more movies on there at some point (search for "Reservoir Bugs" on Google Videos), but I wanted to offer it to the T101 guys first. The reason for this is two fold. Firstly both Youtube and Google Videos reencode the videos and the quality loss is apalling. I wanted to avoid this. Secondly because the T101 guys are busting their balls to get the site up and running I thought it was a nice way to say "Here you go guys, thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work". (I doubt very much if they are making any money at all off it right now, despite all the DVD sales. Wesbite development and hosting is not cheap - I was in the business for 5 years).

I didn't put itonto Putfile as I don't have an account with them and don't like their delayed download stuff. Because of this you cannot hotlink directly to a file.

Hope this helps answer the reasons why it isn't on TC or YouTube etc...

Roop

[Petrolhead]

Well, I absolutely loved the movie! Great editing Roop!

 

[MikeT]

Top Editing Roop, some Quality footage there too!

Now then, need another scorcher..

[Stevo309]

I can't help but be angry and dismayed by some of the comments made here. Why not sign up for Tamiya101.com? It's totally free and viewing the movie on there will cost you nothing, as Roop says it's on a Tamiya related site too and not some anonymous movie site. Yes here on TC would be a good place but please guys why you can't you support a new website? Hats off to Roop and a massive thanks for coming forward and offering this movie to us and offering other help too where nobody else has bothered. 

As long as we can manage it we have no intention of charging for use of Tamiya101. Who do you think foots the bill for the running costs of the site not to mention many 100's if not 1000's of hours of time invested? Moosey and myself really have built the site for the love of the hobby, to fill what we saw as a need (to specialise in the early Tamiya's and concentrate on quality content) and yes to sell some DVDs. I don't feel in any way we should justify the little money that's made from the sale of DVDs any more than Chris should be asked to justify the small profit he might make from repro decals etc. If you think we're getting rich from this site or the DVDs think again, you are very very wrong.

T101 is in no way intended to compete with TC and never will do, it's not a club just what we hope will become a valuable resource for everyone interested in the early models to enjoy (for FREE). So, instead of making selfish suggestions about how it could be easier for YOU to see these web movies etc etc why don't you think about how YOU could make a positive contribution to the hobby and support a new website?

 

[gazwilts]

i cant understand why anyone who loved tamiyas wouldnt want to be a member of 101, dont be put off and please, please carry on doing what your doing with the site, its a great contribution to our hobby and im very grateful to you guys for putting in the effort!

 

gaz

[Moosey]

Top movie Roop! Many thanks for sorting it for us. Just what the web site needs people who will give us a little of there time.

 

And I agree with everything Steve has said here. It's very disapointing to know people can't be bothered or don't want to register on our site. What's easier than typing in your e-mail address & user name? You do exactly the same on TC, So what's different?

 

I think the problem lies in that some people think we are doing it as a money maker. And seem to be threatend by this. I do feel pity for you, Because you don't know what your missing & your passion for the hobby lies at a different level than us.

[DJTheo]

I do feel pity for you, Because you don't know what your missing & your passion for the hobby lies at a different level than us.

Sorry, but you are not Tamiya god as noone here is and cannot decide if some has passion or not, by if he registers to your site or not. Many people for different reasons don't like registration sites and if you check TC and most www success stories they grew as you could access most contents without login. I was going to register to tamiya101.com and was linking it from my site but after such elitistic and superficial arguments and comments I have to revise both, nothing personal to you or Stevo, but different philosophies.

Cheers

[Dr.Robotnik]

Top movie Roop! Many thanks for sorting it for us. Just what the web site needs people who will give us a little of there time.

And I agree with everything Steve has said here. It's very disapointing to know people can't be bothered or don't want to register on our site. What's easier than typing in your e-mail address & user name? You do exactly the same on TC, So what's different?

I think the problem lies in that some people think we are doing it as a money maker. And seem to be threatend by this. I do feel pity for you, Because you don't know what your missing & your passion for the hobby lies at a different level than us.

I don't know what to say other than please carefully read my previous posts!

You guys aren't doing yourself any favours by getting upset as 100% of people who've commented on the actual movie after seeing it have been overflowing with praise for the movie and your site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stevo309]

OK firstly i'd like to apologise to anyone who has taken personal offence here (especially Dr.Robotnik) as I assure you that in no way were my comments aimed at anyone in particular at all and in that respect has been misinterpreted. I don't want this thread to turn into a fight here either so will try and keep this short.

My comments really were based on my feelings at that time, i wasn't trying to be aggressive either. I was merely stating fact at that time about how i was feeling "generally" about comments that have been made about the site. I'm not just talking about this thread either, many more things have been said before also by email. Our intentions for the site were for the good of the hobby and we have invested huge amounts of time into this to post up all the images, articles, model info etc that we have. Sometimes when you work so hard and people "appear" to be criticising and not coming forward with help it's hard to take. This does go back a long way and up until last night i had resisted the urge to comment. I wish i hadn't done so at all now and won't do again. I hope people feel that this work is a "positive" contribution to the hobby.

The intentions of asking people to sign-up for the site was simply so we could build a list of subscribers who we could send email newsletters to and also to encourage upload of photos etc nothing more than that and we never intend to charge to use the site.

Drawing something good from this though we'll seriously consider the option to open up the content to all without registering if we can withstand the bandwidth costs.

Thanks to everyone who HAS encouraged and supported us.

[Dr.Robotnik]

Thank you Stevo309,

I accept the apology, no hard feelings. I am sorry for taking offence too if it wasn't directed at me. [{]

I will continue to be a member of tamiya101.com and look forward to contributing in the future.

Cheers

Ed 

P.S. I had no idea about other threads or bad comments about your site. 

[Wireless]

Good grief, I am glad this has all calmed down. Almost wish I hadn't posted the movie now...!

Having operated websites myself (see www.fastasfunk.co.uk www.raptorv2.co.uk and www.rs-500.com) I know how much effort and cost goes into developing them. It's an arduous,long-winded and sometimes dreafully boring process. Generally there are two benefits. One is the fact that you are building the website as a commercial venture for a client and you get paid, sometimes a lot. The second is that you get personal satisfaction out of seeing people enjoy the website you have toiled over. Steve and Mark have toiled over Tamiya101 for a long time. I dread to think of the hours that have gone into producing the framework and content. The only commercial aspect of the site is the DVD sales, and trust me when I say they would have to sell a large number of discs to offset any development or hosting costs. It is safe to say that these guys are doing it for their love of the hobby and to give us all something to proliferate the recognition of vintage and historically significant Tamiya r/c models.

When you put in all this time and then people suggest things that would in effect instantaneously cut a large part of their hard work out of the loop (eg: Video hosting on YouTube) then I can appreciate entirely just how disheartening that can be. It's for the benefit of the hobby and we should support T101 as we do TC but just bear in mind that it is someone elses hard work and money that is providing that service and we all ought to be a little careful before suggesting how things should or shouldn't be done.

I have known Steve for a couple of years and Mark for double that and they are both thoroughly genuine blokes who love the hobby, There is nothing egotistical or arrogant in their approach to T101, nor is it entierly altruistic - of course they love to get the nice comments and selling DVD's goes a little way to paying some of their costs, but they also accept that there are some things on T101 that could be improved here and there and are open and willing to suggestions. Many of them are in the pipeline, but it's just time that constrains their execution.

You have to appreciate though that given the hundreds and hundreds of hours over many months that have gone into T101, for someone to say, I can't believe I have to register to see a movie, just put it on YouTube or shrink it and put it on TC could be seen very easily in the wrong light. Rather than suggesting how the movie hosting on T101 could be facilitated, instead T101 has been completely cut out of the loop in one sentence, which if you are Steve or Mark is pretty devastating.

Sure it's cheaper for me to by r/c stuff off eBay but I go to my LHS at least once a month because he's a cracking bloke that runs it, it helpful and knowledgeable and deserves the support of his business. Same for T101. Sure it's easier for us all to share photos on MySpace or Yahoo Groups, upload all our videos to YouTube and share pirate copies of T101 DVD's between us but this negates the need for T101 and the hobby would be a poorer place without it.

Yes there is a cost to supporting new ventures. Chris supported TC from his own pocket for a long time until it was no longer feasible to do so. In the case of T101, 99% of it is being borne by Steve and Mark. The cost to us...? A 30 second regstration. If you really don't think it's worth that, then that's a pretty sad state of affairs.

This is not an attack on anyone, just a reminder that we all should have a think about what happens on both sides of the fence before coming to our conclusions.

That's my two penneth of the subject. I shall now retire to the drawing room with a single malt and a cigar.

[MikeT]

Mark, Steve, Joe and Roop are all GREAT modellers ( I know the site is only Mark and Steve ) And in my honest oppinion, another site dedicated to Vintage Tamiyas, is a GREAT site.

It's obvious that they aren't doing it as a money venture, or they'd ask you to pay as you sign up wouldn't they!

 Mark and Steve;

LOVE the site so far, love the articles, looking forward to some new stuff from you guys!

[clarkey]

just like to add that i love the site its realyy informative has a lovely layout and great pics its a real asset to all in the hobby cheers!