TOKYODV Video Log

Skin, skirts, boots. Gawkers, hawkers, iPods, and telephoto lenses.. Gull-wing doors, independently-wheeled steering, and non-stick gas pedals (maybe)..

“The latest in Toyota’s family of ‘Fine’ fuel cell show cars, the Fine-X is a small, four-seat minivan concept with massive gullwing doors. It features a compact fuel-cell hybrid powertrain, which drives electric motors in each of the four wheels.

Besides the exotic propulsion system, the Fine-X is also unusual in that each wheel can steer independently, through as much as 90 degrees, for extraordinary maneuverability.

But the Fine-X’s biggest party trick is that it can rotate on its own axis a full 360 degrees…” from here.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Scenes from a robot expo in Yokohama, Japan. Celebrating Astro Boy’s 50th anniversary, this expo focused on cute, entertaining robots. Featuring Honda Asimo, Sony Qrio, and the cyclops Neon.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Fuel-cell, yoke controller, swivel chairs, high boots, short shorts.. Toyota-roulette accelerator not included.. (hopefully)

“… The Fine-N’s overall package consist of a low-flat floor with the length of a Corolla, but with a cabin even more spacious than the luxurious sedan Lexus LS430. The vehicle employs four in-wheel motors in an innovative “cabin on wheels” configuration. Key to the fresh proportions of this ground-hugging, long-wheelbase-to-length design is Toyota’s fuel cell hybrid technology, which allows freedom from conventional power train layout constraints so that individually electric-powered wheels can be positioned nearly at the vehicle’s four corners. With a spacious interior cabin, a cockpit fit for your driving environment, interactive controls and gauges, and a large multi-information display, and a video camera, the Fine-N is truly designed with focus on driving requirements.

As a pioneer in making practical fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHV), Toyota now shows the way to an even more advanced fuel cell hybrid system… Electric power from the Toyota FC Stack and a lithium ion battery drives a motor to power the vehicle, delivering acceleration on a par with a gasoline engine vehicle.” from here.
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Five small robots dance on stage, do the hula, and shuffle their feet. I think the best shots are of the assistants placing them on stage and turning them on..
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Same clip. Same file. Uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo. Which is better?

YouTube:

or Vimeo:

I’ve had my issues with YouTube in the past, but they’ve definitely bumped-up their quality of encoding recently. Not quite Vimeo, but pretty damn good.

I started re-encoding some of TokyDV’s ‘classics’ in 16×9, high definition (well, online HD). But with original 4×3 aspect ratio content, I’m always left with two ‘black bars’ on both sides of the video. This annoys me. I’ve squeezed 4×3 clips into 16×9 before, but it stretches and distorts the content.

To omit of the black bars, I shifted the video content to one side and used the remaining area for something I call an ‘add panel’, or ‘advidisement’. But this space doesn’t only have to be for adds (although, that’s probably what it’ll become); see what I’ve done with the World Trade Center Tribute, or collaboration videos with Tokyo Reporter. There are a number of uses. Although, depending on what’s in the space, it could be just annoying.

TokyoDV Tube! – Check out channel TokyoDV on Vimeo and DailyMotion!

In early January, Japan celebrates twenty-year-olds becoming adults. Coming of Age Day is time for them to dress up in kimonos, gather at the local city hall, and listen to bureaucrats tell them how important ‘adults’ are.

The new adults usually get drunk before, after, and sometimes during the ceremony since they’re now legal drinking age. They can also vote at the age of twenty, so in this clip we see some right-wing black busses shouting their opinions to the newly christened voters. The wing-nuts don’t like Communists, kissing in public, or parked cars in their way.

This Coming of Age Day is probably like any other; kimonos, rabbit suits, and big black busses..
Watch in stand-alone page with 720×430 video; W A T C H – B I G G E R !

Originally released in 2003.