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Unread 30-04-2013, 08:30
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Re: #MakeitLoud Ideas...

A couple of points on broadcasting FRC:
FRC is really really hard to shoot and produce compared to most sports. In general, most sport videoing uses the follow the ball method which is way easier when their is 1 ball. Having helped with the MSC broadcast, it is really difficult to follow all the important action in a match, and even to know what is important at that moment. I thought the crew did an outstanding job this year at MSC, but re-watching the finals, there is still a ton of room for improvement. One of the more difficult issues is that some of the neatest tricks are the "wild-cards" pulled by some of the best teams. 469 and their FCS was something they only brought out when needed. Same with their 5 Disc centerline auto. Blocking 67 from attempting the climb wasn't attempted mcuh in qualifying, but was a key focus during elims. Pool noodle blockers were only special occasions during qualifying, but became key decisive elements in elims...
Overall, I think that live filming of FRC is more akin to filming auto-racing. More appropriately more like a mixed series auto-race like Le Mans where true fans understand the different classes that are simultaneously racing, and the i8mportance, but to the casual observer, you don't understand why they are showing the "race leader" of a GT class getting passed by LMP1 & LMP2 cars... We will keep working on this. I actually think I will watch a lot more short course racing to see what tricks they use tohelp with this sort of stuff (think tough truck, or moto-cross).
Lastly, this may be a bit hard for some of us to hear, but most FRC matches are not of the quality to have broadcast appeal. Often in the past the game itself did not have the appeal. Going back to the racing analogy, only a driver in 24 hours of Lemons is going to watch race footage from a Lemons race. Whereas 24 Hours of Le Mans has a much larger appeal because of heritage and the quality of professional racing.
Realistically, qualifying is a lot like watch Indycar qualifying. The hardcore fans are interested inthe time trials, but most folks would only watch the race. I think doing a higher production quality broadcast of Elims should be a goal for regionals and Regional Champsionships.

All this being said, there was a huge bump in quality across the board this year, and the game was really interesting even to non-FIRST people. The last few games ahve been pretty easy for outsiders to understand, and this is important to mass appeal. I was really impressed with the variety and quality of this years teams. I thanked Frank and the GDC for making such a great game. I hope that all of the enablers that made this one so much better for median teams continue next year. This game was very enjoyable at 1st event venues, and was awesome at 2nd event venues. By 3rd event venues, the play was through the roof, and even qualifying was incredibly exciting.