[synth3tk]

I don't think one dedicated full-field static camera is the solution. I don't think a full-field static camera along-side the camera operators just for the webcast is a good idea either. It will get boring. If you're trying to get people excited about FIRST, looking at a field over some crappy uStream webcast is not a very good motivator.

I'd like to "ditto" the people in this thread who said we should have FIRST focus on training the camera operators better. I mentioned in another thread that maybe the operators should attend a previous week's event. Or if that's not possible, make it mandatory for them to watch some of the Thursday matches in the stands, to get a feel for the game.

The picture-in-picture suggestion is also a really good one, though we'd come back full-circle to the fact that we're trying to webcast this. Unless you were using a really good compressed codec, a fair amount of bandwidth (let's say 1Mb upload or faster), and were using anything other than uStream, then you'll run into the issue where you can't see the smaller picture.

I don't mind seeing the drive teams during a technical break or before a match, but watching Championships got really frustrating when the crowd and announcer would go wild over a double-hang, and all I could see was a robot stuck in a corner trying to score the same ball for the last 30 seconds. Yes, every robot is special and deserves air-time, but learn when to focus on certain 'bots.