ZOOM OUT!

[Alexa Stott]

Originally Posted by pufame

Looking at it from an experienced FIRST participant and scout's point of view, then yes a constant zoomed out view of the entire field would be much better. I watch at regionals on weeks that our team is not competing on the webcasts and close ups of things that I don't care about are annoying for me.

HOWEVER, from the point of view of someone who has never been involved in FIRST and this is most likely their first time seeing robots in action then the views they use now are perfect. It would get EXTREMELY boring to watch grainy dots of robots from a stationary camera view for an entire match if your not already familiar with the game. It is also much better this way from a media standpoint, it makes for much better TV reports and video clips later. One of our local TV stations covered our progress at the Buckeye regional entirely off of interviews we did before we left and a satelite feed from FIRST of the action on the filed (what was shown on the screen).

It would be like watching NASCAR when the entire track is shown constantly. Yes when they zoom in on specific cars the people who are fans of the cars not shown get a little irked and I'm sure that the audience will miss someone passing someone somewhere on the track, but it is much more intense to see close ups of two cars toward the front going back and forth for position.

This is why I think they should have a separate camera for the pits and one for the field. Like you said, the close ups make for some good highlight clips for television stations and promo videos. However, why should the people in the pits be kept from actually knowing what is going on out on the field?

If there was a dedicated camera for the pit feeds in addition to the current cameras, I think everyone would be happy.