ZOOM OUT!

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Kris Verdeyen

I have to admit, though, it's difficult for me to know where to place my gaze when I'm watching the game up close on the field. A good match gives you several places to look, each of which will typically exclude another robot that is probably also doing something interesting.

I think this bring out a comedic theorem of webcast-viewing:
Theorem: Under no conditions is anything happening on-field more exciting than what your robot is doing
Corollary: A broken robot is more exciting to watch than the eventual championship winner, so long as that broken robot is yours
Corollary 2:The excitement level of a given frame of video footage is proportional to the percentage of pixels taken up by your robot

I have to disagree. I AM a webcast viewer at the events that I don't attend, and I get very annoyed with the camera work. Scoring is the important part of the game. Let's get the cameras focussed on that. If you want to focus on one side of the field, then do so, but single robot close-ups for more than a couple seconds (say as they score) do nothing but confuse.

I never said that I supported the status quo, I was just pointing out my thinking that FIRST would have to invest quite a bit to satisfy the (relatively) not-many people who needed a wider-angle shot. Which is why I think a team or individual needs to take the initiative to record and distribute matches with a wide-angle shot, since FIRST is not likely to do it.