Requesting "Full-field" Match Video for Webcasts from FIRST

[Isaac501]

While I can definitely understand the desire for something like this from a team standpoint for scouting, etc.. I believe the viewing public would be completely bored and tune out after 15 seconds if all they can see is the whole field, no details, no real action shots. The feed was as you suggested many years ago, and it was tedious to watch a whole match, let alone any length of matches.

Which brings me to a question - Are you suggesting NASA *only* feed the full-field, or that they have full-field in addition to the regular feed?

I think a more apt suggestion would perhaps be to work with the production staff more extensively on the game, how it's played, and what makes valuable close-up time; having a commentator for the webfeed itself, separate from the GA/MC, would also be another possibility.

[kjolana1124]

Originally Posted by Isaac501

While I can definitely understand the desire for something like this from a team standpoint for scouting, etc.. I believe the viewing public would be completely bored and tune out after 15 seconds if all they can see is the whole field, no details, no real action shots. The feed was as you suggested many years ago, and it was tedious to watch a whole match, let alone any length of matches.

Which brings me to a question - Are you suggesting NASA *only* feed the full-field, or that they have full-field in addition to the regular feed?

I think a more apt suggestion would perhaps be to work with the production staff more extensively on the game, how it's played, and what makes valuable close-up time; having a commentator for the webfeed itself, separate from the GA/MC, would also be another possibility.

I see the argument here. Maybe something else they could do is have two separate webcasts going? One like normal, and the other for full field with some close ups in between like I mentioned before. Isaac's right, we need to make sure fans are engaged.

[Leav]

Sign me up!
Leav Oz-Ari
Mentor FRC-2630

[cziggy343]

Originally Posted by kjolana1124

I see the argument here. Maybe something else they could do is have two separate webcasts going? One like normal, and the other for full field with some close ups in between like I mentioned before. Isaac's right, we need to make sure fans are engaged.

but i think that most of the people you are trying to bring to FIRST would already be at the competition. wouldn't you rather take them to a competition rather than watch one on a webcast? the atmosphere is part of the lure of a FIRST event.

most of the people that watch webcast (in my opinion) are probably die hard FIRST fans already. and i think most of them (myself included) would rather see a full field match in order to see how the game plays out.

[Steven Sigley]

I know a lot of families back home are disappointed when they sit to watch the webcast and can't see their kid's robot.

If you want to make FIRST more popular you have to make it understandable by the audience. Making the scoring system simple was one way of handling this, but now you have to make it easy to understand what's happening in the matches. A full-field camera would help that.

[XaulZan11]

One thing to think about: is the webcast/video quality good enough that you will be able to tell what is going on? Will you be able to tell which team is which or will the full screen just show blobs moving around the field?

[cziggy343]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

One thing to think about: is the webcast/video quality good enough that you will be able to tell what is going on? Will you be able to tell which team is which or will the full screen just show blobs moving around the field?

that would be a potential issue... but maybe a solution to that would to zoom in just a little. because in all of the full field shots that i have seen, they have some periphery outside of the field in the shot. if the shot contains just the field, even with a not so great webcast you should be able to tell whats going on.

[Chris is me]

Chris Picone
Mentor, Team 2791

Thanks for the effort!

[cbale2000]

This idea was brought up in another thread, but I think it would be great to have a "Frame-in-Frame" view, where you can see the entire field all the time, but in one corner you had a spot for the close up shots and the sponsor slides between matches (or vice-versa).
Granted the suggestions of making sure the camera people actually know what to watch is good too, but you'll always have someone who wants to see one part of the match in full field and someone else who wants a closeup, so why not have both?

For that matter, what would be REALLY nice is to have direct output feeds for each camera (not necessarily for the webcasts) in addition to the current output, it would allow teams to choose what views they want to record, and if they choose to record multiple views, would allow them to edit the different views together later for use in promos, match records, or use on sites like TBA.

[Zach O]

That is how matches should be webcasted. Full field, so you can see what's going on. Not randomly zooming into the ball return, when I really want to see the robots.

I'm with you all the way!

[kgzak]

It get's really annoying when I am at home watching a webcast on my TV and people come over who could be possible new mentors, students, or even start teams and they start watching the webcast but can't follow it with all the close ups. I have had friends watch webcasts and they can't follow so they stop watching. My aunt wanted video of our robot to show her class (she is teacher at a school in toledo ohio) which could spark interest in starting a new team but I couldn't find any where they could follow and enjoy. You can bring everyone to an event so at least supply another way of showing off FIRST.

So yeah add me:
Kris Zakfeld
Team 2075

and you can add this to your letter if you want, feel free to rephrase too.

[nikeairmancurry]

add me

Nicholas Curry
Mentor, Team 326

[Jonathan Norris]

I actually think a full field view would be worse for a webcast, the resolution isn't really there for it to be any better. Imagine a ustream webcast of a full field view, I would have no idea who was playing... The real solution is the camera people need to be trained better and not zoom in on the wheels of robots on Einstein. At GTR this year the video production people set up to stationary cameras to cover each side of the field, I personally felt this worked really well and gave a good overall view on what was happening. This is mainly because its been the same people running the video production for at least 5+ years. The main issue is that we need video production people who understand what is the best way to record a FIRST match, and I certainly don't think a full field view is the best way.

[thefro526]

This is an excellent idea! Please add my name to the list:

Dustin Benedict
Mentor FRC 816

[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.