Race of Champions on TV this Sunday
Discussion
TonyHetherington said:
Hello fellow geek. I spent ages looking at that and working out all the bits and pieces how it was controlled, how they'd control it (if you see what I mean). Thought it was superb, and not intrusive at all!
Yep. Me too. 
I noticed that the drums were down on the floor, with each cable going up to the roof and then down again to the camera. The camera obviously has its own gimbal to control where it it looking and my assumption is that with some clever software you should be able to work out precisely the length and tension of each of the 4 cables necessary to put the camera in any 3D co-ordinate within a certain volume.
To move from one point to another would again involve working out the vector translation necessary to go from one co-ordinate to another and winding each drum by the calculated amount to make it so.
Fascinating stuff.
Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 18th December 09:14
Yup they were fairly hefty boxes (mind you all that cable suspended in mid air probably weighed a fair bit!) in each corner and, as you say, then going up to a pulley in the roof and then down to the camera.
My theory was that they'd have some form of 3D box set up in the software with some specific no go areas (wouldn't take long to set up...the bridge, the jump, no lower than (road + car) high etc. etc.
I also assumed they'd have some pre-determined points programmed in. I.e. "go to start" would launch the camera all the way over to above the start line for example.
And how still did it remain? My word that was impressive, as was the controlled damping at the end of the travel. Loved it. I want one, though I don't know why!
My theory was that they'd have some form of 3D box set up in the software with some specific no go areas (wouldn't take long to set up...the bridge, the jump, no lower than (road + car) high etc. etc.
I also assumed they'd have some pre-determined points programmed in. I.e. "go to start" would launch the camera all the way over to above the start line for example.
And how still did it remain? My word that was impressive, as was the controlled damping at the end of the travel. Loved it. I want one, though I don't know why!
TonyHetherington said:
And how still did it remain? My word that was impressive, as was the controlled damping at the end of the travel. Loved it. I want one, though I don't know why!
Indeed. I wonder of the box above the camera had some sort of inertial damping in it - gyroscopic I mean, not of the Sci-Fi variety! 
I'd love to know exactly how it works - it was damn clever at any rate.
At least it look likely it will be back next year.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64428
Hopefully a month or so earlier or later, and we can all wrap up some more next year (much better by the sound of it BEING THERE).
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64428
Hopefully a month or so earlier or later, and we can all wrap up some more next year (much better by the sound of it BEING THERE).
A couple of pics (I'll update with better versions when I've done a bit more processing)
Matthias Ekstrom tries to hide (I felt sorry for Andy Priaulx coming out after this in his WTCC BMW with half the engine - his burn outs weren't quite as impressive)
These must be magic plastic blocks that create a forcefield. Or something.
Kovalainen dives down the inside of Michael Schumacher's Abarth
And then rubs it in by showboating into the distance
The RoC Buggy
A couple of guys out for a quiet bike ride
Who said BMW bikes were boring?
At least Vettel managed not to stall (eh DC?)
Alister driving Colin's championship winning Subaru Imprezza
Ford Focus WRC rally cars head to head
Ekstrom on his way to victory
Ekstrom wins the Champion of Champions for the second year in a row
Matthias Ekstrom tries to hide (I felt sorry for Andy Priaulx coming out after this in his WTCC BMW with half the engine - his burn outs weren't quite as impressive)
These must be magic plastic blocks that create a forcefield. Or something.
Kovalainen dives down the inside of Michael Schumacher's Abarth
And then rubs it in by showboating into the distance
The RoC Buggy
A couple of guys out for a quiet bike ride
Who said BMW bikes were boring?
At least Vettel managed not to stall (eh DC?)
Alister driving Colin's championship winning Subaru Imprezza
Ford Focus WRC rally cars head to head
Ekstrom on his way to victory
Ekstrom wins the Champion of Champions for the second year in a row
woof said:
be interested to hear from those that went - the stadium emptied considerably one the sun when down and the temp dropped
(still cant' believe they didn't put a slidding roof on that place)
Thoroughly enjoyed the event itself, although I thought the £850,000,000 facilities were the pits...(still cant' believe they didn't put a slidding roof on that place)
And I told Wembley so through their website feedback form:
Excellent racing in a superb auditorium. Very good links to public transport - in and out in no time.
Unbelievably depressing "undercroft" areas. I've seen more inviting prisons. Male toilets completely inadequate with the stadium at only 50,000 attendance - God knows how bad it must be when full? Seats far too close together - impossible to move when people seated either side - and we're all quite slim!
If you pay day-staff the minimum wage, you get what you pay for: a few jobs-worths and a bunch of people who couldn't care less and would rather be somewhere else. Is that the best that Wembley can do to present a welcoming public face?
Oh dear. Back to the 1950's for Wembley catering. World class facility? Not with this woeful attempt at feeding the paying public. I've never seen such chaos anywhere. Complete lack of training, motivation, management and initiative coupled with 3rd rate overpriced junk food - utterly disgusting...
You can link to it here and have your say:
http://www.wembleystadium.com/events/visitorfeedba...
I'd be very interested to hear what others thought?
crossle said:
Unbelievably depressing "undercroft" areas. I've seen more inviting prisons. Male toilets completely inadequate with the stadium at only 50,000 attendance - God knows how bad it must be when full? Seats far too close together - impossible to move when people seated either side - and we're all quite slim!
Sounds just like the old stadium - are you sure they didn't just build the new one on top of it?Agree about the depressing space behind the seated area but then I guess they don't want people hanging around there.
The catering staff were beyond woeful - we queued for 15 minutes to be told the till had broken and they therefore couldn't serve us, even if we had the correct change.
Stragnest thing was only one hand dryer per toilet block, presumably football fans don't wash their hands but it was too cold on Sunday to walk around with wet hands!
Roof looked half finished...
The catering staff were beyond woeful - we queued for 15 minutes to be told the till had broken and they therefore couldn't serve us, even if we had the correct change.
Stragnest thing was only one hand dryer per toilet block, presumably football fans don't wash their hands but it was too cold on Sunday to walk around with wet hands!
Roof looked half finished...
Courtesy of some eBay wheeler-dealing we were in the Club Wembley section, ie tier 3. Comfortable seats with ample leg room and a decent selection of sit-down restaurants out the back. At the 4pm interval we walked into the carvery and, with no queing, helped ourselves to a Thai green curry and a small bottle of wine for £10 each. Pretty impressed with that.
I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who, like me, has experienced the preceding events at the Stade de France. Somehow there just wasn't anywhere near the same atmosphere...
I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who, like me, has experienced the preceding events at the Stade de France. Somehow there just wasn't anywhere near the same atmosphere...
moffspeed said:
I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who, like me, has experienced the preceding events at the Stade de France. Somehow there just wasn't anywhere near the same atmosphere...
I thought the atmosphere in France was better simply because the stadium was always full also despite the commentators not speaking English I am sure they were less annoying than the UK effortsBen
JonRB said:
Anyone who was there wouldn't have failed to be impressed with the "flying" camera system. Attached by 4 cables - one at each corner of the stadium - with presumably a computer translating the operators inputs into the vector mathematics required to make the 4 winches wind in / wind out the correct amount of cable to put the camera in virtually any 3D co-ordinate required. Quite amazing - to a geek like me at least.
Sorry, but I remember these flying cameras being shown on TV about 25 years ago in "Tomorrow's World" - apparently they've been in use at NFL games in the States ever since. It fascinated me then and still did when I saw the real thing at the RoC on Sunday - Shame they did'nt show is many of its pictures on the big screens...crossle said:
Shame they did'nt show is many of its pictures on the big screens...
I think Sky were getting the feed off it for most of the time. Certainly when I dipped into the Sky Sports coverage of RoC when I got home I saw a lot of stuff from the flying camera.As for how long the system has been around, it's the first time I'd seen it.
JonRB said:
crossle said:
Shame they did'nt show is many of its pictures on the big screens...
I think Sky were getting the feed off it for most of the time. Certainly when I dipped into the Sky Sports coverage of RoC when I got home I saw a lot of stuff from the flying camera.As for how long the system has been around, it's the first time I'd seen it.
If there not a risk of the ball clattering the camera on low flybys if you use it for football (is there much kicking in American Football? - not something I've really watched)? If you have to keep it higher up, surely a simpler system would be better as you wouldn't need so much movement. Either way, I was impressed at RoC.
Shame the same can't be said for Wembley's catering/security/staff/location. With a photographer vest on, I wasn't allowed to walk down an open and in-use stairway from row 15 to the ground where the other photographers were waiting. Instead I had to walk up to the concourse, along two sections, down 4-5 flights of stairs, through the paddock area and out to a point about 10m away from where I was originally. Was obviously a really dangerous staircase and not just a power-hungry jobsworth of a security guard. Incidentally, anyone else pay the £5 advance parking at an NCP car park and turn up to find it free (Ickenham) or £1 (Hillingdon) on Sundays. Scam for Watchdog, anyone?
Anyway, rant over, some pics online at MSportUK,com!
Shame the same can't be said for Wembley's catering/security/staff/location. With a photographer vest on, I wasn't allowed to walk down an open and in-use stairway from row 15 to the ground where the other photographers were waiting. Instead I had to walk up to the concourse, along two sections, down 4-5 flights of stairs, through the paddock area and out to a point about 10m away from where I was originally. Was obviously a really dangerous staircase and not just a power-hungry jobsworth of a security guard. Incidentally, anyone else pay the £5 advance parking at an NCP car park and turn up to find it free (Ickenham) or £1 (Hillingdon) on Sundays. Scam for Watchdog, anyone?
Anyway, rant over, some pics online at MSportUK,com!
MSportUK said:
If there not a risk of the ball clattering the camera on low flybys if you use it for football (is there much kicking in American Football? - not something I've really watched)? If you have to keep it higher up, surely a simpler system would be better as you wouldn't need so much movement. Either way, I was impressed at RoC.
The camera crew know the game inside out, so on the rare kicks, they know when to get out of the way.
Sometimes they go wrong,
I was thinking of starting a new thread, but thought I'd bugger this one instead, uploaded some of the photo's that weren't too shite after taking account for the fact I was sitting there shaking.
linky here
linky here
Edited by AngryS3Owner on Wednesday 26th December 00:44
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