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ITTF Bad Camera Angle - Question |
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SteveWAD
Member Joined: 11/01/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 64 |
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Posted: 09/02/2020 at 12:40am |
Hi All, During the shelter in place I've been catching up on a lot of great ITTF Tournaments I missed But one thing disappoints me. I'm curious why is it that ITTF can NEVER get a really good camera angle for watching Table Tennis ? Its such a shame being in the 'nosebleed section', this camera angle makes the matches pretty much unwatchable. Very sad that you can't see the actual real ball speed, height, trajectory or true ball arch, this "high up in the ceiling" view ruins great matches for the spectator. Basically its THE most unwatchable position possible, i'm wondering when the ITTF are going to actually give us spectators (which are mostly players) the preferred lower camera angle so we can actually enjoy watching the game and not see the table as a squashed matchbox. Let me know your thoughts. |
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Baal
Forum Moderator Joined: 01/21/2010 Location: unknown Status: Offline Points: 14336 |
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Frustrates me too.
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mjamja
Platinum Member Joined: 05/30/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2895 |
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I would guess that it stems from the very large arenas they tend to play in.
The kind of angle most people like can not be shot from too far away because people will be walking in front of the camera. It can not be shot in the big arenas from closer to the table because it would block too many people's views. They would probably need to bring seating in closer and only have seating on 3 sides to be able to film the angles a lot of people like. If I remember correctly almost all those liked videos come from smaller club environments. Not that it is impossible for them to figure out. But probably a whole lot harder to do in those big arenas. Also their money comes from the in person audience mostly, so they most likely do no want to do anything that would interfere with the "paying customer" experience. Just my thoughts, without too much analysis and fact checking. Mark
Edited by mjamja - 09/02/2020 at 11:16pm |
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Baal
Forum Moderator Joined: 01/21/2010 Location: unknown Status: Offline Points: 14336 |
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I think Mark makes good points, a.so we have to admit that ours is a challenging sport to video.
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Liquid Sky
Member Joined: 02/17/2004 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 70 |
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The "bird eye" view is definitely not due to preserve the view of the spectators.
At least at bigger tournaments the TV production involves several cameras. They even have several cameras at table hight, but they choose not to show that view as the main camera. I went to two world championships and at one they even had a crane obstructing the view of the spectators (Düsseldorf 2013). My guess is that the "bird eye" view is chosen for three reasons: - it is the traditional view to broadcast tennis events. TV broadcasting companies likely have more experience with tennis. - you get a tv picture that is not obstructed from a busy background - you have the sponsors clearly in the picture. Unfortunately the "bird eye" view shows the game only in 2-D. All of the dynamic the players have and the spin the ball has cannot be shown. I think this is very unfortunate and I am always happy if I can find private records of big table tennis events. For me the view slightly above table hight is the best view to show the day dynamic of our sport. By the way I am not the only one who thinks that table hight is the best perspective! Almost every picture of professional photographers is taken from this perspective. Of course they know how to take good looking pictures.
Edited by Liquid Sky - 09/03/2020 at 11:19am |
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mjamja
Platinum Member Joined: 05/30/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2895 |
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At the really big tournaments like world championships I would guess there is significant revenue from the televised rights so they are likely to be willing to do things for production value they do not due at less important events.
You make a great point about doing it the way it has always been done. Tradition is a true innovation killer. Just look at the high jump. Mark |
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wilkinru
Silver Member Joined: 04/28/2015 Location: Las Vegas Status: Offline Points: 604 |
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They have a contract with this company that does the video and they refuse to spend a penny more than what they produce right now. The contract should end soon and we might get better video next year.
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TB ZLF
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reflecx
Super Member Joined: 01/12/2011 Status: Offline Points: 183 |
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This has been brought up many times before. The main reason is that the default view is the best for showing all the sponsor signs on and behind the court.
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piligrim
Premier Member Joined: 06/21/2011 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 5305 |
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Liquid Sky
Member Joined: 02/17/2004 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 70 |
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If I see recordings like this, I wonder why ITTF even started to use the "bird-eye" view: |
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SteveWAD
Member Joined: 11/01/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 64 |
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Pilgrim and Liquid Sky Thank you very much for the links ! , these angles are totally spectacular, all the promotional ads are shown AND the true beauty of the sport is represented.
WTTF , ITTF please take note. Please see the amazing difference of quality for the spectator with the correct camera positioning. Our sport cant survive with this outdated amateur recording angle that your currently using. You have to change. |
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SteveWAD
Member Joined: 11/01/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 64 |
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After enjoying watching a great match with such a great view, its almost impossible to have to suffer through any TT vid being stuck up in the ceiling rafters.
And the better the match is the more frustrating it is to have to put up with.
I'm having boycott watching these ridiculous angle TT matches anymore. |
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