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the announcer is better today, but keeps talking about things that you cant see on the live feed. someone needs to direct the camera shots on this broadcast. it drives me up the wall
 
I could critique the coverage to death...

But since I am not there, I'll just be thankful for what I can see.

mac 'beats the one man camera for the race only' gyvr
 
I could critique the coverage to death...

But since I am not there, I'll just be thankful for what I can see.

mac 'beats the one man camera for the race only' gyvr

i agree...the coverage has gotten better every year and it seems like the event is growing. hopefully someday they'll have enough in the budget to hire a director for the whole thing.
 
best cowling cut ever.

IMG_20150203_142444_139_zpsckxppssv.jpg
 
While I watch koh I just keep telling myself that u4 is a young and growing sport. The live feed drives me nuts but telling myself that and beer keep me calm and watching
 
They have a production truck, they probably have a director, they have lots of people doing a good job. The pre-produced videos are great. The live stuff is hard because there is so much down time and quite frankly the qualifying course wasn't that entertaining. Ever been involved in a live broadcast? I have. Ask TH if you don't believe me, there's a lot to it. The news does it several times a day, 5 to 6 days a week for only 30 minutes at a time, and THEY still screw up. Most of the folks out there are doing it for next to nothing, taking their vacation time to do it, to bring it back home to us. They are also in the middle of a desert, with little to no cell service, depending on a satellite connection to bring several different cameras together and get it back to us.

mac 'I'll take whatever I can get!' gyvr
 
The qualifying course was mild. I think the last two courses showed the organizers that too hard means rollovers, broken heeps and recoveries that make it difficult to stay on schedule.

The course this year pretty much guarantees less down time waiting to winch people off the course. It still separated people pretty well, from 2:06 all the way to 4 minutes.
 
Koh has really motivated me to work on my toyota. Drained the tank. Put in a new pump and bracket, pulled the plugs, changed the oil, and messed with the steering some more. Going to throw some plugs, a battery, and fill the tank tomorrow. Hopefully get it started again with no problems. 3 years is a long time to sit for a motor with 300k without any preparation.
 
They have a production truck, they probably have a director, they have lots of people doing a good job. The pre-produced videos are great. The live stuff is hard because there is so much down time and quite frankly the qualifying course wasn't that entertaining. Ever been involved in a live broadcast? I have. Ask TH if you don't believe me, there's a lot to it. The news does it several times a day, 5 to 6 days a week for only 30 minutes at a time, and THEY still screw up. Most of the folks out there are doing it for next to nothing, taking their vacation time to do it, to bring it back home to us. They are also in the middle of a desert, with little to no cell service, depending on a satellite connection to bring several different cameras together and get it back to us.

mac 'I'll take whatever I can get!' gyvr

I love live productions sports related, but hate news productions. News is so boring now. I would love to direct a concert once. It takes so many people for sports events. Every camera has an operator and possibly an assistant. Audio operator, graphics person, a director, technical director, many engineers, assistants, etc. Is this feed free? Even a news broadcast takes at least six people from production alone and we use a bare bones crew compared to other markets. That doesn't include talent.

Since the topic came up, I love the CBS production trailers (yes I said trailers, there is normally at least seven of them at a game, more at big games). This is what the video switcher one looks like inside.

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And that is only the video half of the trailer. It expands to double its travel side with removable floors. Last game I worked, they have 39 cameras and that was back a few years ago, probably more now.

I said if I ever won the lottery, I would start my own production company for races and other events. Have about 4-5 camera, a couple jumbo trons and a sprinter van with all the production equipment.

Okay, TV geek time over.
 
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I save myself the letdown of the live coverage and wait for the highlights.

Im sure they are all busting their asses in an underequipped mobile broadcast truck in the middle of a desert with no broadband data service..... But it still sucks
 
T Ever been involved in a live broadcast? I have. Ask TH if you don't believe me, there's a lot to it.

yes...hundreds of times. i've called cameras before for live broadcast, streaming events and for IMAG (image magnification) for large scale screen projections. i have high standards, which is why it drives me a little bonkers. these days, it doesn't take NEARLY as much to produce a quality stream (which is much less complicated that live tv). i realize they are fighting the desert, which has a lot of challenges, but i've helped produce festivals with as many locations and camera positions as they use for KOH in the middle of nowhere. most of the problems i see with their broadcast isn't related to the speed of their connection...its very basic stuff. when you are interviewing someone and pointing out things on their racing suit and on their car, you should cut to the camera thats there...and it happens a lot with that broadcast. the down time doesn't bother me at all...i like watching rigs get winched out and seeing all the people in the crowd.

alt "does this for a living" rocker1
 
and again, i am in the same boat as everyone. i am happy we get to watch it from where ever we are...10 years ago, that wouldn't have even been an option.
 
The qualifying course was mild. I think the last two courses showed the organizers that too hard means rollovers, broken heeps and recoveries that make it difficult to stay on schedule.

The course this year pretty much guarantees less down time waiting to winch people off the course. It still separated people pretty well, from 2:06 all the way to 4 minutes.

I agree and I get your point. But it wasn't as entertaining without a rocky section that we could watch them struggle in.

As to the rest, I think they are doing pretty good with what they have from a production stand point. You're not going to get an award winning emcee out there, because the money isn't there. I know that they are paying Miles for what he is doing, and he's doing a pretty good job, but he's not getting paid much.

They said at one point that some of their cameras were down, later they did get shots of the cars on the stage which was great, I even saw Miles putting their window nets back inside the car so you could see the sponsors on the side. There were several drivers in the power hour that made mention of their sponsors, but honestly I think some of the early guys didn't do it because they simply either didn't think about it or they just don't know. They could bring it up in the interview, but you can't put all the blame on the emcee for not doing it, heck some of them just drove on past the stage and didn't give props to anyone, which is sad, because they have fans.

I've been to KOH in 2011 and 2013 as a crew chief for one of the Ultra4 cars. I'd love to go again as a spectator.

mac 'it's not broadway' gyvr
 
I remember making a few videos in college.....

Cheese "short films" Man
 
hey, I was young and needed the money...

Cheese "haters gonna hate" Man
 
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