2015 AZ Billiards Straight Pool Challenge!

stevekur1 said:
the GoPro would be great for mounting, but i think space on the unit would be an issue. i think the storage capacity is limited, they are great for quick clips but not so sure about an hour or 2 of 14.1
i would look into it though, i may be wrong !!

try to adjust the video setting on the camera you have, you may be able to adjust it for lighting conditions.

-Steve
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Thanks for mentioning storage capacity, another problem I've had before and would have forgotten about! Truth is, while I love watching pool videos, and think they're a great teaching tool for students, I have a hard time watching myself (= seeing imperfections everywhere!).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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acousticsguru said:
Thanks for mentioning storage capacity, another problem I've had before and would have forgotten about! Truth is, while I love watching pool videos, and think they're a great teaching tool for students, I have a hard time watching myself (= seeing imperfections everywhere!).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
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I completely understand, but some of us fr the other side of the pond would love to see you shoot. Especially those types of numbers !!

Congrats again
Steve
 
stevekur1 said:
I completely understand, but some of us fr the other side of the pond would love to see you shoot. Especially those types of numbers !!

Congrats again
Steve
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Thanks for the encouragement! It's true that there's at least one shot I'd like to see in hindsight (= might learn something if I could get over the agony of watching myself). I'll see what I can do.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
acousticsguru said:
Thanks Steve! Unfortunately not. Tried a couple Sony cams in my practice room (because their processors are said to be best for dark light), but without extra light, it looks as if balls in movement were followed by shadows, with greyish colours. Wonder if a GoPro Hero would do, looks as if those could easily be attached to a wall, maybe somebody knows? Can't really afford to spend a lot on a camera.



Believe it or not, I'm still totally bummed I missed at 197… :o



Greetings from Switzerland, David.

_________________



„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
Click to expand...


Congrats on your run of 197! That's incredible.

As for the GoPro Hero, I bought one just recently. I bought the Hero 4 Silver for $400 to use specifically for recording runs. Unfortunately, I have some concerns.
1) The video quality is fine but the audio contains a constant thumping sound in quiet environments. It was bad enough that I returned it thinking the unit might have been defective. It turns out the second camera has the same problem but to a lesser degree.
2) Knowing that the battery would only provide about an hour of recording time, I planned to provide power via its mini USB cable. However, the "skeleton" enclosure that houses the camera is completely sealed to be waterproof and you'll need to buy the "frame" enclosure for $40 that allows the power connector to be exposed while mounted.
3) Storage space is reasonable if you purchase a 64 GB micro SDXC card which will allow you to record around 4 hours at 1080p@60 frames per second. However, the SD cards are typically formatted with a FAT32 file system, which has a 4 GB max file size and the camera will split up a long video into multiple files which places a burden on the user to use a video editor to concatenate the files together. I did read that the memory cards may be able to be reformatted with an exFAT file system which allows file sizes larger than 4 GB. However I have not tried this yet. I have followed directions how to convert each of the files to a format that allows concatenation using a program called ffmpeg. So far my experience have been that it takes over 6 hours to convert a single file. Unless I'm doing something wrong, this is not an acceptable solution for me personally.

I may return everything and go back to using my iPhone 5, which is what I've used to record all of my runs including the 54 that is posted in this thread.

Hope this info helps.
 
first of all congrats on your run! :thumbup:

normally a gopro should have no problem with fast movements. i know some people using them on racecars or motorcycles to film turns on the nordschleife, and the quality is crystall clear. question would be of course what is meant by "dark light". :embarrassed2:

awesome run! best regards...:cool:
 
9BallJim said:
Congrats on your run of 197! That's incredible.

As for the GoPro Hero, I bought one just recently. I bought the Hero 4 Silver for $400 to use specifically for recording runs. Unfortunately, I have some concerns.
1) The video quality is fine but the audio contains a constant thumping sound in quiet environments. It was bad enough that I returned it thinking the unit might have been defective. It turns out the second camera has the same problem but to a lesser degree.
2) Knowing that the battery would only provide about an hour of recording time, I planned to provide power via its mini USB cable. However, the "skeleton" enclosure that houses the camera is completely sealed to be waterproof and you'll need to buy the "frame" enclosure for $40 that allows the power connector to be exposed while mounted.
3) Storage space is reasonable if you purchase a 64 GB micro SDXC card which will allow you to record around 4 hours at 1080p@60 frames per second. However, the SD cards are typically formatted with a FAT32 file system, which has a 4 GB max file size and the camera will split up a long video into multiple files which places a burden on the user to use a video editor to concatenate the files together. I did read that the memory cards may be able to be reformatted with an exFAT file system which allows file sizes larger than 4 GB. However I have not tried this yet. I have followed directions how to convert each of the files to a format that allows concatenation using a program called ffmpeg. So far my experience have been that it takes over 6 hours to convert a single file. Unless I'm doing something wrong, this is not an acceptable solution for me personally.

I may return everything and go back to using my iPhone 5, which is what I've used to record all of my runs including the 54 that is posted in this thread.

Hope this info helps.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I've had problems ripping SACDs with a PS3 recently, so I'm surprised to read the GoPro even "sees" 64GB when the SD card is formatted in the ancient FAT32 format (which is named "32" for a reason - the format's limit). Formatting a card into e.g. exFAT is easy on a Mac (and I have no doubt on a Windows machine, too) - if that works, the card could be read by anything modern (that is, except by an old PS3 or the like).

The thumping noise, any explanation on what causes it? Also, the Silver is one with display, which I'm guessing would be an advantage as long as one films in 720 or 1080p?

Another reason I thought the GoPro intriguing is the suction pad with which it appears it can be attached to e.g. a window (= that would be an option in our local pool hall) - but that I believe goes with the skeleton enclosure and not the frame one (needless to say, without USB power, filming longer Straight Pool runs would be out of the question)?

Thanks so much for your input, and the encouragement!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
acousticsguru said:
197 just now, less than twenty minutes ago. Fine run but feeling bummed because I'm not sure if I dogged the last shot or if it rolled off: cue ball tucked right under the rail, had to roll in an off-straight ball into the opposite middle pocket in order to hold for position, and it hit the outside point. Whatever, not bad for a blind old man… ;)
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Congratulations on your epic run! :clapping::bow-down:
 
DTL said:
Ran 143 on 4 Jun 2015. 9' Brunswick Anniversary with the big pockets.......loads of fun.

Table is For Sale. :)

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=FOYh87qGZRw
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Nice, congratulations! Baffled: I believe I know that guy on the videos you linked… ;)

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
acousticsguru said:
Thank you! I've had problems ripping SACDs with a PS3 recently, so I'm surprised to read the GoPro even "sees" 64GB when the SD card is formatted in the ancient FAT32 format (which is named "32" for a reason - the format's limit). Formatting a card into e.g. exFAT is easy on a Mac (and I have no doubt on a Windows machine, too) - if that works, the card could be read by anything modern (that is, except by an old PS3 or the like).



The thumping noise, any explanation on what causes it? Also, the Silver is one with display, which I'm guessing would be an advantage as long as one films in 720 or 1080p?



Another reason I thought the GoPro intriguing is the suction pad with which it appears it can be attached to e.g. a window (= that would be an option in our local pool hall) - but that I believe goes with the skeleton enclosure and not the frame one (needless to say, without USB power, filming longer Straight Pool runs would be out of the question)?



Thanks so much for your input, and the encouragement!



Greetings from Switzerland, David.

_________________



„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
Click to expand...


No idea about the thumping noise. It's only noticeable when recording in a perfectly quiet room and when playing back the video with moderate to loud volumes.
I would think you can use the suction cup with the "frame" enclosure. The mounts appear to all be the same and should work together.
Since my previous post I have used the GoPro Studio software on my Windows 8 laptop and have successfully concatenated the multiple files together. This seems like it will work just fine.
 
Ran 81 today

6/7/15

Got stuck going into a cluster without having an insurance ball, my only option was a bank that went real wide. Danny D would not have thought I was from Kentucky on that bank... Lol

Steve
 
115 etc.

More nice runs lately, 115 today, ended with a seemingly perfect, courageous break shot that left me with 14 open balls on the table, one of which married to the cue ball, with nothing to shoot at - the kind of leave where I'd opt for a 3-foul penalty in competition. Some more good runs the last few days, such as a 99 (same problem or ill luck, nice break yet no open shot, bank or kick), 86, 80, 75 etc. Enjoying playing as much as ever since I took up practicing again a couple of weeks ago after a 1-year hiatus. But still struggling with consistency, dozens of silly concentration lapses in-between.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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acousticsguru said:
More nice runs lately, 115 today, ended with a seemingly perfect, courageous break shot that left me with 14 open balls on the table, one of which married to the cue ball, with nothing to shoot at - the kind of leave where I'd opt for a 3-foul penalty in competition. Some more good runs the last few days, such as a 99 (same problem or ill luck, nice break yet no open shot, bank or kick), 86, 80, 75 etc. Enjoying playing as much as ever since I took up practicing again a couple of weeks ago after a 1-year hiatus. But still struggling with consistency, dozens of silly concentration lapses in-between.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
Click to expand...


Nice run.! Did you get it on video?
 
9BallJim said:
Nice run.! Did you get it on video?
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Still don't have a camera, nor a good place to install it (lighting is in the way at the pool hall, don't like those flat angles from e.g. a tripod where one can't really see the pattern play), can't really afford what I'd need either, although I'd really need a new one as learning and teaching tool… :sorry:

(Also ran another 99 the day before yesterday, although my back is aching like hell since the Team Cup last weekend/Saturday. On the whole pretty consistent playing the last couple of weeks, wish I'd at least have some of it on video.)

EDIT: now that I think of it, we even used to have a fixed web cam installation at the pool hall - too bad the idea didn't catch on (remember doing commentary on a Jungo-Regli challenge match once, was fun and people seemed to like it, only financially…).

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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stevekur1 said:
Ran 81 today

6/7/15

Got stuck going into a cluster without having an insurance ball, my only option was a bank that went real wide. Danny D would not have thought I was from Kentucky on that bank... Lol

Steve
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Steve: It looks like you are playing fairly well these days. Are you going to get into one of the qualifiers? I know you got in them a few years back.
 
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