Anyone seen any of the 3C videos offered by the CaromTV guys? I was thinking of ordering some and am curious how is the quality? Thanks.
3C DVDs?
- Thread starter Joe_Jaguar
- Start date
They're great, have a ton of them. If you're looking for something outside great 3c play, audience reaction shots, that kind of thing, no. They're shot from one or two very clear camera angles, overhead and a side view or two, so you can actually see what's going on at the table. The commentaries on them are really good, Robert Raiford, who posts here sometimes, has done alot of them with Jan Carl, and the commentary is great. Assuming you're interested in 3C, no inane chatter, just excellent analysis of every shot, what are the options, is there a kiss in the shot?, etc. Probably put your feet to sleep if you don't know anything about 3C, but if you're interested, nothing like them in English anywhere, you can learn alot, I have. Kozoom or such has some good stuff, but not always in English.
Ok, thanks. Might give them a try then.
I've seen some and the quality is fine, the commentary is usually excellent, but there are a lot matches with less than the best players in the world getting creamed by the top Euros.
It seems like many of the matches are races to 40 and cost 30 bucks. I just wish the videos were cheaper, I think more players would buy them. 30 bucks to see Caudron drill someone 40-22 with a running time around an hour is hard to get used to when you can buy 5 set accustat matches for 15 bucks now.
The commentary really is excellent though. Other than the tapes that Blomdahl or Zanetti did commentary on, I think Caromtv has a better quality of shot commentary than Accustats with Byrne.
It seems like many of the matches are races to 40 and cost 30 bucks. I just wish the videos were cheaper, I think more players would buy them. 30 bucks to see Caudron drill someone 40-22 with a running time around an hour is hard to get used to when you can buy 5 set accustat matches for 15 bucks now.
The commentary really is excellent though. Other than the tapes that Blomdahl or Zanetti did commentary on, I think Caromtv has a better quality of shot commentary than Accustats with Byrne.
Yes, I thought the prices were a bit high too. I'd try out one, but I sure wouldn't buy many at $30. I do like watching the race to 50 format rather than the best of five 15 point sets. Was thinking of picking up one from the '99 event at Chris' as I was there for some of them.
Don't forget that CaromTV has a Video-On-Demand option if you don't mind downloading them and watching on your computer. They are less than half the cost of the regular DVDs, although not as high quality since it is compressed video (~500Mb wmv files as opposed to 4Gb DVDs).
CaromTV has the biggest selection of 3C vids around, but that also means there is a lot to choose from. Personally, I prefer shorter high-average games to longer low-average ones, even if it means they're really one-sided and I'm paying more per minute to watch them. If you're only buying a few for enjoyment as well as repeated viewing/study, I recommend making sure you're watching the best players at the top of their game! The flip side is that lower average games means more mistakes, and sometimes that can be more instructive than flawless play (with the right commentary, of course! *cough cough*). Guess you'll just have to buy them all, eventually
Accu-Stats has a nice (albeit limited) selection of older matches (last event was 2003?), and they were lucky to catch several record-breaking games on tape from the mid '90s SL tournament days. However, things have changed considerably since then as the general level of play has risen, and it's probably more relevant to study modern games from recent events if you're hoping to improve your own decision-making at the table.
Final thought to keep in mind: CaromTV is Jan Carl's labor of love one-man operation. He buys all the equipment, does all the editing, makes and mails the discs, manages the website, etc, and *all* money generated goes directly back into promoting billiards. Last year he was able to make a $10,000 donation to the Sang Lee International Open prize fund! Without big corporate sponsors, people like Jan make all the difference in keeping billiards alive and accessible to people all around the world that otherwise wouldn't get to watch such masterful play. Go buy some videos and help support the game we all love!
Robert
CaromTV has the biggest selection of 3C vids around, but that also means there is a lot to choose from. Personally, I prefer shorter high-average games to longer low-average ones, even if it means they're really one-sided and I'm paying more per minute to watch them. If you're only buying a few for enjoyment as well as repeated viewing/study, I recommend making sure you're watching the best players at the top of their game! The flip side is that lower average games means more mistakes, and sometimes that can be more instructive than flawless play (with the right commentary, of course! *cough cough*). Guess you'll just have to buy them all, eventually
Accu-Stats has a nice (albeit limited) selection of older matches (last event was 2003?), and they were lucky to catch several record-breaking games on tape from the mid '90s SL tournament days. However, things have changed considerably since then as the general level of play has risen, and it's probably more relevant to study modern games from recent events if you're hoping to improve your own decision-making at the table.
Final thought to keep in mind: CaromTV is Jan Carl's labor of love one-man operation. He buys all the equipment, does all the editing, makes and mails the discs, manages the website, etc, and *all* money generated goes directly back into promoting billiards. Last year he was able to make a $10,000 donation to the Sang Lee International Open prize fund! Without big corporate sponsors, people like Jan make all the difference in keeping billiards alive and accessible to people all around the world that otherwise wouldn't get to watch such masterful play. Go buy some videos and help support the game we all love!
Robert