"New" member: My introduction

S

SloMoHolic

When will then be now?
Silver Member
This is my first post here, but I've been a super lurker for over a decade. One of my first posts on RSB back in 2002 was answered by none other than Patrick Johnson (and it was a great answer).

Anyway, I am excited to join the discussions, and I hope I can contribute something useful to these forums.

I'm certainly not a pro, or even a shortstop, but I'm no slouch either.

I was an APA 7 in 8-ball, and 9 in 9-ball (before I quit APA), and so far, I'm averaging about 9/game in my BCA league. My best B&R packages are 5 in 8-ball and 6 in 9-ball. Still, I'm always learning, and I know I will learn more here than I could ever contribute.

At home, I have a 2004 9' Diamond Professional (red label), with 4.5" pockets. I also recently purchased a Diamond Professional Ball Polisher (full review coming soon). I play with a Predator P1 with a Z2 shaft, and I use an Action cue (it was a raffle win) with a phenolic tip/ferrule as my break cue. I also use a Bunjee for jumping, but I prefer to kick if possible.

Enough about me. What do you want to see in slow motion? I have a decent slow motion ("high speed") camera and I'd be happy to help with any particular shots you're curious about. Maybe I'll post a new thread asking for requests...

I have a very simple camera and setup, so it takes no time at all to shoot and upload a basic clip. You can see some of my more polished work by visiting my main YouTube channel (just search for "SloMoHolic"). I only have three pool videos up there now, but I'd be happy to add more if there is any further interest.

Thanks everyone for all you do to keep our sport alive and kicking. See you around the forums!

-Blake
 
Hi Blake & Welcome.

Who am I to be welcoming you? I only stumbled on here 7 months ago when buying a shaft.

How can you be lurking for a decade & join a year ago & just be making your first post? Did you get your thumbs & fingers broken?:wink:

Mr. Long & I would like to see a slow motion of a ball basically slow rolled with as level a cue as possible, say hit at 10:30 or 1:30 english to measure what & how any squirt/deflection & swerve actaually takes place.

It would have to be set up & struck very well to really be telling.

Thanks in advance if you take it on.

Welcome again,
 
Thanks E, I've enjoyed your posts.

Long strange story, getting to my first post here. I wish it was as interesting as you suggested, but it's not...

I'll shoot a few balls with the requested spin and maybe compare the house cues vs the Z2. Update coming soon with video.

Let me know what else you want to see. I can do 4x, 8x, 14x, or 33x slower than real time, but the resolution gets worse as I shoot at "higher speeds" (slower motion). I'll do this one at 8x.

SloMo of the Diamond Ball polisher (spiral action) is available if anyone is interested. Maybe Greg/RKC would like to see it?

-Blake
 
Welcome.

I was actually just going to ask for pics of the spiral action caused by the ball cleaner... You must have read my mind.:)
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm happy to be here.

Oh crap, I realize now that I've set myself up to have my stroke analyzed by thousands of players, in every excruciating detail in slow motion. :-) I hope it stands up to scrutiny. I think for the most part it will, but I welcome any feedback.

I'll get the Diamond Polisher "spiral" video up tomorrow. Trust me, it works as advertised.

-Blake
 
SloMoHolic said:
I've been a super lurker for over a decade
Click to expand...

I admire you for ten years of lurking, but I'm trying to figure out how you pulled it off.
Nobody has that much discipline, you must have another username, or maybe you were just too busy :) to register.
Either way, welcome to the forum.
 
E!, I shot some footage straight at the camera tonight (cam was just above the rail) but I couldn't see enough squirt or swerve in the video to make it useful. The spin was obvious, but I just couldn't really see the sq/sw. Maybe the slow motion actually makes it harder to see the sq/sw. Idunno.

Maybe I need a different camera angle. I know sq and sw are real, so I'll have to find the camera angle that shows it best. Any ideas? I'm thinking I could set up a "train track" of parallel masking tape with my caliper, then shoot film from directly above. Maybe from the shooter's POV? What angle(s) would you like to see?

Maybe shooting softly minimizes the sq/sw so much that I just don't see it. Would it be useful to see some hard shots?

Let me know. I'm up for whatever.

Thanks,

-Blake
 
CuesBlues,

I don't know what the heck was wrong with me. I guess I just didn't want to join until I felt I could really contribute to the forums.

Then I joined, but maybe I was apprehensive about posting, for the same reason. Baby steps :-)

Anyway, thanks for the welcome. I'm glad I'm here now.

Are there any shots you'd like to see in slow motion? Crazy or plain, I'll give em a shot. I don't have awesome video equipment like Dr. Dave but I do have a decent high speed camera and a table, and I'd be glad to shoot some shots for you.

Respectfully,

-Blake
 
Hi Blake. Welcome to the forum?

If there was anything I would love to see is slo mo it would be a heavily chalked tip contacting the cue ball on a break shot. Shot from the side I think it would be cool to see all the dust exploding. :grin:
 
MonsterMash,

I'll give it another shot. The last time I tried that, it was still too fast to really comprehend. I shot a draw shot at 1000 frames per second and still saw the chalk just fly off the tip! See the intro to this video:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dN5_NrkjQj8

Dr. Dave's equipment is much better than mine but I'll give it another shot.

My video was filmed almost three years ago, and I've learned a lot since then (about pool AND about slow motion video). I'll try again and see if I can come up with something worth watching.

FYI, according to the "Predator Break Speed" iPhone app, I'm breaking about 25 mph these days...

Thanks for the interest,

-Blake
 
MonsterMash,

Well, I tried again, but honestly I'm not sure my equipment is good enough to really capture that. I'll certainly try a few more times, but MAN, stuff happens fast in pool! I did a few break shots and came up with some otherwise interesting videos but I can't quite capture that chalk explosion. Yet.

[I'll post a vid of my attempts, just for fun]

I know exactly the shot you want to see, and I'll try to perfect it (as much for me, as for you). Give me a few weeks and I'll see if I can find the magic formula of camera angle, lighting, etc.

Keep the ideas coming. I need a good challenge every now and then.

Thanks,

-Blake
 
Branpureza,

Thanks for that great welcome.

I'm glad you enjoyed my videos. That rail shot was an accident but I'm glad I got it on film. You know which one I'm talking about. :-)

I'll do my best to make more good stuff. Just tell me what you want to see and I'll try to make it happen.

Do you think we should start a new thread asking for slow motion requests? I'd be happy to shoot some shots (up to my ability) so people can SEE what's happening on the table.

Maybe instead of (or in addition to) asking for specific shots, we should decide on a "theme" for my next SloMo video. Breaks seem to be a pretty popular subject.

To be clear, my stuff is nothing like the awesome equipment Dr. Dave has access to (I'm super jealous), but I'll try my best. I've been watching his high quality SloMo stuff for years.

The good thing is that I just have a basic SloMo camera, so it might be quicker for me to throw something together on YouTube. For the more intricate stuff, we can reach out to Dave.

Thanks again,

-Blake
 
Welcome to AZ!!!

I look forward to seeing your video's I am sure myself and others could learn a lot...:thumbup:
 
Weicome

Welcome to the forums Blake. I am in the same boat. I joined AZB in 2004 but have not posted that much. I was a member of RSB before that also. I started getting involved in the forum and now enjoy it alot.
 
Welcome aboard Blake. You write very well and your offers to provide video content is a nice gesture. You're out of the gate as a promising, passionate, positive contributor! :thumbup:
 
Welcome Blake!!! And....thanks for offering your services.

Two things I'd like to see in slow-motion:

1.) Someone going through a shot using CTE (seriously) from two different camera angles: Directly behind the cues sight line, and directly behind the object ball (on a direct line with the cue).

2.) Luc Salvas running out a rack of 9-ball (not so serious) :grin:!!!

Maniac
 
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