It would be nice to able to get a pic of the layout from directly over the center of the table looking straight down. I wonder how far above the table the camera would need to be??
WWYD 9 Ball
- Thread starter iusedtoberich
- Start date
It would be nice to able to get a pic of the layout from directly over the center of the table looking straight down. I wonder how far above the table the camera would need to be??
I've stood up on my table and tried in the past. The best I can do is half a table at a time. Even with half the table, framed within the lens very carefully, and the camera pointing "straight down", it really does not show what your eyes see. Its amazing how much the camera changes things. Its just the way lenses work.
When commentators on matches say they give preference to the player's selection, because he is at the table, it is very true. The camera lies, whether its a still camera, or a video camera.
Now, of course it gets us in the ball park. But for very close situations, it is not the same.
I spent a lot of time on this, setting up my video camera, trying directly overhead positions, etc. Its really not the same.
I'd shoot it this way even on a less-than-fast table - but I'd skip the right spin in favor of hitting a little lower on the vertical axis (no jacking up needed).
pj
chgo
Thank you for the info, looks pretty technical, I do not have a very large photography comfort zone, I am afraid this just may fall outside of it.
Apparently you have already thought of this, sorry, I am just a little slow is all.
Apparently you have already thought of this, sorry, I am just a little slow is all.
Its good. I wanted to build a custom light using LED's and place a second camera in the middle of the light, directly overhead and pointing down. I bought several wide-angle lenses and stood up on the table with my hand on the ceiling. It wasn't good enough of a picture to bother, so I just kept my current setup.
An interesting thing, since I have the lines drawn on my table that coincide with the diamonds, is you can really see how distorted a camera makes things. If I stand right on the table with my still camera and take a shot pointing straight down, the lines on the table won't line up with the diamonds.
Take a look at the attached picture. If you look closely, you will see on the end rail the center diamond lines up with the lines, but the two outer diamonds are both outside of the lines. If you look at the long rail, the diamonds closest to the corner pocket are outside of the lines on the table, and the diamond closest to the side pocket are also outside of the lines on the table. As you get further from the camera center, things appear differently than in real life.
This is one reason, IMO, even with an Accu-stats quality overhead picture, and going by the diamonds, you still can't place the balls "exactly". I think +/- 1" in any direction is damn good.
View attachment 391840
I just tried your situation out and this is the best way to go about it in my personal opinion.
A stun shot hit the 7 in the side like this picture shows here.
This worked perfectly for me every time.
This is how I would play it as well. Comes up often, and not that tough to pocket as the angle is going into a full side pocket. Really don't have to jack the cue up very much.
Yeah, I think so too.
Two things come to mind. I chose the right spin to lessen the cue elevation close to the rail. On a relatively easier shot, I feel I can control the spin well enough without jacking up to make the ball and get position.
Second, I like the idea of not worrying about the throw factor by using outside spin versus straight draw. If I'm playing on a fast table and hit soft draw to control the cue ball speed, I introduce more cling on the object ball and have to cut the ball thinner. There's a chance I might turn the cue ball loose with too thin of a cut.
The fast tables cause a lot of different patterns to come into play. The days of jacking up and spearing balls have gone by the wayside. :wink:
Best,
Mike
Yeah, you can really see the distortion in your screenshot. I think some of it is an optical illusion due to the different heights of the rail and the lines on the bed. Interesting and a real eye opener though.