Puck and Player Tracking

[BenBreeg 493]

So they used it a bit yesterday for the All-star game.  I think it is cool for quickly resolving goals and offsides, but the Fox puck thing was annoying.  My eye was actually drawn to the gray streak and away from thr player with the puck.  Also, when they captioned each player it made it like a video game.  With 3-3 it was bad enough, 5-5 there is the potential to cover more of the screen or obstruct the action, even momentarily.  Potential for the above scenarios and post game insoghys, but they need to chill with the in-game stuff if they implement it.

[chippa13 1844]

I wouldn't mind the occassional player identification before a puck drop but not during play. It clutters the screen too much. Maybe they could do a top or bottom of screen bar with players on ice.

[BenBreeg 493]

They did the bar under the score graphic as well at times and yeah, it worked well.

[chk hrd 164]

I thought I was back in the 80's with the puck tracking. Didn't like it then and still don't like it now. The only use for it might be for a replay showing what happened. If they used the player track when everyone is still, like a face off or maybe during a replay it might be useful. But if you watch a lot of hockey you usually know who the players are so then it is more of a distraction. I like the idea that the NHL wants to use technology but I would rather see it done in other ways. Maybe a sensor in the puck that lets them know for sure if it is a goal. If you are going to clock shots maybe something that also shows where the puck went, almost like with a MLB pitch.    

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Maybe as things move away from traditional TV to more online content they could do these kinds of things as overlays that can actually be turned off as an option. 

[BenBreeg 493]

Yeah the sensor is in the puck.  IPv6, i think people told me they do that with auto racing where you can go to the website and pick a car and have all the data on your screen.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Yeah see that could be cool. Or if you wanted to single out a player and just watch them... have them highlighted like in a video game. Whatever. So many possibilities. 

Just as long as they don't force me to actually look at it if I don't want to, I'm all for it. Hell, even the Fox Puck. Make it an option, like turning on closed captioning. Lots of things they could do if they're streaming the content online. 

[dimpledballs 8]

A player cam would be cool but I think the logistics of having 12 different camera operators solely dedicated to specific players/positions on the ice is not viable for the production teams. There's no demand for people watching specific players and positions like nascar. That's why most productions only have player specific cameras when it comes to the big stars for each team, otherwise the rest of the footage is captured by the ice-level cameras and the main gameplay camera. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

3 minutes ago, dimpledballs said:

A player cam would be cool but I think the logistics of having 12 different camera operators solely dedicated to specific players/positions on the ice is not viable for the production teams. There's no demand for people watching specific players and positions like nascar. That's why most productions only have player specific cameras when it comes to the big stars for each team, otherwise the rest of the footage is captured by the ice-level cameras and the main gameplay camera. 

I wouldn't expect a camera just for that player. I'm just suggesting highlighting that player on the standard camera angle. 

[romdj 26]

19 hours ago, dimpledballs said:

A player cam would be cool but I think the logistics of having 12 different camera operators solely dedicated to specific players/positions on the ice is not viable for the production teams. There's no demand for people watching specific players and positions like nascar. That's why most productions only have player specific cameras when it comes to the big stars for each team, otherwise the rest of the footage is captured by the ice-level cameras and the main gameplay camera. 

I remember there was a star cam a few years ago, it usually picked the major players, I loved it actually.

Eventually, I think refs will have vr cameras, so you'll be able to look wherever you like

[Matt18 1]

I think the whole experience was complete garbage.  I was at outdoor tourney with the boys and everyone said the same thing. "Get that crap off the screen so we can see the actual play".
 

[Kgbeast 195]

The player and puck tracking on it's own is of little interest, but combined with ultra high resolution shooting can be extremely interesting. 8k shooting is here, people are working on even higher resolution cameras already. It possible that there will be no need in multiple moving cameras, but can be multiple stationary cameras that shooting the entire arena. Then say in TV, you can pick special tracking (puck for example) and you get an automated in-image pan/zoom to deliver you basically what you get now. Except you can pick player tracking instead and auto pan zoom on the player. Kind of like when you zoom into the image on your phone and swipe around looking for a specific details, but with tracking technology and it's in content delivery implementation, you can have that automated. Not there now, but I can see it being not too far in the future.