Forget the original idea, the new one is on the annotations under UPDATED IDEA:
(OLD IDEA) --> Try it with baseballs first, embed them with cameras around the periphery that don't break when hit with a bat. Then when they're flying, they radio the pictures that take the wanted frames, using serial motion so you get a steady, non spinning shot you send to the video screens around the stadium.
So as the ball spins, it just takes the frame of the leading camera at that point and projects it, then as next camera rolls into the leading edge of the ball, that frame is projected as well. Now all of these frames are radioed to the video processing system, so you'd be able to pan in any direction.
After the play the scene would be played in slow motion, approaching the batter, flying into center field, getting caught and thrown to second then first for a double play. Keep in mind, you'd have total control of the angle of the shot, show the guy throwing it as the ball flies away from him, then cut to the guy catching it as it flies into his glove for instance.
One downside or upside would be the elimination of need for umpires. Did he get that guy at first base in time? Let's replay the 3D camera footage and pan around from various angles.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 26 2023 Inspired by this. Tossing_20The_20TelescopesSort of. [doctorremulac3, Sep 26 2023] In-ball_20cricket_20camera [hippo, Sep 26 2023] Ball_20Cam [hippo, Sep 26 2023] photo_20sphere [hippo, Sep 26 2023] 3D Scanned & "Virtual" Camera https://www.canon-e...eo-rugby-world-cup/Scan & film everything in high res & create a 3D model of the whole field. [neutrinos_shadow, Sep 28 2023] Non-homogeneity might be a problem-- hippo, Sep 26 2023 That's the first problem I overcame, I looked up what non-homogeneity meant. :]-- doctorremulac3, Sep 26 2023 But also, this idea has been done before (see links)-- hippo, Sep 26 2023 Anybody see the difference between this idea and all the links? Aside from this one having the possibility of actually working?
The football thing is close, but only shows one shot, no panoramic views.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 26 2023 Spinning is the issue. 1 revolution is a whole 360 degrees of angle change. I don't know about baseball, but a cricket spin bowler can hit 5000RPM, which is ~80 revolutions per second, or nearly 30,000 degrees per second. You'd need a huge frame rate. Imaging is always a trade off, you can image at 30,000 Hz, but then you only have 1/30,000 of a second's worth of light. The usual way around that is a bigger lens, which we can't do for a lot of reasons, or a LOT of light, which we also can't really do on a stadium scale.
The solution would be to stop the camera spinning with a gyro, then make the ball out of optically perfect glass. Can't see any issues with that.
The way to do it is to simulate the ball's-eye view. Capture the ball in 3D space, there are a few ways to do that, then build the vie out from a whole load of cameras around the stadium.-- bs0u0155, Sep 26 2023 UPDATED IDEA: Okay, let me turn the crazy up to 11, reflective balls being tracked by telescopes with cameras around the stadium.
You have these things zoom in at the image being reflected on the ball, put it into the system and manipulate it.
Okay, this idea is officially that now, forget about the cameras.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 26 2023 All right, *now* you're half-baking. [+]
You just have the teeny problem of applying a highly reflective surface which will deal well with being smashed repeatedly with a bat.-- pertinax, Sep 26 2023 Thank you Pert. The first idea was eh. But I kind of like the replacement idea.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 27 2023 // reflective balls being tracked by telescopes with cameras around the stadium //
Could a GPS be embedded in the ball that used the current satellite array in orbit or a different system unique to the stadium itself, so that the ball's location on the field could be tracked to the millimeter?
This might eliminate the need for a high strength surface to withstand being repeatedly smashed with a bat.-- whatrock, Sep 27 2023 Oh shoot, I left that out but yea, you'd need some kind of tracking besides just visual, you'd be having to zoom in on this fast moving small object.
Might come up with some pretty good anti aerial drone technology as a bonus.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 27 2023 Obviously make the bats squishy and flexible so they don't damage the perfectly reflective surface of the ball. Best make the ground and the players' clothing and protective gear squishy as well.-- pocmloc, Sep 27 2023 Well if you're gonna make the players' clothing and protective gear squishy there's no reason to do the same to the bats. In fact, give every player one and encourage them to utilize them in disputes over ball and player position, timing, squabbles and the eventual (obligatory?) striking of the batter by an aimed pitch.
Baseball would get a lot more interesting.-- whatrock, Sep 27 2023 //Baseball would get a lot more interesting// - yes, but that's true of any change you might make to the game-- hippo, Sep 27 2023 Just occurred to me, a soccer ball would be the first to try with this. Much bigger, easier to track, much bigger reflection and much better reflective area to seam ratio.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 28 2023 [doctorremulac3]; see linky. They use heaps of cameras & create a 3D model of the whole field, then they can place a virtual camera anywhere they like. It will definitely have a reasonably large processing lag. Further thought: still have a GPS (or rather, a local highly precise system) tracker or 2 in the ball, so it can be located even when hidden by players.-- neutrinos_shadow, Sep 28 2023 Whoa! So the expensive part is already in place!
And keep in mind, it doesn't need to be showing these "view from the ball shots" 100% of the time, just shots that are interesting, like goals, steals, flops etc.
Thanks Neut, makes me want to propose this to them.
Idea: Have the reflective surface painted with a clear coating of ball colored paint of some kind and get the reflective part coming through using some part of the light spectrum. Too complicated? Not sure I even understood what I just wrote.-- doctorremulac3, Sep 29 2023 random, halfbakery