Lake 38 Webcast

[Horton]

Schedule
Times are approximate and in Eastern Time (ET) & Central Europe Time (CET) 

Saturday - Qualifiers:
8.00am ET (14:00 CET) - Women's Slalom - Qualifying Round 1 
9.00am ET (15.00 CET) - Men's Slalom - Qualifying Round 1 
11.00am ET (17:00 CET) - Women's Slalom - Qualifying Round 2 

12.00pm ET (18:00 CET) - Men's Slalom - Qualifying Round 2

Sunday - Finals:

1.00pm ET (19:00 CET) - Women's Slalom Final (8 skiers)

2.00pm ET (20:00 CET) - Men's Slalom Final (8 skiers)

[Horton]

if you guys aren't watching the Whitney / Regina show was pretty spectacular this morning

[Wish]

Sooooo many amazing camera angles. The drone shots are stunning. 

[Horton]

live scores

https://iwwfed-ea.org/competition.php?cc=T-23USA96&page=live

[cedarskier6]

😒

[Horton]

@cedarskier6 ?

[Horton]

what? what?

[Ski2000]

Did they say no gates on his 41?

[Cooper_Trelawney]

I thought Winters ran 5 at 41 both rounds.   Admittedly,  I got distracted (by work, darn it) and missed watching him ski but when I came back around Tony was giving a recap and that's what I thought he said...5 at 41 both rounds...

[Ski2000]

I watched it and that’s what he ran. 

[JackQ]

I was one of the Judges he ran and was credited with 5@41 both rounds. The upload for the online scores sometimes is quirky. 

[waterskicorey]

Where is Will Asher?

[RickFSU1]

[RickFSU1]

Finals start at 1:00pm eastern.   

[B_S]

Regina definitely gets crash of the weekend. 🤕

[Horton]

as always, stellar job by TWBC

[Andre]

51 minutes ago, Horton said:

as always, stellar job by TWBC

Can't you here the crowd ?

'' More drone shots!''

'' More drone shots!''

'' More drone shots!''

Great job TWBC!

[auskier]

Can someone comment on what seemed to be dual sure path systems going - on the pylon as usual and mounted on the windshield? 

[MDB1056]

Why TWBC's interview audio is still terrible I don't know. Was same for Swiss.  Other than that great coverage  

[ScottScott]

The coverage, commentary, cameras and camera angles provided are very good.....approaching some pretty serious broadcast level production from a video standpoint. I also enjoy the other skiers providing commentary and doing the dockside interviews. Fun to see some of the personalities of many of the skiers we watch.

My only video/content comment is that many of the dock closeups are just a little awkward....shorten? wider view of the dock area?

Audio....needs work. It took a few broadcasts, but they seem to have figured out how to minimize the mic drop-outs at the dock. But still...Across the board there are drastic audio volume differences between commentators, and even larger differences between the dock interviewer and the interviewee. They aren't difficult fixes....just need a little more focus in those areas, maybe a little instruction for the operators...? 

Edit: HA!!  as I was writing my comment I saw a notification of a new comment (from MDB1056.) Great minds think alike......    I will add, it wasn't just swiss....that has been a constant theme since the begining. Hopefully they will add some focus in that area and make improvements. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by ScottScott
respond to another comment

[Cnewbert]

@ScottScott no one has ever accused me of having a great mind, but I was temped to try and contact TWBC directly about this very same thing.  Wade's voice booms -- and Zane's as well, though to a lesser extent -- yet I strain to hear what the interviewees are even saying much of the time.  But we are incredibly lucky to have TWBC as they do a superb job in all other respects.

[Horton]

granted the audio levels were up and down last weekend but you guys complain about freaking everything.

analogy.... OMG! that mole on her face is disgusting. She is so gross!

[ScottScott]

I actually find that mole to be kinda sexy......not being able to hear a skier being interview.....NOT sexy.  

I know many can be hesitant to find fault in something they appreciate and respect....but sometimes pointing out fault is needed. TWBC does a great job, certainly better than anything waterskiing has had in many years. They have invested a good bit of money into high resolution cameras with various tracking capabilities, and misc other production equipment.  They appear to have a goal to be a high quality production company, and audio is an important part of the overall production quality that they are missing a little with. 

I know I'm a little more sensitive to these things as I was an audio engineer for 20 years doing a variety of music/bands, corporate AV presentations, and broadcast both to tape and live. But....I also know why it is the way it is, and how easy it is to fix. And as is evident in 2 other comments already within the last couple hours, I'm not the only one annoyed by it. (and to my knowledge they don't have the level of audio background that would make them overly sensitive to it.)

[RobHazelwood]

3 hours ago, auskier said:

Can someone comment on what seemed to be dual sure path systems going - on the pylon as usual and mounted on the windshield? 

It was a backup on the window shield incase of problems. Pretty sure just before I skied one went down for a moment and it meant they could carry on without stopping

[Slalom.Steve]

Do Regina's bindings not release? Check out her interview (video will start at correct timestamp). I don't see a release mechanism, at least on the front boot (can't see the back).

And I know this may be an unpopular take, but can Tony please cut down on saying "uh"? Using the same video clip as above, after the interview is over, Tony says "Alright then, and, uh, our good friends we can actually, uh, trust and rely upon to, uh, to bring us some, uh, some stats, er, on occasion." = 5 "uh/ers" in one sentence. Granted that is a particularly heavy example, but as a highly experienced announcer, he ought to be cutting out those filler words.

As Horton says though, still AMAZING what TWBC does, and a million x thank you. Not trying to rag on them, just suggestion for continual improvement.

[MDB1056]

honest candid feedback is essential for any business . Pro/Con . It should be requested and welcomed . Without any Con - all is assumed wonderful.  

[Horton]

@MDB1056 You are the guy who tells his wife she looks fat?

[MDB1056]

@Horton - she's not a business . A bit of a difference 

[Stevie Boy]

Lets's face it TWBC is the REAL DEAL !  

We are so lucky these Guy's are creating such a good Webcast, Waterskiing owes them so much !

Lake 38 Fabulous Webcast, Great Hosts, Great Competition.

[UWSkier]

The interviewers just need to learn to stick that mic right up in the skiers' faces and hold it at the proper angle.  Everything else, outstanding.

[richfoster]

@Horton Your best post of the year so far. And not just because of the photo.
Eh,who am I kidding…..nice pic!

[ScottScott]

@UWSkier  Yes, that would help.   But, there is an audio operator. Their job is to do more than turn mics on and off. There is a fader and gain controls that can (and should be) turned up and down to compensate for louder or softer people (or microphone proximity.) There are also compressor and limiter devices/functions, or whatever your equipment has or maybe need to add to help level things out. This also goes for the commentators. They had 3 people at the commentator desk at some points ALL at different volumes. Gain and level controls can and should be used to equal them out. A high quality production can and should do better.

[richfoster]

So thankful for Tony and TWBC. I’m sure if he was only on the mic for two or three hours he would be 100% on point. The guy talks all day and he’s not in an air-conditioned booth. 

[Wish]

My wife and daughter actually watched both mens and women’s finals. My daughter who did broadcasting was blown away that it was “just a YouTube feed” and maintained that level of professional quality. There is no way they would have watched without it being ESPN quality fillers, interviews, commentary. They were asking all kinds of questions about the skiers and half the time Tony and crew answered it before I did. I was just waiting for them to walk away but TWBC kept their interest ..period.   Now I was working the volume control..up before interview started and down before it went back. I’d say the above comments may come off as complaints but let’s be honest. Without them, how would Tony know the level of the issue. I bet $$s he’s seen this and is doing what he (they) can to better the next broadcast. Hats off to the drone pilot(s). Fantastic view. If I had to make a suggestion it would be more of that on earlier passes (warm up pass) as the pros make it look a tad to easy but from 20’ up and 30’ behind it looks spectacular. I think we ALL can admit they just keep getting better. 

[DaveD]

I think it's impossible to talk for as long at Tony has to without using fillers like "uh".  I was thinking Tony was actually cutting down on some of the fillers in this webcast.  He seems to get better each webcast.  

I personally don't mind a few live broadcast goofs.  Adds a little levity to the show.  I'm still waiting to see one of the interviewer swear when they realize they forgot to turn the mic on.  

The volume on the interviews does need to be adjusted but sometimes you can only do so much with someone that has a soft voice.  

Edited June 6, 2023 by DaveD

[auskier]

On 6/6/2023 at 2:04 AM, RobHazelwood said:

It was a backup on the window shield incase of problems. Pretty sure just before I skied one went down for a moment and it meant they could carry on without stopping

Thanks Rob. Would be really interesting to compare the data on that. Looks like Jerry was the TC? 

[Kelvin]

Part of the reason for dual surepath setups is to gather data on the difference in readings from the different locations.