Madden 21 Broadcast Cam - A Scorned Camera Awaiting Its Time to Shine

[khaliib]

Best thing to do is capture some clips and send/post to Clint/Ben and other devs requesting the Broadcast Cam to be tuned to do similar and/or have it zoomed out and running parallel to the sideline from endzone to endzone.

Seeing the stadium crowd as it zooms into the action really draws you in.

The main two Cam Events that need tweaking is the 1) PrePlay 2)QB Pass

PrePlay because it uses the Coach Cam where when the ball reaches the 35yrd line, it will start to angle the Cam.

QB Pass because it zooms in to QB transitioning to Ball Carrier Event instead of pan outward to see WR downfield.

[ChaseB]

I don't think that's off-topic bcruise, that's just helpful info.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by khaliib

Best thing to do is capture some clips and send/post to Clint/Ben and other devs requesting the Broadcast Cam to be tuned to do similar and/or have it zoomed out and running parallel to the sideline from endzone to endzone. Seeing the stadium crowd as it zooms into the action really draws you in. The main two Cam Events that need tweaking is the 1) PrePlay 2)QB Pass PrePlay because it uses the Coach Cam where when the ball reaches the 35yrd line, it will start to angle the Cam. QB Pass because it zooms in to QB transitioning to Ball Carrier Event instead of pan outward to see WR downfield.

I'm putting up a news story this upcoming week on broadcast cam, just a heads up.

[khaliib]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

I'm putting up a news story this upcoming week on broadcast cam, just a heads up.

Thx Chase.

I’ve tried over the past several years to get some of the content creators just to try playing from the angle, esp those that promote Simulation, only to get a big no go.

The angle hides so many of the warts our eyes are drawn to that playing behind the QB causes.

We read and write on an horizontal plane, not vertical.
There’s a reason TV cameras follow the same logic, because it doesn’t cause a disengagement from the action/flow.

When the NFL tried the behind the QB Wire Cam during a couple of games, I changed the channel because i was trying to process the game from this odd/weird angle, thus not enjoying it.

Look forward to your write up!!!

[tinpanalley]

Quote: Originally Posted by bcruise

Yeah, don't want to send this too off-topic

I don't wanna send this too off topic either but I think it does come back to the broadcast cam arena, if you will. What I do, which is gonna sound nuts but it works for me, is that I watch footage in CPU vs CPU and, wait for it, I squint. The graphics are good enough now that it's not hard to imagine you're watching a real game. And squinting helps blur the "gaming" look to what could conceivably be a real broadcast. Particularly if the angle is realistic. And then I keep track of what's wrong: do players turn too easily, is their pivot too quick or too easy, is their acceleration reasonable, is their top speed too robotic, etc. And then I adjust until I see something that, well, 'looks' like real life. Then once that's taken care of I worry about actual player trait sliders. But I find that that's where one has to really know the sport well because you need to know what kind of range, accuracy etc athletes have.

This also highlights really quickly and evidently when a game isn't engineered well. Because no matter what you do, it just doesn't fit. Anyway, this is just a tiny trick, use it if it helps to get this broadcast cam to look good. Because right now, when I hike the ball, the players all go 1920s 16fps footage on me.
My two cents. Consequently this is the kind of thing I was hoping to write when I took the gig to write short pieces for OS months ago which I didn't have time for because of a job I'm now never going to be going back to. Covid, as always, the great leveller of life.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by tinpanalley

I don't wanna send this too off topic either but I think it does come back to the broadcast cam arena, if you will. What I do, which is gonna sound nuts but it works for me, is that I watch footage in CPU vs CPU and, wait for it, I squint. The graphics are good enough now that it's not hard to imagine you're watching a real game. And squinting helps blur the "gaming" look to what could conceivably be a real broadcast. Particularly if the angle is realistic. And then I keep track of what's wrong: do players turn too easily, is their pivot too quick or too easy, is their acceleration reasonable, is their top speed too robotic, etc. And then I adjust until I see something that, well, 'looks' like real life. Then once that's taken care of I worry about actual player trait sliders. But I find that that's where one has to really know the sport well because you need to know what kind of range, accuracy etc athletes have. This also highlights really quickly and evidently when a game isn't engineered well. Because no matter what you do, it just doesn't fit. Anyway, this is just a tiny trick, use it if it helps to get this broadcast cam to look good. Because right now, when I hike the ball, the players all go 1920s 16fps footage on me. My two cents. Consequently this is the kind of thing I was hoping to write when I took the gig to write short pieces for OS months ago which I didn't have time for because of a job I'm now never going to be going back to. Covid, as always, the great leveller of life.

Are you saying you get frame drops in Madden or NHL when in the broadcast cam right now?

One thing I noticed with Madden broadcast cam is just the field feels so much wider so it feels like I can run more sorts of plays vs. QB cam.

[TarHeelPhenom]

It's just a beautiful thing... especially in the passing game...being able to see routes progress all over the field...throw the high pass over zone defenders. Being able to see the WR beat their man off the press. I'm glad Chase is going to give it some shine and hopefully the devs take it to heart and make it a viable option. If nothing else give us a custom cam that we can adjust similar to 2k.

[tinpanalley]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Are you saying you get frame drops in Madden or NHL when in the broadcast cam right now? One thing I noticed with Madden broadcast cam is just the field feels so much wider so it feels like I can run more sorts of plays vs. QB cam.

What I mean is that old 1920s sports footage was usually shot at about 12-16 fps. So played back at the industry standard 24fps, it's why footage from the early 20th Century has the sped up look. I meant it feels like that.
The field feels more wide or open because on the 3/4 view, they've created a bit of a long lens feel where foreground and background are compressed so despite the fact that the field never changes size, it feels like you have less space to move around. That combined with the 3/4 angle distorting the perspective of how much space there actually is accounts for the wider open feel of the broadcast angle which is truer to life or to what our eyes see. This is the reason the Field Goal camera has always annoyed me. It does the obvious job of showing whether a ball is sliced or hooked but doesn't in any way successfully demonstrate distance or velocity of the ball.