videos Dr. Dave's answers to frequently-asked questions
(FAQs),
mostly from the BD
CCB and AZB
discussion forums
maintained for the book: The
Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards
and the monthly Billiards
Digest "Illustrated Principles"
instructional articles
Where can I find that awesome high-quality, slow-motion video footage from that group in Austria?
HSV A.76) has a collection of the clips. It shows various super-slow-motion carom, jump, and kick shots filmed at 2000 frames/sec with a very high resolution, full color, high-speed camera. The clip also includes infrared footage showing how temperatures change dramatically on the ball and cloth during various types of shots. The clip is awesome. I also have an isolated clip of the close-up of the cue tip hitting the cue ball in HSV A.76a.
The video collection was provided by the Billiard SportKlub Union out of Austria (www.bskunion.at).
Where can I find information about that pool-playing robot in Canada?
Dr. Michael Greenspan, at Queen's Universtiy, Ontario is developing a pool-playing robot, complete with automated computer vision systems and software for aiming and strategy. They have a long way to go before Efren will feel nervous, but the preliminary results are pretty impressive (for a machine anyway). A good overview video (created by the Discovery Channel) can be viewed online.
More information can be found here: www.deepgreenrobot.org
Dr. Dave's video production methods
How does Dr. Dave create and post all of those videos online?
Several people have asked me about how I make and post my videos, so I thought I would share the procedure with others that might be interested:
1) Shoot raw footage with a mini-DV digital video camera mounted in a 4-way adjustable tripod. For overhead shots, I either have the tripod fully or partially on the table, with the help of bar stools; otherwise, it stands on the floor. I often shoot multiple "takes" of the same shot because of missed shots, narration errors, bad lighting or camera views, etc.
2) Download the video from the camera to my laptop through a firewire interface, using Pinnacle Studio software. Video requires lots of disk space (about 3-4 MB/sec ... that's megabytes per second!).
3) Use Pinnacle Studio to edit out the bad "takes" and trim the beginning and end of the best take. I also remove pauses and errors made (and later corrected) in the middle of a "take." That's why you sometimes see jumps in the middle of a clip.
4) Use Pinnacle Studio to store the edited video clip as a compressed Windows Media Video (WMV) file so it won't take up so much disk space and so it will be easily downloadable via the Internet. An uncompressed AVI video file can take up 50-100 more space than a compressed WMV file! In other words, if I didn't compress the video, it would take 50-100 times longer to download it via your Internet connection. The downside (because there are no "free lunches") is that the video image size and quality is not as good.
5) Use Dreamweaver software to edit my website and add links to the new video clips.
6) Use Dreamweaver to upload the new website and video files to my webserver (www.engr.colostate.edu) so they can be viewed by anyone in the world.
That's it ... difficult to learn at first, but very easy once you have done it for a while. It also helps being at a university where there are people around that know how to do all of this stuff and are willing (and excited) to show you how.
The super slow motion video clips are filmed with a special, and very expensive, high-speed camera. Other than the camera, the other steps in the process above are the same.
Information about Dr. Dave's DVDs can be found here.
see also: reviews of Dr. Dave's book
from Billy_Bob:
I
finally bought Dr. Dave's DVD and book "The Illustrated Principles of Pool
and Billiards".
And WOW! The DVD is fantastic! This should have been the first DVD I bought. I learned many new *basic* things from watching this DVD.
By fantastic, I mean that it is short, to the point, and clearly demonstrates many fundamentals of shots.
-Shots like a ball near the side pocket, how to shoot
it so you will not scratch in the side. And why it works. (Why speed is the key.)
-How
not to scratch on shots. And why it works.
-How similar shots can radically
change where the cue ball will wind up depending on speed of hit. And why it works.
(Not what you would obviously think.)
-Why some shots hit hard don't work,
but hit softly, they do work - and why.
-Things the other players in the pool
hall don't tell you, but seem to know.
The most interesting part is the "And why it works" part. He explains some very basic things which I have not seen/read elsewhere, but which should have been mentioned in any basic book on pool. Everyone keeping this stuff a secret or something?
And these basic things are easy once you see how and why.
Everybody says practice fundamentals, but they don't say what fundamentals are exactly. Now I finally know and have fundamental shots to practice.
I will admit that I had this book/DVD on my wish list for quite some time, but put off buying it. I mistakenly thought it would be quite scientific/technical in nature. I thought it would explain what is going on, but not necessarily improve my game much. I was very wrong. It is simple shot basics explained in simple terms which anyone can easily understand.
I would recommend this DVD and book for everyone. Beginner, advanced, and pro.
"The
Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards"
(Should be called Fundamentals
something or other...)
billiards.colostate.edu
Where can I find information on billiards movies and the shots in the movies?
I wrote a series of article called "Billiards on the Big Screen" (see my August through October '04 articles). The articles describe the movies and show and explain most of the more interesting shots. "The Hustler," "The Color of Money," and "Pool Hall Junkies" are featured.
How can I easily find free online videos of pool and billiards instruction, matches, trick shots, and interviews?
The online video collection section of my website has links to many free online videos in all categories.