Please tell me how Bo Butner won this drag race? (1 Viewer)

Dave

Nitro Member
butner.jpg
 
This, the PSM final at Sonoma last year, the Anderson/McGaha at the 4 wides.... Either their timing system or their camera system sucks.
 
There is no excuse for these terrible finish line shots. It's a combination of camera angle, the crooked Papa John stripe which is added and the distorted stretching of the cars. Look at Bo's car. It looks like it is two feet shorter. There are other threads with people that understand photography explaining it better than me.
 
The fact that there are multiple threads on it means they either A - don't know they have a problem or B - don't care.
 
distortion aside, look at the shadows of the noses in relation to the timing block and the lights.....

timing.png
 
Last edited:
Your line is straight up and down, but I believe the line should be slightly angled/faded up and to the right a few degrees. It’s distorted, as stated earlier Bo’s car is only 4/5 the size of the other car.
 
Are we doing this again?
It's a rolling shutter effect. Have a look at the picture below. The camera is still and the train is travelling from right to left. The way the digital camera works for video is that it progresses down the sensor, so the top of the frame is captured before the bottom. When a fast moving object travels across the frame, like this train or drag cars, it will result in a strange slant.
If you look closely at the image of the Pro Stock cars, you can see how they are slanted back towards the left (remembering they are travelling in the opposite direction to the train below).
The car at the top is being captured by the sensor hundredths of a second before the one at the bottom, enough for the one at the bottom to have travelled further ahead before it too is captured.
It's nothing to do with angle so much as the fact that the shot you are seeing isn't a 'moment in time' as such, it is several hundredths of a second of time captured line by line down the screen.

iphone_3g_s_rolling_shutter.jpg
 
seven ten-thousandths of a second, and Nobile the winner was clearly ahead, distortion or not

nobile.png


and if you draw the same line on the timing lamps...

nobile2.png


I say it looks like Alex Laughlin was ahead of Bo.....
so.....maybe there's another reason. Maybe Alex's nose is higher and missed the beams.
 
I say it looks like Alex Laughlin was ahead of Bo.....
so.....maybe there's another reason. Maybe Alex's nose is higher and missed the beams.
We can debate the angles and camera tricks, but to think it’s because a well designed race cars nose sits up too high and misses the beams is absurd IMO.
 
We can debate the angles and camera tricks, but to think it’s because a well designed race cars nose sits up too high and misses the beams is absurd IMO.
To begin with, you shouldn't even be referring to the nose, since it's the front wheels that triggers the beams.
 
Are we doing this again?
It's a rolling shutter effect. Have a look at the picture below. The camera is still and the train is travelling from right to left. The way the digital camera works for video is that it progresses down the sensor, so the top of the frame is captured before the bottom. When a fast moving object travels across the frame, like this train or drag cars, it will result in a strange slant.
If you look closely at the image of the Pro Stock cars, you can see how they are slanted back towards the left (remembering they are travelling in the opposite direction to the train below).
The car at the top is being captured by the sensor hundredths of a second before the one at the bottom, enough for the one at the bottom to have travelled further ahead before it too is captured.
It's nothing to do with angle so much as the fact that the shot you are seeing isn't a 'moment in time' as such, it is several hundredths of a second of time captured line by line down the screen.

iphone_3g_s_rolling_shutter.jpg

Do you mind if I borrow your picture and explanation for answering my fan emails? That's a perfect way to clarify what they are seeing. The bottom car is always further ahead than it should be. Even in the pic from the final, 0.0007 MOV should be about 2.5 inches at 210 mph, but Vincent looks to be in front about a foot. The bottom car is captured second, so it's still moving after the top car is frozen.

Alan
 
i seldom watch the show anymore , so my question is do they actually show the freeze frame of these finish line errors on tv or is this just people taking snap shots with their DVR and posting. because if the former is true, it wouldnt be wise to even to show the shot. There are more 'photo finishes' in drag racing than any other sport, i can think of and they apparently are using inferior technology. we know there is a solution because this wasn't an issue on espn. I'm guessing the solution involves more money and well .......
 
Keep in mind that it is not the photograph that determines the winner. First car to break the beams at the finish line is the winner, and those beams are accurate. The finish line photography is only for your viewing pleasure to give you an idea how close it was; and it shows why we have to use electronic beams rather than our eyeballs to determine the winner!
 
i seldom watch the show anymore , so my question is do they actually show the freeze frame of these finish line errors on tv or is this just people taking snap shots with their DVR and posting. because if the former is true, it wouldnt be wise to even to show the shot. There are more 'photo finishes' in drag racing than any other sport, i can think of and they apparently are using inferior technology. we know there is a solution because this wasn't an issue on espn. I'm guessing the solution involves more money and well .......
Believe it or not they have been showing these on tv for many seasons now, lol
 
Ways To Support Nitromater

Users who are viewing this thread


Back
Top