Pace and Cap - Sartin Methodology & The Match Up - View Single Post

Tim Y · 10-17-2021, 01:10 AM

I was the photofinish camera operator at two standardbred tracks and Woodbine. At all of them we used the Finish Lynx system. https://www.finishlynx.com/

When I used to talk to people about that, the first thing they would usually ask: "How can you BEAT that camera?" I tell them to relax in that all the hundreds upon hundreds of times I took the photo, the camera was NEVER wrong. Desormeaux thinks otherwise, but there are some things to consider to keep it correct.

1) the camera MUST be completely perpendicular to the finish or it can create error though parallax : Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects show a larger parallax than farther objects when observed from different positions, so parallax can be used to determine distances. If you are stationed about 10 feet past the finish line, it appears that the inside horse wins a dead heat and vice versa. I have had many owners and trainers come up to ask to see the raw photo only to find out they had been fooled by this problem. (There is a calibration program run before each session to insure that the camera is aligned correctly).

2) the SCAN rate of the camera has to be close to the speed of the horses at the end of their race. In standardbreds, it is easy to see when the scan rate it too slow (wheels will look OVIOD north and south) too fast and you get the opposite. Again you have to calibrate daily

3) finally AT MOST TRACKS the finishing post is NOT the finishing line, THE MIRROR IS. At Turf Paradise the mirror in just in front of the post and at Woodbine it is about 5 inches PAST that post. I can recall that only Oaklawn is right on the line. SO, if you look at the post as the finishing line your EYES will give you the wrong information. LOOK to see how YOUR track is set up.

10-17-2021, 01:10 AM	#2
Tim Y turf historian Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6,455	DIGITAL photography I was the photofinish camera operator at two standardbred tracks and Woodbine. At all of them we used the Finish Lynx system. https://www.finishlynx.com/ When I used to talk to people about that, the first thing they would usually ask: "How can you BEAT that camera?" I tell them to relax in that all the hundreds upon hundreds of times I took the photo, the camera was NEVER wrong. Desormeaux thinks otherwise, but there are some things to consider to keep it correct. 1) the camera MUST be completely perpendicular to the finish or it can create error though parallax : Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects show a larger parallax than farther objects when observed from different positions, so parallax can be used to determine distances. If you are stationed about 10 feet past the finish line, it appears that the inside horse wins a dead heat and vice versa. I have had many owners and trainers come up to ask to see the raw photo only to find out they had been fooled by this problem. (There is a calibration program run before each session to insure that the camera is aligned correctly). 2) the SCAN rate of the camera has to be close to the speed of the horses at the end of their race. In standardbreds, it is easy to see when the scan rate it too slow (wheels will look OVIOD north and south) too fast and you get the opposite. Again you have to calibrate daily 3) finally AT MOST TRACKS the finishing post is NOT the finishing line, THE MIRROR IS. At Turf Paradise the mirror in just in front of the post and at Woodbine it is about 5 inches PAST that post. I can recall that only Oaklawn is right on the line. SO, if you look at the post as the finishing line your EYES will give you the wrong information. LOOK to see how YOUR track is set up. __________________ Albert Einstein:"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."