tuff truck commentating. Your 2c.

[... rick]

hi all. After a few comments in general chit, i thought i would take the time to listen to peoples thoughts on the job we do.
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Rick Obrien, and i headed up the announcing team for the 4th time.
What i am hoping to achieve with this thread is constructive critisism on what we do.
I personally take the role very seriously, and put in a lot of time making sure i have committed everything to memory. Driver and navs names, car details, previous experience and so on. To cut a long story short, i wanna do the guys competing justice, as well as keep the crowd informed, maybe even entertained. And then of course there are sponsors to look after.
So what do you think? Did we do ok? Did we rock? Did we suck? Dont be afraid to tell it like it is, but keep it constructive. Otherwise there is no point. I look forward to your comments, and maybe going forward with some of your thoughts.

Cheers,

Bbm rick.

[dizzy]

nothing wrong with the commentating mate, maybe could have had the band on during mudrats recoveries (i mean revenge) nah but all was good. It was my first time at tuff truck and wont be my last

[Squik]

You sounded like a girl

[turbo gu]

You and tapper sucked It got like a bit over top with adds but when there is nothing happening on an event you have to talk about something.
I don't know if it is possible but how about announcing scores on some of the events or who is in the top ten,etc

[Harb]

They tell me poor old Tapper couldn't even get a shower sounds a bit rough.......

[super jeep]

good on the hill could hear you loud and clear but the mud run didn't hear a single word but in genral i thought it was okay until tapper(i think) started on the strapon subject at a family event, which i thought was funny outers humour but a few familys around me made comment.
all in all rick and his team done well.

[pootrollin]

Keep every informed of what was happening in the day events. Even very funny sometimes. I agree with Dizzy, you need the band rockin through the recoveries and constant waiting for the marshalls. Big room for improvment there to keep the action going. Only a certain amount you guys can talk about when there is nothing much happening only a bit of streaker action. Bring em on.

[... rick]

They tell me poor old Tapper couldn't even get a shower sounds a bit rough.......

Not really anything to do with the actual announcing.

[... rick]

You and tapper sucked It got like a bit over top with adds but when there is nothing happening on an event you have to talk about something.
I don't know if it is possible but how about announcing scores on some of the events or who is in the top ten,etc

Without the ads, the sponsers will not be back. And without sponsers, well, you know the rest. I understand it is a fine line between too much and not enough, but they are paying the bills!

[turbo gu]

You and tapper sucked It got like a bit over top with adds but when there is nothing happening on an event you have to talk about something.
I don't know if it is possible but how about announcing scores on some of the events or who is in the top ten,etc

Without the ads, the sponsers will not be back. And without sponsers, well, you know the rest. I understand it is a fine line between too much and not enough, but they are paying the bills!

Yeah i realise that. You could also prerecord ads maybe with someone from the companys envolved. gives you guys a break when nothings happening and might sound a bit better

[... rick]

Great idea Charles.

I would also like to thank Tapper and Damo for such a great call. A few classics this year as well! Thanks guys, they are big days and it does take it out of you!
Also thanks to C.S.I, the PA guys. We cant do it without you.
And lastly, thanks a heap to my mate Jeff B (tuffTriton) for all his help with the announcing crew this year. Jeff donated 5 days of his time to look after us and make it so much easier. Thanks you so much mate, you do the most amazing job. I know Taps and Damo appreciate it too.

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

I reckon the commentating was good. shame the blokes are so damn ugly.
i think the insightful question on sat arvo, "what is a megatwon and how do ya get one?" will become an age old retorical question.

[liam hall]

The nickname tap tap started to become annoying. I was only there on Saturday. The ads were find they are the sponsors. Maybe more info on what the products do. Eg the power chip some stats on power
Otherwise you were great

[Heathx4]

Play between the two commentators was well done - broke up the styles and kinda allowed you to be everywhere at once.

Would have liked some score updates.

Would have liked more interviews. Regardless of who you are, your voice gets annoying after a few hours, so break it up somehow. Eg. interviewing that dude with the horn on his esky was a welcome novelty, as was hearing from Pete Antunac (sp?) at a spectator.

I wanted to hear ahead of time who was lining up at which event. Don't know if it is possible, but would be a good way to plan vantage spots.

[lukes4x4]

You guys were fantastic. RICK , TAPPER , AND DAMIEN many thanks and keep up the good work. maybe worth putting music over the pa when things are going slow.

LUKEYS 4X4 CUSTOMS

[LIF71T]

You guys made chambere and fluffy safty vests look good all weekend
and what happened there wasn,t a "Giving it a Red Hot" all weekend.
The only thing I think might make it better is maybe some music between comments when ther is a recovery happening and recorded adds, some of the adlibed ones were a bit cheesy
Other then that well done guys

[Linda]

I agree LIF71T, little bit of music goes along way... or sound effects... something to break up the talking... then when some action happens, stop it and resume talking to update everyone so they dont miss out on action...
Maybe the sponsors could do a little tune instead, that would be more catchy than talking up their product... my 2c.

[... rick]

Fantastic, this is all good stuff!

[ann]

hi rick good thread.

personally i think the commentating team needs to adopt a slightly more flamboyant approach. much like we rock world finals in vegas 06

[Pyrotech]

hi rick good thread.

personally i think the commentating team needs to adopt a slightly more flamboyant approach. much like we rock world finals in vegas 06

x2

i also agree that is was great to have the different voices over the PA, brakes it up a bit,
music is ok, but only when all the tracks have recoveries, and there is NOTHING goin on, or you could always interview drivers ask them to tell the crowd about their own vehicles,

just my $0.02

[CV Smasher]

You guys all did a great job, the only thing i would like is to hear more interviews with the drivers and navis to get a bit more background info on the trucks and what they went through to get them to Tuff Truck.

Chris

[HANCOCK]

Sorry guy but i was so over it.... It was way to loud at the devils marbles. And for the most part you talked shit. I can still here tap tap today... I think it was way over the top a one point it stopped for a little wail and everone around me including me where so happy. Yes bill payers and a few interveiws are ok and updates and a great idea but not the dribble that just didnt stop did you feel the need to not have any silence. I like to hear the roar of motors and scrapping of rocks. Have either of you taken a breath yet? Its just my 2 cents but there will be a few to agree for shore

[Nelso]

I already made a comment in the other thread but thought I could add some positives in this thread to go with the negatives.

- for the most part commentators conducted themselves professionally.
- mix of three people was good especially having some on the ground and one up high for an overall perspective.
- the sponsors were given plenty of recognition.
- mentioning the other activities that were going on like kids events and competitions were informative and let people know where and when things were happening if they were interested.
- description of what was happening on other tracks was good.
- interviews with competitors to break up commentary was good also.

My biggest gripe was the non stop noise, more so on the Saturday than Sunday. As some-one has already speculated, it was like you were afraid to have silence. It is not radio so it is ok to have dead spots, in fact I think it improves commentary. If there is constant talk, and much of it is idle chatter, people will tune out and listen less. If there are breaks in the talking you will find people will pay attention and listen to what you say more as they will assume it is something informative or important, hence my suggestion in the other thread that less is more.

Overall, I think you guys did a good job and with some of the suggestions already offered in this thread implemented will be a valuable contribution to TT 09.

Cheers, Rob

[truckzilla]

hi Rick ,it was definately better this year than other previous years .only thing i would add is more info .IE: when Mal left the course in the mud run i still dont know what the penaty was ,so more tec info would be good .

[filthy4wd]

hi Rick ,it was definately better this year than other previous years .only thing i would add is more info .IE: when Mal left the course in the mud run i still dont know what the penaty was ,so more tec info would be good .

Not sure officially - but I think it was 50 points for leaving and re-entering the course. Still a good bet - many only got to the 10-20 point mark, and only 1 vehicle that got past 25 didn't finish the course. I think everyone that got 20 also got the bonus which I think was 25 - so 75 is better than most got.

The event organisers could have made things a lot easier on the commentators and crowd if they'd told everyone that the scoring and penalties were all written down in the souvenir program I got given at the gate. I didn't hear it mentioned all weekend, and it was clear at times the commentators didn't know the penalties (and therefore that this information was freely available).
If where to find it (2 pages past the maps in the middle) had been announced it would have been much better for all I think (or at least the announcers could have referred to it for the crowd).
I kept waiting for someone to do so... Should have done it myself, but was recovering vehicles at the time.

All in all good job though by all concerned. Although I was mostly at a single location all weekend, I had a fair idea of what was going on.

[... rick]

guys, i really appreciate you all taking the time to tell up what you think. Next year should rock for sure!

[Mick.]

I think the commentary team did pretty well. Trying to keep the commentary going all day wouldn't be an easy job so congratulations for what i thought was a great job.

If only you could have got my Navies name right Bowie not Rowie in the Lowie and Bowie engineering truck.

I know this wasn't your fault as it was wrong on the Tuff Truck web site too.

Cheers Mick.

[A1]

DROP THE TAP TAP Crap fawk that bugged me ...and im not sure if other teams noticed but the speakers around the courses are too loud I couldnt hear my navi and vice versa half the time particularly on devils marbels ...and WE USE ROUND EYE headsets .............

TAP TAP ........GIVE IT SOME MUMBO from previous years just as annoying as each other ...once or twice yes but shite multiple times in 5 mins is annoying ...
......



BUT HEY OTHER THAN THAT you GUYS ROCKED

MY 2c

[Pigroota]

As a navi myself , i found the PA system to be too loud , my driver found it hard to hear me through his earpiece ( turned up to max volume ) & i found it hard to hear him .
Maybe TT needs to think about using more speakers for the PA system but with the volume toned down a bit.
As a competitor .... we definatly found it to be too loud

[Harb]

As a navi myself , i found the PA system to be too loud , my driver found it hard to hear me through his earpiece ( turned up to max volume ) & i found it hard to hear him .
Maybe TT needs to think about using more speakers for the PA system but with the volume toned down a bit.
As a competitor .... we definatly found it to be too loud

I agree PA can be a bummer if its in the wrong spot, but you can easy fix it with a low power FM Transmitter that can get temp TX approval , and everyone can tune in on there walkman or other FM receiver with ear phones.
The PA doesn't have to be that loud then...... a suitable pre recorded bunch of adds etc can then be run as well during breaks etc..... seen it done a couple of times and it works great....