Aerodrome Red Baron Animation

[backusstudio]

I'm grateful for Dan-San's guidance on the colors and markings of these aircraft. You can't just pick up 2 or 3 books and collect what is floating around on the internet and then claim to be an authority. That was the process I used to get started and it seems I'm way off base. Dan-San is snail mailing some accurate reference to me.

I'd love to see your Spandau model and anything else you'd care to share. I will probably rebuild everything myself just so I don't end up with a collection of other people's models at the end of the project. But I'm sure your model has ideas or information that hadn't occurred to me.

Thanks for checking in. It got quiet after I posted the 3 views. I don't know if everyone is afraid to have an opinion for fear they might be wrong or that I was so far off base that they wrote me off for hopeless. I'll have everyone know that I looked at some very believable incorrect artwork to come up with those profiles!

[REDBARONGIRL]

Originally Posted by backusstudio

Thanks Beto. It's so cool to be chatting with you guys from Europe.

The program that I use is called Carrara. It's a Mac based program that does a pretty good job. Most of the quality issues will be up to the modeler/ animator, not the program.

I've seen Mark Miller's 3D work and it's off the hook. An insane amount of detail. If I start something that Mark joins in on that would be fantastic. I don't know how this project will shape up. We may end up with an animation gallery here on the Aerodrome as well (or selling DVDs to help fund the site? Who knows?). The point is to record some of the volumes of knowledge that this forum represents. The professional movie guys have all of the resources for creating amazing animations but they're obviously as dumb as a bag of hammers when it comes to the FACTS of WW1.

My program creates clouds, smoke, flames, atmospheric haze, soft shadows, most of the big boy stuff. I'll no doubt be crying out for help at some point so keep checking back. I'll be posting still models and battle scripts for critique as I progress.

i think that it's a great idea!!!I say go for it!!!REDBARONGIRL

[backusstudio]

A FEMALE cheerleader! Now we are making some progress!

As soon as I get my facts straight we'll be moving ahead with this. I've started building the virtual models that the colors and markings will be applied to. I also need to get the back issue of Over The Front that outlines the dogfight timeline. So much to do.....

Fellow old plane nuts from all over the world and now a Red baron Girl. God I love this hobby!

[Jenny]

Greetings from the left coast. I am new to this and somewhat a technophobe, so bear with me. I am not a computer whiz kid. I am your second female cheerleader. Contact the San Diego Aerospace Museum. They might be able to help. This might be a group effort start for a really good MvR film. I must thank Bizzy for his superb reviews. He will be saving me the cost of a ticket. Unfortunately most theaters in the US don't serve alcohol of any sort, so one can't get soused if the film is really bad.
I studied History in college--- modern German, and Russian. I was also 2 courses short of a degree in Chinese studies. I will try to help if I can. I'm very good a nitpicking when it comes to historical accuracy.
I will post some commentary re. the film trailers in the next few days. Even excluding the romance, I was having some major reservations regarding the accuracy of the film.

The Czech Republic does not look much like the battlefields of Northern France. I lived in France as a kid, and my Dad used to take his brood all over the place for WW1 history lessons. Anyway I have found all this discussion fascinating. I will also be glad to post a list of books that people might find useful. Also, my maternal grandmother was a WW1 army nurse, so I didn't appreciate the "hausfraus" comment. My grandma was very smart, and very pretty. And very good at what she did. And she did marry one of her patients---- 2 years after the armistice. Long courtships were not unusual back then. Filmy, midrif baring nighties in April in Northern France? I don't think so! Jenny

[backusstudio]

Welcome Jenny! I'll rely on your expertise along with the other experts on this forum. I'm watching my mailbox every day for the reference from Dan-San regarding the aircraft colors and markings. I'm making good progress with the virtual models and will most likely begin posting bits and pieces for critique.

My little animation will not be a mix of cgi and live action. There will be no people other than the pilots in the aircraft and they will be 3D models. They should be fine for our purpose as long as I don't focus too closely on their faces. Even the best cgi of people's faces still looks too artificial.

Stay tuned....

[BismarcksOtto]

You'll do fine, Michael, don't worry! We all know this (computer animation business) isn't you main field of expertise. It's the thought and passion for the project that counts anyway.

Jenny,

hello to you from possibly one of the most rabid German critics of the movie .

You're right, the landscape depicted doesn't really look very much like Northern France (or what I remember from being there a couple of years back), but we see so little of it anyway that it doesn't even really matter much. What we gets is hills and forests and densely forested hills. And the odd golden field of grain.

The nighty isn't that bad- in fact, she's wearing worse things that look like they came straight from the catwalk where Hugo Boss presented the new 'a different look at the 30s' line. A personal favorite of mine is her wearing his pyjamas and parading them around in front of the JG1 officers...

Go watch the movie anyway, it's a great laugh!

[Jenny]

Ought we not compensate you for your time and trouble? Pay Pal? Chocolate chip cookies? Poppyseed cake? Fine wine? Avocados? Lemons? Multiple offers you can't refuse? This seems like an awful lot of work. When it's done make sure that vR and Hawker family members get a copy. You know it is sad that the most notable thing about Hawker's life the manner of his death. Life is strange isn't it? Jenny

[backusstudio]

Hi Jenny,

I appreciate your concern about my time and compensation. I usually have about 10 things going at any given moment and half of them are typically for free. Between family and friends and worthwhile causes, there's always something that needs doing that doesn't have money attached. C'est la vie!

On the progress front, I just received the new profiles yesterday from Dan-San. They look tremendous and answer many questions that I had about MvR's Albatros DII. I also have Greg Van's book, Jagdstaffel 2 Boelcke due in by May 19th. I am hoping, nay praying, that there will not be too many contradictions. The frustrating thing about this hobby is that many 'facts' eventually come down to opinion, no matter how learned the bearer of that opinion.

I suppose you're right about Hawker's claim to fame. Being shot down (and unfortunately killed) by MvR would be an honor like having been knocked out by Mohammed Ali or struck out by Sandy Cofax. Hawker was an exceptional pilot and leader in his own right. I'll try to get that across in the animation.

[Jenny]

MIchael it is all above board. I am a nice Jewish girl, with a parochial eduaction from an elite girls school. My parents raised me in a rather strict European manner by libertine 20th century standards.
But it is really sad when you realize that all we know about Lanoe Hawker is the manner of his death. Was he what my Mom would call a "nice young man"? Clearly he wasn't a sociopath, because he wouldn't have been an effective leader. What would he be doing if the war hadn't come 'round? He is a nearly blank slate. All we know is birth, death, kills, planes downed, and a Victoria Cross. Someone must have mourned him. Surely someone must have talked about him 20-30-40-50 +years on. You don't really get over that kind of stuff. He was a real person, and not just a number in a history book.
My family has a friend who has an uncle who went down on the Arizona.
He is still down there. Until the day they died at ages well into their 90's there wasn't a day that his two much older sisters didn't miss their baby brother.
I suppose it doesn't really matter if one is killed by an artillary barrage, or an international icon. You're still dead. It's may be a fact, but it's still sad. And all most people know about Lanoe Hawker, is how he died, and who killed him. Jenny

[JFM]

backusstudio, see PM.