sprockets Making and Using Drop-On Poses TinkeringGnome's Atomic Rings PRJ 2001 Star Gate effect in A:M with PRJ Comparison of AO and Radiosity Renders Animated Commercial by Soulcage Tralfaz's Lost In Space Robot Rodger Reynold's Architectural WIP
sprockets
Recent Posts | Unread Content
Jump to content
Hash, Inc. - Animation:Master

B24 Liberator model


Simon Edmondson

Recommended Posts

Trying a different approach to an old idea.

Does anyone know of a free model of a B24 Liberator bomber I could access ?

I've looked at Googles suggestions but not perhaps entering the right terms.

I want to use it for reference in some drawings and to combine with a time lapse sequence. Its an alternative to the dance sequence worked on during the week.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 50
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Hash Fellow

I found a listing for a free one but it wanted to install a "downloader" first which i something I would not suggest allowing.

 

Turbosquid has one for $79 but i don't see any free ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found a listing for a free one but it wanted to install a "downloader" first which i something I would not suggest allowing.

 

Turbosquid has one for $79 but i don't see any free ones.

 

 

Robert.

Thank you for your reply and helpful advice !

I might have to make one in AM. I don't want it very detailed at all, the idea is to render it as lines and composite that over some time lapse footage of an airfield base as it is now. Just got in from taking the time lapse stuff.

regards

simon

 

Ps

I've been to the war Museum at Duxford in Cambrigeshire a couple of times to see an actual B24 and B17, My respect for the people who flew in them increased even more. They are made from aluminium riveted over a frame, and the surface is so substantial that it flexes when you push it gently with your finger. They were flown at over 20,000 feet, -80 degrees while getting shot at, and had crew of up to 10 men, were they all fitted I don't know, the space inside was not much bigger than my garden shed in total.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow

you coudl use the basic strategy of the fighter model in TAoA:M to make a bomber is you have suitable views of it.

 

 

I've been to the war Museum at Duxford in Cambrigeshire a couple of times to see an actual B24 and B17, My respect for the people who flew in them increased even more. They are made from aluminium riveted over a frame, and the surface is so substantial that it flexes when you push it gently with your finger. They were flown at over 20,000 feet, -80 degrees while getting shot at, and had crew of up to 10 men, were they all fitted I don't know, the space inside was not much bigger than my garden shed in total.

 

 

I also find it interesting to see these old pieces of machinery. I think there were variations of these bombers that had more substantial armor but i suppose there's a practical limit to that and still get it off the ground.

 

There's a WWII submarine docked in SanFrancisco that I've gone through and it is also quite tight inside. A mess of pipes and valves and switches. Just enough room for men and torpedoes basically. Not like the submarine interiors you see in movies where people have room to run around.

 

Many years ago I also went through the one surviving German sub, now in a museum in Chicago. I dimly recall that the interior looked much better on that than the American one. I think the captain's quarters even had wood paneling. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you coudl use the basic strategy of the fighter model in TAoA:M to make a bomber is you have suitable views of it....

 

Many years ago I also went through the one surviving German sub, now in a museum in Chicago. I dimly recall that the interior looked much better on that than the American one. I think the captain's quarters even had wood paneling. :D

 

Robert.

That is probably how I will do it. I have a lot of reference sources to use. Just finding the time now.

 

I have seen the Uboat in Chicago when visiting in 85 ( I still have the wax replica you could buy from the machine next to it ). Don't recall the captains cabin, but do remember it feeling very cramped. I'm 6ft 2 and would not have fitted on any of the bunks that the crew slept on, if you curled up to fit length ways , you'd fall off sideways. Vaguely recollect that they had to sleep on them in shifts as the watches rotated.

 

On a Sunday trivia note: one of the first american TV series I ever saw ( after Top Cat of course ) was "Voyage to The Bottom of the Sea" were every week it was compulsory to throw themselves across the set as the nuclear powered sub was attacked by the latest adversary. Was reminded of that recently when a friend pointed me to the youtube series on how they do that in Star Trek...

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow
On a Sunday trivia note: one of the first american TV series I ever saw ( after Top Cat of course ) was "Voyage to The Bottom of the Sea" were every week it was compulsory to throw themselves across the set as the nuclear powered sub was attacked by the latest adversary. Was reminded of that recently when a friend pointed me to the youtube series on how they do that in Star Trek...

 

I recall the joke...

 

Why don't they put seat belts on those chairs so they can't fall out?

 

Because then they wouldn't be able to fall out of their chairs!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sometimes get reference images from here:

http://www.the-blueprints.com

 

You have to join to download the higher res images, most are free and their spam is pretty minimal, think I got one email from them last year...

 

I looked briefly but saw 17's - 29 but no 24, maybe you can modify one to match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sometimes get reference images from here:

http://www.the-blueprints.com

 

You have to join to download the higher res images, most are free and their spam is pretty minimal, think I got one email from them last year...

 

I looked briefly but saw 17's - 29 but no 24, maybe you can modify one to match.

 

 

Ken

Thank you for your reply and info.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Admin

Ken can do a better job than this but here's both a OBJ and it's conversion to MDL.

Most of the model make the translation pretty well except the wings.

 

The OBJ file imports quite nicely as a Prop. (Obviously the propellor's won't move however).

I'm not sure if I uploaded the OBJ that is prior to conversion to quads... it probably is.

If that is the case then it might have some issues that the other OBJ file does not.

 

The A:M model could be finessed/fixed... rigged and such.

 

Decals came through on both. Not bad.

 

3DS and LWO formats available as well.

B24_convert_from_OBJ_to_MDL.zip

B24_Bomber_prop__OBJ_.zip

B24.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How detailed do you need the model to be and how soon?

Might give it a go so I don't get rusty.

 

Ken

Thank you very much for the offer that's very kind of you.

The intention at the moment, is to render the model as lines over the top of a time lapse sequence of the former base. Depending on how that goes it will be developed using further time lapse sequences of other parts of the base. The working title is "Ghosts". Without wanting to sound too pretentious ( always a fault ) the idea is to show it now, through an obvious time sequence, and how it was before and to use the sound to give the narrative. I've been working on an off for a long time on a project to do with the former base at Seething ( about 10 miles from here ) but couldn't work out how to do it. This is another part of that really.

 

As to level of detail ? I don't really know at this stage to be honest. It would need to have the undercarriage to be able to taxi on the ground and to fly believably but, beyond that I don't know at this point. Given that its taken me ten years to get this far with it there's no immediate rush. If you are happy to make the model, I am happy to await it while the idea gets developed properly. This was the New Year card recently and it was this technique that I was thinking of using for the B24's against the timelapse, so they cast a shadow on the surface.

regards

simon

 

NY.mov

 

Ps

Here is the time lapse taken on Sunday Seething_Tower.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken can do a better job than this but here's both a OBJ and it's conversion to MDL.

Most of the model make the translation pretty well except the wings.

 

The OBJ file imports quite nicely as a Prop. (Obviously the propellor's won't move however).

I'm not sure if I uploaded the OBJ that is prior to conversion to quads... it probably is.

If that is the case then it might have some issues that the other OBJ file does not.

 

The A:M model could be finessed... rigged and such.

 

Decals came through on both.

 

3DS and LWO formats available as well.

 

 

Rodney

 

Thank you very much for those. I was just typing my reply to Ken 's very generous offer when you posted them. They will give me something to try at the weekend/

regards

simon

 

There's gotta be something usable here

 

Robert

Thank you. I had started to get them when I saw Ken's offer and Rodney's post.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As threatened, a test of the idea.

The model Rodney posted was rendered as lines with a toon setting, against an alpha background. That was then composited onto the time lapse frames and rendered out. All in AM, except the time lapse photos of course.

 

Encountered some problems rendering out in V18 with some strange artifacts appearing but that may be me. Hoping to develop it a bit further in coming days and weks.

Any critical feedback welcome.

simon

 

Composite_B.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Admin

Hey! That's pretty sweet. :)

I almost got goosebumps there.

 

I'd ramp up the speed at the end as the plane gets closer but other than that I think you are headed for success.

 

If you need an OBJ with the props removed and/or separate I figured out an easy way for those of us without a dedicated poly modeling program to quickly part out/edit poly meshes.

By dropping the props they could either be replaced by other prop prop props (not really recommended because props in A:M don't have a dedicated/moveable pivot... perhaps that could be a feature request) or by A:M props (propeller that is). It then becomes trivial to animate the various parts as Action Objects regardless of whether they are OBJ or MDL.

I suggest this because it would be nice to have some secondary animation... perhaps some turning of a propeller even though they obviously aren't all working. Perhaps it could be static and then as it draws closer begin to spin as if the pilots is trying to get at least one propeller going again.

 

At any rate, excellent choice of staging!

Color me very impressed.

 

Edit: I now realize that the plane may not be in jeopardy but rather performing a very low fly by. If so... disregard above suggestion!

But then again, if not in jeopardy, I'm sure eventually you'll have to animate the propellers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey! That's pretty sweet. :)

I almost got goosebumps there....

Edit: I now realize that the plane may not be in jeopardy but rather performing a very low fly by. If so... disregard above suggestion!

 

Rodney

Thank you for your feedback and suggestion, much welcomed.

I haven't really done anything to the B24 except import the obj model and set the toon render options. The plane is on a path in the chor and just grows larger as it moves along towards the camera. It imported at about 30cm long which seemed a bit small ! You are correct in that the speed needs a lot of adjusting. It was just a test to see if the idea worked really. It will work better with sound too(?). The next stage is perhaps to see if I can get the plane to cast shadows on the ground, but that might have to await next weekend. The thought was to possibly convert the line render into cookie cutter decals and use those to cast shadows.

Good displacement actiivty while thinking over the dance sequence...

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow
Test Two.

Did the time lapse this afternoon, taxiing this evening.

Slipped up on the composite.

Better next time.

Critical feedback welcome.

simon

 

Taxi_B_000.mov

 

The airplanes on the runway don't get noticed until quite late, partly because their background is almost as dark as they are and partly because the planes in the sky are distracting from them. If they need to get noticed sooner you may want to rethink that.

 

 

One solution for the flickering ground is to hold one frame for the ground, cut out the sky above it, and let the time-lapse clouds run behind it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taxi_B_000.mov

 

The airplanes on the runway don't get noticed until quite late, partly because their background is almost as dark as they are and partly because the planes in the sky are distracting from them. If they need to get noticed sooner you may want to rethink that.

 

One solution for the flickering ground is to hold one frame for the ground, cut out the sky above it, and let the time-lapse clouds run behind it.

 

Robert

Thank you for your reply. I wondered about the flickering but may decide to keep it when the final thing gets done. There are five frames in this were a car goes by too and had thought to edit those out but kept it in to emphasise the time element. Its all up in the air ( pardon the phrase ) at this point. There is a position at the field that I would have liked to use but its located right at the end of the runway so will need to get express permission for that. It would be ideal to do a 180 panoramic from but doing that over the course of 500 frames or so is going to take some working out !

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your rendering lines, are you rendering the splines too as wire frame or the silhouette of the plane as wire?

Detail of the plane isn't required as far as textures if its just wire.

 

Sorry for the delay getting back, gets hectic here.

 

 

Ken

Thank you for your reply. At the moment its just the silhouettes as line. I didn't know you could render the splines in the way I think you mean. Textures may come into it further down the line but, at the moment its just lines. If I can get the time lapses done for the other sites on the base ( now semi derelict ) I was going to try the same approach with figures and other vehicles will test those later.

 

At this point its all still rather vague I'm afraid. The plan is to base the short on a particular mission were they set off later than usual, arrived back at twilight and, just as they were landing and thought it a safe return, got shot up by enemy fighters who had followed them back under cover. There's a book written about it called "The night of the intruders" I've been reading about it and related material and the bases for the past 14 years or so and frequently corresponded with a vet who was based there until he died a few years ago.

Thank you for your help and interest.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a fairly simple render, keeping the model simple I have this so far. working flaps, have to split out the rudder then mirror it once I have these done and then the fuselage. I'll keep objects as separate shapes so you can outline render them. Toss me some feedback please.

b24_shaded.JPG

b24_wire_shaded.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a fairly simple render, keeping the model simple I have this so far. working flaps, have to split out the rudder then mirror it once I have these done and then the fuselage. I'll keep objects as separate shapes so you can outline render them. Toss me some feedback please.

 

Ken

That is simply wonderful. Thank you very much indeed. I eagerly look forward to the full model. My modeling skills are barely out the starting block, as I'm presently finding once again on another project. I've just ordered a panoramic head for my photo tripod with a view to taking some 180 time lapses at the airfield and at the beach/ sea front were they used to assemble before going on to Europe.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coming along pretty nice especially since I'm kind of rusty modeling in AM.

I do have a question, there seems to be a bunch of variants on the b24, blues I am working from are the liberator but there is variations on that too with the gun turrets and styles.

Any particular one you need, can you dig up some reference images? Blues I have are fine for rough layout but not helpful on details.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coming along pretty nice especially since I'm kind of rusty modeling in AM.

I do have a question, there seems to be a bunch of variants on the b24, blues I am working from are the liberator but there is variations on that too with the gun turrets and styles.

Any particular one you need, can you dig up some reference images? Blues I have are fine for rough layout but not helpful on details.

 

Thanks

 

 

Ken

I think there may have been up to 12 variations or more of the B24. The one Rodney posted the obj model for didn't have a tail gunner, the two side positions or the ball turret underneath. I think a late model also had a turret in the nose too. I will look up the plans I have and attach them later. One thing to note on the subject of detail, I don't think those operating out of Britain used camouflage paint, but could be wrong on that. The footage I've seen suggests they were in raw aluminium and that would be supported by the example in the Imperial War Museum at RAF Duxford. There were some that were very brightly painted indeed, including checker squares and multi coloured polka dots but they were for the assembley aircraft introduced after a series of problems on take off.

 

On a trivial note, the last time I visited Duxford, they were re painting one of their B17's, because an American millionaire had paid $500,000 to have it liveried in the colours and markings of the squadron he flew in during the conflict.

 

Thank you once again for your very generous help.

regards

simon

 

3_86.jpg

b24_1.gif

448th_b24.jpg

b24.pdf

 

The 448th were a squadron based at Seething theirs was the checker board pattern. In Bright Yellow and black.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time lapse done yesterday evening, set up this morning.

The techniques seems to work (?) but lots of work to be done on the speed and timing. Fortunately learning more about f curves with the dancing...

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how it might be possible to make a smoke trail coming off at least one ?

Any critical feedback welcome

simon

 

 

 

Southwold_Ghosts_2.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking pretty good! Like the toon lines... I don't know how a sprite will translate into 'toon' look, but here's a method:

 

Download these material and image. Make sure the image is being seen by the 'smoke' material. Select a patch or group of patches on the wing or tail of your model and name it 'emitter' or 'smoke'... and drag-drop the smoke.mat onto that group. Set the gravity in your comp to zero, by changing Chor/Properties/Dynamics/Force/Y from -100 to zero. Turn ON particles in the comp and toggle trhu a couple of frames... adjust according to size, trasnparency, amount of emission... back in the material's settings.

smoke1.mat

dimPNG.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking pretty good! Like the toon lines... I don't know how a sprite will translate into 'toon' look, but here's a method:

 

Download these material and image. Make sure the image is being seen by the 'smoke' material. Select a patch or group of patches on the wing or tail of your model and name it 'emitter' or 'smoke'... and drag-drop the smoke.mat onto that group. Set the gravity in your comp to zero, by changing Chor/Properties/Dynamics/Force/Y from -100 to zero. Turn ON particles in the comp and toggle trhu a couple of frames... adjust according to size, trasnparency, amount of emission... back in the material's settings.

 

 

Matt

Thank you very much for your reply and help. I will try it later this evening.

regards

simon

 

Quick test. Never used particles before. Big thank you to Matt for the file and advice.Smoke.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Never used particles before. Big thank you to Matt for the file and advice...

As well as Matt's advice, have you seen/done Holmes Bryant's smoke tutorial? That's about setting up a smoke trail for a rocket. Link: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29739

 

I don't have so much time for using AM sadly at the moment but still like following other users adventures with it, like your good self. Keep up the good work!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Never used particles before. Big thank you to Matt for the file and advice...

As well as Matt's advice, have you seen/done Holmes Bryant's smoke tutorial? That's about setting up a smoke trail for a rocket. Link: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29739

 

I don't have so much time for using AM sadly at the moment but still like following other users adventures with it, like your good self. Keep up the good work!

 

 

Mark

Thank you for the reply and the tip. I shall follow it up this evening. A friend has just given me a Mac book pro 17 ( surplus to requirements !!! ) and expecting delivery on Monday. It dual boots into W7 apparently so I'm thinking of using it to explore the setup machine again using an old CD. Had hoped to use W7 64 bit for rendering but its 'only' 32 bit. Not that I'm complaining ! I'm presently trying to do a dance sequence with the Teddy bear, with lots of work using the F curves - thank you for the earlier advice in that regard. The B24 work is in contrast to the dance although the F curve work come in handy for varying the speed. Trust its gainful employment keeping you busy. Look forward to seeing your next piece too. Te games lift was particularly goo.

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matt, Robert

 

Thank you for your replies and suggestions. I have no experience of particles so this was my first attempt,, much to learn. Mark suggested Holmes tutorial and I will try that later today. Ken has very generously made a wonderful B24 model and I've made a test with that overnight which I'll post a little later. Had tried to user Eulers to get the props to spin but tiredness got the better of me so will try that later too. Apparently there is a tutorial on the extras DVD that covers just that as a way of getting blur in the props ?

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken Citron very generously made an excellent B24 model which was used in this clip. Thank you very much Ken.

I was rather tired yesterday evening and couldn't get eulers to work for the props so will try that today and add some smoke. If succesful will try to post it this evening.

simon

 

Should add, this is a medium quality H264 pass. it doesn't do full justice to the model but the file size was too big on the original.

KCB24.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow

Since the planes are in toon mode perhaps a more toon solution for the props would work.

 

make a substitute for the propeller blades that is like the comic strip version of spinning things, like this with concentric lines...

 

((( o )))

 

 

spin that slowly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried the method suggested by Xtraz n the extras DVD with the MFOOF tutorial.

It took a big hit in the rendering times as, even with a simple file, 100 passes takes a while to go through.

At one point this afternoon there were five versions of the same project rendering on three different machines, Two versions of AM ( 15 and 18 ).

There are a few glitches that need to be smoothed out but, this was the result.

 

The B24 was rendered with a toon setting, without the props,

The props were rendered, non toon and without the rest of the ship.

Those renderrs were made into layers and composited in a chor, over the background.

 

Bit of a long winded process,

Next up applying the smoke to Ken's ship...

simon

KC_B24_001.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roberts idea with the props more graphically done seems easier than the motion blur idea I had. Thinking about it not sure if you can do a motion blur at object level in AM and if not it would alter the look of the plane as it moved too.

 

Can you do object level blurs or are they global?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow
Can you do object level blurs or are they global?

 

Within A:M, Motion blur is global. I'm sure there's compositing solution if one desperately needed otherwise.

 

But you can do MFOOF on brief motion blur settings like 10% so slow moving objects will not have obvious blur.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Presently testing a similar approach to this but with fewer passes and less blur, will post tomorrow.

This is a test with no composite of props but the whole ship, with a MFOOF action for the props. a 100 pass and 100% blur.

I think it looks better than previous ?Blur_100.mov

 

On a related note:

I may have got this wrong ( probably have ) but I was wondering about the timing of the MFOOF technique ?

This is not a criticism in any way, I was delighted to try the technique and it is very impressive. Kudos to Xtraz for devising it.

 

The suggested settings are 100 pass and 100% Blur.

does that equate to 100 revs per frame, or is it 100 versions of 0ne rev ?

 

If the former, that might equate to 2,500 revs per second or 150,000 rpm ?

 

If the latter then 1,500 rpm

I'm just puzzled as to the maths behind it

 

regards

simon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Prepping another test in the ghost series for a project on the course I'm about to start.

Bought a clockwork tripod head ( £20, about $35 ) which means the panoramic movement is a lot smoother than my attempts by hand.

Now have a 180degree pan taking place over 20 seconds and would like to animate the B24s moving along the taxi path as the view pans around.

Does anybody have a sugggestion for the best way to achieve this?

 

Bobby posted a movie some while back where he had a child on a trike, moving through a panoramic street scene but, he used still photos, carefully placed to very good effect.

 

 

Previous Tests were done with a static view and the sequence was put on a layer in a chor and the AM models animated against that

This is a timelapse sequence and the planes need to move relative to the camera position.

I have tried a path, to not very good effect. Might there be a better method ?

Simon

 

This is the time lapse sequence

S Pan One.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Hash Fellow

 

Bought a clockwork tripod head ( £20, about $35 ) which means the panoramic movement is a lot smoother than my attempts by hand.

Now have a 180degree pan taking place over 20 seconds and would like to animate the B24s moving along the taxi path as the view pans around.

Does anybody have a sugggestion for the best way to achieve this?

 

A clockwork tripod head. i didn't know such a thing existed!

 

 

Fortunately there is a straight line in scene in the middle of the runway.

 

Put that movie as a rotoscope on a camera and place the camera as similarly in a relative position to your runway model as the real camera was to the real runway. (that's the hard part if you didn't take measurements.) You will also need to duplicate the real cameras angle of view with your A:M camera.

 

THEN... animate the camera's pan so that your model runway lines up with the runway in the rotoscope. If your tripod turned at a constant angular velocity then you could probably do it with just three keyframes; beginning middle and end.

 

Differences in lens distortion (A:M has none) may be an issue

 

When you get those matched then plop your plan onthe runway and animate it to be in or out of the panning camera view as you desire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Robert

Thank you very much for your reply, much appreciated. I will try your suggestion next time. I didn't have any measurements to work to as, to be honest, I hadn't thought of that. I will next time though !

 

I bought a panoramic head a few weeks back and tried that, it works fine for stills you put together afterwards to form a large panoramic still but, its very difficult to gauge the amount of movement doing it manually when one degree is about 2mm apart and that makes time lapse awkward. I stumbled across the clockwork option on Ebay and that seemed worth a punt to see if it worked, it was only about £20 + postage, took about ten days to arrive from China. There were other far more expensive possibilities using motorised and digitally controlled kit but that was about £500 upwards, which seemed a little extreme at this stage.

 

I did have a go at it last night and, as threatened, the result is below. I think the first bit works ok ( ? ) and the three flying in the air are ok For a first attempt anyway. The one taking off needs some work and the two scuttling off on the ground look horrible. To use a phrase from Rodney a few weeks ago, I 'eyeballed' it and moved them against the edge of the track on the rotoscope as it changed.. Now I've got a better idea of whats involved I'll have another bash at it and try your suggestion with that.

regards

simon

Pan Comp.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...