so.... helicopter chase...ahhhhhhh!

[Jimbobsquarepants]

ok what i need in this film is a helicopter flying after this guy and shooting at him. obviouslyi dont own a helicpter so how can i do it? the camera wont pan around the helicopter or anything complex like that. i thought about making a helicopter in blender but it dosnt look very good. any ideas? ta

[santi]

Maybe try to make helicopter backlighted (you need proper shots also: low angles with a lot of sky in frame) - as a dark silhouette on bright sky it could be easier to hide details. Make it bit small and out of focus (blurred).

Use a lot of cuts and close ups of an actor and let the helicopter be mostly a SOUNDS. You need one or two quick shots with helicopter an the rest build on sound effects.

You can also make some shots of an actor from very high place if you have such possibility. Long lens, bit shaking, very short takes and voila: you have helicopters point of view.

As for 3D matters you need to work on: lighting (match to the video footage), air perspective (depends on weather).

Show any samples of your footage and compositin and maybe we could tell you more.

[ctbullet]

bluescreening a minature

would be th4e simplest method i think, you can purchase a small model helicopter from any model shop

[Clarence]

Yeah, use chroma key and stop motion animation or something to make the blades appear to be moving.

[santi]

Stop Motion? For Christ sake! It would be extremely unnatural movement. CG blades would be better.

[ALove]

I'd go 3D. Most here (including me) do not have the ability or funds to create realistic model shots. 3D can be done for much cheaper.

[Jimbobsquarepants]

i made a good apache model in 3d and i want to texture map it but i cant find any textures to use on it. but i could do a miniture and 3d blades..

[bloodymess]

if you don't find any good texture map... MAKE ONE! it's easier than it seems.

[a.qotsa.fan]

Ive got this footage of a huey from wadington airshow its about 45 secs long and its facing at the camera and to the side, i managed not to get much of the ground in do its just mosly sky, you could have a look if you like

[santi]

Just make simple dark grey (graphite) with low glossiness and specular leve and that should do it. It's an Apache not "Pimp my ride".
Miniatures are usualy to small so their movents are to fast. Professionals use cameras set to higher speed so when footage is played with normal speed movements of miniatures are more fluent. It impossible to get with DV camcorders (slowing down in post is not the same when you have combine it with "normal" footage) so I think that full CG model would be better.

Jimbobsquarepants: show us what you got (sample frames of backplate and your model and bot combined)

[Jimbobsquarepants]

i havnt filmed it yet, can u send me the footage please at spaceastronaught@aol.com

[rhys]

You could be extremely amature and just get a pic of a helicopter and key it in, but i strongly suggest not doing that. Minitures sounds like the way. They used helicopter minitures on Underworld: Evolution and it turned out awesomely.

[santi]

They used helicopter minitures on Underworld: Evolution and it turned out awesomely.

You realize that there's a "small" difference between hollywood filmmakers and beginner with DV. The minatures they use are quite big, they shoot on high speed 35mm cameras.

i havnt filmed it yet, can u send me the footage please at spaceastronaught@aol.com

I beg your pardon?

Lets start it over. First plan the scene and make deatailed storyboard. Then shoot the footage and don't forget about direction and character of lighting. Then start playing with 3D, compositing. There's no sense work on this kind of FX if you don't have a properly made footage. Made exactly and only for this effect.

[ALove]

Theres more to it than filming slow, that can be achieved in DV by shooting at 30fps, twixtoring, and then slowing it down to 24fps.

They use motion control rigs to make different passes, and they're all composited together, so its the exact same camera movement. To see this in action, take a peek at the "Within a Minute" documentary on the Revenge of the Sith DVD. (better than the movie) It shows everything that is involved in making one minute of a sequence like the one on Mustafar, including the miniature work, which is more than your average model on wires trick.

3d can work, check out this image of a helicopter from my upcoming Vietnam Flick.
Ignore the fact that theres no one piloting it yet.

[film fanatic]

Ask Mushiman.

[wildstorm]

Theres more to it than filming slow, that can be achieved in DV by shooting at 30fps, twixtoring, and then slowing it down to 24fps.

They use motion control rigs to make different passes, and they're all composited together, so its the exact same camera movement. To see this in action, take a peek at the "Within a Minute" documentary on the Revenge of the Sith DVD. (better than the movie) It shows everything that is involved in making one minute of a sequence like the one on Mustafar, including the miniature work, which is more than your average model on wires trick.

3d can work, check out this image of a helicopter from my upcoming Vietnam Flick.
Ignore the fact that theres no one piloting it yet.

That looks really good but there's no pilot lol. Just kiddin with ya

What 3D program are you using if you don't mind me asking?

[DEDFX]

I'd use a bluescreen on wire, the wire is so thin it prob wouldn't show up on your camera.

[Jimbobsquarepants]

[quote="DEDFX"]Ii agree with DEDFX cos i've got a huge bluescreen - wich i might change to green - and my m8 has a large detailed model of a black hawk so..

[Jimbobsquarepants]

but i wont move the chopper around i'll move the CAMERa! haha pwnage

[DEDFX]

The you'll need a bluescreen in a half circle if you want to move your cam.

Keep your bluescreen and get a greenscren, maybe sometime your actor will have a green shirt or vise versa/

[ALove]

I used Lightwave.

[edchaos2]

I work with aerial video and I think your best bet is to find someone who does r.c. helicopters and who will let you shoot their copters. Thats all that I use is r.c helicopters to shoot subdivisions and construction sites. ect.

[GoodStuffFilms]

detfilms used a model with workin blades in return of agent 12 and it looks very realistic.

[Jperson]

Yeah, you can detailed models from any model shop, you may have to put it togetherr, but oh well, and I'm sure some basic electrics wired to a model with a little motor would make the blades spin - and paint the wire the same colour as the background, green or blue or whatever you're using. Yeah, maybe you could findsome stock footage of moving clouds and put the copter on the clouds. Yeah and maybe you could do some close-ups of the pilot saying things into his mic.

[Jimbobsquarepants]

ok i have the footage now. whenever there is a blank shot of the sky you willl see the helicopter. also when he is running across the rof in slo mo. i have a miniture model and i can animate 3d blades so i think i will do that BUT if a.gotsa.fan could send me his video that would be good. have a look and see what you think.