Product Title: FA WhisperStar

Author: The Fire Angel

Author E-mail: Available after purchase

Product Date: September 2010

Product Copyright:  Copyright September 2010 The Fire Angel

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Ownership statement: All of this product's content was created by The Fire
Angel:

Blender was used for all modelling.  Poser 6 and/or a text editor were used to
create the Poser format files.  PhotoShop Elements was used for the texturing.

All source files have been kept in case proof of copyright is needed.  A full
construction history has been kept from the Blender files.

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Needed Files List and System Required:

Poser 6 or later; the model does work in DAZ Studio *but* at the moment I cannot
support DAZ Studio as it won't run on my current computer.  Adjustments to the
specular shine will be needed in DAZ Studio as well as some other adjustments to
get the model looking its best.  My beta testers assured me that apart from the
material settings everything worked in Studio just as it did in Poser.  There is
a bug in early DAZ Studio 3 that causes some models to "explode" into parts on
loading; this has been fixed, so if you see this problem just update your copy
of Studio.

A minimum of 512Mb of RAM on a Mac or a PC with Windows XP, or 4GB of RAM on a
PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Poser 6).

At least 1GB or more recommended for more complex scenes including the
WhisperStar and DAZ generation 4 or Poser "G2" figures.

Also note that memory requirements may be slightly more in Poser 7 and later.

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Detailed Installation Instructions

Extract the zip-archive with your zip program:

- Open WinZip and press the button -Extract-

- In the window -Folders/drives-, select the folder that contain your Poser
program. (ex. c:\program files\Poser4\).

- The check box -Use Folder names- must be marked. That way, all files will be
placed in the correct path.

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Usage Tips/Limitations

General:

In DAZ Studio some adjustments will be needed to the material settings to reduce
the specular shine and to get the reflections set up properly.

Most of the control dials are in the fuselage, oddly enough in the Poser body
part entitled "Fuselage".  Select this to lower the landing gear, steer the
nosewheel, move the controls or open the doors.

All versions of the WhisperStar can take all of the supplied MAT poses.  If
preparing MAT poses of your own use the military version of the WhisperStar and
they will then work on all versions.

NOTE WHEN SAVING POSES; when saving a pose for the WhisperStar and Poser asks if
you want to include morphs, click "Yes" to include them.  The WhisperStar uses
null morphs and morph-controlled-joints for the ERC control dials, so saving
morph settings allows you to save these ERC settings.  Most Poser figures with
ERC use parameter dials for the ERC controls which means the ERC dial settings
aren't saved when you save a pose for such figures.]

Real-world notes:  The WhisperStar is a dual-rotor compound helicopter with the
rotors rotating in opposite directions.  If real, it would not need to tilt to
move forwards as a conventional helicopter does, since the tail fan would
provide propulsion and braking.  During take-off and landing the tail fan would
be static and the helicopter would maneuver like a conventional helicopter
except that it would not need a tail rotor for rotational steering.

Rotating the helicopter would be done by making slight changes to the angle of
attack of the rotor blades, with one rotor increasing the angle, the other
decreasing it. This would increase the lift from one rotor and decrease it from
the other, the correct balance being ensured by the on-board computer.  As well
as changing the lift from the rotors so one was creating slightly more lift, the
other slightly less, this measure would also create more drag on one rotor and
less on the other, creating a rotational force; hence no tail rotor is needed
for steering a helicopter of this type.

Most of the noise from a helicopter comes from a phenomenon called rotor-tip
vortex turbulence.  The taper on the rotor blades and the swept back tips would
reduce the noise, as the size of the rotor-tip vortices would be reduced.  This
blade shape would also reduce the mount of lift, so the WhisperStar has two
five-bladed rotors instead of the more normal three or four bladed ones to make
up for this.  In a real quiet helicopter a special blade section would also be
used, but since I don't have access to a wind tunnel I haven't added this
detail.  It's unlikely anyone will notice this missing detail when they look at
your images ;-)

Taxiing would be done by having an electric motor in each main landing gear
wheel; that would be safer than using the tail fan or rotor blades on the ground
and would make the WhisperStar much easier to manage than a helicopter with
skids.

Rendering:

If you get black speckles or patches on your model, this is due to a bug in
Poser's FireFly rendering; it can be alleviated by changing some lighting
settings.  It only happens when using ray-traced lights to cast shadows.  Select
the light and look in the properties panel (where the control dials appear for
body parts) and change the shadow bias. Increase shadow bias to 0.5, then try
1.0, then 2.0 and then 4.0 as a last resort.  You can increase the shadow bias
further if needed but it should be avoided if possible as it can have
unfortunate side effects.

This model will render much better images if texture filtering is on, and unless
you're doing distant shots set the maximum texture map size to 4000x4000; this
is especially important if you're doing close-ups of the exterior of the
WhisperStar.

The default for the glass windows is to have ray-traced reflections off and use
a reflection map.  This renders a lot faster.  All of the supplied MAT poses for
changing the external paint scheme will set this state.  A separate MAT pose is
provided to enable ray-traced reflections on the windows, and you can use this
after any of the aforementioned MAT poses.  Ray-tracing is best used if the
WhisperStar is in a complex environment, when the reflections of objects around
the helicopter will add a great deal to the realism.

Figures:

The figures menu contents are described in a logical order not the order that
they will have in the menu.

First, there are three versions of the WhisperStar itself.  The civilian version
is the plain seven seater, carrying one pilot and seven passengers and with
space for some luggage.  The Camera WhisperStar has a camera turret built in,
under the nose, pretty small by current standards; the small size represents
advances in camera turret technology.  Current military aircraft do often have
camera turrets containing advanced night-vision or FLIR (Forward-Looking
Infra-Red) cameras similar in size to the one mounted in the WhisperStar, so
eventually this size turret is likely to be available to civil helicopters; of
course by then the military ones may be even smaller, or more likely just a lot
more capable.  You can rotate the camera mount itself, with the green slot
camera window, using the dials in the Fuselage.  This is only likely to be
noticed in close-up shots.

The Military WhisperStar is very similar but has some added pods in the belly to
house radar warning recievers, jamming equipment and missile warning sensors. It
works the same as all the other WhisperStar versions.

Either side of the nose are two panels which are marker or seal panels.  There
are such removable marker panels used on some real military helicopters,
including Marine One, the US Presidential helicopter.  The presidential seal is
fixed onto the helicopter when it is carrying the president (or flying as a
decoy) and removed otherwise.  Some other military helicopters can be fitted
with brightly coloured markers for formation flying, and these may be removed in
a combat zone to make the aircraft harder to spot.  There are poses to hide and
show these; the military version of the helicopter has them visible by default
to carry the Presidential seal, while the civilian and camera versions both have
these panels hidden by default.  As the texture map is a plain square with its
own material it is easy to add your own badges to these panels.

The other figures are the boarding steps, made just for the WhisperStar and two
versions of the luggage trolley.  The luggage trolleys differ only in that one
is stacked with four suitcases (they are smart-props and can be deleted or
rearranged) and one is empty.  Both of these have castors and so in the main
body part of each is a dial to rotate all the castors together, just to make
them easier to pose.

If the steps were real the yellow button would be pressed to unlock the castors
and wheels, and stepping on any step would lock them.  The unlock button would
be overridden by the step-switches, so you couldn't unlock the wheels and
castors while someone was walking down the steps.  I thought of everything I
tell ya'...

MAT poses:

Most of these are self-explanatory, they simply apply an external paint scheme
to the WhisperStar and a suitable cockpit display.  The cockpit display is in
English for most of these, but for those with the alien Kudai typeface on the
outside the cockpit display is changed to match.  The navigation lights are on
by default but if you're showing the WhisperStar parked or flying in a combat
zone there is a MAT pose to switch them off.  The glow is an ambient glow so
adding point lights will be helpful in some situations, especially if you want
the lights to cast shadows or spill colour onto something.

The Show and Hide poses show up parts of the WhisperStar or hide them, like the
square panels on either side of the nose.  There are also poses to make the
rotor blades and fan blades blurred or solid looking; these work by hiding some
body parts and showing others.  The blurred versions are planes with
transparency maps, so they won't look great at angles close to edge-on.  Because
of the edge-view problem If you're animating then I'd suggest using the solid
version and enabling motion blur to get a truly realistic effect.

You can also hide or show the "Inner Windows".  I have modelled both the inside
and outside surfaces of the windows so that interior views and close-ups can be
more realistic by showing the glass with some thickness.  If you're doing a
distant shot the model will render faster, particularly with ray-tracing on,
with the inside surfaces hidden, so I have provided poses to hide these body
parts.

Finally after applying any of the MAT poses that change the paintwork the
windows will be set to reflection-mapped using the supplied map.  A MAT pose can
be used to turn on more realistic ray-traced reflections, and this alters only
the window material settings.  This will slow renders down but the reflections
of objects around the WhisperStar make this option more realistic, particularly
if the environment is fairly complex.  So, Reflection-Mapped reflections for
speed, Ray-Traced reflections for ultimate realism.

NOTE: The MAT poses for the pilot's helmet will only work in Poser if a figure
is loaded and the helmet selected.  This is a limitation of Poser, not of the
Fire Angel's work.

Crew Poses:

Poses provided for the "crew" (pilot and passengers) are intended to position
the appropriate figures in the seats; they will only work if the helicopter has
not been moved from the default position.  The passenger poses all place the
passenger in the front centre seat, because it's easy to select the hip and
simply slide the person sideways, backwards or both to place them in other
seats.  The passenger poses have not been prepared with great attention to hand
positions and they may look a little stiff.  The idea is to provide a basis for
your own poses, and I'm sure you will agree that the hard part has been done.

Special Posing tip:

Follow this sequence exactly for great posing results and animated flight
images:

Load the WhisperStar, then load the figure for the pilot; use one of the poses
provided (or one you made yourself) to get your Poser person into the pilot seat
properly.  As soon as you've done that, select the figure in the pilot seat and
then go to the "Figure" menu and "Select figure parent". Make the "Fuselage"
body part the parent of the pilot figure.  The pilot will now remain in the seat
as you move the helicopter around.

Now enable IK chains for all four limbs of your pilot, yes, legs *and* arms. Now
select the right foot of your pilot and on the "Object" menu choose "Select
object parent" (you can't do this until IK chains for that leg are enabled).
Make the rPedal the parent of the right foot. Now select the left foot and in
the same way make lPedal the parent of the left foot.  The pilot's feet will now
stay on the rudder pedals as they move when you pose them using the
PedalsRightLeft dial in the Fuselage body part.

Some of you will have guessed what comes next: select the right hand and make
the PilotStick the parent of the right hand.  Now select the left hand and make
the Throttle the parent of the left hand. You can now pose the controls of the
helicopter using the dials in the Fuselage body part as usual.  Using
PedalsRightLeft will pose the rudder pedals and the pilot will keep his feet in
place on those pedals.  Using the StickFwdBack and StickSideways dials will move
the control stick and all the while the pilot will continue to hold the stick in
his/her right hand.  If you select the ThrottleOpen or TwistGrip dial and move
it the pilot's left hand will move with it.

Neat stuff, and not hard to set up once you're used to doing it.  Using a little
imagination you can add other setups to make really convincing poses and
animations.

Props:

Most of these are pretty obvious, though you may not have heard of those wedges
called chocks; they are used to keep parked aircraft from wandering about in the
wind (or on slight inclines if the area isn't exactly level) and at many
airports and airfields are required for parked unattended aircraft of all types.
Even if they aren't required it's pretty silly not to use them.  Most of the
time they are specific to a particular aircraft since they fit the tyres better
that way.

The chocks are parented to the fuselage not to the wheels.  This might seem odd
but as they are only useful when the gear is down you wouldn't want them to
attach to the wheels; if they are loaded accidentally it's much easier to select
and delete them if they remain fully outside the shell of the WhisperStar rather
than partly embedded, as they would if the gear was folded and they used the
wheels as parent objects.  Also if you're producing multiple images the same
advantage applies if you start with the gear down then want to render with it
folded later on.

The helipad is just a big square with tiling textures on it, built to make promo
images with.  I thought some of you may find it useful so there it is.

I'm sure you all know what a suitcase it, but what about that one with all the
labels?  All those place names were inspired by either real places or places
mentioned in science fiction movies or computer games.  So there's something to
entertain yourself with, if you feel like trying to work out which movies and
games they all came from.  The ones in alien text are just eye-candy so there's
no point in researching those; the text is effectively random collections of
alien characters so it looks as if it means something to somebody...

The helmet smart props all have the name of the figure they are for in their
title and initials in the icon.  There is also a plain prop version so you can
fit it to other figures.

Cameras:

As with any large model it is possible that when you load the WhisperStar the
camera will not be in a suitable position to view it all.  To make this easier
several cameras are provided; these make good starting points for positioning
the camera if the WhisperStar is at the default loaded position.  You can parent
the camera to the WhisperStar Fuselage and build up a scene, or reposition it
later.

Extra textures:

My Free add-ons for the WhisperStar are or will be available from ShareCG; you
need to sign up to download, but membership is free and there are a huge number
of free 3D models and textures on the site, so it's worth the trouble.  There
will be a package of real-world Police force textures, for example the LAPD,
Miami Police, Chicago, London's Metropolitan Police and others.  There may be
other schemes too.

Find them on the following URL:

http://www.sharecg.com/pf/Fire_Angel

If there is nothing there for the WhisperStar when you check, try again in a
week or two; you must have been an early purchaser!  Even if there is a package,
try again as I intend to do at least two free texture additions for this model.

Clip-Art:

As well as the WhisperStar Runtime folder you get a Clip-Art folder too.  This
is a free extra and is not part of the paid-for product.  The clip-art contains
most of the badges used on the WhisperStar so that you can add them to textures
for the pilot's clothing.  So you can make a shoulder patch, t-shirt or the back
of a jacket match the WhisperStar properly in your images.  The HMX-1 US Marine
Corps squadron is the squadron that provides the US Presidential transport
helicopters as well as VIP transport for US DoD officials and other VIP visitors
to the White House.

The clip-art can only be used for making freebies and for making textures for
your own use.  No commercial products can be made with them without explicit
written permission.  In the case of the HMX-1 badge, this is public domain but
may not be used commercially in the USA without the permission of the commanding
officer of that unit as it is covered by laws separate from copyright law.

The RAF 32 squadron badge is a "futurised" version of the badge of the real 32
squadron, which absorbed the duties and assets of the Queen's Flight some time
ago.  This unit provides VIP transport for the British Prime Minister, Defense
Minister, senior members of the government and the royal family and visiting
VIPs in the UK, as well as generals and other senior military officers.  It is
therefore the nearest equivalent to the HMX-1 US Marine unit that the UK has.
HMX-1 has only helicopters, while 32 Squadron has both helicopters and planes.

There are a few extra symbols and roundels to help you get started making your
own textures for the WhisperStar as well as the badges mentioned above, so see
if any of those give you ideas as well.  Have fun with them!

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File Listing:

In :Runtime:Geometries:FireAngel:Aircraft:WhisperStar:

WhisperStar.obj

In :Runtime:Geometries:FireAngel:Props:Luggage:

LuggageTrolley1.obj
Suitcase1.obj
Suitcase2.obj
Suitcase3.obj

In :Runtime:Geometries:FireAngel:Props:Scene:

Helipad1.obj
WhisperStarSteps.obj

In :Runtime:Geometries:FireAngel:Props:

WhisperStarChock.obj
WhisperStarHelmet.obj

In :Runtime:libraries:Camera:WhisperStar:

Cabin View 1.cm2
Cabin View 1.png
Cabin View 2.cm2
Cabin View 2.png
Cabin View 3.cm2
Cabin View 3.png
Cabin View 4.cm2
Cabin View 4.png
Cockpit View 1.cm2
Cockpit View 1.png
Icon View.cm2
Icon View.png
Right Side Front.cm2
Right Side Front.png
Right Side Low.cm2
Right Side Low.png
Right Side Rear.cm2
Right Side Rear.png
Right Side.cm2
Right Side.png
Seals View.cm2
Seals View.png

In :Runtime:libraries:Character:WhisperStar:

Boarding Steps.cr2
Boarding Steps.png
Camera WhisperStar.cr2
Camera WhisperStar.png
Civilian WhisperStar.cr2
Civilian WhisperStar.png
Luggage Trolley 1.cr2
Luggage Trolley 1.png
Luggage Trolley 2.cr2
Luggage Trolley 2.png
Military WhisperStar.cr2
Military WhisperStar.png

In :Runtime:libraries:Pose:WhisperStar Crew:

Freak 3 Passenger.png
Freak 3 Passenger.pz2
Freak 3 Pilot.png
Freak 3 Pilot.pz2
Freak 4 Passenger.png
Freak 4 Passenger.pz2
Freak 4 Pilot.png
Freak 4 Pilot.pz2
G2-Female Passenger.png
G2-Female Passenger.pz2
G2-Female Pilot.png
G2-Female Pilot.pz2
G2-Male Passenger.png
G2-Male Passenger.pz2
G2-Male Pilot.png
G2-Male Pilot.pz2
M3 Passenger.png
M3 Passenger.pz2
M3 Pilot.png
M3 Pilot.pz2
M4 Passenger.png
M4 Passenger.pz2
M4 Pilot.png
M4 Pilot.pz2
V3 Passenger.png
V3 Passenger.pz2
V3 Pilot.png
V3 Pilot.pz2
V4 Passenger.png
V4 Passenger.pz2
V4 Pilot.png
V4 Pilot.pz2

In :Runtime:libraries:Pose:WhisperStar MAT:

Blue Kudai Registered.png
Blue Kudai Registered.pz2
Blue UK Registered.png
Blue UK Registered.pz2
Blue USA Registered.png
Blue USA Registered.pz2
Cabin Lights Off.png
Cabin Lights Off.pz2
Cabin Lights On.png
Cabin Lights On.pz2
Marine One.png
Marine One.pz2
Navigation Lights Off.png
Navigation Lights Off.pz2
Navigation Lights On.png
Navigation Lights On.pz2
News Helicopter XTVN.png
News Helicopter XTVN.pz2
Panels Off.png
Panels Off.pz2
Panels On.png
Panels On.pz2
Pilot Helmet Red-White.png
Pilot Helmet Red-White.pz2
Pilot Helmet SpecOps1.png
Pilot Helmet SpecOps1.pz2
Pilot Helmet SpecOps2.png
Pilot Helmet SpecOps2.pz2
Police USA Generic.png
Police USA Generic.pz2
RAF (UK) Transport.png
RAF (UK) Transport.pz2
Red Kudai Registered.png
Red Kudai Registered.pz2
Red UK Registered.png
Red UK Registered.pz2
Red USA Registered.png
Red USA Registered.pz2
Rotors Blurred.png
Rotors Blurred.pz2
Rotors Static.png
Rotors Static.pz2
Royal Navy (UK).png
Royal Navy (UK).pz2
Special Ops Anonymous.png
Special Ops Anonymous.pz2
Special Ops USAF.png
Special Ops USAF.pz2
Tail Fan Blurred.png
Tail Fan Blurred.pz2
Tail Fan Static.png
Tail Fan Static.pz2
Texas Lightning.png
Texas Lightning.pz2
US Marines.png
US Marines.pz2
US Navy.png
US Navy.pz2
USAF VIP Transport.png
USAF VIP Transport.pz2
Windows Inner Hide.png
Windows Inner Hide.pz2
Windows Inner Show.png
Windows Inner Show.pz2
Windows Ray-Trace.png
Windows Ray-Trace.pz2
Windows Reflect-Map.png
Windows Reflect-Map.pz2

In :Runtime:libraries:Props:WhisperStar Props:

Chocks.png
Chocks.pp2
Helipad.png
Helipad.pp2
Pilot Helmet F3.png
Pilot Helmet F3.pp2
Pilot Helmet JamesG2.png
Pilot Helmet JamesG2.pp2
Pilot Helmet JessieG2.png
Pilot Helmet JessieG2.pp2
Pilot Helmet M3.png
Pilot Helmet M3.pp2
Pilot Helmet M4-F4.png
Pilot Helmet M4-F4.pp2
Pilot Helmet V3.png
Pilot Helmet V3.pp2
Pilot Helmet V4.png
Pilot Helmet V4.pp2
Pilot Helmet.png
Pilot Helmet.pp2
Suitcase 1.png
Suitcase 1.pp2
Suitcase 2.png
Suitcase 2.pp2
Suitcase 3.png
Suitcase 3.pp2
Suitcase 4.png
Suitcase 4.pp2
Suitcase 5.png
Suitcase 5.pp2

In :Runtime:ReadMe:

Renderosity License.txt
WhisperStar Instructions.txt

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