Project Reality Sound Recording Trip 2010

Closed

2010-09-15T00:19:00.003+01:00

Blog officially closed, more next year we hope, thanks

Craig_Turner
aka
UK_Force

Sifting through the sands

2010-07-27T15:32:00.008+01:00

Well .... finally back at home. Gone from 35 degrees C, to 15 degrees C .... sunshine to rain ... but that's Scotland for you. Sitting now waiting on the hard drive to arrive, been organising all the photos and video ... and planning a last little blog.

But what is there to say ? Sofad seems to have pretty much said it all (a picture speaks a thousand words, and a video even more ) ! Well I suppose I can leave with the heartfelt thanks that all of us feel, towards everyone down in Dorset who made our trip go smoothly. Most of all ... miss all you guys already, it was great to meet each other in the flesh.

Stan, Stu and Craig ... you are a top geezers, thanks so much for arranging and putting space aside for us. Craig especially ... there was no end of behind the scenes management that so many forget. Well we won't.

To all the engineers down at Bovington ... thanks so much for being patient with us getting in your way, and for driving those beasts for us. Hope you had as much fun as we did.

To Mick, thanks so much for the lend of the Zoom ... it was totally invaluable, and stunningly good for such an unobtrusive bit of kit. We captured stuff with that which would have been impossible otherwise (like 2 soldiers arguing how to close the breach on the Cr2 main gun ... there will be an outakes reel !).

Sid, cheers for a long long stretch in the hot sun (someone buy him a drink !) ... and helping us through our busiest day. Despite the Jack hammer , the concrete saw and the genny ... we made it through !

Thanks to Mark from BIA, for hanging out with us and showing us VBS and generally just making the trip a fun laugh. Was great to meet you, and look forward to further ventures.

And everyone else who made this trip possible, a big thanks.

And last and not least ... thanks to our team. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed at our professionalism, on day 1 morning 1 we had already clicked and the first listen back was very impressive. By the end of the week we were flying through the recordings like a well oiled machine. A testament to everyone's skill and ability.

So finally .... I leave you with a parting video, and some photos. Enjoy. Because we sure as hell did.

[R-DEV] Twisted Helix

This is it...

2010-07-26T10:02:00.036+01:00

5 Days

50 hours

6 Developer + Tom + Mark from BIA

countless helpers and door openers (stu, thnx alot again, mate ;) )

10 different Microphones

120 meter Mic leads

several meters of Power extension leads

1 Bench + 2 Chairs

lots of tubes of suncream

6 Traffic cones

5 Mic Stands

several cycling Helicopters

a barking dog

1 Van

20 Vehicles

80 GB of recorded Data

.....lots of fun! :)

Sunday, 18th

[R-DEV]Jaymz and me arriving at Wool Trainstatation

[R-DEV]Drav, Tom, [R-DEV]Twisted Helix, [R-DEV]UK_Force, [R-DEV]Jaymz visiting the recording location

Monday, 19th

Tom, [R-DEV]UK_Force, [R-DEV]Jaymz, Mark Lacey from BIA, [R-DEV]Drav after building up the recording installation

[R-DEV]Jaymz, Mark Lacey, [R-DEV]Drav, [R-DEV]UK_Force waiting for the first vehicle...

... the FV510 Warrior (all videos can be viewed in HD! :) )

the scottish pikeman :)

spending the evening at the sgt. mess

Thuesday, 20th

Drav at the lookout

and here they come

all those clouds at the hill in the background are responsible for some wasted hours..

my setup up the range for the ambient recording that never happend this day ;)

the two challys waiting for the clouds to push along. the white dot in the middle is our van with the crew setting the mic´s up for the planned close up recording, 1km down the range.

the FV432 is beeing captured

recording the FV432 on a ride

the Trojan is a real monster!

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix and his very helpful mobile recorder

[R-DEV]Jaymz is waiting for the background noise to die away

the mighty two mobile recordists sitting on top of the monster

highlight of the day: the nightfiring exercise

those youtube vids seem to be darker then the original recording, whyever...

Wednesday, 21th

stu, drav, jaymz, uk_force, tom, twisted and mark discussing the setup down the range

my setup again for the next try.. ;)

the two Challenger 2 waiting up the range with the generator engine running

setup for the CR2 engine recording

uk_force is staying on the hatches to keep them closed for the right internal sound :)

call Mulder and Scully, ive found a rubber circle...

the devs visiting Lullworth cove

beautiful place...

...also in a panorama picture

stu gave us the opportunity to record all the quieter parts of the chally at Lullworth Camp in almost perfect silence, except a f*****g dog and some sheeps in the background.. ;)

stu is driving the tank for us :)

Thursday, 22th

on top of an AS-90 to place a mic

my view while recording the AS-90

the AS-90 is leaving and we recording the depart

the next one is coming in

a walk around the setup for the MLRS engine recording

uk_force is leaving... ;)

special smoke launchers? not needed! ;)

Friday, 23th

HET incoming

[R-DEV]strima is driving the jackal away...

...and the Springer to the recording place

the Husky with his space doors.. ;)

the Mastiff 2 is entering the location

the end, he´s done... ;)

c ya next time

[R-DEV]sofad

Job Done ...........

2010-07-25T12:09:00.003+01:00

7 Days earlier, the team where working their way down to Bovington via Train, plane and automobile, and now they are all back home, having completed what was an epic Project.

It seems like yesterday I picked them up and got them settled into the Camp, and here I am now sat at home working on our next future project !!

I think I can honestly say on behalf of all the team, true freindships where formed during the week, and a "Team" was formed, that worked together incredibly well throughout the week.

I will miss the irish tones of Jaymz on his Megaphone "This is the Warthog start/stop/idle ....action"
I am sure over the coming days the team will be blogging a large summary of their experiences during the time they where here, and I am sure they will be an interesting read for you all.

I am incredibly proud of our team, and always knew things like this would happen, we have created the perfect starting block now for realitystudios.com, and I am sure you will see a lot more of this in the future.
My thanks to everyone I worked with during the week, with a special mention to Stu Paterson @ Lulworth, [R-DEV]strima, our own MA, and driver at Warminster, all the Civilian Drivers at Bovington, Stan up at LTF, Mark Lacey from BIA who entertained us all with VBS2 on Thursday evening and all my other "contacts" that I worked with to set this up.
So for me, my final Blog - but for the team still more Blogs to come, so stay tuned in for some great stories.

Thanks to everyone who followed the blogs, and also to the whole of the PR Community who continue to inspire us as a team.

[R-DEV]UK_Force

2010-07-24T22:51:00.001+01:00

back at home. :)

what an amazing week.

the final update, including pics, vids and more samples will follow (hopefully) tomorrow. :)

5 Days, 20 UK Vehicles ...... A team of tired PR Developers

2010-07-23T21:45:00.003+01:00

Well, thats it the recording is now over. The title really says it all I suppose, we have covered far more than excpected. With a few phone calls, and backhanders like always we managed to get exactly what was required and more.

[R-DEV]sofad had his dream today, as there was lots of TRUCKS for him to record, including the HET as seen in the picture, the CST, Foden, MAN truck etc.

[R-DEV]Jaymz, carried on his weeks fetish of all things with a manual traverse cupolla, and spent some time in the top of the Mastiff.

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix spent the day explaining how things sound, using his own expressions to do so, which entertained us all. We where joined also be [R-DEV]strima today as our Driver, as this man is trained on the lot, and even showed us all the "horns" of each vehicle (HET and CST win by a mile) !!

So overall a productive week, but now we have collected the sounds, its time for the Project Reality Sound Dept, to really start work with what will be long hours sat at the computer in post production.
The weather was kind all week, as I had booked it, and therefore it ran like clockwork like the whole week.

Check out sofads, and Jaymz's T-Shirt Tans from the back of the "mobile studio" !! A bit of sun for the Dev's prior to being locked back away at their PC's ....lol. You wouldn't believe it was throwing it down with rain on the 1 1/2 hour drive up to Warminster.
So with things drawing to a close now, and the week wrapping up, I thought it would be fitting for them to relax a little now, and phoned a pal at the Tank Muesum for a few free tickets, so they can relax and wander around there prior to taking them to the train station.

I am sure the guys will have more detailed Blogs for you guys over the next few days, so stay tuned.

Mark Lacey (BIA) [R-DEV]Twisted Helix, [R-DEV]sofad, [R-DEV]Jaymz, checking the Coyote prior to placing the Mic's out.

[R-DEV]sofad, finding out how big the Mastiff really is !!!

Springer ..... note the vehicles lined up ready for us

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix, Ready to record the CST

[R-DEV]Jaymz "Never mind the trucks, check my ride out"

Husky, High RPM = LOUD, comes with Star wars doors as standard !!

Quotes Of the Day:

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix

"Where my lighter gone now?"

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix

"Just record this tssccchhh tssccchhh sound sofad"

[R-DEV]Jaymz

"Oooohhh .... Manual Traverse"

[R-DEV]Jaymz

"ACTION"

[R-DEV]sofad

"PUT ZE MIC THERE ROB"

"Sheisser"

[R-DEV]UK_Force

listen...

2010-07-22T22:54:00.002+01:00

just a small samplefile for you to have an idea what a challenger 2 sounds like when driving by at slow speed.

http://www.box.net/shared/76ve0u8954

(make shure to raise your volume to the max... ;) )

cheers

[R-DEV]sofad

Recording Document : Done

2010-07-22T13:50:00.003+01:00

The entire recording plan we had for each vehicle we knew would be available has now been completed. So besides a few sounds, such as the MLRS turret traversing (which we couldn't get because it didn't work on the driver training variant we had), we're doing very well. Tomorrow, we're ceasing the opportunity to record a lot of the newer vehicles held at Warminster. We'll have the pleasure of meeting our newest MA, [R-DEV]Strima, who will also be our driver for the day.

For tonight, we're going to take it easy and head back over to Lulworth for some simulation fun ;)

[R-Dev]Jaymz

keine zeit, keine zeit... // time's scarce

2010-07-22T13:34:00.007+01:00

hier geht es wirklich von einem event zum naechsten...
Gestern haben wir die Aufnahmen fuer den Challenger 2 MBT fertiggestellt und am Vormittag hatten wir dann doch noch die moeglichkeit bei den Schiessuebungen einer Challenger 2 crew dabeizusein. Ich war mit meinem setup am Anfang der Range geblieben um die Ambient sounds von dort aus aufzunehmen. Der Tank stand ca 1 km von diesem Punkt entfernt und trotzdem war der Schusssound an meinem Standort immernoch unglaublich intensiv.
Heute waren der AS90 Artilleriepanzer und der MLRS Missle Launcher an der Reihe. Nachher statten wir noch der hier ansaessigen Mediaabteilung einen Besuch ab um deren Arbeit kennen zu lernen, aber auch um unsere bisherigen Aufnahmen von hier vorzufuehren.
Heute gibt es leider keine Bilder, weil ich gerade an einem Prepaid-Internetcomputer hier im Camp sitze, der keinerlei USB verbindungen zulaesst.
Von Sonntag an, wenn ich wieder zu Hause bin, wird es jede Menge Videos, Fotos und Soundsamples unserer Aufnahmen geben. Falls das hier uebhaupt gewuenscht wird...
Sagt mir doch bitte in einem Comment zu meinem post, gerne auch in Deutsch, ob der geneigte Mitleser uebhaupt an weiteren Fotos und Videos interessiert ist.. ;)

bis zum naechsten Update

cheers

[R-DEV]sofad

We're really constantly going from one event to another around here
Yesterday we finished the recordings with the Challenger 2 MBT and in the morning we had the opportunity to experience a shooting exercise of a Challenger 2 crew. I stayed at one end of the range with my setup to record the ambient sounds from there. The tank was about 1 km away from that point and yet the noise of the shots was still incredibly intense at my location.
Today we recorded the AS90 artillery tank and the MLRS missile launcher. Later we visited the local media department to get to know their work, but also to present our recordings so far.
Today there's no pictures sadly, because I'm sitting at a prepaid-internet computer here in the camp, which doesnt allow any USB connections.
From sunday on, when I'm back home again, there will be alot of videos, photos and sound samples from the trip. That is, IF any of you guys want to see those, let me know in the comments, can also be in German :)

see you next update

cheers

Translated by Spec_Operator and [R-CON]creepin

2010-07-21T20:53:00.012+01:00

Yo, just got back from Bovington, the others have given a pretty good rundown of whats been happening, so I'm just going to add whats been missing, pictures! The British Army does a lot of things well, but unfortunately fast free internet doesen't seem to be one of them. So until the rest of the guys get back into the real world, heres whats been happening. This is the Warrior we recorded first.

[R-DEV]Sofads Central Command. All the static mics were controlled from here, such as those in the picture above. Although this required power to run, and took a little longer to set up, virtually unlimited space and up to 8 stereo tracks meant it was well worth it. Sofad is a super chilled guy who is doing a great job and I'm confident we'll have got some good recordings from this setup.

Next we move onto our mobile recordist, the mysterious developer [NO-TAG]Tom. Born 'Reg Johnson' in 1978 he escaped a federal penitentiary after being wrongfully mistaken for convicted killer Ian Huntley. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a sonic bounty hunter, capturing anything that revs, roars, explodes or self destructs. If you have a problem, and no one else can help, he wont either, but he might record it.

Last but most certainly not least, we have [R-DEV]Jaymz and [R-DEV]Twisted Helix. Jaymz was in charge of the running of the recording. Through a large megaphone, his soothing Irish lilt graced the start of every take, on every microphone, all day, every day. You will be hearing it very soon. He also kept the notes, kept the driver happy and informed (one of the most important bits) as well as setting up mics, getting on the boom and recording inside the vehicles. He is also very slow at eating, and due to the standard military half hour being insufficient for his extensive ruminations, has yet to finish a whole meal. However, he is a top guy so I'll let him off. [R-DEV]Twisted Helix, huge excitable Scot, says fuck a lot, runs around a lot when excited, all round excellent guy. Once everything else was set up, his main task was running the Zoom mobile recorder (in the above photo)) making sure it got everywhere it needed to be, be it the inside of a Trojan, or to record a challenger crew arguing about how to put a round in the barrel. Priceless. Expect a lot more good stuff from him later in the week.

This is the night fire exercise that we recorded the 30mm cannon on. It was incredibly wet and windy, so Tom and Rob were unleashed with their mobile recorders and lurked about in the dark looking for tight sonic angles. After everyone finished recording I chucked the camera on one of their tripods and managed to get this picture in the gale.

Finally, this is a lucky picture I got of the Challenger 2 firing its main gun this morning. Yes, it is really loud....

[R-DEV]Drav

2010-07-21T17:49:00.003+01:00

Challenger 2 Day today, and luckily we managed to have the weather on our side. The first round down range was at 10am, and we where done an hour later with some great stuff.

I am sure the guys will comment more on that, needless to say, they where all shocked at the actual sound of this beast.

Back into camp, and we said goodbye to [R-DEV]drav, and Tom, who had to leave for another job. I'll take this oppurtunity to say thanks to the pair of them, it was a pleasure working with you, and we hope to see you soon.
Back in camp, we heard some small arms firing, so I took the guys down to the ranges there. Turns out it was an old pal from RM Poole - SBS, So I had a word and got the lads on the range to record a bunch of UKSF - SBS guys doing some snapshooting with Diemaco C8 carabines and Sig Pistols. Of course I could not allow them to take pictures, but we now have the sounds.

The afternoon was spent with the one and only Challenger 2, to record the engine sounds, and by 4.30pm, we where done. They are now relaxing in their rooms, and I plan to pick them up at 6.30pm, to take them to Lulworth - Gunnery School, where we have the whole evening to record all the other intricate sounds a CR2 makes - Hatches etc, etc. Also a live demonstration of the "Hunter / Killer" mode is lined up for them.

All in all a great day, and I am sure the team will blog a little more about the detail.

Bye for now

[R-DEV]UK_Force

2010-07-21T00:31:00.000+01:00

Day 2 in the Project Reality House !!

Well it's just gone Midnight, and I am finally showered and home. Long days are now the norm, and they are flying by, with lots being done.

You would already think the team have been together for years, everything is running smoothly, and everyone is getting on together like best pals, which is a real bonus.

With some very good results so far, and being ahead of schedule, we may even have time for some bonus recordings if all goes to plan. I have even managed to make up flasks of coffee and tea at 0600, with my eyes half open !!

At this point I have to mention that unfortunatley the team have come to a unanimous decision that [R-DEV]Twisited Helix will never become a "Rommel", after watching him and [R-DEV]Jaymz on the CR2 Crew simulator destroy a freindly Callsign, and show no mercy at all. [R-DEV]sofad on the other hand (Herr Efficient), passed the CR2 Gunners test with ease. What it did show however to all the team was the fact that doing it for "real" is a little tougher than sat behind a PC on an FPS game !!

Quotes of the day:

[R-DEV]sofad after the recording of the Trojan:

"What a Monster ..... That will be my ringtone"

[R-DEV]Twisted Helix, during the Live fire shoot:

"Thats ..... like .....LOUD"

[R-DEV]drav after the night shoot had finished (22.40)

Do you think we can get a beer still ?

[R-DEV]Jaymz all day long:

This is (vehicle) .. start / stop idle ..... ACTION

I must admit the guys got their own back though, as I was the "chosen one" to be the actor for the foot sounds, and ended up walking and running, on Gravel / Tarmac and heather/long grass ...... they then decided they wanted a recording of this with me "crawling through the grass" .......... Thanks lads !!

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week.

[R-DEV]UK_Force

2010-07-20T19:25:00.004+01:00

Well hi there folks, a late blog but we have not had time nor internet access til now. Just a quick one , as internet explorer just erased my last effort all because I pressed the back button.

We arrived on sunday, got shown about and got ourselves settled in. Monday we met Mark Lacey, senior artist for BIA, who came down specially from Mars to greet us (well he had other business on Earth, but he will be gracing us with his extra terrestrial presence for the week ... see photo). A nice friendly guy, who is a mine of information on all things VBS and Arma. Infact everyone here has been incredibly friendly, especially our drivers.

On monday we recorded the Warrior and Warthog driven by Ryan, and the Scimitar and Panther driven Duane. On Tuesday we set up on the CR2 ranges to record the Challenger, but unfortunately the mist came in and they couldn't see the targets ... so that was that, and we headed back to base to record the Bulldog driven by Barry Rose (aka Sir Rose), the Trojan (which had us all wetting ourselves at this 1800 hp MONSTER) driven byPhill, and a Landrover driven by our very own [R-DEV]UK_Force, who has treated us like Royalty while we are here. Sorting out no end of red tape, and showing us round the local area and history. Stuart Paterson has also been with us a lot and taken us under his wing tonight to show us the army simulators (we will let you know about that later).

And we would all like to send a big happy birthday to Mick, who lent us a Zoom recorder ... which has litterally proved invaluable so far, in allowing us to get recordings in tight and constricted spaces.

Anyway running out of time ... so its bye for now.

[R-DEV] Twisted Helix

besser spaet als nie...// Better late than never

2010-07-20T19:21:00.007+01:00

Mittlerweile ist nun schon Dienstag Abend und vom eigentlich Plan eines Blogeintrages pro Tag muss zu dieser zeit leider immernoch Abstand genommen werden. //

It's already tuesday evening and I still have to take my distance from my earlier ambition to do a blog post per day.

Der Grund ist simpel, es gibt hier einfach nirgends eine brauchbare Internetverbindung. Und falls doch kann man garantiert keine Fotos von der Cam hochladen... //

The reason is simple, useful internet connection is nowhere to be found, and if there is one it's not nearly sufficent to upload pics from the camera.

Im moment sind wir gerade im Buero eines freundlichen Panzerschiessstandoffiziers, wo wir seine Inrternetanbindung kurz nutzen koennen.

Hier also ein kurzes update von mir. //

Right now we're in the office of a friendly tank shooting range officer, he was so kind to let us use his Internet connection for a bit. So here's a little update from my side.

Am sonntag sind wir gut angekommen und [R-DEV]UK_Force hat uns das Camp gezeigt etc.. //

We arrived on Sunday without any problems and [R-DEV]UK_Force then showed us around the camp etc..

Der Montag begann in der frueh mit den vorbereitungen fuer unsere erste Aufnahmesession.

Und die Aufnahmen vom Warrior, Scimitar, Panther und Warthog sind, nach dem ersten hoeren nach zu urteilen, auch recht gut gelungen. :) //

Monday morning began early for us lot for the first recording sessions with the Warrior, Scimitar, Panther and Warthog, and listening to the results it all seems to have worked pretty well.

Heute waren wir dann am fruehen Morgen auf dem Schiessstand der Challenger2 Panzer, wo wir dessen Schiessuebungen aufnehmen wollten. Leider spielte das Wetter nicht wirklich mit, es war zu nebelig im Zielgebiet, sodass die Schuetzen ihre ziele nicht richtig sehen konnten.

Am nachmittag nahmen wir dann, zurueck im Camp, den FV 432, den Landrover und ein wahres 1800 PS Monster, den Trojan, ein Engeneering Fahrzeug das auf dem Chassis des Challenger2 aufsetzt, auf. Das Ding bringt wahrliche Monstersounds zustande, die einem fast Angst und Bange werden lassen.. //

Early this morning we where on the Challenger 2 shooting range trying to record the live ammo training. This didn't work out, the weather didn't play nice and the tank crew couldn't see their target. Back in the camp that afternoon we too the FV 432, Landrover and the 1800 HP monster engineering vehicle called Trojan. The Trojan is based on the chassis of the Challenger 2 and get's loud enough to even scare grown men.

Jetzt, hier in der Scimitar/Warrior Shootingrange, werden wir erst einen Blick auf VBS2, die militaerische Simulationssoftware von den ARMA2 Machern, werfen. Mark Lacey der Chefentwickler von VBS2 (Bohemia Interactive) begleitet uns diese Woche in Bovington auch. oh, ich muss los, soeben hat das Nachtschiessen begonnen.... Schnell noch ein paar Fotos (die Internetanbindung hier ist wirklich langsam, deswegen nur zwei Bilder) //

Now here at the Scimitar/Warrior shooting range we're gonna take look at VBS2, the military simulation based on ARMA2. Mark Lacey the chief developer of VBS2 (Bohemia Interactive) went along with our trip to Bovington and will be with us during the entire week.

Oh, gotta go, the shooting at night training just begun, just 2 quick pics because the internet is too slow.

...zwei Stunden speater...

So, nun sind wir vom Nachtschiessen zureuck. Ich habe eine paar wirklich beeindruckende HD Videos aufgenommen, LaserStarWars like Tracers ;), die ich aber erst naechste Woche, wenn ich wieder zu hause bin, online stellen kann.

Das wars erstmal fuer heute, hier draengeln schon alle...

keine Ahnung wann es das neachste Update gibt, das haengt hier leider von der Internetsituation ab... :/

bis dahin

[R-DEV]sofad //

so, 2 hours later we're back from the shooting range. I got a lot of great HD video footage, those tracers look like Lasers from star wars :), I'll upload the vid next week, when I'm back home. And that's it from me for today, the others are already waiting for my place. I don't know what i'll have in the next update, but I guess that comes down the the connectivity I'll get.

cheers

Translated by [R-CON]creepin

20kg

2010-07-17T20:56:00.010+01:00

All dieser Krempel, plus ein paar Klamotten wollen mitgenommen werden. Der Berg Kabel im Hintergrund alleine wiegt allerdings schon über 7kg. Das Problem dabei ist, das nur 20kg für das Frachtgepäck und 6kg als Handgepäck im Flugzeug zugelassen sind. Jedes Kilogramm mehr wird, pro Richtung, mit saftigen 13 Euro extra berechnet.

I gotta take all this stuff, plus something to wear for my stay. Just those cables in the background already weigh more than 7 kilos. The Problem is that I'm only allowed 20 kilos of checked-in baggage and 6 kilos in my carry-on bag. Every kilo over would cost me a hefty 13 Euros.

Mit etwas hin und her räumen war es dann geschafft. Unter 20kg! :)

Mein Handgepäck, das auch den Laptop enthält, liegt bei genau 6,0kg.

After moving the equipment between the bags a bit I finally made it, suitcase is under 20 kilos! And my carry-on bag, which also has a laptop in it, weighs exactly 6 kilos.

Allerdings mussten dafür die Hälfte aller Mikrofonkabel, einige Mikrofone und diverse andere, nicht unbedingt notwendiger Dinge, zu Hause bleiben.

To get down to that weight I had to leave a lot of equipment behind. Half of all the microphone cables, some mics, and some other not urgently neccesary stuff didn't get to leave the house.

Noch knapp 11 Stunden, dann geht es auf zum Flughafen. Wenn alles gut geht, werde ich, zusammen mit [R-DEV]Jaymz, wir treffen uns in London am Flughafen, morgen am Sonntag den 18. Juli, gegen 17:10 Uhr Ortszeit in Wool, nahe Bovington eintreffen.

Den nächsten Blogeintrag von mir wird es dann, so es der Internetgott mit der dortigen Anbindung gut mit mir meint, direkt aus dem Camp geben.

[R-DEV]sofad

Just a quick 11 hours to go, then I'm off to the airport. If everything goes right I'll meet up with [R-DEV]Jaymz in Heathrow Airport and proceed to Wool, near Bovington, with him. We'll arrive at around 17:10 on the 18th of July, so the next blog post will come directly out of the camp, if the internet god is graceful enough.

Translated by [R-CON]creepin

An honour

2010-07-17T10:30:00.005+01:00

As an aspiring artist in the world of audio for games/film, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. I would like to thank [R-DEV]UK_Force for organising this adventure and, over the next week, I hope to prove myself worthy of partaking in it.

To paraphrase Helix, I would also like to extend my many thanks to those who chipped in and helped him join us on this escapade. His knowledge and experience, let alone his equipment, will boost the resulting quality of the captured audio by a significant degree. Despite the fact he has apparently lost a 15 meter long, 24 way cable.

Anyway, I have a lot of preparation work to do before I leave tomorrow at 4am to catch my flight to England, wish me luck!

[R-DEV]Jaymz

Armour Center Sound Recording Trip : The Plan

2010-07-14T15:18:00.005+01:00

Well it looked like I wasn't going to be able to make it on this trip, due to being utterly skint ... but thanks to all the kind contributions from team and community ... I WILL BE THERE ! So a huge thank you to all the folks who put hands in pockets ... as it will allow us to fill out the equipment list as well, so we aren't trying to record things with tin can and string ....

So what does this all entail, where are we going ... and what's it all about ?

Well thanks to [R-DEV]UK_Force, and the Armour Center in Bovington UK, 5 sound engineers from the Project Reality Team are going to be descending on the center for a week from Sunday 18th to Saturday 24th of July 2010 .... to record the vehicles of the UK Armoured Corps in action.

One major goal of the Project Reality Team, under the guidance of [R-DEV] UK_Force, has been to implement a complete British Faction, including soldier classes, voiceovers, weaponry, vehicles and systems … all created to a high standard with emphasis on authenticity, and to bring this experience to an enthusiastic community and player base.

This recording session brings that goal one step closer.

The team is as follows

[R-DEV] UK_Force - Management
[R-DEV] Jaymz - Producer
[R-DEV] Twisted Helix - Lead Sound Engineer and Technical Director
[R-DEV] Sofad - Stationary Recordist and Postproduction
Tom - Mobile Recordist
[R-DEV] Drav - Assistant Engineer

and the vehicle list is as follows

WARRIOR
SCIMITAR
PANTHER
BULLDOG (Upgraded 432 Variant)
TROJAN
TITAN
CHALLENGER 2 BATTLE TANK
LANDROVER
AS90
MLRS
WARTHOG
MASTIFF
MAN TRUCK
JACKAL
QUAD
SPRINGER
VIXEN
HUSKY
VECTRA

And besides recording basic engine and vehicle sounds, we will also be spending two days on the ranges .... capturing live firing ... of the CR2 L30A1, Browning .50 cal , Coaxial 7.62 mm L94A1 EX-34 (chain gun), Scimitar/Warrior Rarden 30mm Cannon and the L7A2 GPMG. And anything else we can get our hands on.

So its going to be a busy week ! And after that ... the days , probably weeks of sifting through the hours of material and editing it for production.

However, apart from being a Sound Engineer's wet dream ... this opportunity represents breaking new ground ... there simply have not been recordings like this done before ... information on what do is almost non existent, we do not know how the mics are going to hold up to the SPL levels of 120mm HE ammunition ... this is truly a pioneering effort.

So ... stay tuned, and hear what happens each day, as we hope to blog each evening (time permitting) on the days activities. Its going to be one hell of a lot of hard work, but one hell of a lot of fun !

[R-DEV] Twisted Helix

2010-07-09T23:59:00.005+01:00

Wer hat all diese Katzen getötet??

Nein, keine Sorge, das waren keine Katzen.

Es waren Meerschweinchen!

Meerschweinchenfell ist ja schließlich bekannt für seine ausgezeichneten Windstopper fähigkeiten. ;)

Meerschweinchenfell konnte ich mir aber leider gerade nicht leisten, also musste etwas Kunstfell dran glauben.

Mit freundlicher Hilfe der Dekorationsabteilung des Theaters in dem ich arbeite entstanden so, aus einem Rest Kunstfell, diverse semiprofessionelle Windjammer für diverse Mikrofongrößen. Gut, sie haben nicht die gleichen Audioeigenschaften wie professionelle Modelle, aber dafür kosten sie gar nichts und den fast linearen Höhenverlust kann man relativ leicht ausgleichen. Und lieber ein paar verlorene Höhen, als durch Windgeräusche unbrauchbare Aufnahmen zu produzieren. ;)

[R-DEV]sofad

-----------------------------

Who killed all those cats?

Don't worry, those weren't cats, they were actually guinea pigs!
Guinea Pig fur is well known to be a great windsjammer. ;)

But i couldn't afford real guinea pig fur, so I got myself some made from polyesters.
Thanks to the stage decorators at the theater I work at, I was able to get together a couple of semi-professional Windjammers in varying sizes for different mics.
Selfmadfe, those might not have the same audiodynamic properties as the real professional ones, but they do cost nearly nothing, and the linear High loss experienced can easily be compensated for afterwards. Better like that than to have our sound recordings ruined by the wind.

translated by [R-CON]creepin

UK_Force, Initial Blog

2010-07-09T00:04:00.000+01:00

Seems I have been working on the organisation of this trip for ever, however everything is now in place and ready for the team to all meet up in Bovington at the Armour Centre, Home of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Accommodation, food, vehicles and the Lulworth ranges are now booked. The Mess Bar is even ready for some well earned cold beers in the evening after the hectic days.

Lets hope as this unfolds it all goes to plan, and we get what we set out to do. I hope you will all follow us along the way, as this story unfolds.

[R-DEV]UK_Force