Kerbal Space Program

[RoboRay 126]

Ok, after much consideration and dithering about how little spare time I actually have to play instead of devoting time to recording and post-production, I've finally decided to do some KSP videos.  The first one won't be finished for a little while yet, but I'll give you guys an early look at some dailys.  These are rough-cut and there's no music yet, but you can see my Saturn V facsimile in action from launch to LEM extraction. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6UdmglJY8M

 

Now I've got to do a few more launches to grab additional camera angles...  And go to the Mun, too.  Maybe this weekend, sometime.  The end product will be a cinematic approximation of the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 "J-class" missions.

 

 

[kreyszig 0]

Awesome !!!

[CoolP 283]

Very cool video, Ray. And the craft looks great.

[RoboRay 126]

Thanks!  I've spent a lot of time on it.  I'm really happy with the lander.  Here's some pics of a test landing...

 

 

Coming up with a two-stage lander plus rover that could fit inside the fairings took some doing. 

[Lowflyer 97]

Coming up with a two-stage lander plus rover that could fit inside the fairings took some doing. 

Good job!

[CoolP 283]

Can you give us a list on the mods, Ray? KAS and so on, right?

[RoboRay 126]

Sure!  The main mods I'm using on this craft are NovaPunch (for the launch vehicle, of course, but also for a couple of minor parts on the CSM and LM) and Procedural Fairings to encapsulate the LM between the third stage and the CSM.  I'm also using Quantum Struts to make the structure more rigid.  It was pretty wobbly even tacked together with NovaPunch's "heavy-duty" struts, but once I replaced those with Quantum Strut Guns the thing was solid.

 

There's no KAS.  I actually tried using the KAS winch at first to lower my rover to the ground, but it was tricky and unreliable...  the mechanical arm is built from DROMOMAN rotating parts powered by the Infernal Robotics plug-in.  I also used those arm parts to deploy the instrument platform and fold-out dish antenna.

 

I actually had the lander completely stock, until I decided to add the rover.  The extra mass of it and the platform on the other side (which is there mainly to balance the rover) left me with not quite enough delta V to land on the Mun, so I added the small NovaPunch fuel tanks on the descent stage base (perpendicular to the main tanks).

 

Performance-wise, the launch-vehicle is pretty close to what the Saturn V did.  It's essentially single-burn-to-orbit, with only a brief 80m/sec or so circularization burn at apoapsis.  The third stage has a safety-margin of 300m/sec or so remaining after trans-munar injection, which means it packs enough punch for a reasonable abort-to-orbit option if the second stage were to fail after the LES tower is jettisoned.  The service module is a little beefier than it should be, historically.  It can burn into low-orbit on return from the Mun, if need be, but it's marginal for that.  You'd be down to just RCS for deorbiting.  I decided it would be more trouble than it's worth to seek more accurate SM performance.

 

I will provide the craft file once the movie's done.  Right now, I've got the Action Groups in a state of flux as I enable/disable different keys for different scenes (since I don't want to show the UI at all).

[CoolP 283]

Thanks for the info, Ray.

 

..  the mechanical arm is built from DROMOMAN rotating parts powered by the Infernal Robotics plug-in

 

See? That's exactly where I thought it could be KAS. Thanks for putting me on the right track.

[RoboRay 126]

Oh, boy...  editing is taking a lot longer than I had planned.  The launch sequence is more or less complete, but I may do a little more work on it.

 

http://youtu.be/q7Y5CIJqLxw

 

It may be a couple of more weeks before I'm able to finish the whole thing.  Meanwhile, comments and feedback are appreciated!

 

(No idea what happened to the video thumbnail.)

 

[RoboRay 126]

Never mind... the super-bright garishly colored video thumbnail is fixed. 

[CoolP 283]

Great music choice and the intervals on the cockpit view are a good move. Love the Sun rising, with the shadows wandering first. I think the coasting phase might be the only filmic 'I don't know' stage due to the loss of action.

 

And your separation boosters always kick my speakers to life. :lol:

[RoboRay 126]

That seemed a little unsatisfactory to me, too.  But, I'm trying to cut it around the music changes so I'm not sure what else to put in there.  I'll see what I can do with it, though.

 

I may reshoot some bits, anyway, especially if I come up with more interesting shots.  I'm getting better with the Kerb Cam "dolly" for moving the camera around, the more I play with it.

 

And yeah, those NovaPunch ullage motors are loud!  I was thinking about trying to quiet them down some, but with them overlapping with the next-stage motor-start I don't know if I can.

[RoboRay 126]

Well, I've had even less free-time for movie-making than I expected, but I (think I) have completed the launch sequence through LEM extraction.

 

http://youtu.be/pW5R7NJ061k

 

As usual, feedback is appreciated.  I do feel that the docking sequence is a bit drawn out, but I'm working within the limits of an existing musical score and that was simply the best piece of music available for that part of the film.

 

Maybe I can get the Mun landing finished sometime this week...

[CoolP 283]

Now that's what I call progress. The previously too calm part now is very scenic. Guess your cuts and the music choice really worked out. But the best one is the docking in my eyes.

 

/ sent from a mobile thingy /

 

 

[Bjoern 1,164]

I wanted to recommend my S-IVB and SM rendition, but your rocket is just too nicely kerbalized. Enough resemblance to the real thing, but not a mere copy of it. I like that!

 

Also, +1 for the Chatterer stuff in the background.