Gimbal Video Interactive Software/Program

Vizee

New Member
Hi all,
I've been following these Navy videos for a while and have become very interested in the "Gimbal" video. Through my analysis I have been able to reach a point where not only do I believe that this is a natural and normal phenomena, But I think I can prove it. The problem right now is that there's a TON of math going on and we need to explain this in a way that's easy to understand..... and that's where my program comes in.

ProgramCapture1.PNG


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So here we go.,..

Question #1
What doesn't make sense here? Do you know what target heading means?
 
Question #1
What doesn't make sense here? Do you know what target heading means?
You've not really given much information about your sim so far. Why don't you explain more. Maybe make a quick video?
 
You've not really given much information about your sim so far. Why don't you explain more. Maybe make a
Well hey, this is pretty much the feedback I need. I've been staring at this data and writing code for the past two nights and now I'm trying to figure out the fastest way to make this stuff understandable. Before I carry on I want to know If what I'm doing translates well or if I need to change my strategy.

Here's what that initial picture of the program shows.

1. On the left we have a table to enter Keyframe data for the flight variables such as "Target Heading"(the top number in original video), the bank angle of the jet, and the rate of turn.

2. The grid is a top down view own what the jet is doing during the simulation. It shows the turn radius(green), the heading (purple), the Direction to Target (red), and the Target Track (yellow) of an object that would satisfy the tracking data at a given distance (ex, 8,000 meters). This example shows a Jet turning at a rate of 1.38 degrees per second and following a target at a constant distance of 4.3 nautical miles away.

3. The bottom three views are simply for reference.

- The left most 3D view is there to show which direction the gimbal camera is facing in relation to the flight path of the jet (not visible). I plan to add a few UI elements in there to help draw a connection between the top down grid view and the targeting pod heading. Hopefully this allows people get a sense of which camera is pointing where and how the jet is moving in relation to the original video.

- The Center View shows the simulated targeting pod camera. This may be very useful in determining the rate of turn based on the background movement. Ultimately if this matches the original footage then we probably have all the input data right.

- On the Right: The original video, obviously. The whole point of this program/tool is to figure out the math that best describes the movement of the Gimbal jet and figure out if there is some way that the targeting pod of this F-18 could possibly be looking at an ordinary aircraft or object.

At the end of the day all this program does is calculate the speeds, turn rates, distances, and all other data and present it in different ways to help provide context to what we're seeing in the Gimbal video. It's a fancy calculator. But If done right I think it will really help people understand these videos.

Now that I have everything working on the back end I want to work through the actual interface stuff and make sure it's easily understandable. That's why I'm reaching out to see what does or does not make sense so I can adjust as I keep working.



Anyways back to Question 1:
The red line in the image points from the Targeting pod to the Target. At the beginning of the video this angle is 54 degrees left. If I call this the "Target Heading" will that make sense to everybody?
 
Oh and I welcome all questions, suggestions, requests, etc. Nows the time. If there's any feature you think will help clear up the discussion around this particular video let me know.
 
A video would be helpful to understand what is going on.

One note: the aircraft is not moving a perfectly circular trajectory. It's changing it's bank angle throughout the video. But it could be a good initial approximation.
 
so basically what you're doing is a roll-your-own flight simulator with the maths exposed
with the aim of producing a parametrised animation that can show what potentially happened
that allows setting up different flight paths for the UAP

the output "for the masses" is going to be videos of scenarios you find likely
and for those who wish to dig deeper, your software should include presets that generate the videos you published
so that interested people can start tinkering with your model with these presets
that will help a lot with understanding the documentation you put out
 
Anyways back to Question 1:
The red line in the image points from the Targeting pod to the Target. At the beginning of the video this angle is 54 degrees left. If I call this the "Target Heading" will that make sense to everybody?
I would call it "target azimuth". Target heading means to me "the direction the target is heading to".
"Target azimuth" and "target elevation" is what I would call the two numbers displayed to show where the camera is pointing to.
 
I would call it "target azimuth". Target heading means to me "the direction the target is heading to".
"Target azimuth" and "target elevation" is what I would call the two numbers displayed to show where the camera is pointing to.
"Target azimuth" might still be unclear, as Azimuth can be absolute, relative to magnetic north, or relative to a local forward vector (the direction of the plane - which itself can vary slightly between the velocity vector and where the nose of the plane is pointing).

If "Target Heading" is just the number at the top of the screen ( e.g. 21° L ) then I'd refer to it as the camera azimuth, as in the GoFast video there is sometimes no target on screen.
 
"Target azimuth" might still be unclear, as Azimuth can be absolute, relative to magnetic north, or relative to a local forward vector (the direction of the plane - which itself can vary slightly between the velocity vector and where the nose of the plane is pointing).

If "Target Heading" is just the number at the top of the screen ( e.g. 21° L ) then I'd refer to it as the camera azimuth, as in the GoFast video there is sometimes no target on screen.
Good point. I'm going to switch to the term camera azimuth. Target heading would actually describe the direction the UFO is moving.
 
so basically what you're doing is a roll-your-own flight simulator with the maths exposed
with the aim of producing a parametrised animation that can show what potentially happened
that allows setting up different flight paths for the UAP

the output "for the masses" is going to be videos of scenarios you find likely
and for those who wish to dig deeper, your software should include presets that generate the videos you published
so that interested people can start tinkering with your model with these presets
that will help a lot with understanding the documentation you put out
Nailed it.
 
Nailed it.
Just a flight animation right? You are not simulating the flight characteristics of the F-18.

Why not just use a real sim like DCS or XPlane?

It won't be easy to recreate a realistic flight path for the F-18 otherwise. You can't just put it on rails and make it follow a circumference.

But please do share your WIP. I wonder what your conclusions are!
 
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