I spent some time this week fitting 3D model renderings to two frames of Wiegman's separate views of the TSBD doorway. The first frame is near the beginning of his film, designated W1 here, and the second 4-5 seconds later (W2) when he was much closer to the doorway. Recent debates in the Prayer Woman thread (Discussion board) concern positioning Mr Billy Lovelady. From W1 to W2 Lovelady drops one step. But, was he on the landing and dropped one step to step 6, or was he initially on step 6 and dropped to step 5? Inquiring minds want to know, as it influences interpretations of features, such as the apparent height, for the infamous Prayer Person. The renderings show Lovelady about midway in the doorway with a red/white checkered shirt. The Wiegman doorway scenes suffer from deep shadow in the background. See General Discussion for a current post on this topic.
https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/index.php/topic,562.1570.html There exist various animations made as blinking overlays from the respective film frames. Those animations are derived from photos like W1 and W2 and show the downward step of Lovelady, along with arm movements of the Prayer Person. Those overlays come from different camera positions, such that some scaling, frame rotation, and possibly aspect ratio adjustments are used to make selected features overlap. The purpose of my study is to match 3D models to their reference photos and thus allow positioning of the Lovelady mannequin in each 3D rendering. Once this is accomplished blinking overlays could be made from any point of view, without any distortions.
These rendered overlays use a Lovelady of height 5' 8.5?, and fit nicely in both W1 and W2. Fitting the mannequins to the photos provides 3D coordinates that can be used for other views of our choice. Both Prayer-Man and Prayer-Woman are positioned for a gender-neutral display.
Conclusion #1
The determined coordinates reveal that first frame shows Lovelady on the landing and one step lower on step 6 in the later second photograph.
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Below are four views of an identical scene. The top, from left to right, show the two Wiegman views W1 and W2. The bottom shows a view from near the Altgens6 camera at Zapruder frame 255. Lower right shows the doorway from an elevated viewpoint. The scenes show Lovelady on the landing in the process of dropping one step. The Wiegman film provides the first and last frame with intermediate frames computed by the software.
Conclusion #2
The well known Altgens6 photo was snapped between W1 and W2. A comparison of the four views shows that Lovelady is not on the landing and must be on step 6 in the Altgens6 photo. On step 6 he is correctly positioned with 5' 6? Mr. Billy Shelley behind and to his left in the Altgens photo. The Lovelady model on the landing must lean forward about 4 degrees to avoid the lintel's shadow. Sunlight hits the bottom of Shelley's face. Buell Frazier is the tall guy in the background.
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The final animation shows Lovelady lowering himself from the landing to the step, again with computer generated frames showing motion. The left side uses a special technique in the software (POV-Ray) called radiosity. This is useful for simulating objects in shadow as the only light source comes from objects nearby, rather than the normal, overall lighting as on the right.
