Optical camera effect captures blade positions in one position each time. Makes it look like the blades are still when they are not, this is why you see them moving one and then another direction, the camera is basically capturing an instance each time (this is also why the video is so ridiculously sharp). The tail rotor moves at a constant speed because usually it's twice as fast as the main rotors to counter the want of the helicopter to go into an uncontrollable spin.

This is something you learn when you try to model rotary motion in 3D, the most obvious thing would be to just create a main rotor and spin it, however this doesn't give that washed out blade spin you see in real life. So instead of that you create two layers, one of the main rotors and another of a flat 2D texture for the actual helo rotor motion then animate a switch between both.

Next time you fly a chopper in BF2, look at the blades prior to and after take off. You will see the same effect.

I can think of a hundred things to say about fucking Hot Pockets® that are funnier than what I did not get to see, because some pretentious fuck at Viaconn® , made a pussified deal with a talented maybe commedian, that did not realize that he was selling out on the dotted line....
I might go to his show if I had been able to see this!!!
HELO

I shot down a AH-1Z in BF2 the other day, first pilot and the gunner who tried to recover the stalling helo, the wave of pleasure and sheer l33tness simply overwhelmed me...

as a helo bubba myself, i have a very acute sense of what these pilots go through. aviation, though routine, always incorporates the underlying possiblity of death. its sorta something you accept, the same as a trucker understands the possiblity of a drunk driver crossing his path. its part of the deal, but you train and retrain to assure it doesn't happen to you.
in response to those above who say that most of the guys in the helo crashes didn't die...i'd disagree. the mortality rate in helo crashes is very high unfortunately. i am friends with the pilot of the navy h-3 (the second clip - 0:14), his entire crew was able to swim away, but that is a rarity.

luke
Navy MH-60S pilot

vscomments, dag: I think the citation you are looking for can be found here http://archives.cnn.com/1999/US/12/11/helicopter.crash.01/. When I found this video I had no clue of the outcome of the crew/passengers. The story speculates that the helo might have gotten caught on a repel rope, but I don't see that from the video. I can't really tell.. If this is the same helicopter crash from the story, my apologies to you and your viewers and will have to do my research.