Thanks damo, it is never too late to get back into it. When I started my computer wasn't that great so I was limited in poly count. But now, as the tech has improved, it feels so much better to work without the same restrictions I had back then.
I remember that design from the original art, it was the banzai right?
I was working on the rear again last night all zoomed in etc, and ended up deleting a bunch of polygons on the opposite sides of the nacelles. The render didn't look too good lol. I will have to go back a few saves and copy the polygons back.
I think this works better for the RCS areas, I tried circular decals as the vents but it looked too busy.
The black parts will be cut into the yellow panels to make the vent areas.
Got a few more bits on it, cut out the nacelle panel line and spent maybe 2 hours trying things for the end of the nacelles... Anyone have some good ideas?
Do you mean the rounded vents on the top surface of the Defiant? I don't think I want to add more glowy parts at the moment.
I have some free time at work... a lot of free time due to the virus scare, so I started getting some LCARS Templates together (no colours yet). Finished up tonight, but I want to also try change them a little based on the ones you can see on Picard.
I don't have a layout in mind just yet but now that I have all the dimensions worked out it shouldn't be too hard to make them.
Do you mean the rounded vents on the top surface of the Defiant? I don't think I want to add more glowy parts at the moment.
I was thinking of the glowy blue bits on the back, but I understand not wanting more glowy stuff. Sometimes, I think they overdo stuff that glows on starships.
I was thinking of the glowy blue bits on the back, but I understand not wanting more glowy stuff. Sometimes, I think they overdo stuff that glows on starships.
Ah those are just the warp grill parts for the Defiant, my ones are on the sides of the nacelles
The ship in Picard has so many glowy parts on the back it looks pretty funny.
I tried a bunch of different things, but maybe just separating it like a cap or a insetted panel would be best.
Ah those are just the warp grill parts for the Defiant, my ones are on the sides of the nacelles
The ship in Picard has so many glowy parts on the back it looks pretty funny.
Well, really, you're just seeing inside of the nacelles. It's a mesh grill and the interior has the warp grill details and lighting. Also, there are plenty of ships with the warp grills visible on the back. I actually built a plastic model of the Defiant ages ago, though I don't think it was that complex.
Yeah, I actually was thinking of Discovery when I mentioned overdone glowy bits, but Picard is basically the same thing, effects wise.
Yeah true, it looks good on the Defiant, maybe not so much on the small areas for the fighter. I mainly thought that it would add extra stuff that does the same thing. I did try some original Enterprise balls but it didn't work in the shapes that I have there.
Anyways I am on my surface at work but made a small render test of some buttons. I still need to learn more about inkscape to get more of the gradient look to the buttons once they are illuminated. Hope it looks ok.
Affinity Illustrator is also awesome. Especially on the new iPad Pro, if you have one. Should work on the Surface as well. It‘s not free but the price is really fair, compared to Adobes terrible „software as a service“-model. And they‘re trying - quite successfully until now - to establish an alternative to the adobe suite, which is really needed.
Just thought, I‘d share.
Your Buttons do look great regardless of Program 😉
Affinity Illustrator is also awesome. Especially on the new iPad Pro, if you have one. Should work on the Surface as well. It‘s not free but the price is really fair, compared to Adobes terrible „software as a service“-model. And they‘re trying - quite successfully until now - to establish an alternative to the adobe suite, which is really needed.
Thanks for the heads up, I downloaded the 10day trail. So far it is a lot easier than inkscape to make the elbow parts! And the UI is a lot nicer. It might be worth the 6100 if I keep up with 2d work.
Didn't even know, that they do trial versions ... I've hat an eye on Affinity Publisher wor a while -- maybe I'll give it a try now :-D
And yeah ... their software is great. Im using afinity photo on the iPad and I've barely touched potoshop (or gimp) ever since. And the prices are really fair. I really hope, they don't get bought up or something.
Thanks Rekkert, I was following an old LCARS 47 handbook webpage to get the dimensions, mainly it was hard getting everything lined up. The snapping menu on the side is a little too detailed. However I think I can handle it now that I have made that template.
Mainly it will be trying to figure out what type of buttons and displays I will need in the cockpit.
In affinity designer I had most of the buttons remade and the elbows, but then I went and accidentally closed the program, because of my mouse, and lost an hour or so of work lol. Oh well.
Any ways, I made a door panel I will add to the fighter near the canopy. Lock code to open it.
Those LCARS are looking good! I also use Inkscape for all of mine, if there are any particular issues I'd love to show you how I tackle them.
Actually I do have a question, today I was going to make the circular D-pad LCARS, How did you tackle that one? All the cutouts around the circles don't have the same center point, it is actually pretty crazy lol.
Update, just a few things added on. Any panel decals I have on there at the moment is just temporary. I will finalize all those decals later. Blenders renders come out really nice lol.
Affinity Illustrator is also awesome. Especially on the new iPad Pro, if you have one. Should work on the Surface as well. It‘s not free but the price is really fair, compared to Adobes terrible „software as a service“-model. And they‘re trying - quite successfully until now - to establish an alternative to the adobe suite, which is really needed.
Just thought, I‘d share.
I have to agree. I'm using Affinity Photo instead of "bleed you dry Photoshop." In addition, I have a pre-subscription version of Photoshop along with 6 books on how to use it and could never seem to figure it out. I even Skyped with a CGI artist who has done movie work. He had offered to teach me Photoshop. It was an interesting experience because as we went along he kept running into things that did not seem to work the way he thought they did. As it turned out the entire help session was me just watching him trying to figure out where he went wrong. I could tell he knew how to use it, but he kept running into quirky elements of Photoshop that turned into sessions of frustration.
I've come to the conclusion that those who have really mastered it, probably started when it was newer and simpler and learned new features as the program developed. Now? Too much to learn for a newbie.
Affinity Photo? I'm getting better at it every day.
That looks great. Which render engine are you using in Blender?
The ship is done in cycles, I can't get the same effect from the bussards and warp engines in eevee, the renders only take a few minutes at the moment.
That LCARS test was in eevee though.
Actually I do have a question, today I was going to make the circular D-pad LCARS, How did you tackle that one? All the cutouts around the circles don't have the same center point, it is actually pretty crazy lol.
You mean this one?
Not a complete tutorial, but I think this would cover most of what's needed:
The two main tools I use for this kind of stuff are under the 'Path' menu. First I create two circles, one smaller and centered around the other one. Then with a boolean operation (Path->Exclusion) I create a donut out of the two.
Then I create a single straight line using the Draw Bezier tool. If you click to start drawing and then keep Ctrl pressed, your line will be kept straight horizontally/vertically.
Once I have a single straight vertical line, I center it at 12 o'clock, which I then rotate around the circle to the desire position. I clone the line in its place with Ctrl+D and rotate it further. I repeat until I have all the cuts I need. I also create a circle, and adjust the stroke width of both the lines and the new circle to what I need.
Once I have all the lines I need (which obviously are more than I feature here, this is just an example) I select all of them together and then make them all 2D objects with 'Path->stroke to path', and then with all still selected I join them into one single object with 'path->union'. Then finally I select this new joined object plus the circle in the background and select 'path->difference'. This cuts the lines into the circle, creating the needed shapes.
Hope this helps somewhat!
Post edited by Rekkert on
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
Thats great thanks. I think I had a bad reference, the angles on the buttons were not on the center point at all, I tried again using your mini tutorial with some of Doug Drexlers panels from his artstation, and his ones do line up somewhat.
How did I do? Sizes are not that accurate, but I think it will be ok.
That looks great. Which render engine are you using in Blender?
The ship is done in cycles, I can't get the same effect from the bussards and warp engines in eevee, the renders only take a few minutes at the moment.
That LCARS test was in eevee though.
I like Cycles, it's a great engine. The last time I messed around in Blender, it was before Eevee.
Yeah cycles makes the bussards look great. I haven't been able to get eevee looking like that yet. Although I haven't been trying.
I spent a while getting the RCS setup, ended up using the skin modifier to make the piping. So it won't be hard to change the shape a little. The design is based off the voyager RCS, but I might change the colours more later.
Posts
I remember that design from the original art, it was the banzai right?
I was working on the rear again last night all zoomed in etc, and ended up deleting a bunch of polygons on the opposite sides of the nacelles. The render didn't look too good lol. I will have to go back a few saves and copy the polygons back.
Everything's fixed
The black parts will be cut into the yellow panels to make the vent areas.
The panel line test turned out pretty good.
I have some free time at work... a lot of free time due to the virus scare, so I started getting some LCARS Templates together (no colours yet). Finished up tonight, but I want to also try change them a little based on the ones you can see on Picard.
I don't have a layout in mind just yet but now that I have all the dimensions worked out it shouldn't be too hard to make them.
I was thinking of the glowy blue bits on the back, but I understand not wanting more glowy stuff. Sometimes, I think they overdo stuff that glows on starships.
Ah those are just the warp grill parts for the Defiant, my ones are on the sides of the nacelles
The ship in Picard has so many glowy parts on the back it looks pretty funny.
I tried a bunch of different things, but maybe just separating it like a cap or a insetted panel would be best.
Well, really, you're just seeing inside of the nacelles. It's a mesh grill and the interior has the warp grill details and lighting. Also, there are plenty of ships with the warp grills visible on the back. I actually built a plastic model of the Defiant ages ago, though I don't think it was that complex.
Yeah, I actually was thinking of Discovery when I mentioned overdone glowy bits, but Picard is basically the same thing, effects wise.
Anyways I am on my surface at work but made a small render test of some buttons. I still need to learn more about inkscape to get more of the gradient look to the buttons once they are illuminated. Hope it looks ok.
Just thought, I‘d share.
Your Buttons do look great regardless of Program 😉
Thanks for the heads up, I downloaded the 10day trail. So far it is a lot easier than inkscape to make the elbow parts! And the UI is a lot nicer. It might be worth the 6100 if I keep up with 2d work.
Didn't even know, that they do trial versions ... I've hat an eye on Affinity Publisher wor a while -- maybe I'll give it a try now :-D
And yeah ... their software is great. Im using afinity photo on the iPad and I've barely touched potoshop (or gimp) ever since. And the prices are really fair. I really hope, they don't get bought up or something.
Mainly it will be trying to figure out what type of buttons and displays I will need in the cockpit.
In affinity designer I had most of the buttons remade and the elbows, but then I went and accidentally closed the program, because of my mouse, and lost an hour or so of work lol. Oh well.
Any ways, I made a door panel I will add to the fighter near the canopy. Lock code to open it.
Actually I do have a question, today I was going to make the circular D-pad LCARS, How did you tackle that one? All the cutouts around the circles don't have the same center point, it is actually pretty crazy lol.
Update, just a few things added on. Any panel decals I have on there at the moment is just temporary. I will finalize all those decals later. Blenders renders come out really nice lol.
I have to agree. I'm using Affinity Photo instead of "bleed you dry Photoshop." In addition, I have a pre-subscription version of Photoshop along with 6 books on how to use it and could never seem to figure it out. I even Skyped with a CGI artist who has done movie work. He had offered to teach me Photoshop. It was an interesting experience because as we went along he kept running into things that did not seem to work the way he thought they did. As it turned out the entire help session was me just watching him trying to figure out where he went wrong. I could tell he knew how to use it, but he kept running into quirky elements of Photoshop that turned into sessions of frustration.
I've come to the conclusion that those who have really mastered it, probably started when it was newer and simpler and learned new features as the program developed. Now? Too much to learn for a newbie.
Affinity Photo? I'm getting better at it every day.
The ship is done in cycles, I can't get the same effect from the bussards and warp engines in eevee, the renders only take a few minutes at the moment.
That LCARS test was in eevee though.
You mean this one?
Not a complete tutorial, but I think this would cover most of what's needed:
The two main tools I use for this kind of stuff are under the 'Path' menu. First I create two circles, one smaller and centered around the other one. Then with a boolean operation (Path->Exclusion) I create a donut out of the two.
Then I create a single straight line using the Draw Bezier tool. If you click to start drawing and then keep Ctrl pressed, your line will be kept straight horizontally/vertically.
Once I have a single straight vertical line, I center it at 12 o'clock, which I then rotate around the circle to the desire position. I clone the line in its place with Ctrl+D and rotate it further. I repeat until I have all the cuts I need. I also create a circle, and adjust the stroke width of both the lines and the new circle to what I need.
Once I have all the lines I need (which obviously are more than I feature here, this is just an example) I select all of them together and then make them all 2D objects with 'Path->stroke to path', and then with all still selected I join them into one single object with 'path->union'. Then finally I select this new joined object plus the circle in the background and select 'path->difference'. This cuts the lines into the circle, creating the needed shapes.
Hope this helps somewhat!
How did I do? Sizes are not that accurate, but I think it will be ok.
I like Cycles, it's a great engine. The last time I messed around in Blender, it was before Eevee.
I spent a while getting the RCS setup, ended up using the skin modifier to make the piping. So it won't be hard to change the shape a little. The design is based off the voyager RCS, but I might change the colours more later.