As anyone who has built an Enterprise refit or Reliant can tell you, this piece is considerably different on the Constellation class:
It presented a considerable modeling challenge, but in some ways was actually easier to build than the same piece on the other two models. Anyway, hopefully I did it justice:
It started off life as a cube with a lot of adding cuts and fudging with the verts to get it where I needed it to be before hitting it with a considerable amount of Sub D. It may not be 100%, in fact I guarantee it's not, but it will do. After all, when you're shaping something based solely on a screencap and using blueprints for something else as a reference, there's a definite margin for error.
Incidentally, if nobody else has listened to it, Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack for the movie Alien is quite excellent. I've been listening to that and the TMP Director's Edition soundtrack while working.
Nice job on the nacelle. I didn't even notice the difference with that front part until you mentioned it, but I guess it helps to add it's own uniqueness to the ship.
When I built my Belknap model I dreaded getting to the nacelles, lol. I don't even remember what I did much less be able to explain it in detail. The whole project was one big learning exercise.
Nice job on the nacelle. I didn't even notice the difference with that front part until you mentioned it, but I guess it helps to add it's own uniqueness to the ship.
When I built my Belknap model I dreaded getting to the nacelles, lol. I don't even remember what I did much less be able to explain it in detail. The whole project was one big learning exercise.
Thanks a lot!
Personally, I love building this style of nacelle. I've built them several times in the past, including making 3 models previously of the Constellation (with better and better references) in Truespace. I also built a model of the Constitution refit years ago in Lightwave, which I also kitbashed into the Constellation class. For me, making the nacelle just starts with the front part. I start with a cube and start doing knife cuts and getting the polygons into the rough shape, then it's subdivision time. I try the Sub D before I lock it in and move verts as needed to get that shape exactly where I want it. I have a similar process for the back of the nacelle, but I start with a cylinder and go from there.
The nacelles are in place. The only thing they're lacking are the pendants, which I'll do later. I'm starting to lose steam on this build, so I may work on something else for a while and come back to this later.
Like ScifiEric said, "So glad to see you back" Chris. Your work is always top notch and fun to look at - A fellow Lightwave user is, well... especially appreciated. I know you are backing it up too. Like you, I have been looking at Blender some and don't care for aspects of it that I won't bother with now.
Like ScifiEric said, "So glad to see you back" Chris. Your work is always top notch and fun to look at - A fellow Lightwave user is, well... especially appreciated. I know you are backing it up too. Like you, I have been looking at Blender some and don't care for aspects of it that I won't bother with now.
Good to see you too, Brandenberg. Thanks for the kind words.
Yeah, I just don't gel well with Blender. I start on something and the way it does things just starts irritating me in ways I can't explain. There are just a bunch of little things that it does that pile up and I wind up not really liking it. And it's sad because it's obviously great software, as evidenced by the amount of stunning work done in Blender by talented artists here. It's just not for me.
So true that there are people here that do stunning work with it. It obviously does a great job in the hands of a skilled person, but not for me (yet?). Blender is comforting in a sense, because it has momentum and there are programmers pushing it further and it isn't likely to die. To me, the object I'm working on seems kind of "thick" and distant making me feel removed from actually controlling points and polygons. There are a lot of really tiny controls in icon form that I have no idea what they do. It's probably just not being familiar with it yet. I'll say I do like the little rotation control in the upper right (with the x, y, z on it). I've often wished the programmers in Lightwave would change the controls to at least be larger. I commonly miss them and click on the wrong thing because they are so small. But I like Lightwave in so many other ways. I watched a tutorial on UV mapping in Blender and again everything seemed inaccurate and removed a level from what I really wanted to do. The maps were wavy and not straight.
On another note, I remember and have pictures of your former Constellation Class which I thought was the best I'd seen - so I'm really looking forward to the outcome of this ship.
One thing that's weird about Lightwave is how Z is the forward and backward horizontal axis while Y is the vertical axis. Most everything else has those two swapped. Kirk even orders a Z-Axis shift in Star Trek II after Spock points out that Khan's pattern indicates 2-dimensional (only X and Y) thinking. But, once you remember that, it's not a big deal until you use another program. Also, I'm not as fond of the separate programs for modeling and scene setup. The other two programs I've used (Truespace and Blender) don't have this, everything is all in one program.
Speaking of Sub-D, I'm playing around in the 24th century right now:
I've tried doing this style of nacelle before, but getting it where I wanted it with Sub-D usually caused errors. In the past, I've started with a sphere and that's where the problem started. Lightwave's Sub-D doesn't like triangular polygons. It will subdivide them, but usually with errors. However, with my recent success on the TMP style nacelle where I started with a box instead of a sphere, and thus only quads, I decided to give this one a shot and I'm pretty happy with the result. The rest of the ship should be relatively easy, as Rick Sternbach designed it to be built quickly.
Nothing about CGI, but I just want to say that I f***ing hate Windows. Seriously, it's one of the biggest pieces of crap when it comes to operating systems. It's a picky b**** about the hardware it will work with out of the box. I have a HP laptop that came with Windows 11. I had removed that and I was using a Linux distribution on it, but it was running a bit funky, so I decided to put Windows 11 back on it. Buuuuuut, when I go to install Windows 11 with the USB drive that I made for doing that, it can't find my NVME hard drive. I've literally never had this happen with a windows install before. So, I'm going to just put a different Linux OS on it, probably just regular Ubuntu. If it wasn't for Lightwave, I'd never run Windows again, except for the modified version that the XBOX consoles run.
On the CGI front, I have something in mind. I may start on it when I get done screwing with the laptop.
In case anyone is wondering what the Windows rant was all about, I basically just had to say that somewhere. Also, the problem is that I have to decide which I despise more, Windows or Blender. And, to be honest, I don't hate Blender. I can probably work with it with minimal issue if I change the way I do things. And, the most beautiful part about Blender is that it's open source, so it can work on any operating system. In fact, installing Blender 3.3.3 LTS on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is extremely simple. (I find it's best to go with Long Term Stable versions) Lightwave, on the other hand, requires Windows or OSX. I will never buy a Mac because I can't take them seriously. They're obscenely expensive for what you get. I can build multiple Linux computers with similar specs for what you pay for a Mac. In terms of Windows, Lightwave literally marries itself to the Windows firewall, due to its network render service. (which I never use and will never use) So, it literally can't be ran on Linux due to the need for that firewall.
So, to that end, I'm screwing around in Blender again. And, I have to say, I'm not having a bad time of it:
The topography on this is a mess, but it's mainly a proof of concept. I did this in less than an hour and a half. (I have an AC/DC concert DVD playing and it's at 1:20:48 right now) I'll rebuild this later, but it's at least a start on something. I'm probably also going to install Ubuntu (or some variation of it) on my desktop later. However, I have to backup some files first.
This is a small ship, as anyone who can read the metric system and Blender's dimensions can tell. Basically, it's a small reconnaissance scout. It's not an explorer, or a science ship, or a cargo carrier, it's a ship that's designed to go near or even slightly inside enemy lines, gather data and slip back out before anyone is the wiser. The ship would likely be solely crewed by people from Starfleet Security or Starfleet Intelligence, depending on where the ship is operating from. Of course, things don't always go to plan, so the ship is going to have heavy armaments. The cutout on the top front of the saucer is for the navigational deflector. The one on the underside is for torpedo launchers and pulse phasers. The cutouts on the back of the saucer are for impulse engines.
I'm pretty close to being ready to lock in the Sub D on this thing, then it's on to the nacelles and pylons. I find I like Blender better when I'm working unscripted, so to speak. I'm not trying to line up with anyone's blueprints, this is a totally creative project. Also, this object started out as a sphere, in case anyone is wondering. 24 latitude lines by 8 longitude lines. Blender's edge slide tool is officially awesome, by the way. Much of my geometry was added by loop cuts and then sliding the edges to where they needed to be for the Sub D.
I gave it some wings. I had to be conscious of the openings I made for the impulse engines. Even though impulse engines aren't rockets, I still don't like to block them. The pylon does cut across the top of the opening, but the opening isn't necessarily exactly where the engines are going to be. I also fiddled with the shape of the main hull a bit more and added the indentation in the forward cutout for the deflector.
Well, the nacelles were going to be installed on Tuesday, but I didn't do it. So, Wednesday it is.
Obviously, this is just the rough shape, but it gets the point across. I mentally based the design on the Sovereign-class because that's the era I'm shooting for with this ship. I'm specifically going with this was a Dominion War design, hence the more militaristic role. Since the only Starfleet ship that could legally use a Romulan cloaking device was the Defiant, and the Treaty of Algeron specifically forbade the Federation from developing cloaking technology, a fast ship that possibly uses other forms of electronic countermeasures to hide its presence is a must.
Though, on the whole Treaty of Algeron thing. I just watched the excellent TNG episode "The Pegasus" again the other day, and I want to know what concession(s) the Federation received for agreeing to not develop or use cloaking technology. That's an odd stipulation for them to agree to, unless the Romulans gave up something equally precious. This especially became odd once the Klingons became allies with the Federation, as they wouldn't have needed to develop the technology, they could have just used Klingon cloaking devices.
Furthermore, the use of the Cloaking device on the Defiant was limited to the Gamma Quadrant and had to be activated by Subcommander T'Rul. However, she was never seen again after "The Search Part 2." The subject of only using the cloak in the Gamma Quadrant was brought up at least once, in "The Way of the Warrior," but they never even mentioned T'Rul again.
I love the writing on TNG and DS9, but their episodic nature can leave plot threads dangling. Mention an important treaty and what the Federation agreed to, but not what the Romulans gave up in return. And introduce an interesting and dynamic character whose presence seems crucial, only to have her disappear an episode later.
Also, on a note with the whole software thing. I'm getting more and more into the groove with Blender. The tool set is robust and the interface is definitely way less complex than Lightwave. With Lightwave's tabs, categories and trees, I sometimes spent too much time trying to remember where certain tools were in it than working. I have a lot less of that with Blender. Blender was clearly designed for fast workflow, whereas I think Lightwave was more like they just kept adding tools and just sticking them into categories without ever taking the time to consolidate or condense things. One tool that's absolutely awesome in Blender is edge slide. I use that constantly with these Sub-D objects. I never found an equivalent tool in Lightwave, so moving an edge to make the Sub-D work better was a chore. The other thing I absolutely love about Blender is using my GPU to render. This isn't an option in Lightwave 2018, and I have no idea if it was added in 2019 or 2020. This computer has a Ryzen 5 5600X, which is a decent 6-core 12-thread processor. However, it's completely blown away in raw rendering power by my RTX 3060 graphics card. That wasn't even top of the line as far as last year's cards go, but it's a good workhorse card that is great for gaming and for CGI rendering.
I made new nacelle pylons to better suit my vision for this ship. The design is based on a ship I designed and built about 18 years ago, though I lacked the skill to do it justice at the time. Also, I was working in Truespace 2 at the time.
So, I watched the first episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 last night. I really enjoyed it, another strong start for the season. Though, for me at least, Season 2 started strong, kind of went "meh" in the middle, but pulled it together for a decent ending.
However, one thing bugs me about newer Star Trek, and it's the ships. It's not the designs or weird crap like square nacelles in Discovery, it's the way they're built. Nothing really flows together in complex curves with most of the newer ships, like you used to get with Star Trek. Even the JJ Abrams reboot trilogy did this, particularly with the Enterprise, but with all of the other ships as well. Star Trek has always been known for its flowing, almost organic shapes to its ships. Even the early CGI designs seen in First Contact had this, particularly the Akira class, which was a favorite of designer Alex Jaeger, as well as the producers. So, it got more love. But, even the others had flowing, complex curves. You don't get that with most the newer Starfleet designs. There are a couple exceptions to this, but mostly it looks like they just tacked on bits together to make them look complex, but realistically they're more simple to build. I think that may be the idea, as it's likely a money and time saving thing.
I moved some verts around on the pylons to take out some of the sharp edges, then I locked in the Sub D. I also started adding some of the usual details to the nacelles.
Posts
For the link, check the WIP channel in the SFM discord. I yoinked 'em for myself earlier today.
that's odd, try this one then: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsolYgosGQ70g2Z3AMGMN8bf4i2A?e=mwEzgp
Current Projects:
Ambassador Class
It presented a considerable modeling challenge, but in some ways was actually easier to build than the same piece on the other two models. Anyway, hopefully I did it justice:
It started off life as a cube with a lot of adding cuts and fudging with the verts to get it where I needed it to be before hitting it with a considerable amount of Sub D. It may not be 100%, in fact I guarantee it's not, but it will do. After all, when you're shaping something based solely on a screencap and using blueprints for something else as a reference, there's a definite margin for error.
Incidentally, if nobody else has listened to it, Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack for the movie Alien is quite excellent. I've been listening to that and the TMP Director's Edition soundtrack while working.
When I built my Belknap model I dreaded getting to the nacelles, lol. I don't even remember what I did much less be able to explain it in detail. The whole project was one big learning exercise.
Thanks a lot!
Personally, I love building this style of nacelle. I've built them several times in the past, including making 3 models previously of the Constellation (with better and better references) in Truespace. I also built a model of the Constitution refit years ago in Lightwave, which I also kitbashed into the Constellation class. For me, making the nacelle just starts with the front part. I start with a cube and start doing knife cuts and getting the polygons into the rough shape, then it's subdivision time. I try the Sub D before I lock it in and move verts as needed to get that shape exactly where I want it. I have a similar process for the back of the nacelle, but I start with a cylinder and go from there.
Thanks a lot.
That front piece change is giving me an idea for my federation dready
Thanks.
And if I gave you any ideas, that's even better.
Good to see you too, Brandenberg. Thanks for the kind words.
Yeah, I just don't gel well with Blender. I start on something and the way it does things just starts irritating me in ways I can't explain. There are just a bunch of little things that it does that pile up and I wind up not really liking it. And it's sad because it's obviously great software, as evidenced by the amount of stunning work done in Blender by talented artists here. It's just not for me.
On another note, I remember and have pictures of your former Constellation Class which I thought was the best I'd seen - so I'm really looking forward to the outcome of this ship.
Speaking of Sub-D, I'm playing around in the 24th century right now:
I've tried doing this style of nacelle before, but getting it where I wanted it with Sub-D usually caused errors. In the past, I've started with a sphere and that's where the problem started. Lightwave's Sub-D doesn't like triangular polygons. It will subdivide them, but usually with errors. However, with my recent success on the TMP style nacelle where I started with a box instead of a sphere, and thus only quads, I decided to give this one a shot and I'm pretty happy with the result. The rest of the ship should be relatively easy, as Rick Sternbach designed it to be built quickly.
On the CGI front, I have something in mind. I may start on it when I get done screwing with the laptop.
So, to that end, I'm screwing around in Blender again. And, I have to say, I'm not having a bad time of it:
The topography on this is a mess, but it's mainly a proof of concept. I did this in less than an hour and a half. (I have an AC/DC concert DVD playing and it's at 1:20:48 right now) I'll rebuild this later, but it's at least a start on something. I'm probably also going to install Ubuntu (or some variation of it) on my desktop later. However, I have to backup some files first.
This is a small ship, as anyone who can read the metric system and Blender's dimensions can tell. Basically, it's a small reconnaissance scout. It's not an explorer, or a science ship, or a cargo carrier, it's a ship that's designed to go near or even slightly inside enemy lines, gather data and slip back out before anyone is the wiser. The ship would likely be solely crewed by people from Starfleet Security or Starfleet Intelligence, depending on where the ship is operating from. Of course, things don't always go to plan, so the ship is going to have heavy armaments. The cutout on the top front of the saucer is for the navigational deflector. The one on the underside is for torpedo launchers and pulse phasers. The cutouts on the back of the saucer are for impulse engines.
I'm pretty close to being ready to lock in the Sub D on this thing, then it's on to the nacelles and pylons. I find I like Blender better when I'm working unscripted, so to speak. I'm not trying to line up with anyone's blueprints, this is a totally creative project. Also, this object started out as a sphere, in case anyone is wondering. 24 latitude lines by 8 longitude lines. Blender's edge slide tool is officially awesome, by the way.
Thanks a lot.
Also, real renders with a light and cameras.
Obviously, this is just the rough shape, but it gets the point across. I mentally based the design on the Sovereign-class because that's the era I'm shooting for with this ship. I'm specifically going with this was a Dominion War design, hence the more militaristic role. Since the only Starfleet ship that could legally use a Romulan cloaking device was the Defiant, and the Treaty of Algeron specifically forbade the Federation from developing cloaking technology, a fast ship that possibly uses other forms of electronic countermeasures to hide its presence is a must.
Though, on the whole Treaty of Algeron thing. I just watched the excellent TNG episode "The Pegasus" again the other day, and I want to know what concession(s) the Federation received for agreeing to not develop or use cloaking technology. That's an odd stipulation for them to agree to, unless the Romulans gave up something equally precious. This especially became odd once the Klingons became allies with the Federation, as they wouldn't have needed to develop the technology, they could have just used Klingon cloaking devices.
Furthermore, the use of the Cloaking device on the Defiant was limited to the Gamma Quadrant and had to be activated by Subcommander T'Rul. However, she was never seen again after "The Search Part 2." The subject of only using the cloak in the Gamma Quadrant was brought up at least once, in "The Way of the Warrior," but they never even mentioned T'Rul again.
I love the writing on TNG and DS9, but their episodic nature can leave plot threads dangling. Mention an important treaty and what the Federation agreed to, but not what the Romulans gave up in return. And introduce an interesting and dynamic character whose presence seems crucial, only to have her disappear an episode later.
So, I watched the first episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 last night. I really enjoyed it, another strong start for the season. Though, for me at least, Season 2 started strong, kind of went "meh" in the middle, but pulled it together for a decent ending.
However, one thing bugs me about newer Star Trek, and it's the ships. It's not the designs or weird crap like square nacelles in Discovery, it's the way they're built. Nothing really flows together in complex curves with most of the newer ships, like you used to get with Star Trek. Even the JJ Abrams reboot trilogy did this, particularly with the Enterprise, but with all of the other ships as well. Star Trek has always been known for its flowing, almost organic shapes to its ships. Even the early CGI designs seen in First Contact had this, particularly the Akira class, which was a favorite of designer Alex Jaeger, as well as the producers. So, it got more love. But, even the others had flowing, complex curves. You don't get that with most the newer Starfleet designs. There are a couple exceptions to this, but mostly it looks like they just tacked on bits together to make them look complex, but realistically they're more simple to build. I think that may be the idea, as it's likely a money and time saving thing.
Lest anyone wonder how small this ship is. Yes, the black things are windows.