Greetings!
Welcome to Scifi-Meshes.com! Click one of these buttons to join in on the fun.
Quick Links
3DImperial-Class Star Destroyer in LW8.5
![[Deleted User]](https://forums.scifi-meshes.com/uploads/defaultavatar/n5RC8X2653NF1.jpg)
[Deleted User]11
Posts: 4,002Member
I've been working on this for the last couple of weeks just to see if I had the chops to get anywhere on it. Apparently I do, so I'm gonna move forward with it.
It started as a detail study. Fractalsponge's ISD is little short of impressive, but it's just not practical for animation (unless you own a render farm) and the detail lacks some of the physical depth that I want.
Now, after having detailed the entire superstructure, I'm gonna finish off the rest of the top main hull. The brims are going to be a challenge, but the engine section looks to be by far the worst. I'll face that when I come to it. In the meantime....
It started as a detail study. Fractalsponge's ISD is little short of impressive, but it's just not practical for animation (unless you own a render farm) and the detail lacks some of the physical depth that I want.
Now, after having detailed the entire superstructure, I'm gonna finish off the rest of the top main hull. The brims are going to be a challenge, but the engine section looks to be by far the worst. I'll face that when I come to it. In the meantime....
Post edited by Unknown User on
Tagged:
Additional credits
- Icons from Font-Awesome
- Additional icons by Mickael Bonfill
- Banner background from Toptal Subtle Patterns
© Scifi-Meshes.com 2001-2024
Posts
Starting the brim. Currently I'm using regurgitated bits and pieces from the superstructure, but I might just start making new pieces to keep it from looking homogenous.
In some ways I'm trying to recreate the general likeness of the 8' ESB miniature, but I also fill in with a lot of more random stuff. Dragging ass on the thing by now, tho. Must be one of those days.
Meanwhile, I just had to fire them up.
Some proportion issues that I've noticed:
1) The slope of the back of the bridge tower shouldn't be so steep. The Essential Guide draws it incorrectly in its orthos, like it screws up in many of its orthos :P In reality, it's closer to 45-50 degrees. Also, it should be longer than it is right now. http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/SWstarDestroyer/StarDestroyer055.jpg
2) The line where the blocks that the secondary engines rest in intersect with the backplate of the engine area should be parallel to the edge. Right not they look almost horizontal. http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/SWstarDestroyer/StarDestroyer020.jpg
3) The linear array looks a little big at the moment.
Keep up the good work though
Hey there! Glad to hear from you. Thank you for your comments, and I do plan to fix at least the third item. I'm not too worried about proportion for the time being, but I probably will be going back over it some time from now to fix these things. My main goal with this is to cover it with as much greebling as I can, while avoiding getting burnt out on it. A daunting task. to say the least.
Again, thank you for your compliment.
On a side note, I turn 27 today. W00t.
It's always challenging to do decent lights, whether they're textured or modeled. These are modeled.
Not actually. I've been reviewing screengrabs from the films, and the ones I like best seem to show a rather sparse arrangement. The more I work on this ship, the more I get the impression of deliberate excess. It's designed to look overwhelmingly huge, but since most of it's inhabitants would be foot-soldiers rather than operational staff (particularly the kind that need an office with a view) it makes sense that there's not much in the way of visible light emission.
However, I find myself changing both the intensity as well as the level of distribution of the windows for almost every different shot, as not every window I added shines at full brightness. I like having options. :-D
More greeble to the engines now. Not canon, but it fills the void. I'll probably do more. Also, the engine lighting is provided by actual lights, rather than surface self-illumination. The cores of the engine nozzles are basically a chrome-like surface as on the miniature (flashlight style), and they seem more entertaining to look at than a simply blank dark.
And yes, it is as exhilarating as it looks.
Since you're keeping it relatively light on the polycount, are you actually going to do animations with it?
The windows are too small, so I'm going to bevel them all out to about twice the size once I light the brims and the ventral extrusions (that whole bottom half is completely bare right now). Radiosity creates a nice glow effect, since they are 8-point circles slightly offset from the surface they adorn. Like I say though, they're just too small for the effect to be apparent right now.
To your last question, I absolutely plan to do animations with it! I've already got my own TIE fighter, X-wing and Y-wing meshes, I've got a B-Wing in basic shape stage, as well as the refits to make a TIE Interceptor. I plan to do an A-Wing, and maybe a TIE Bomber later on.
I downloaded one of the shuttles from Scifi3D which might modify to utilize UV's rather than the old-fashioned planar-mapped method. I also might do the same with the fairly decent Mon Cal Cruiser they have available there. Sometimes I find it acceptable to use other peoples work, even though I make a whole lot of modifications to the ones I want to use. I might start contacting the original authors to get permission for uploading as I rather enjoy that kind of work.
For now, the time has come to start on the lower half of the ship.
Personally, I'd say the lights are a little too yellow at the moment but it's really a matter of preference. Thinking of the interior of the ISD that we've seen through the movies, I can't work out why the lights were so yellow on the model.
One thing I might do before I go any further is trim back the outer layer of the prow on both sides (top and bottom). It cuts off rather than going to a point the way it is now.
Incandescence. Also, the yellow helps to break the bone-white monotony. When there's a lot of windows in view, I usually end up changing the saturation and hue slightly to work with the lighting. I do plan to enhance the horizontal spread evident on the model and lacking here.
Again, thank you.