I think I'm going to try using planes or rather bits of surfaces, more than entire shapes. Then I won't technically have about the next cut out suddenly making a hole in a solid. Wonder how that will affect STL issues?
i have to say, i really like this, and favour this design above most of the ideas i have ever seen for the big E. you have a masterful grasp of what makes trek trek, if you see what i mean, and i have been given some ideas of my own to try for future reference as well, so great work, dannage. liking this much! original, and unique, yet still trek, right to the heart. thanks for sharing this with us.
Ach, my modelling is actually really clunky and inefficient. I'll give you I've got an eye for what makes a pretty idea, but I think if I win the lottery I'll be paying people to do the actual work. If you pay more attention to the guys around here than I do, you will surpass my skills in mere weeks!
Seriously, the way that I've found to get better fast is to be obsessive about learning. I have a dozen books about various aspects of LightWave, and on top of those books, have done a lot of searching out web tutorials for various specific techniques. Plus, ask people on here how they did things you like. Even if they don't use the same software package you do, the things they say can be very enlightening!
A month after bringing the computer back from my brothers house, today I finally unpacked it! Ahhhh the blessed experience of "free time", how I've missed you...
So, where were we? I had gotten fed up with the amount of tiny mesh errors I was finding and decided, I needed MORE POLYS! Having had a good idea of the shape and size of my Enterprise variant, I decided to start with a relatively small detail... but before I did that, some changes needed making. For one, scaling up the actual mesh...
Then, I decided it was probably best to build a cut away of a deck, trying to get both a decent sized corridor in plus space for crawl ways in jeffries tubes etc.
Another reason for doing this was to get a consistent approach to windows. So, figuring out how far up windows would be on normal decks, how big some smaller windows would be where it was less easy to get a proper luxry one in, and where I'd size grandiose windows for lounges and public areas.
And then a chance to see this pitched against the model itself, or at least the old model.. This gives you a sense of the scale of the beast! Given her squat shape she has masses of internal space, which will be useful because she's got to have a lot of luxury labs and communal areas... not awarship remember?
Would have helped if I'd finished that up with the image eh?
So, first component which is fairly straightforward to rebuild, the bussard intakes on the warp nacelles.
Then I could make a start on the flippin awkward shape of the nacelle.
I did actually then get some cut outs of the basic nacelles, but never got to render a final pic of the basic shapes, as to be honest, the kids, or my girlfriend or my sister in law kept wandering in the room and asking if I could pay them attention... *sigh*
Course, then I got home and waited a month before unpacking the PC... so the momentum well and truly dusty!
It's interesting the kind of detail that you can do when you scale up in a virtual space. But it's also odd how that works since there's nearly limitless room to work in 3D.
Lizzy, I'm going to forego the inevitable response. I think max prefers it when you chamfer by 0.1 to trying to chamfer by 0.0001... I -do- have an archaic version but you know, the new one is technically in my price range but only if I stop paying the mortgage!
Jen, I'm not actually sure how widely spread the jeffries tubes and crawl-ways are supposed to be, so while I'm not necessarily thinking there will be tubes every deck, nice to make room for em just so you know they can be there without interfering with corridors. I have no idea how widespread they are supposed to be! I am not detailing the interiors in any case, since I suck at that, moreso than exterior modelling! So, it's more for my own peace of mind than any model-relevant factors.
I primarily use trueSpace and my defaults are set to 1m. Create a cube, it's 1m in size. I could set my program to work in millimeters if I wanted. But with snap to grid, and other scaling issues, I just find it easier to do what you've done. Make the model larger in 3D-space. Still, using chamfer tools and the like, tS is limited to 0.01. Or at least that's as low as I've gotten it using the Meter as a base. Then again, I haven't needed to build anything at the micron level before.
The larger of the two scaled models, if I recall correctly, uses 10cm as 1 unit. I sometimes work in this scale, sometimes, 1m to 1 unit. Maybe that's why all my models are rubbish?
It is a very interesting model, quite futuristic. The only problem I have is that it is really hard to imagine it being large. It actually appears rather small to me, because it's very compact. What size is it supposed to be?
Thanks Raen. I don't actually remember taking the length. To be honest, I just started building and let it go it's own way. I will measure up the current model next time I go up there and switch the beast on. I did try and do some modelling over the weekend but nothing came of it. I couldn't get anything I was happy with so, thought I'd come back to it again this week sometime.
Cass, are you talking about the forward swept pylons or the sensor ring? To be honest, nobody seems to like the sensor ring and I'm liking it less each time I see her, so unless someone speaks up who really likes it, I'm going to get rid of them. They were relevant when the nose, ring and warp nacelles tapered into each other more organically, but as they currently are, I think they look a bit bolted on. What do you all think?
They were relevant when the nose, ring and warp nacelles tapered into each other more organically, but as they currently are, I think they look a bit bolted on. What do you all think?
Posts
I think I'm going to try using planes or rather bits of surfaces, more than entire shapes. Then I won't technically have about the next cut out suddenly making a hole in a solid. Wonder how that will affect STL issues?
better? how? lol maybe by improving the details, i think, but then how can you improve on perfection? lol
fair enough,lol was only kidding anyway!!! besides, really wish i could model like you.!!!
Seriously, the way that I've found to get better fast is to be obsessive about learning. I have a dozen books about various aspects of LightWave, and on top of those books, have done a lot of searching out web tutorials for various specific techniques. Plus, ask people on here how they did things you like. Even if they don't use the same software package you do, the things they say can be very enlightening!
The non-gender-specific-collective-of-talented-individuals here are awesome.
A month after bringing the computer back from my brothers house, today I finally unpacked it! Ahhhh the blessed experience of "free time", how I've missed you...
So, where were we? I had gotten fed up with the amount of tiny mesh errors I was finding and decided, I needed MORE POLYS! Having had a good idea of the shape and size of my Enterprise variant, I decided to start with a relatively small detail... but before I did that, some changes needed making. For one, scaling up the actual mesh...
Then, I decided it was probably best to build a cut away of a deck, trying to get both a decent sized corridor in plus space for crawl ways in jeffries tubes etc.
Another reason for doing this was to get a consistent approach to windows. So, figuring out how far up windows would be on normal decks, how big some smaller windows would be where it was less easy to get a proper luxry one in, and where I'd size grandiose windows for lounges and public areas.
And then a chance to see this pitched against the model itself, or at least the old model.. This gives you a sense of the scale of the beast! Given her squat shape she has masses of internal space, which will be useful because she's got to have a lot of luxury labs and communal areas... not awarship remember?
Would have helped if I'd finished that up with the image eh?
So, first component which is fairly straightforward to rebuild, the bussard intakes on the warp nacelles.
Then I could make a start on the flippin awkward shape of the nacelle.
I did actually then get some cut outs of the basic nacelles, but never got to render a final pic of the basic shapes, as to be honest, the kids, or my girlfriend or my sister in law kept wandering in the room and asking if I could pay them attention... *sigh*
Course, then I got home and waited a month before unpacking the PC... so the momentum well and truly dusty!
**waits for inevitable reply**
It's interesting the kind of detail that you can do when you scale up in a virtual space. But it's also odd how that works since there's nearly limitless room to work in 3D.
Jen, I'm not actually sure how widely spread the jeffries tubes and crawl-ways are supposed to be, so while I'm not necessarily thinking there will be tubes every deck, nice to make room for em just so you know they can be there without interfering with corridors. I have no idea how widespread they are supposed to be! I am not detailing the interiors in any case, since I suck at that, moreso than exterior modelling! So, it's more for my own peace of mind than any model-relevant factors.
It happens to me all the time. Just one difference I have a wife, not a girlfriend, so, more pressure when asking.
Looks nice bro, but I would like to see a render without the "arms" in her front. Just to see how it goes.
Cass, are you talking about the forward swept pylons or the sensor ring? To be honest, nobody seems to like the sensor ring and I'm liking it less each time I see her, so unless someone speaks up who really likes it, I'm going to get rid of them. They were relevant when the nose, ring and warp nacelles tapered into each other more organically, but as they currently are, I think they look a bit bolted on. What do you all think?
Yes, this is what I was talking about.
So be it, we ditch the rings.