Wow... the levels/settings you have for the hull panel lines, especially on the lower saucer are PERFECT... that looks really really good, and the color looks great on the model. Keep 'em coming!
Wow! Isn't it amazing how the addition of just a few details brings this ship to life? You're building the model and it's like "Yeah, yeah...I'm making yet another version of the TOS Enterprise," then when you place those material maps BOOM! There she is! It's a very cool feeling, isn't it?
RE: The windows. If you can avoid it, don't add the windows as material maps. They never hold up under close scrutiny and they would clash with the great level of detail you've included so far. Also, I think the smaller lights next to the larger red and green running lights and on the saucer rim were white. I'm not entirely sure about this but you might want to double check.
Thanks! It's no joke about how much of a difference the maps make. I was, like, "Wow, it looks like the Enterprise now!" I'm thinking you're right about the lights being white. It's just been rather difficult to find decent pictures that aren't someone else's work on a redone connie.
If you look at most of the plans and shots of the original studio model there are the normal tiny lights and then those giant globes. I don't know why, but they're there. There are two sets on the ventral of the saucer, too. The two tiny ventral lights are actually on the rim of the saucer.
Actually, those smaller running lights are supposed to be on the SIDES of the saucer... if you refer to the Sinclair side profiles of the Enterprise, you'll see.
She's really starting to come to life now with those textures. I cant wait to see her with windows.
I'm in the process of cutting them now. I decided to model them into the base mesh. Of course, now I'm really irritated because there's no symmetry to the windows in the saucer.
I'm in the process of cutting them now. I decided to model them into the base mesh. Of course, now I'm really irritated because there's no symmetry to the windows in the saucer.
Yep, that is a pain in the butt. That's why, when I modeled my version oh so long ago, it was one of the few areas where I cheated and made the windows symmetrical.
Now I'm going to have to go look (http://www.trekplace.com/tosfxcatalog.html) and see if there is ON SCREEN evidence for the windows to be asymmetrical. Sure they were that way on the model, but the model also had no windows on the port side of the secondary hull...
I'm at a point of major frustration right now and I need some help. In the first attachment you can see some sort of lighting/mesh issue circled in green. It plays off all four of the window areas depending on camera angle and placement of the lights. The second pic is a wireframe so y'all can tell me if that looks okay.
- I've checked all the verts, edges and polygons to make sure they're all even. Good to go.
- I flipped the normals for the polygons that are the window frames because originally I extruded out instead of in and I just moved the edges down. Don't ask why I did it that way, it just happened. That was good to go as well.
- I double checked the textures, reapplied the UV Map modifier and the textures. Good to go.
- I've tried keeping my sanity. FAIL. :mad:
I don't have it in me to just let this go and move on. I'm OCD like that. So, any help would be appreciated.
My guess is that the software is seeing that the panel surface is luminous, and is casting a shadow off of it. Try making the panel flush with the hull surface, or dropping it down another couple of centimeters and see what that does.
Hmm. In Blender I'd look at how I had smoothing set up. I might also make some cuts so I didn't have such long and skinny faces.
I've messed around with smoothing groups and the results never change. I've also cut extra edges in various configurations, yet the result is always the same.
My guess is that the software is seeing that the panel surface is luminous, and is casting a shadow off of it. Try making the panel flush with the hull surface, or dropping it down another couple of centimeters and see what that does.
Thought of this, too. I've made the surfaces perfectly flush, dropped the surfaces, deleted them and applied a non-luminous texture. No go.
You might need to draw your own lines and separate that particular component from the other vertex lines. When triangulated I'm guessing that it shouldn't create that extra plane on the surface of your model.
This is looking amazing! So much better than the attempts I made at a connie or two using inventor at school. You'll have to tell me how you got some of the features one of these days. Might help on that model of the Severus. Now, back to your model, I can't wait to see more.
Great success!!! I finally got the damn thing to work! :thumb:
Lizzy, originally I had tried your idea almost exactly the way you showed me. I had an old version saved to verify. That still didn't work. What I ended up having to do is cut edges around the entire periphery and tie it into what you had posted.
More updates to come now that my frustration is over for the time being. Basic textures for the bridge, lower sensor, impulse engines and connecting dorsal.
My biggest problem is with the deflector area. No matter how much I try, I can't get it right.
Trust me, I know where you're coming from. That area took a lot of work for me. I ended up doing what I was trying not to and booleaned the thing. A little bit of tweaking later and there you go. Word to the wise though...don't make the entire thing one piece. The fronts of the deflector "arms" are separate objects.
I do all my modeling in Inventor, since it's waht the school has available. So what I did for the deflector concentric circles part was to make a sketch of th profile for the part, then revolved it. It didn't coe out perfectly though, and I'm beginning to wonder wether it's just me not doing the sketch correctly.
Ah, I think you're talking about what max calls lathing. Come to think of it, if I used a spline and lathed the deflector housing it probably would've been faster the making a cylinder and extruding and insetting and extruding and insetting...
Oh well.
Here are the different objects I made to create the secondary hull.
There's a website out there that shows some progress shots of when the original 11ft Enterprise model was being restored for the Smithsonian Museum. As they were detailing paint chips for color, the closest IIRC was Concrete Grey. (color code #9FA8A3 or RGB 159, 168, 163) I'm not sure which shade of copper was used for the deflector dish though.
Posts
RE: The windows. If you can avoid it, don't add the windows as material maps. They never hold up under close scrutiny and they would clash with the great level of detail you've included so far. Also, I think the smaller lights next to the larger red and green running lights and on the saucer rim were white. I'm not entirely sure about this but you might want to double check.
Actually, those smaller running lights are supposed to be on the SIDES of the saucer... if you refer to the Sinclair side profiles of the Enterprise, you'll see.
I'm in the process of cutting them now. I decided to model them into the base mesh. Of course, now I'm really irritated because there's no symmetry to the windows in the saucer.
Yep, that is a pain in the butt. That's why, when I modeled my version oh so long ago, it was one of the few areas where I cheated and made the windows symmetrical.
Ok, there is ONE WINDOW that is asymmetrical on top: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/wpthomas007/TOS%20FX/Bridge16.png and the forward windows on the underside of the saucer. Sorry, I tried.
Various Work: U.S.S. Constellation - Matt Jefferies Concept Shuttle
- I've checked all the verts, edges and polygons to make sure they're all even. Good to go.
- I flipped the normals for the polygons that are the window frames because originally I extruded out instead of in and I just moved the edges down. Don't ask why I did it that way, it just happened.
- I double checked the textures, reapplied the UV Map modifier and the textures. Good to go.
- I've tried keeping my sanity. FAIL. :mad:
I don't have it in me to just let this go and move on. I'm OCD like that. So, any help would be appreciated.
Various Work: U.S.S. Constellation - Matt Jefferies Concept Shuttle
I've messed around with smoothing groups and the results never change.
Thought of this, too. I've made the surfaces perfectly flush, dropped the surfaces, deleted them and applied a non-luminous texture. No go.
Various Work: U.S.S. Constellation - Matt Jefferies Concept Shuttle
Various Work: U.S.S. Constellation - Matt Jefferies Concept Shuttle
Lizzy, originally I had tried your idea almost exactly the way you showed me. I had an old version saved to verify. That still didn't work. What I ended up having to do is cut edges around the entire periphery and tie it into what you had posted.
More updates to come now that my frustration is over for the time being. Basic textures for the bridge, lower sensor, impulse engines and connecting dorsal.
I wasn't sure if what I suggested would work. Different programs sometimes need different techniques. But I'm glad you got things working.
Trust me, I know where you're coming from. That area took a lot of work for me. I ended up doing what I was trying not to and booleaned the thing. A little bit of tweaking later and there you go. Word to the wise though...don't make the entire thing one piece. The fronts of the deflector "arms" are separate objects.
I am also very glad I got things to go my way.
What do you mean?
Oh well.
Here are the different objects I made to create the secondary hull.
I've got this image that I think I saved from Starship Modeler. Can't remember for sure, but it may help....
From this:
To this:
Remember, the quality of mine is very crappy. But I hope that makes sense.
Also, sorry if I'm hijacking. We can take this to PMs if you want.