3DRecreating the NX-01

tommygdawg

Hey all,

I've been a longtime lurker here, haven't posted too much, but I've always enjoyed seeing other people's works and seeing the process they go through to get a finished project. I'm in pre-production on a Star Trek fan film that I'm also writing and directing. It's set during the time of Enterprise. The main ship of the film will be the NX-04, but it's practically identical to the NX-01, so this will double as both of them.

FINAL UPDATE: 02/29/16
The film has been released!

Star Trek - Horizon facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sthorizon
Star Trek - Horizon official website: www.startrekhorizon.com

What do you all think? Any ideas on how to make it better as I go along would be greatly appreciated!

Update 03/16/14
The very first teaser trailer for the film is out! It's been a long haul while this is a very small milestone, it is a milestone none-the-less

Update 3/30/14
Video blog 06 is out and the Kickstarter is announced to begin on April 12th, 2014!

Update 10/16/14
Our new three minute trailer is out, check it out here!

spacefighter

good bridge shape, nice detailed bridge, well lit corridor. maybe make the current film you are working on even better by adding some kind of exciting fighter battle rarely seen in trek. i like the control panels on that bridge but there are some large empty spaces where something should be.

tommygdawg

Thanks! That's a great idea, I might see if I can find a way to work that in, I hadn't thought of it.

There's definitely some empty spaces, I still have a lot of panels and such to finish, so there's still much work to be done.

Thanks for the comments

NXN

Very nice job on the modeling. However, I'm curious about the haziness of the interior shots, especially the corridor shot. Was that something you added in, or is it a side-effect of the render? Either way, I think it take a little away from the realism of the scene (in a minor way).

evil_genius_180

Congratulations on upgrading your "lurker" status.

That's some really nice work so far. The exterior looks like it's coming along nicely. It looks accurate, from what I can tell. The interior is freakin' beautiful. I love your lighting and the modeling looks spot-on. :thumb:

Will your film be one where you film against a green screen and add the sets with CGI?

tommygdawg

NXN wrote: »

Very nice job on the modeling. However, I'm curious about the haziness of the interior shots, especially the corridor shot. Was that something you added in, or is it a side-effect of the render? Either way, I think it take a little away from the realism of the scene (in a minor way).

Thanks! That was just a VRay bloom effect. It's definitely too much. It's a post effect that VRay adds, but I didn't think to change it before I closed Max, and didn't want to wait another hour for a render with less bloom :P

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

Congratulations on upgrading your "lurker" status.

That's some really nice work so far. The exterior looks like it's coming along nicely. It looks accurate, from what I can tell. The interior is freakin' beautiful. I love your lighting and the modeling looks spot-on. :thumb:

Will your film be one where you film against a green screen and add the sets with CGI?

Thanks much! I'm still trying to pin down in these shots what makes them still have that CG look, I can't quite figure it out. Obviously, the bridge just isn't complete yet, but especially with the corridors, there's still just something...CG (other than the bloom) about it, I'm not quite sure how to put it.

Yeap, green screen all the way. I did a film last summer that used a lot green screen, and I learned a lot from it, and I think I can take it to the next level with this project. It will be a challenge for sure, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Rekkert

This is all looking very good, particularly the interior renders, their quality is superb.

tommygdawg

Thanks, Rekkert! Glad you're liking them

akb1979

Love it so far, cannot wait to see the finished item and the film. The NX-04 you say? According to canon that'll be the Discovery. Nice name, will be keeping an eye on this thread for more lovely updates.

tommygdawg

akb1979 wrote: »

Love it so far, cannot wait to see the finished item and the film. The NX-04 you say? According to canon that'll be the Discovery. Nice name, will be keeping an eye on this thread for more lovely updates.

Thanks so much! I do like the name a lot. I don't know if this will get me more hate or less, but for this story I've chosen not to use anything from the pocket books novels. Since novels are often not considered "official" canon (and my story certainly won't be considered "official"), I decided to just proceed from the end of the show and forge my own path. The biggest departure, in some ways, is where I'm going with the "Future Guy" storyline. Hopefully you'll like it

tommygdawg

Howdy all,

Got some more work in on the saucer section of the ship. Got some additional detailing done as well as a start on the saucer section impulse drives. What do you all think?

ship_wip08.jpg

Chris2005

I think it looks brilliant.

akb1979

tommygdawg wrote: »

Thanks so much! I do like the name a lot. I don't know if this will get me more hate or less, but for this story I've chosen not to use anything from the pocket books novels. Since novels are often not considered "official" canon (and my story certainly won't be considered "official"), I decided to just proceed from the end of the show and forge my own path. The biggest departure, in some ways, is where I'm going with the "Future Guy" storyline. Hopefully you'll like it

OK, "Future Guy" being Daniels? I'm OK with that as the story had potential but the peeps behind Enterprise didn't handle it as well as they could and should have. However I've Googled the NX-04 and found this. Of course as author you have creative licence to extend its life, more so since we never actually saw the NX-04 on screen.

evil_genius_180

She's looking great so far.

tommygdawg

Chris2005 wrote: »

I think it looks brilliant.

I'll take that as a complement lol.

akb1979 wrote: »

OK, "Future Guy" being Daniels? I'm OK with that as the story had potential but the peeps behind Enterprise didn't handle it as well as they could and should have. However I've Googled the NX-04 and found this. Of course as author you have creative licence to extend its life, more so since we never actually saw the NX-04 on screen.

Indeed. Though, Daniels will not be making an appearance; I'm not using any characters from the show onscreen because I don't have the original actors, and I don't really want to cross that line. The NX-04 does get destroyed in the pocket books novels, as do a lot of NX ships lol, which obviously won't work for my story. The main reason I'm doing this is because (don't hate me) Enterprise is my favorite Trek, and there are some storylines and ideas I'd like to contribute to wrap up stories they didn't get a chance to.

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

She's looking great so far.

Thank ya kindly!

akb1979

Nothing wrong with admitting that you like Enterprise. Of Enterprise I think that the last season was where it really began to get good - the stories were of far better written quality and were more in keeping with Trek. Unfortunately by this time it was already on the slab for killing. The finale...the less said the better. *shudders*

tommygdawg

akb1979 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with admitting that you like Enterprise. Of Enterprise I think that the last season was where it really began to get good - the stories were of far better written quality and were more in keeping with Trek. Unfortunately by this time it was already on the slab for killing. The finale...the less said the better. *shudders*

I actually don't mind the finale, given that it was a quick wrap-up. I thought it wasn't bad for what it was. I really enjoy the whole show but I agree that it was at it's best towards the end. I really enjoyed season 3 as well, I found the Xindi arc to just be really well done. But that's just me

Another small update. Starting to get windows in on the dorsal hull as well as some more on the side, though they're difficult to see in this rendering. ship_wip10.jpg

CWinn

This is looking great! I just finished a run through all 4 seasons so I'm kind of on an Enterprise kick myself lately. I pulled the plastic kit out of the closet.

tommygdawg

CWinn wrote: »

This is looking great! I just finished a run through all 4 seasons so I'm kind of on an Enterprise kick myself lately. I pulled the plastic kit out of the closet.

Thanks much! That's where I'm at. Except it's my second time, I've never done that with a show before. I finished a run through of all four seasons...and went right back to the beginning and started over! lol. Do you have the polar lights kit? It looks like a fantastic model to put together.

markmassey

I've recently strated watching ds9 again. i'm upto the 3rd half of season 6 at the minute... and it has re-ignited my love for star trek.. I havent watched it since i was about 16 and think i got to season 4.

enjoying the wip.. i've never been able to get into enterprise.. i think its still the theme song.. But i do like the design. and your model is coming along nicely.. cant wait to see what you have in store for the film..

tommygdawg

markmassey wrote: »

I've recently strated watching ds9 again. i'm upto the 3rd half of season 6 at the minute... and it has re-ignited my love for star trek.. I havent watched it since i was about 16 and think i got to season 4.

enjoying the wip.. i've never been able to get into enterprise.. i think its still the theme song.. But i do like the design. and your model is coming along nicely.. cant wait to see what you have in store for the film..

Same with me, hadn't really watched in YEARS, then started again with DS9 and it was all downhill from there To each his own with Enterprise, not every show is for everyone. Thanks for the kind words! I'll be getting more out "officially" about the film soon as well.

I've been working on the bridge, got some progress in on the situation room.
wip28.jpg

x2ego

Really getting a kick out of your work, especially the interior. Will keep checking in.

tommygdawg

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it

evil_genius_180

Great work on the exterior and I'm loving the situation room so far.

akb1979 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with admitting that you like Enterprise. Of Enterprise I think that the last season was where it really began to get good - the stories were of far better written quality and were more in keeping with Trek. Unfortunately by this time it was already on the slab for killing. The finale...the less said the better. *shudders*

I think it's a good series. With the exception of a few specific episodes, I really enjoyed the first two seasons. The third is good, but they had more episodes I didn't care for and I thought the season-long plot got a bit long towards the end. As they got closer to the Xindi super weapon, the shows seemed to drag on, but I really liked the season finale right up to the end. (their big "WTF" moment at the end was a surprise, but it definitely left me wanting more ) I'm glad that they wrapped up the whole thing at the beginning of season 4, both the fallout from what happened and the whole "temporal cold war," I thought the season opener was really strong and a great way to start after that great finale for season 3. Season 4 was phenomenal, though I'll agree on the finale. That was the worst ending for a Trek series since Turnabout Intruder, in my opinion. Whenever I watch Enterprise on DVD, I skip the finale.

tommygdawg

I thought just the opposite, that season 3 was it's strongest towards the end. But I also loved the cliffhanger and the season 4 two-part opener. I loved that WTF moment as well, one of my favorite cliffhangers in all of TV actually. The finale was bad for a finale, but I cut them some slack since it wasn't intended to end where it did. As just any old episode though, I enjoy the finale.

New updates on the exterior. I've finished the dorsal hull windows, as well as added more detail to the saucer section impulse engines and the nacelle supports. You'll notice the little hatch that some borg drones got sucked out of in season 2

ship_wip11.jpg
ship_wip12.jpg
ship_wip13.jpg

evil_genius_180

That's some awesome detail work. :thumb:

I hated some of the crap towards the end of season 3, like where Archer finds the Xindi Insectoid ship with the eggs on board and he starts acting like he's their mother. That was stupid, IMHO. (one of my least favorite episodes of the whole series) Plus, they seemed to take longer than they should have to find the weapon, likely so that they could stretch out the season. Though, the few episodes leading up to the season ender where they finally found the weapon and enlisted the aid of some of the Xindi species were good. As for the series finale, I hate it on every level. True, they didn't intend to end the series after 4 seasons, but that didn't mean they had to do the episode they did. I just thought it was a very weak episode. The end is the best part, where Archer goes to sign the Federtion charter and they show the TV Enterprises.

tommygdawg

Thanks! I have another update as well. Got some more detailing and shaping in on the back of the saucer and nacelle supports. May begin on the nacelles themselves tomorrow
ship_wip14.jpg

I will admit that the Insectoid Hatchery episode is one of the weaker of the season and probably my least favorite of the season, but I still actually enjoyed it. Also I enjoyed the amount of time it took for them to find the weapon, but again that's just me.

I do love the ending when Archer signs the charter and we see the other Enterprises, it seemed to me to be the culmination of not just Archer's character and Enterprise, but also of 20 or so years of Star Trek on TV.

BolianAdmiral

Not a huge fan of the NX-Class, but I have to say that this is some top-notch modeling... very clean and detailed!

tommygdawg

Thank you! When I first watched the show, it wasn't one of my favorites, but this time around I really fell in love with it. It's not for everyone

tommygdawg

Hey all, got some more work in today on the exterior. I finished the majority of the modeling on the Warp Field Regulator, the little piece that goes between the nacelle supports, as well as got some more detail work in and the initial shape of the rear impulse drives. What do you all think?

ship_wip15.jpg
ship_wip16.jpg

Chris2005

It may be the perspective, but it looks like the WFR is a little taller than the show's CG model...