3DRe-building the Enterprise J

bbelt

Hello everyone. A while back ago I had a thread that I started involving me building the Enterprise J. After a long time, I have decided to pick up from where I left off. Except I realized that I made several mistakes during the process of building it the first time (plus a second) and decided to start completely from scratch.

So far I have got a camera placed in the 3D environment to match up to the reference picture that I am using. Once that was done, I got the start of the saucer section as well as the basic outline for the primary hull and nacelles. The main picture that I will be using is the one from the Ships of the line calendar; yep the same one I used during my first attempt. My biggest hope is that I can actually finish this ship once and for all.

Just like with my first attempt, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

EnterpriseJ_Front_1_8_16.jpg

I am also deciding to document my build on video which you can view here: Constructing the Enterprise J

Starship

So, you're trying again... It's a good start and a interesting video.

Stormcloud

was never a huge fan of the J - was kinda thrown together i think without enough thought going into it since it was jsut a diagram on a wall - if i was you i'd do your own take on it and see if you cant make it a better ship than the original

Saquist

So blender has photomatching ability.
Is it better than Sketchup?

bbelt

To Starship: Thanks for the positive feedback. Yes, actually this is my third time.

To Stormcloud: I myself am not a fan of the design either. Because it is a canon ship with very little screen time makes it the only reason why I would like to try to make it. Eventually there will be a time that I will have to come up with my own take on several things. For example the bottom of the ship: even though there are "official" pictures of the ship detailing that side, I have my own reasons for not thinking it is cannon. So I am deciding to disregard it and come up with my own take using the little info I do have.

To Saquist: Yes you can use a photo in blender to help you assist. I have not used Sketchup so I can't compare the two. The hardest part that I had was to match the camera position in blender to that of the photograph.

Saquist

You might be surprised by Sketchup then.
I did a photomatch with Defiant and I was able to take multiple pictures of the ship and match the model to those perspective. It was difficult and the results were questionable but impressive. Obviously designs with less organic shapes help with finding the center axis. Perhaps I'll give Blender a try for the photomatch.

CaptRicoSakara

PLEASE GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME! **begs XD

publiusr

I liked the Congo with its secondary hull...

Starship

bbelt wrote: »

To Starship: Thanks for the positive feedback. Yes, actually this is my third time.

I know! I remember the previous attempts.

bbelt

In between my normal job and my sons' project he needed help with, I manage to get some extra work done.

EnterpriseJ2.jpg

I spent most of my time tinkering around with the camera in blender to try to get it matched up with the picture. After awhile, I think I finally got it to where I am 99% happy with it. The other 1% would be almost impossible to get without actually having the original file. I am however not to pleased with the way the ship is looking overall when modeled based off of the camera angle.

Entjtop1.jpg

As you can see from the top down view, the saucer section is a bit to squashed along the z axis; but oh well. I will keep pressing on.

evil_genius_180

That's looking really good and close to the original so far. :thumb:

Stormcloud

if you dont like something dont be afraid to just change it - this design needs alot of tweaking to make it work - and you wont manage that if you stick religiously to that camera angle - infact i'd drop it all together and just look at it occasionally for inspiration as you model from scratch

bbelt

It has been awhile, but I have not forgotten about this project. I will get it done one way or the other. Here are some shots of the ship.

EntJ-2.jpg

EntJ-3.jpg

EntJ-4.jpg

And for anyone who is interested in to how big it is; The small cube is the size of a standard human.

EntJ-5.jpg

Stormcloud - I understand where you are coming from. It would be difficult to get the ship to look right with the limited information that we have. But I just like the challenge. I am like those people who make replica props from movies and try their best to get it exact. One day after I finish with this, I will probably do my own take on it using the picture only as a guide line.

evil_genius_180

It's looking good so far. It's definitely a huge ship because it's basically a mobile Starbase. Doug Drexler talked about it a few times on his old blog.

tricky

Found another reference, someone tried working out a side view:
http://www.suricatafx.com/?p=521

Vortex5972

I can't remember whether it's the length or width that's two miles, but it is a big ship.

Enterprais

Wow, that was first starship which I animated in 3dsmax, first 3d model in my 3d life!:) Looking forward to see what will you come up with this generation of Enterprise. I'd say, Jeneration.

CaptRicoSakara

About time you corrected your mistakes. I knew about the pylons and nacelles from the beginning. Glad to see you're finally seeing those details. =3

VK08

I love watching people say they are "rebuilding" the J when most of the ship has never even been built, it was a low rez (i can honestly say one of the lowest I've ever come across) model used in one shot and the subsequent shots of it have to be from very specific angles or you can't see anything.

We (Doug Drexler and I) started to redo the J earlier this year, and pending Doug's approvals on the model (which he has yet to sign off on) people should see what the ship really looks like sometime in the next few months, but for now.. there really is no real good look at the ship that's official.. (you're missing the mile long windows looking into a full city in space, and the new Secondary scout ship attached to it... )

The other problem with the J is her scale. she's huge. I mean HUGE. Working on her is like working on a full scale model of New York City, she's also organic, there are no "sharp" edges on the thing, everything was organically grown in space not assembled, you have to remember than when making a rendition of her..

I really hope Doug approves the finals for the base soon and I can show you what I mean...

- Jenny DeSalle

evil_genius_180

VK08 wrote: »

The other problem with the J is her scale. she's huge. I mean HUGE. Working on her is like working on a full scale model of New York City, she's also organic, there are no "sharp" edges on the thing, everything was organically grown in space not assembled, you have to remember than when making a rendition of her..

It's supposed to be more or less a combination Starbase/Explorer ship, right? I kind of remember Doug's write up about it on his blog a few years back. I think he said it's a multi-generational ship that's designed to explore the universe, not just the Galaxy. That's one reason it's so freaking huge. Also, didn't he say something like it carries a few ships the size of the Sovereign class?

VK08

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

It's supposed to be more or less a combination Starbase/Explorer ship, right? I kind of remember Doug's write up about it on his blog a few years back. I think he said it's a multi-generational ship that's designed to explore the universe, not just the Galaxy. That's one reason it's so freaking huge. Also, didn't he say something like it carries a few ships the size of the Sovereign class?

That's what's taking so long with the rebuild, the whole interior you can see through the windows on top, and it's a fully functional and used city complete with Starfleet Academy and parks and highrises... the bridge is for people to pilot the ship, if they wish, but it really only takes one person to handle ship functions, all the ohter stations are whoever wants to do it, it's a huge huge huge multi generation vessel and the starship it carries is about twice the size of the Sovvie..

I will bed doing comparison work with the Enterprise E and J

evil_genius_180

VK08 wrote: »

That's what's taking so long with the rebuild, the whole interior you can see through the windows on top, and it's a fully functional and used city complete with Starfleet Academy and parks and highrises... the bridge is for people to pilot the ship, if they wish, but it really only takes one person to handle ship functions, all the ohter stations are whoever wants to do it, it's a huge huge huge multi generation vessel and the starship it carries is about twice the size of the Sovvie..

I will bed doing comparison work with the Enterprise E and J

Cool, thanks for the info. I remember him doing a write-up on the ship ages ago, but I couldn't remember what all he said. And, unfortunately, his blog no longer exists. I hope he gets back to you at some point and we can see more of the work you were doing on the ship.

VK08

We've been working on detailing the refit NX so it's on the backburner..

Saquist

This is a design of minimal effort. Those engines are literally on twigs. From what I've seen on Memory Alpha they call this a quick and dirty creation and it shows. It uses all the Enterprise characteristics, two nacelles deflector and saucer, but with out any design intent what-so-ever. I can't tell this ship does anything but look Enterprise-ish.

It seems since CGI's arrival the quality of design has suffered.
Sovereign, Prometheus, NX-1, and Nu-Enterprise all rely on style-over-substance. Of course I understand the desire for a faithful reproduction but I think this needs a talented redesign.

Stormcloud

i think the nacelle pylons being so thin was a deliberate choice to make it appear 'magical' or at least beyond what we understand today - i dont have a problem with that aspect - not quite so sure about the deflector on the front though

VK08

Saquist wrote: »

This is a design of minimal effort. Those engines are literally on twigs. From what I've seen on Memory Alpha they call this a quick and dirty creation and it shows. It uses all the Enterprise characteristics, two nacelles deflector and saucer, but with out any design intent what-so-ever. I can't tell this ship does anything but look Enterprise-ish.

It seems since CGI's arrival the quality of design has suffered.
Sovereign, Prometheus, NX-1, and Nu-Enterprise all rely on style-over-substance. Of course I understand the desire for a faithful reproduction but I think this needs a talented redesign.

It was a quick and dirty model for one shot only, which is why Drex posted earlier this year that he handed it over to me to redo the ship in a much higher resolution, and I gotta say it's taking some time to do.. the nacelles alone took three months to perfect how they looked and connected to the new pylons... The saucer is a pain , as it's thin but houses a fully functional city inside.. the bottom which you don't get ot see has an ancellary full sized starship attached to it, and there are Voyager sized ships for exploration in bays near the back..

It's huge, the project is taking WAY longer than I expected, but hopefully 2015 will start to wind down my involvement with Enterprise and I can get back to modeling..

Knight26

So why all this effort into rebuilding all these enterprise designs by Drex? Is there some plan to bring it back somehow, or is this just a pet project of his?

VK08

Knight26 wrote: »

So why all this effort into rebuilding all these enterprise designs by Drex? Is there some plan to bring it back somehow, or is this just a pet project of his?

quote: I am going to sit back and drink Tranya while Jen builds the Enterprise J in high detail.

I believe it's because he never got to flesh it out in the series, and there is a want to see it up close and personal.. I've been working with Andy Probert when he has time designing the various areas like the new style bridge and cityscape.. it's a slow slow process though..

The NX Refit is a different story, CBS wants it HERO Ready and available for January usage.

Stormcloud

VK08 wrote: »

The saucer is a pain , as it's thin but houses a fully functional city inside.. the bottom which you don't get ot see has an ancellary full sized starship attached to it, and there are Voyager sized ships for exploration in bays near the back..

i cant see the point in it carrying a full blown long endurance starship - voyager sized ships really should be the absolute max it carries - basically you can fit more smaller ships which can achieve more than one larger ship - if its for defensive reasons then should again be carrying lots of defiant'ish ships

Knight26

January usage, for what? Is CBS planning something for Trek? Please god say they are taking back control from Paramount to make a new show, where Trek belongs.

bbelt

I know that it has been a long while since I have updated this project. I can see that there has been some discussion going and I may address some of these at a later time. With that being said, I have not completely abandoned the Enterprise J; but rather just took a step back from it for awhile. I have been hitting it pretty hard lately and I have every full intention to finish this version of the Enterprise J. Here are some shots of what I have so far:

EntJ_Front_11_30_15.jpg

EntJ_top_11_30_15.jpg

EntJ_back_11_30_15.jpg

EntJ_nacelle_11_30_15.jpg