Navigational deflector is finally done for the moment. I will refine the flow of the sensor pods into the engineering hull once the principal modeling for that part is completed. Until I've sculpted the fantail and the origins of the nacelles I think there's too great a risk that the topography will change and I would rather not chase my tail if I can avoid it.
You couldn't just hit "undo" and move the camera back where it was?
I wish that I could! I'm not sure why but undo doesn't appear to apply to when I move the camera while it is locked to the view. It's almost like those actions aren't properly recorded in the history. I've temporarily disabled the camera/view lock so that I'll hopefully not repeat that mistake.
I wish that I could! I'm not sure why but undo doesn't appear to apply to when I move the camera while it is locked to the view. It's almost like those actions aren't properly recorded in the history. I've temporarily disabled the camera/view lock so that I'll hopefully not repeat that mistake.
The camera-viewport relationship is a little weird. I tend to bypass it entirely by selecting the camera as an object and using the object manipulation tools to move it, usually along its existing normals (i.e. hit 'g' to move, then 'x' to move along global x, then 'x' again to move along normal x) and position things that way. Has the side benefit of preserving undo, since it's an object move at that point.
I'm still working on getting a handle of camera movement as an object. I'll definitely be brushing up on that once I am done with the modeling and texturing.
Shuttle bay is roughed in and ready to start detailing. It went MUCH faster than I had anticipated. A healthy part of the speed is probably due to the residual scars left after modeling the shuttle bay for the TOS generation constitution class in 3DS Max a few years ago. That's FAR more simple than the TMP model but gave me fits for days as I fiddled with getting it 'just so'.
The back deck may appear overly thick at the moment but I'll be shaving that down as I carve out the fantail next.
Am I the only one who thinks that it is quite unusual that there are no RCS thrusters on the aft half of the engineering hull? I understand that there are thrusters on the warp nacelles but why only the front half of engineering?
As for the thrusters, I agree that it's odd. I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere, but I know I've remarked in the past about how Star Trek ships don't appear to have enough thrusters. I think Star Trek designers mostly put them on the "extremities," like you would with a space plane. Space planes don't have to do much more than fly around, so they put thrusters in the nose and wing tips. Meanwhile, a space shuttle, which performs complex maneuvers, has thrusters all over it. The way the Trek thrusters are laid out, they definitely look more like a space plane layout. If you separate the saucer, the front of the engineering section essentially becomes the "nose," while the fins on the nacelles would be the wing tips. The NCC-1701 refit should definitely have thrusters on the back of the engineering section, along with a number of other places that it doesn't. The only Star Trek ship that is the exception to this is the NX-01, which has thrusters all over it. It's a more believable setup for a ship that performs complex maneuvers, such as docking.
I definitely agree, the refit is seriously deficient on maneuvering thrusters. It's quite tempting to throw in a few on the fantail but I'll resist for now.
The fantail is roughed in and the aft sensors are done. I'll be making the shuttle bay doors once the hull is detailed.
Next up is the interface of the engineering hull and the Jeffries tubes!
I'm relieved at the reception for the latest revisions. Thank you all!
Believe it or not, the first thing I did this morning was to revert to just before I installed the fantail and started all over again. The new results are indistinguishable from the old in the renders but it is a much cleaner mesh. It should make detailing windows and the deflector grid that much more easy.
The spine is done and I'm ready to start teasing out the Jeffries tubes. Please excuse the bits from the spine that are intruding into the shuttle bay. I'll trim those out when I finalize the engineering hull for detailing.
Superb job on the back end of the hull. It was the hardest part of the whole ship for me and I started and restarted and restarted it many, many times.
I also really like the animated images showing the progression of your work.
No update today, unfortunately. It's already a crazy week at work and technically it hasn't even started yet. I'll try to get some work in after-hours throughout the week
Does that mean you are doing the Interior as well?
My apologies, it was late when I posted my update. I was intending to refer to the support pylons and not the Jefferies tubes within. Eventually I'll be so bold as to attempt full-scale interior modeling of the Constitution refit but for now I just intend to hit a few key areas like the shuttle bay, rec deck, VIP lounge and the garden.
Tralfaz,
A few years ago I had a hell of a time modeling the shuttle bay and fantail on the original constitution model while using Max and I've been using that since r3 in the Dos days. I was actually quite surprised by how quickly it came together on this mesh. I think it was far more luck than skill. That and the surprisingly robust subsurface tools on Blender. Of course, I still haven't carved the viewports for landing OPS and I have yet to tackle the clamshell bay doors, which I know to be their own inter-locking slices of hell.
Making show progress on the pylons. I should have something post-worthy by Friday. Those damn things are more challenging than I had expected.
I'm not complaining though. This is a learning exercise. The subtilty of the contours and the way it merges gracefully with the engineering hull is an excellent challenge.
There are still many more details to be done on the pylons but I've finally got something post-worthy. As usual, the colors are placeholders for surface contrast.
A day later than planned but I think it was worth it. Pylons are 'done'. I expect that I'll have to rebuild them when it comes time to apply textures but for now they'll serve their purpose. I've taken an extra step and fleshed out panels that appear to cover where I would expect to find the conduits connecting the warp nacelles to the antimatter reactor. As soon as I saw them in the reference photos I had some ideas for some scenes involving them and felt it be better to break them out now.
Aft view
The recessed gaps between the panel plates are a little rough in this view but I think that will not be a problem once textures are applied.
Fore view
Ventral view
Technically now that the pylons are ready I should finish up the engineering hull but I'm too anxious to see the full profile for this beauty fully realized. Engineering will come after the nacelles and then to wrap up with the shuttle bay shell doors.
Looking good. It's interesting that you modeled those. They were either paint or decals on the studio model. Are you also going to model the similar panels on the vertical pylon? (or "neck," if you prefer)
Looking good. It's interesting that you modeled those. They were either paint or decals on the studio model. Are you also going to model the similar panels on the vertical pylon? (or "neck," if you prefer)
Indeed I do! I think that there is quite a bit of potential visual story telling in these areas since both cover the primary power distribution network for the ship. An overload, a strike with a phaser, or even a near-hit with a torpedo could blast them outward or buckle them to amazing effect. Maybe have them release manually for an emergency venting maneuver.
Since I ultimately would like to recreate the cliche'd 'leaving drydock' scene from TMP (it seems to be a rite of passage), I could embellish it and make it my own by having one of the nacelle panels being buckled down by work bees during the flyby.
You can see the energy conduits under the paneling.
I had forgotten about the cutaway poster but that is exactly what I had assumed was going on under the paneling. Fertile ground for future experiments with luminous particle systems :-D
Posts
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
PhotonTorpedoBay-324.png
Engineering-297-13.png
Since the last workflow GIFs were so popular, he's one updated with two final iterations.
I'd post an update of the other view but regrettably I moved that camera. I need to be more careful while in camera view :rolleyes:
You couldn't just hit "undo" and move the camera back where it was?
I wish that I could! I'm not sure why but undo doesn't appear to apply to when I move the camera while it is locked to the view. It's almost like those actions aren't properly recorded in the history. I've temporarily disabled the camera/view lock so that I'll hopefully not repeat that mistake.
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
Shuttle bay is roughed in and ready to start detailing. It went MUCH faster than I had anticipated. A healthy part of the speed is probably due to the residual scars left after modeling the shuttle bay for the TOS generation constitution class in 3DS Max a few years ago. That's FAR more simple than the TMP model but gave me fits for days as I fiddled with getting it 'just so'.
The back deck may appear overly thick at the moment but I'll be shaving that down as I carve out the fantail next.
Am I the only one who thinks that it is quite unusual that there are no RCS thrusters on the aft half of the engineering hull? I understand that there are thrusters on the warp nacelles but why only the front half of engineering?
As for the thrusters, I agree that it's odd. I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere, but I know I've remarked in the past about how Star Trek ships don't appear to have enough thrusters. I think Star Trek designers mostly put them on the "extremities," like you would with a space plane. Space planes don't have to do much more than fly around, so they put thrusters in the nose and wing tips. Meanwhile, a space shuttle, which performs complex maneuvers, has thrusters all over it. The way the Trek thrusters are laid out, they definitely look more like a space plane layout. If you separate the saucer, the front of the engineering section essentially becomes the "nose," while the fins on the nacelles would be the wing tips. The NCC-1701 refit should definitely have thrusters on the back of the engineering section, along with a number of other places that it doesn't. The only Star Trek ship that is the exception to this is the NX-01, which has thrusters all over it. It's a more believable setup for a ship that performs complex maneuvers, such as docking.
The fantail is roughed in and the aft sensors are done. I'll be making the shuttle bay doors once the hull is detailed.
Next up is the interface of the engineering hull and the Jeffries tubes!
Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12GB
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32 GB RAM
Windows 11 Pro
Believe it or not, the first thing I did this morning was to revert to just before I installed the fantail and started all over again. The new results are indistinguishable from the old in the renders but it is a much cleaner mesh. It should make detailing windows and the deflector grid that much more easy.
The spine is done and I'm ready to start teasing out the Jeffries tubes. Please excuse the bits from the spine that are intruding into the shuttle bay. I'll trim those out when I finalize the engineering hull for detailing.
I also really like the animated images showing the progression of your work.
Does that mean you are doing the Interior as well?
Anyway really a great model. I wish I would learn Blender that fast.
My apologies, it was late when I posted my update. I was intending to refer to the support pylons and not the Jefferies tubes within. Eventually I'll be so bold as to attempt full-scale interior modeling of the Constitution refit but for now I just intend to hit a few key areas like the shuttle bay, rec deck, VIP lounge and the garden.
Tralfaz,
A few years ago I had a hell of a time modeling the shuttle bay and fantail on the original constitution model while using Max and I've been using that since r3 in the Dos days. I was actually quite surprised by how quickly it came together on this mesh. I think it was far more luck than skill. That and the surprisingly robust subsurface tools on Blender. Of course, I still haven't carved the viewports for landing OPS and I have yet to tackle the clamshell bay doors, which I know to be their own inter-locking slices of hell.
I'm not complaining though. This is a learning exercise. The subtilty of the contours and the way it merges gracefully with the engineering hull is an excellent challenge.
Pylons-390-15.png
Pylons-413-01.png
I'll get better shots posted tomorrow, hopefully with more surface detail.
Aft view
The recessed gaps between the panel plates are a little rough in this view but I think that will not be a problem once textures are applied.
Fore view
Ventral view
Technically now that the pylons are ready I should finish up the engineering hull but I'm too anxious to see the full profile for this beauty fully realized. Engineering will come after the nacelles and then to wrap up with the shuttle bay shell doors.
Indeed I do! I think that there is quite a bit of potential visual story telling in these areas since both cover the primary power distribution network for the ship. An overload, a strike with a phaser, or even a near-hit with a torpedo could blast them outward or buckle them to amazing effect. Maybe have them release manually for an emergency venting maneuver.
Since I ultimately would like to recreate the cliche'd 'leaving drydock' scene from TMP (it seems to be a rite of passage), I could embellish it and make it my own by having one of the nacelle panels being buckled down by work bees during the flyby.
You can see the energy conduits under the paneling.
Various Work: U.S.S. Constellation - Matt Jefferies Concept Shuttle
I had forgotten about the cutaway poster but that is exactly what I had assumed was going on under the paneling. Fertile ground for future experiments with luminous particle systems :-D