Yeah, around the warp pylons is loads of fun. I hear you on the lost sleep. I was back and forth between Inkscape and Lightwave for hours making minute adjustments and then applying the modified map to the model, see where it needed tweaked, and then making more minute adjustments and doing it all again. I think I was up until 4 or 5 in the morning doing that stuff. Like you said, the model photos are the best asset for that stuff.
It's amazing what we go through for these ships, isn't it?
It's amazing what we go through for these ships, isn't it?
There is absolutely no doubt! 3D has been a passion of mine since the 90's and I've always wanted to model the TMP-era Enterprise but I never was able to work up the courage. She's loaded with odd angles, subtle details, and topology that just doesn't exist elsewhere in the sci-fi pantheon.
She's a ship that practically EVERYONE knows intimately. We look at a model of her and we know those nacelles are cast too low, the angle on the saucer is pitched a few degrees too high, or even the windows aren't clustered quite correctly. I would expect viewers to absolutely call me out if I end up producing crap (politely I would hope but when you desecrate sacred ground you never know how energetic a reaction you might inspire).
Ships in sci-fi these days are almost universally prototyped in 3D so they are generally built with the limitations or design philosophies of 3D software at their heart. The TMP Enterprise is heralded as one of the finest cinematic models ever produced (for among other things the most meticulous paint job anyone had ever seen). It was built with classic hand-crafted design principles including wood, steel, plastic, and bondo. Translating those features into 3D is a very real challenge.
Many times in this project I've thought "I certainly wouldn't design it like this if I were making something of my own". Upon reflection I have realized that I absolutely SHOULD design like this! A convincing model needs to be built like a real-world object and not like something designed to conform to the limitations of the platform that generated it. To use the software effectively, we have to learn how to bend it to our will and not the other way around
I never should have let my insecurity keep me from tackling this project. I would have finished in a tenth the time if I were using my familiar 3D platform however, all things considered, it was an inspired (if masochistic) choice for learning Blender from scratch.
Now that I'm so close to finishing, I cannot wait to actually DO something with her!
It would appear that I've skipped almost all of the work I had lined up for this weekend...
I made what I think was a pretty poor decision on how to do the UV mapping for this section and I ended up paying for it with a LOT more work in Illustrator to make the pieces line up correctly. I'm having some trouble with setting selective levels of gloss but I'll be doing some additional tutorials shortly that I think will help bridge that divide.
Despite my err in UV unwrapping, I'm pretty happy with the overall textures and the values in the shader. I'll definitely be lightening the shader for the outermost ring of the navigational deflector now that I can see it contrasted with some of the engineering hull.
And it's been quite a while since I posted a progress animation. Fortunately this process was straight-forward enough that I could have a decent collection of samples.
For the primary pattern, I used a view-projection UV map from the top perspective. The tapered cylinder of the hull resulted in a LOT of smearing with regards to any straight lines that run along the mid-line. I think I should have opted for a view-projection from a view oriented along the tangent to the section. It would have resulted in a lot less distortion than what I had this time. By the time I came to this conclusion I was pretty invested in the Illustrator work I had already done and didn't feel comfortable backing out.
Probably best not to get too emotionally attached to a flawed texture. Were a professional doing this project, I'm confident that the texture would have been flushed the moment the flaws in the UV choice became apparent :rolleyes:
Don't feel too bad about your mapping issues. From what I was reading about Voyager recently, the CGI model built for the opening credits sequence had a lot of mapping issues. And, this was a professionally built model. That all had to be fixed later, after the model was turned over to Foundation Imaging for use on the show.
Don't feel too bad about your mapping issues. From what I was reading about Voyager recently, the CGI model built for the opening credits sequence had a lot of mapping issues. And, this was a professionally built model. That all had to be fixed later, after the model was turned over to Foundation Imaging for use on the show.
I don't doubt it! Some of the Intrepid hull contours are an amazing pain in the butt. It definitely is a relief to my bruised ego to learn that the pros can have the same problems. Thanks!
I've got a new shader design for the hull plating. I've finally resorted to painting maps for each section. It's the right thing to do and the results are worlds better. I should have been doing it this way from the start but we often have to learn these lessons first-hand. I'll be redoing the sections that have already been completed to match the colors.
I'm quite happy with the effect I've achieved. The shader appears a mottled white when viewed under direct illumination but it has hints of that elusive opalescence when viewed obliquely. I'm quite eager to see it applied to the rest of the engineering hull!
The red I'm using for the striping and the airlock indicators is a little too 'race car' for the venerable Enterprise. I'll be toning it down during my shader tuning pass once the initial shading has been completed.
I'm almost certainly going to be toning down the white of the shader. It took me so long to get something to turn out a convincing white that now I find I almost cannot water it down
Well, the ship was white. So, it's not like the white is incorrect.
The paneling looks good. :thumb:
Thanks!
White she was, though I think I may have overdone it just a touch. After the first pass I'll be putting her under some different light rigs to get an idea of how best to balance the colors.
Until then, I'm fairly certain I've overdone the whitening
Kicking aft and taking names! (please pardon the pun, I really cannot help it)
The aft and ventral sections of the engineering hull have been textured. Along the way I've worked out how to more efficiently handle the shading so my workflow is now roughly 100 times easier and faster.
I'm going to complete this texturing pass before I go back and re-shade the saucer and neck/ridge. It's all coming together and I couldn't be more pleased with how she looks so far.
Thank you all for your feedback!
You can see here the difference between the old and new shaders. Once the pylons and nacelles are completed I'll be revisiting these parts and laying down some new shading to make them match.
High praise indeed, thanks everyone! I can only hope that the final result lives up to it!
Warp pylons are done. Warp nacelle shading starts tomorrow evening.
The pattern of the tiles on this section has to be the single most challenging thing I've done in Illustrator to date. The pattern is composed of three different shades, repeated in an elaborate pattern along the length. It took 2.5 days and 3 tries to get it 'right'.
The spine, neck, impulse deck, and saucer are all hidden for this render. I may end up re-tuning the shaders on the panels along the middle of the pylons. They're close to what I want but still a little off. More work for the final tuning of the shaders.
Knowing that the tiling on the nacelles are almost equally elaborate makes me a bit trepidatious about this next step.
Thanks everyone! She is a wonder of a design and I'm glad as hell to have taken the chance to do her proud.
I think the real credit goes to Matt Jefferies, Richard Taylor, and Andrew Probert. Their vision culminated in this wonderful design have fired many of our imaginations. I'm almost giddy at the prospect of seeing her on new adventures!
Every day I get a little closer to finishing the exterior. Lots of fine tuning to do yet but I never seem to fatigue when I'm working on her.
One huge challenge just appeared on the horizon. Gearbox has announced the re-issue of the Homeworld series and I'm likely to lose more than a little bit of my spare time getting sucked into an old addiction of mine. That means I have only a month before my time grows even more precious
The nacelles are about 1/3 of the way through (provided I don't re-mesh the grill, which is still a real possibility). I hope to have something to post tomorrow.
One huge challenge just appeared on the horizon. Gearbox has announced the re-issue of the Homeworld series and I'm likely to lose more than a little bit of my spare time getting sucked into an old addiction of mine. That means I have only a month before my time grows even more precious
Not to threadjack, but I just put in my pre-order for it. Not only is it a reissue, but both Homeworld 1 and 2 have been completely remastered with updated graphics, remastered and re-recorded sound, including getting the original voice actors for Fleet Intelligence and Fleet Command (Karan S'Jet). I've been drooling over this since I first heard about it over a year ago, and was unfortunately out of work (and money) when the collector's version went on pre-sale. That version included a LED-lit 12" banana mothership (the Pride of Hiigara from HW2) display model.
Not to threadjack, but I just put in my pre-order for it. Not only is it a reissue, but both Homeworld 1 and 2 have been completely remastered with updated graphics, remastered and re-recorded sound, including getting the original voice actors for Fleet Intelligence and Fleet Command (Karan S'Jet). I've been drooling over this since I first heard about it over a year ago, and was unfortunately out of work (and money) when the collector's version went on pre-sale. That version included a LED-lit 12" banana mothership (the Pride of Hiigara from HW2) display model.
I wish I'd known about the collector's edition! Oh well, at least we're finally getting a refresh. I guess I can't complain too much.
First pass for shaders is now complete. The difference in the original hull shader and the one I developed on the engineering hull is quite apparent in the new renders. This week I'll be working on retooling the old shaders to better blend with the new.
I'm pretty happy with how she's shaping up. Lighting the windows, the VIP deck and the shuttle bay are the last steps.
It's going to be interesting cramming the final details into the model. As it stands I'm taxing my laptop to it's limit just to do these renders. Regrettably I'm using a 560M gpu, which is not terribly effective for Blender. As a result I've been using CPU exclusively and that's definitely slowing me down. A new GPU for my desktop rig is in my future IF and only if I complete this project. Fortunately for me I'm invested enough in this project that a carrot isn't what's driving me forward each night.
It's looking great. Yeah, you definitely need to get a new GPU for the desktop and get off of that laptop. Laptops just aren't made for this sort of work.
It's looking great. Yeah, you definitely need to get a new GPU for the desktop and get off of that laptop. Laptops just aren't made for this sort of work.
Depends on the laptop, actually, which surprised the hell out of me. My ASUS ROG laptop is almost as powerful as my desktop. GPU's only a little behind it, and the laptop itself actually has more RAM. So, all depends on what your hardware is. In general, laptops aren't going to come anywhere near desktops, for sure, but there are some out there that can leave many desktops in the dust.
Posts
It's amazing what we go through for these ships, isn't it?
There is absolutely no doubt! 3D has been a passion of mine since the 90's and I've always wanted to model the TMP-era Enterprise but I never was able to work up the courage. She's loaded with odd angles, subtle details, and topology that just doesn't exist elsewhere in the sci-fi pantheon.
She's a ship that practically EVERYONE knows intimately. We look at a model of her and we know those nacelles are cast too low, the angle on the saucer is pitched a few degrees too high, or even the windows aren't clustered quite correctly. I would expect viewers to absolutely call me out if I end up producing crap (politely I would hope but when you desecrate sacred ground you never know how energetic a reaction you might inspire).
Ships in sci-fi these days are almost universally prototyped in 3D so they are generally built with the limitations or design philosophies of 3D software at their heart. The TMP Enterprise is heralded as one of the finest cinematic models ever produced (for among other things the most meticulous paint job anyone had ever seen). It was built with classic hand-crafted design principles including wood, steel, plastic, and bondo. Translating those features into 3D is a very real challenge.
Many times in this project I've thought "I certainly wouldn't design it like this if I were making something of my own". Upon reflection I have realized that I absolutely SHOULD design like this! A convincing model needs to be built like a real-world object and not like something designed to conform to the limitations of the platform that generated it. To use the software effectively, we have to learn how to bend it to our will and not the other way around
I never should have let my insecurity keep me from tackling this project. I would have finished in a tenth the time if I were using my familiar 3D platform however, all things considered, it was an inspired (if masochistic) choice for learning Blender from scratch.
Now that I'm so close to finishing, I cannot wait to actually DO something with her!
I made what I think was a pretty poor decision on how to do the UV mapping for this section and I ended up paying for it with a LOT more work in Illustrator to make the pieces line up correctly. I'm having some trouble with setting selective levels of gloss but I'll be doing some additional tutorials shortly that I think will help bridge that divide.
Despite my err in UV unwrapping, I'm pretty happy with the overall textures and the values in the shader. I'll definitely be lightening the shader for the outermost ring of the navigational deflector now that I can see it contrasted with some of the engineering hull.
And it's been quite a while since I posted a progress animation. Fortunately this process was straight-forward enough that I could have a decent collection of samples.
Just out of curiosity, how did you map it?
For the primary pattern, I used a view-projection UV map from the top perspective. The tapered cylinder of the hull resulted in a LOT of smearing with regards to any straight lines that run along the mid-line. I think I should have opted for a view-projection from a view oriented along the tangent to the section. It would have resulted in a lot less distortion than what I had this time. By the time I came to this conclusion I was pretty invested in the Illustrator work I had already done and didn't feel comfortable backing out.
Probably best not to get too emotionally attached to a flawed texture. Were a professional doing this project, I'm confident that the texture would have been flushed the moment the flaws in the UV choice became apparent :rolleyes:
I don't doubt it! Some of the Intrepid hull contours are an amazing pain in the butt. It definitely is a relief to my bruised ego to learn that the pros can have the same problems. Thanks!
I'm quite happy with the effect I've achieved. The shader appears a mottled white when viewed under direct illumination but it has hints of that elusive opalescence when viewed obliquely. I'm quite eager to see it applied to the rest of the engineering hull!
The red I'm using for the striping and the airlock indicators is a little too 'race car' for the venerable Enterprise. I'll be toning it down during my shader tuning pass once the initial shading has been completed.
I'm almost certainly going to be toning down the white of the shader. It took me so long to get something to turn out a convincing white that now I find I almost cannot water it down
Direct lighting
Oblique lighting
The paneling looks good. :thumb:
Thanks!
White she was, though I think I may have overdone it just a touch. After the first pass I'll be putting her under some different light rigs to get an idea of how best to balance the colors.
Until then, I'm fairly certain I've overdone the whitening
Upper aft engineering hull
[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YQ0mOHbhTr8/VLtdZK89o1I/AAAAAAAAY5g/dUciw0061-M/w960-h540-no/Constitution_Refit_833_023.png[/IMG]
Lower mid-section
Wait for more. :thumb:
The aft and ventral sections of the engineering hull have been textured. Along the way I've worked out how to more efficiently handle the shading so my workflow is now roughly 100 times easier and faster.
I'm going to complete this texturing pass before I go back and re-shade the saucer and neck/ridge. It's all coming together and I couldn't be more pleased with how she looks so far.
Thank you all for your feedback!
You can see here the difference between the old and new shaders. Once the pylons and nacelles are completed I'll be revisiting these parts and laying down some new shading to make them match.
Yes, and I think (maybe?) the first Blender one.
Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12GB
1TB NVMe SSD, 2 x 1GB SATA SSD, 4TB external HDD
32 GB RAM
Windows 11 Pro
Warp pylons are done. Warp nacelle shading starts tomorrow evening.
The pattern of the tiles on this section has to be the single most challenging thing I've done in Illustrator to date. The pattern is composed of three different shades, repeated in an elaborate pattern along the length. It took 2.5 days and 3 tries to get it 'right'.
The spine, neck, impulse deck, and saucer are all hidden for this render. I may end up re-tuning the shaders on the panels along the middle of the pylons. They're close to what I want but still a little off. More work for the final tuning of the shaders.
Knowing that the tiling on the nacelles are almost equally elaborate makes me a bit trepidatious about this next step.
:thumb:
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
I think the real credit goes to Matt Jefferies, Richard Taylor, and Andrew Probert. Their vision culminated in this wonderful design have fired many of our imaginations. I'm almost giddy at the prospect of seeing her on new adventures!
Every day I get a little closer to finishing the exterior. Lots of fine tuning to do yet but I never seem to fatigue when I'm working on her.
One huge challenge just appeared on the horizon. Gearbox has announced the re-issue of the Homeworld series and I'm likely to lose more than a little bit of my spare time getting sucked into an old addiction of mine. That means I have only a month before my time grows even more precious
The nacelles are about 1/3 of the way through (provided I don't re-mesh the grill, which is still a real possibility). I hope to have something to post tomorrow.
Not to threadjack, but I just put in my pre-order for it. Not only is it a reissue, but both Homeworld 1 and 2 have been completely remastered with updated graphics, remastered and re-recorded sound, including getting the original voice actors for Fleet Intelligence and Fleet Command (Karan S'Jet). I've been drooling over this since I first heard about it over a year ago, and was unfortunately out of work (and money) when the collector's version went on pre-sale. That version included a LED-lit 12" banana mothership (the Pride of Hiigara from HW2) display model.
I wish I'd known about the collector's edition! Oh well, at least we're finally getting a refresh. I guess I can't complain too much.
First pass for shaders is now complete. The difference in the original hull shader and the one I developed on the engineering hull is quite apparent in the new renders. This week I'll be working on retooling the old shaders to better blend with the new.
I'm pretty happy with how she's shaping up. Lighting the windows, the VIP deck and the shuttle bay are the last steps.
It's going to be interesting cramming the final details into the model. As it stands I'm taxing my laptop to it's limit just to do these renders. Regrettably I'm using a 560M gpu, which is not terribly effective for Blender. As a result I've been using CPU exclusively and that's definitely slowing me down. A new GPU for my desktop rig is in my future IF and only if I complete this project. Fortunately for me I'm invested enough in this project that a carrot isn't what's driving me forward each night.
Depends on the laptop, actually, which surprised the hell out of me. My ASUS ROG laptop is almost as powerful as my desktop. GPU's only a little behind it, and the laptop itself actually has more RAM. So, all depends on what your hardware is. In general, laptops aren't going to come anywhere near desktops, for sure, but there are some out there that can leave many desktops in the dust.
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog