Not much of a update but I think everything is near where I was at short of the panel lines being extruded out. Been spending time playing with a new mini keypad to replace my fing annoying cintiq expresskey remote. That and dealing with a red rated hdd that is archiving my stored 3d stuff, resources and application clones. YAY, least I got 76K hours out of it vs newer hdds which fail in 10k hours. So yeah, archiving 2tb of stuff on multiple older drives.
Yeah, I'm thinking of a flush system that uses water (or something else not explosive) pumped into the lines to flush them out. Though, on a space ship, it would probably be more like an inert gas. But, it would have to be stored on the ship in tanks to make sure it was on hand.
Though, upon further reflection, the intakes could be used to refill the tanks, much like the bussard collectors are used to refill the deuterium tanks. So, as loophole suggested, they probably would perform a function similar to the bussards. I never really thought of it that way before, but it could work.
Not sure if it counts for much but all the panels are properly inset with patterning on and some decals and unique uvws per panel. All the grids are one piece now merged in etc.
Spent more time messing with that mini macro pad instead and cleaning cat barf. Decided to stick labels on it as I kept forgetting what did what. Plan to order some relegendable keycaps or get more DSA caps in various colors. Not sure how useful it can be in max as I still need the num pad but I could map it to that and still have 11 keys to use for other things. . . . . . It is mostly for SAI/Clip studio where I use hotkeys vs onscreen elements and do not need the numpad if at all.
Oi fish always fantastic. Any plans to revisit the ole battleship Yamato? I often wonder if a render farm is worth the investment? What do you think. It would help yes or no, with render times I mean. And Um were be the mango sketches lately bud? just sayin
When I had multiple systems hooked up it did help some. Likely depends on the software version and your network. I hear that as you add systems the gains half each time. But max has distributed bucket and something called afterburner. I never used afterburner because I had to have exact folder clones local to each system on the farm. The inconvenience of running off WIP renders was not worth the hassle of set up. KIM I only did this as per frame renders vs animation. I think afterburner is more geared towards that. Performance wise I cannot claim a 2X increase but maybe if a render took say 60min it would drop by 1/4 for adding on one system, each system after would have diminishing returns. I never had cloned systems all my farm systems were always inferior to the main pc as they were all older systems I have doing other things in the house.
Distro bucket which I have used only requires a local copy and installed versions of the software per system so it is easier to push. The issue is if you have a packet error over the network it can crash the render or the session. It is one reason I gave it up and the fact some times those systems were in use and when max running mental ray kicks in that system is useless for anything else.
So, I would say if you have idle hdw laying about that is halfway decent go for it. If you can afford to set it up as a switch network only (no hubs they create too many "collisions") with no internet even better. I dunno if it is worth spending on as a from scratch investment. Depends if your looking to use it for earning wage or just as a hobby.
I can only comment on 3dsmax and what I had as options on my versions. using 2013 atm so anything after that I have not tried. Also other packages offer differing performance gains or schemes, like using multiple gpus etc.
Drawing, I sorta quit it. (yes, I did just buy that macro keyboard) I have not had the drive lately to do anything. I might start up painting again but eh dunno.
Weebs over at 4chan say mangos and use horrid grammar like animes. Only go there if I need reference images.
Yamato, I have been thinking about that model off and on. I fear most is opening it and getting ill from looking at the wireframes, then junking it all and starting over. . . . . heh 2200 just finished a few months ago, which did little to push me to do anything with the mesh. (bit disappointing in terms of quality and story)
Small updates for now as per usual. . . . some decals on the rail, and redoing that tongue thing as I just did not get why I originally modeled it rounded off. Adding in a more angular one and plan to blend it in more with the hard angled bits along the rails length. The orange pad things will return along with all the lost decals they had.
Spent too much time dealing with errors that pulling out that failing hdd caused, as it had my archived 3d files apparently max keep referencing all those old projects even if the linked files are not in use and only local (to the project folder) file are used. This has always been a issue with max. It is better than before but still a headache.
Hrm, blegh not exactly what I was going after. And boy these renders are FFFFF long. Gonna need to ramp down some settings. Ignore the red freakout on the saucer the bussard guts are exposed atm as I did not unhide the domes as even off screen the lag renders.
yes has some mesh errors that got fixed.
heh need to delete or remember to move the blasted window cutters. Speaking of which it is probably the next chore on the list to do all those lower saucer windows EUGH. Think it is like 120 of the smeging things.
I also really gotta figure out why the hell max is giving me map errors for like every bitmap I had in my archive dir on the removed hdd when nothing in this project refers to these maps. I mean some are calling back to hairmaps on something I have not touched in 14years. . . . . . -_-. And it is not even a valid path related to this computer but one 4 computers back and a hdd that died a long LONG time ago. lol
More work on that center bit, some mechy looking decals loads of little lights and I think better integration of the part. Have a bit more work to do with that as well as adding a few more decals on the main channel I also placed some more windows on the hull to replace the relocated docking port.
Messing around with ribs in the deflector area. Dunno if I will go with it or not. One has the same copper in other has that orange paint stuff on instead. in order to even out the blue glow I might cheat and do a diffuse lens with the backing mesh and have the light seep through that vs reflecting off the metallic surfaces. Drawback of the shape I formed is matching it with even strips does not work all that well.
Central dish material needs help too, it's to peachy.
OK, a redo as the other was defective dunno what I was thinking on them but the sides were all defective. All from last night as I was unwilling to wait for the render to complete.
I decided to source the greebes from my Oni scenes and did not realize the difference in size between these. As some of the smaller sensor pits just looked HUGE when I looked at them compared to where I thought to put them.
If there was not so much work tied into this every time i look at it without the nacelles I think the back half is way too small.
I know more of the stupid deflector ribs. I have adjusted them to now have such a deep side and messed about with other bits here and there. Will be collapsing the central dish sometime to add detail to that unless I map it on. That was an option for the ribs but I felt this would define it more like the VOY had.
Also a rough out for sensor things. Debating which ones I will go with. Rendered are ones in a cradle, not shown are guts similar without the channel. I might have to redo all the materials though as this is from a old mesh.
I actually really like how small the secondary hull is, it makes this a very unique design. Plus it makes this a possible evolution of the usual "saucer + nacelles" designs like the Miranda. providing just as little space as necessary for engineering stuff on the secondary hull, while leaving most of the stuff that's usually located there but doesn't need to be (like shuttle bays and cargo bays) on the saucer.
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
Well this ship almost everything in that blister is just labs deflector control and surfaces for shield emitters for the lower surfaces. Warp core is more in the neck just forward of the lower "secondary" hull. Core ejects out the topside of the spine.
It is between those aft facing rooms.
Anyhow most of the issue is not interior volume or locations of internals but just overall balance.
Small updates as per usual here. . . . Placed the no frame greebes in. I think this looks better. And god I hate splines cannot tell what the FUQ they will do cant pre-align or pre plan how getting these sensor junk to follow a spline pulled off the hull will go but it always goes the wrong way and in a fashion that is impossible to work with. Still ended up eyeballing the junk in that hole.
Also cut more panels in but need to alter the materials as that opal chrome w/e one makes it fuzz into a thin white line. A few other things here and there.
Decided I should maybe cut in those lifeboat inset things. I need to move some things around like that bridges platform as it is intersecting. ATM it is just a rounded box that I need to decide what details I want to stick onto it.
First a full ship render form last night. Actually oops, one that was suppose to be attached to the last post! derp.
full ship
While I'm no fan of the design, the level of detail is absolutely stunning. What you're doing with this ship, would've been considered wasteful and pointless in Star Trek games. But, you truly bring the design to life with your focus on detail.
Looking at just your deflector images alone, is inspiring enough for me to consider redoing the deflector on the Poseidon Class. I realize just how under detailed I made it.
Questions: How did you get the ribbing on the deflector? Extrusions? And what color are you using for the metal portions of the deflector?
The ribs are a separate subdiv shape to match the scoop of the deflector base with some slight changes to create the depth. I still botched it some as I had to later deform the mesh a bit to even out the depth. I made sure to get even distribution of edges on so I could use those to build from. I am doing it this way mostly because I had not planned on modeling in the shapes or putting ribs in there. Because of that I had not planned the I guess the word would be topology to work with extruding the form out of the existing material. A better longer way would be to model each one by hand to fit the area.
Maybe this wireframe can show it better. Pink thing is the subdiv mesh where I chose one out of every 5 edges I think to extrude from. Rest was basic box modeling stuff.
The surfacing on the deflector is multiple copperish materials while the backdrop is a dark redish material with a bit of gloss and reflection. Only metallic like materials are on the inner dishes and trimming. None of it really matches any known physical model images. (I lack any real non promo images of the entD prior to the repaint for Generations. EG all from the auction)
Stuff from last night as I wasn't willing to wait for the renders. Most of it is planning out the panels and some of them are extruded. Had to move some windows about as they fell on grid seams etc. The inner panels on that section of saucer might be yanked off as they really do not match up with any sort of division of existing panels. Sucks but eh, change of mind after I extruded em. I had planned to just do grid extrusions into the hull but as I extruded out panels on the top side of this saucer part I felt it should match. Given VOY and the SOV were all flat bottomed here and did all sort of odd things some of them ugly (those ribs never took to them) Oh and yes those panels will not be that gray color, likely they will be hull toned with a trim of another color. The material is there just to allow easy selection of those faces when I go to extrude em all vs having to manually select each polygon again.
@MadKoiFish Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! You've given me some kind of idea of what I can do to update/redo the Poseidon's deflector array. When I make some updates, would love to get your feedback!
Posts
Ah, a classic.
Though, upon further reflection, the intakes could be used to refill the tanks, much like the bussard collectors are used to refill the deuterium tanks. So, as loophole suggested, they probably would perform a function similar to the bussards. I never really thought of it that way before, but it could work.
Spent more time messing with that mini macro pad instead and cleaning cat barf. Decided to stick labels on it as I kept forgetting what did what. Plan to order some relegendable keycaps or get more DSA caps in various colors. Not sure how useful it can be in max as I still need the num pad but I could map it to that and still have 11 keys to use for other things. . . . . . It is mostly for SAI/Clip studio where I use hotkeys vs onscreen elements and do not need the numpad if at all.
mango? is that the right term??
Distro bucket which I have used only requires a local copy and installed versions of the software per system so it is easier to push. The issue is if you have a packet error over the network it can crash the render or the session. It is one reason I gave it up and the fact some times those systems were in use and when max running mental ray kicks in that system is useless for anything else.
So, I would say if you have idle hdw laying about that is halfway decent go for it. If you can afford to set it up as a switch network only (no hubs they create too many "collisions") with no internet even better. I dunno if it is worth spending on as a from scratch investment. Depends if your looking to use it for earning wage or just as a hobby.
I can only comment on 3dsmax and what I had as options on my versions. using 2013 atm so anything after that I have not tried. Also other packages offer differing performance gains or schemes, like using multiple gpus etc.
Drawing, I sorta quit it. (yes, I did just buy that macro keyboard) I have not had the drive lately to do anything. I might start up painting again but eh dunno.
Weebs over at 4chan say mangos and use horrid grammar like animes. Only go there if I need reference images.
Yamato, I have been thinking about that model off and on. I fear most is opening it and getting ill from looking at the wireframes, then junking it all and starting over. . . . . heh 2200 just finished a few months ago, which did little to push me to do anything with the mesh. (bit disappointing in terms of quality and story)
Spent too much time dealing with errors that pulling out that failing hdd caused, as it had my archived 3d files apparently max keep referencing all those old projects even if the linked files are not in use and only local (to the project folder) file are used. This has always been a issue with max. It is better than before but still a headache.
HDD had ADD
yes has some mesh errors that got fixed.
heh need to delete or remember to move the blasted window cutters. Speaking of which it is probably the next chore on the list to do all those lower saucer windows EUGH. Think it is like 120 of the smeging things.
I also really gotta figure out why the hell max is giving me map errors for like every bitmap I had in my archive dir on the removed hdd when nothing in this project refers to these maps. I mean some are calling back to hairmaps on something I have not touched in 14years. . . . . . -_-. And it is not even a valid path related to this computer but one 4 computers back and a hdd that died a long LONG time ago. lol
Those bitmap errors sound like a huge pain in the butt.
Central dish material needs help too, it's to peachy.
If there was not so much work tied into this every time i look at it without the nacelles I think the back half is way too small.
Also a rough out for sensor things. Debating which ones I will go with. Rendered are ones in a cradle, not shown are guts similar without the channel. I might have to redo all the materials though as this is from a old mesh.
It is between those aft facing rooms.
Anyhow most of the issue is not interior volume or locations of internals but just overall balance.
Also cut more panels in but need to alter the materials as that opal chrome w/e one makes it fuzz into a thin white line. A few other things here and there.
First a full ship render form last night. Actually oops, one that was suppose to be attached to the last post! derp.
full ship
The lifeboat things.
Looking at just your deflector images alone, is inspiring enough for me to consider redoing the deflector on the Poseidon Class. I realize just how under detailed I made it.
Questions: How did you get the ribbing on the deflector? Extrusions? And what color are you using for the metal portions of the deflector?
Maybe this wireframe can show it better. Pink thing is the subdiv mesh where I chose one out of every 5 edges I think to extrude from. Rest was basic box modeling stuff.
The surfacing on the deflector is multiple copperish materials while the backdrop is a dark redish material with a bit of gloss and reflection. Only metallic like materials are on the inner dishes and trimming. None of it really matches any known physical model images. (I lack any real non promo images of the entD prior to the repaint for Generations. EG all from the auction)