I'm glad someone else commented on the "that's a LOT of guns" issue. This is a carrier, it's main armament is its strike wing. It's primary defense is its strike wing and escorts. It's WAAAAAAAY too over-gunned (and the guns are too flippin big) for what it's purpose is.
Consider the NuBSG Galactica, for example. It had a total of eight twin-barrel rail guns as it's primary batteries, and their main job was fire-suppression, NOT anti-ship (though they did that too, when called upon). Yes, it had oodles of multi-barrelled flak/gatling defense guns stuck between the ribs, but while there were a lot of them they were also TINY on the scale of the ship.
This thing, while nicely modeled (lots of clean lines) is carrying battleship main guns (at least twelve turrets of them that I can count, including the ones underneath) plus a silly number of box missile turrets and over-sized defense guns. If this thing is 1.5 miles long, those turrets are way out of scale.
All that said, the model is well done (clean, no errors that my untrained eye can spot ... but, then, I'm a fan not even a hobbiest at CG) and, ultimately, she's your baby. But, there is a pretty serious problem with form over function here.
You know I have been posting on these forums since way back in the days of scifi-art.com say circa 1996 and the rule whether written or unwritten on every site was if you're going to offer criticism do it constructively and politely so as to help and not offend or insult. You may want to keep that in mind when you comment on someone's work that they have literally spent months designing and building.
Don't you think it's more than a little presumptuous on your part to state the purpose of my ship from my novel having not read said novel? Or to speak to its armament and defenses without knowing anything about the ship, what it was designed for or the story it takes part in?
Case in point this is a BATTLE CARRIER not an aircraft carrier, the difference being this is a cross between a battleship and an aircraft carrier in the form of a space ship, hence the big guns. Its design allows it to go out into space without escort if needed and defend itself against pretty much anything it runs into. As the designer my train of thought was it's better to have too many guns than not enough when you are light years from home, alone and under attack. The guns are big to defend against alien ships that are equally as big or bigger. Yes the guns are much bigger comparably than what we have today, but you're comparing projectile weapons to energy weapons and whose to say you can't make huge energy weapons that can cause some serious damage to a ship in just a few shots instead of tiny little weapons like on the Galactica or on a Star Destroyer where they can shoot all day and barely cause any damage to the enemy vessels? You may think my design is silly and that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that it is silly to build huge ships like the Galactica and a Star Destroyer with just a few tiny little guns sparsely spread over the hull, I mean if you're building a huge warship shouldn't you give it some teeth? Also when someone builds a model and posts their work on this site whether it's an original design or a reproduction I don't jump all over them for the design if they didn't build it the way I would build it or if their modeling talents aren't perfect. It's their design and I respect their creativity. Not being a 3D modeler you may not realize that form and function is not the most important consideration to us, a lot of what we do is just for the visual and to express our creativity.
In closing I will thank you for the compliment on the modeling, at least you found something positive about my ship.
Why are your reactors exposed like that? Those are the heart of your ship, and they are fully exposed to space. After the ridiculous number of turrets you piled onto the island structure you then left the reactors exposed. Also, why place them under a clear dome?
That was done purely for a visual effect and to add detail to a large blank area. Some things in 3D modeling are done for effect and may stray from normal thinking. Not to worry though they are well protected. That's not glass afterall, it's a transparent composite that is really thick and strong. They will also be protected with extra shielding and EVEN MORE GUNS!
Um, so you are breaking Relativity, or using some kind of warp/alcubierre drive? Or are you just assuming that C is not the universal speed limit despite all the science behind it?
No, just avoiding the tech trap like Star Trek fell into. I don't explain how it works. I just state the speed and the reader accepts that we have tech that allows it to happen. I do explain that it was developed with the help of a more advanced alien race that we encountered when we first went out into space.
Okay, so I am going to call the modeling finished. I could keep adding little details to the bottom of the hull, but I need to cut this off and get my book cover done. Next week I will add some textures and the special effects needed to produce the image for my book cover.
Does anyone know of a good tutorial online to make nice engine glows? I found a few on YouTube, but they aren't what I want. I tried assigning a lens effects glow to an omni light inside the engine and it looked okay when I first set it up, but when you zoom out the glow gets bigger and swallows half the ship and I can't find a setting to constrain its size when you zoom out.
Thanks to some awesome suggestions from MadKoiFish I came up with an engine glow and thrust solution that I'm pretty happy with. I am going to see if I can tweak it just a little bit, maybe make it a bit bigger, play around with a few settings here and there. Each engine has two lights in it. An Omni and a spot light with volumetrics. Thanks MadKoiFish!
I am looking forward to book as well. I have 1 Small subjection if your speed is really that realm , why not make it a "SPACE FOLD" system? your distribution of Mass is something that NASA, has deemed Sound!
But that just a subjection , it 's your idea! Really nice work again!!!:thumb:
I am looking forward to book as well. I have 1 Small subjection if your speed is really that realm , why not make it a "SPACE FOLD" system? your distribution of Mass is something that NASA, has deemed Sound!
But that just a subjection , it 's your idea! Really nice work again!!!:thumb:
Thanks Darkone! I'll be back to working on the lighting and effects tomorrow so I will most likely post more pics tomorrow afternoon.
I have started the lighting and texturing - definitely been a learning experience for me. The UVW Unwrap is well... interesting to say the least. I'm getting the hang of it, but it's difficult to line everything up perfectly. Am I missing something that makes it easy? Is there an auto-resize button or an auto-align button?
Hey there! The Textools plugin might offer some help. I love the model so far.
Thanks InfinitySquared! I will check out the textools plugin.
I got frustrated with the UVW UNWRAP and creating the texture maps so I took a break and played around with the lighting, the engine glows and the glass domes on the bottom. I also added a plaque and stripes that indicate this carrier is the home of my favorite squadron, The Jolly Rogers - VF103. I really need to get this damned carrier finished so I can move on to the main cruiser in the novel and then I can finish the cover art and publish the book. :argh:
I like the cover a lot. It's very Sci-Fi looking with lots of pretty colors and celestial bodies impossibly close to one another.
Thanks very much!
I know what you mean about the celestial bodies being close together, but it just looks so cool!
I still remember the first time I watched the movie Pitch Black when the ringed planet rose and blacked out the planet the ship crashed on - looked so very frickin cool!
Oh yeah. I totally agree with you. With Sci-Fi, you tend to want to stretch the limits of what is realistically possible and go more to the side of what just looks cooler. And, with a book cover, you definitely want something that grabs the eye, which is just what that does.
I definitely agree about Pitch Black. As impossible as it is, that's still a great film and a visually stunning effect.
I like your Carrior However there's something MISSING! Planes, Jets, helicopters or whatever. I really , really like what you got going please give the same attention to support craft! and way to go on your fine ship!
nonsense! that orbital arrangement is entirely possible - the planet in the foreground just needs to be a moon of the ringed planet and the ship is in close orbit of that moon the other moon size and position is hard to determine could be a large moon on the far side of the ringed planet or a small one close up
the ship is looking cool - i originally had some reservations about it in terms of design philosophy - but seeing it textured and lit properly it looks properly sci-fi and very book covery my only suggestions are the rocket exhausts - yellow makes me think chemical rocket which i'm assuming this isn't supposed to be - always like blue exhausts personally - and as darkone said - get some other craft on the landing deck or something to bring it to life as a carrier
ps. on a side note the name of the novel - the first part.. tactical advantage is good but would make a better secondary title - and your secondary title the ore from trynx 3 - doesn't sound good - cant really suggest titles as i have no idea what its about - but should be blah blah: tactical advantage
Thanks guys!
Yeah I was thinking I should have put some fighters landing in the rear bay and taking off from the front bays in the middle of the flight deck.
Maybe a few flying escort beside the carrier.
I just didn't want to delay publishing the book any further as the carrier took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would.
Maybe I will look around and see if I can find a model of a cool fighter that is a public domain free download and throw a few of them in the scene.
Or if someone on this forum would like to volunteer a model they have built I would be happy to look at it and give you credit on the copyright page.
I have always pictured the fighter as a space age futuristic version of an F-14 Tomcat - you know twin tails, twin engines, sleek and deadly.
As for the title, Tactical Advantage is the title of the book series and then The Ore From Trynx 3 is at the center of the main plot of the book.
You see there is a special property to this ore that...
Oh wait - read the book if you want to find out.
LOL!
Since I am going through cover changes right now with the new publisher I have been in discussion with the artist, and asked what they thought of yours.
#1 The font blends far too much with the starburst making it unreadable. A great way to test this is to look at the image in B&W and look at the contrast. Also the open font will be hard to read in a kindle thumbnail. Recommendation: Make it a solid font of a different color with a high contrast to the background.
#2 The image is sterile, there is little to no action beyond just the ship flying through space. The addition of explosion effects, other craft, some sense of speed , etc... At the same time the image is too busy, the deck texture is almost distracting and all the planets in view make adding any additional elements hard, as well as confuse the lighting/shadows.
#3 You don't need to say "A Science Fiction Novel By" Just put the author's name, the cover makes it obvious that this is Sci-Fi.
#4 The title. She doesn't care for the title, it doesn't grab the audience and feels more like "an rpg supplement title."
Final thoughts, Look at the Image in B&W as a thumbnail, how does it look to you? Is the text legible? Can you make out the individual elements without them looking too busy?
Posts
Consider the NuBSG Galactica, for example. It had a total of eight twin-barrel rail guns as it's primary batteries, and their main job was fire-suppression, NOT anti-ship (though they did that too, when called upon). Yes, it had oodles of multi-barrelled flak/gatling defense guns stuck between the ribs, but while there were a lot of them they were also TINY on the scale of the ship.
This thing, while nicely modeled (lots of clean lines) is carrying battleship main guns (at least twelve turrets of them that I can count, including the ones underneath) plus a silly number of box missile turrets and over-sized defense guns. If this thing is 1.5 miles long, those turrets are way out of scale.
All that said, the model is well done (clean, no errors that my untrained eye can spot ... but, then, I'm a fan not even a hobbiest at CG) and, ultimately, she's your baby. But, there is a pretty serious problem with form over function here.
You know I have been posting on these forums since way back in the days of scifi-art.com say circa 1996 and the rule whether written or unwritten on every site was if you're going to offer criticism do it constructively and politely so as to help and not offend or insult. You may want to keep that in mind when you comment on someone's work that they have literally spent months designing and building.
Don't you think it's more than a little presumptuous on your part to state the purpose of my ship from my novel having not read said novel? Or to speak to its armament and defenses without knowing anything about the ship, what it was designed for or the story it takes part in?
Case in point this is a BATTLE CARRIER not an aircraft carrier, the difference being this is a cross between a battleship and an aircraft carrier in the form of a space ship, hence the big guns. Its design allows it to go out into space without escort if needed and defend itself against pretty much anything it runs into. As the designer my train of thought was it's better to have too many guns than not enough when you are light years from home, alone and under attack. The guns are big to defend against alien ships that are equally as big or bigger. Yes the guns are much bigger comparably than what we have today, but you're comparing projectile weapons to energy weapons and whose to say you can't make huge energy weapons that can cause some serious damage to a ship in just a few shots instead of tiny little weapons like on the Galactica or on a Star Destroyer where they can shoot all day and barely cause any damage to the enemy vessels? You may think my design is silly and that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that it is silly to build huge ships like the Galactica and a Star Destroyer with just a few tiny little guns sparsely spread over the hull, I mean if you're building a huge warship shouldn't you give it some teeth? Also when someone builds a model and posts their work on this site whether it's an original design or a reproduction I don't jump all over them for the design if they didn't build it the way I would build it or if their modeling talents aren't perfect. It's their design and I respect their creativity. Not being a 3D modeler you may not realize that form and function is not the most important consideration to us, a lot of what we do is just for the visual and to express our creativity.
In closing I will thank you for the compliment on the modeling, at least you found something positive about my ship.
That was done purely for a visual effect and to add detail to a large blank area. Some things in 3D modeling are done for effect and may stray from normal thinking. Not to worry though they are well protected. That's not glass afterall, it's a transparent composite that is really thick and strong. They will also be protected with extra shielding and EVEN MORE GUNS!
No, just avoiding the tech trap like Star Trek fell into. I don't explain how it works. I just state the speed and the reader accepts that we have tech that allows it to happen. I do explain that it was developed with the help of a more advanced alien race that we encountered when we first went out into space.
I am looking forward to book as well. I have 1 Small subjection if your speed is really that realm , why not make it a "SPACE FOLD" system? your distribution of Mass is something that NASA, has deemed Sound!
But that just a subjection , it 's your idea! Really nice work again!!!:thumb:
Thanks Darkone! I'll be back to working on the lighting and effects tomorrow so I will most likely post more pics tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks InfinitySquared! I will check out the textools plugin.
I got frustrated with the UVW UNWRAP and creating the texture maps so I took a break and played around with the lighting, the engine glows and the glass domes on the bottom. I also added a plaque and stripes that indicate this carrier is the home of my favorite squadron, The Jolly Rogers - VF103. I really need to get this damned carrier finished so I can move on to the main cruiser in the novel and then I can finish the cover art and publish the book. :argh:
Thank you sir!
Thanks very much!
I know what you mean about the celestial bodies being close together, but it just looks so cool!
I still remember the first time I watched the movie Pitch Black when the ringed planet rose and blacked out the planet the ship crashed on - looked so very frickin cool!
I definitely agree about Pitch Black. As impossible as it is, that's still a great film and a visually stunning effect.
the ship is looking cool - i originally had some reservations about it in terms of design philosophy - but seeing it textured and lit properly it looks properly sci-fi and very book covery
ps. on a side note the name of the novel - the first part.. tactical advantage is good but would make a better secondary title - and your secondary title the ore from trynx 3 - doesn't sound good - cant really suggest titles as i have no idea what its about - but should be blah blah: tactical advantage
Yeah I was thinking I should have put some fighters landing in the rear bay and taking off from the front bays in the middle of the flight deck.
Maybe a few flying escort beside the carrier.
I just didn't want to delay publishing the book any further as the carrier took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would.
Maybe I will look around and see if I can find a model of a cool fighter that is a public domain free download and throw a few of them in the scene.
Or if someone on this forum would like to volunteer a model they have built I would be happy to look at it and give you credit on the copyright page.
I have always pictured the fighter as a space age futuristic version of an F-14 Tomcat - you know twin tails, twin engines, sleek and deadly.
As for the title, Tactical Advantage is the title of the book series and then The Ore From Trynx 3 is at the center of the main plot of the book.
You see there is a special property to this ore that...
Oh wait - read the book if you want to find out.
LOL!
#1 The font blends far too much with the starburst making it unreadable. A great way to test this is to look at the image in B&W and look at the contrast. Also the open font will be hard to read in a kindle thumbnail. Recommendation: Make it a solid font of a different color with a high contrast to the background.
#2 The image is sterile, there is little to no action beyond just the ship flying through space. The addition of explosion effects, other craft, some sense of speed , etc... At the same time the image is too busy, the deck texture is almost distracting and all the planets in view make adding any additional elements hard, as well as confuse the lighting/shadows.
#3 You don't need to say "A Science Fiction Novel By" Just put the author's name, the cover makes it obvious that this is Sci-Fi.
#4 The title. She doesn't care for the title, it doesn't grab the audience and feels more like "an rpg supplement title."
Final thoughts, Look at the Image in B&W as a thumbnail, how does it look to you? Is the text legible? Can you make out the individual elements without them looking too busy?