3DSpaceship "Electra" by I14R10

I14R10

Hi Everyone

This is spaceship "Electra" (maybe? the name is also WIP) designed by me. For some time I wanted to design entire spaceship and this is the result. I have a short story behind this spaceship, but it's only bunch of ideas that need to be put together in a more complete story.

This is basic story.

('420 years from today, fractures in space time are discovered in Alfa Centaury system. Later that same year they are discovered in Epsilon Eridani star system too. 1 year later they are discovered in Earth system. Normal matter can't fall into the fracture because of repulsive force from the fracture. But they have some other effect that is discovered later and it's a big danger to our universe. This ship is sent to investigate the fractures and see if they can be closed.
That's all folks for now! Let's go to the art.

I'm working in blender. Cycles renderer is used for rendering images.


I had about 20 different ideas for the spaceship and I liked this one the most of all.
I currently have basic structure and looks of 5 rooms in the spaceship. And I have two types of corridors. This is the first one


This is the second one. This one needs more work


I have 5 rooms that are early in the design phase. Engineering is one of them, but it's a bit more developed than the others


It's not a lot, but it's something. I should make more visible progress when I am done placing the corridors. There's not point in showing concept art that is not even half developed.

evil_genius_180

I like the exterior of the ship. However, the corridors look a lot like the ones in the Enterprise-D on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I14R10

evil_genius_180 wrote: »

However, the corridors look a lot like the ones in the Enterprise-D on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Is that good or bad? But honestly, I don't see much resemblance although I do draw inspiration from Star Trek design.

I'll think about designing another more different corridor.

evil_genius_180

I didn't say it was exactly the same, but it is similar. Let's use some better screen shots, for one thing. I headed over to TrekCore and grabbed some HD screen shots from The Game, a season five episode that I knew had at least one chase through the corridors.





Your corridor ideas have a similar layout and overall look. You have lights along the base boards and ceiling in similar patterns. You even have the shiny black panels. (LCARs displays on Star Trek) Your color pallet is similar. At the very least, it looks like the inside of a Starfleet facility or ship.

Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you. If you want it to look similar to Star Trek, then you're fine. You certainly wouldn't be the first person to draw inspiration from Star Trek in their own non-Trek universe stuff. However, if you want your stuff to stand on its own, then it's a bad thing.

I14R10

Well, for sure I like Star Trek and I like the colors from TNG sets. I didn't notice that they are alike, but now I do when you pointed it out. But I'm not sure if what I want. I will continue working on this and see how other interiors turn out.

I14R10

I took your advice and tried to get away from Star Trek-ish look. This is a bit darker, more 2001 Space Odyssey- look. I kept the colors the same, I like them, but I think that this time it doesn't look that much like star trek. Ignore the wooden buklheads, they will change. They are wooden for now.

evil_genius_180

Very nice. It definitely doesn't look Trek anymore.

I14R10

Thanks. That's why I like to post on these kind of forums early during modeling. You can get good feedback about your work. I like the new corridor better than old ones now.

psCargile

The wood is a nice aeststic, though, and there is always a possibility of biology mimicking composite materials that have a wood look, but are more stronger than steel.

The ship design is nice too.

I14R10

yes, I thought about that. Maybe I'll do it that way.

Samurai

Nice evolution in the design of the corridor- my first thought was that the interior and exterior didn't necessarily "match up", from a design aesthetic standpoint, but your most recent revision keys more closely to that.

I'd suggest one reason for the TNG Trek comparisons could be the colour palette you've used, as that's what stood out to me, more than a specific "that looks like..." sensation. TNG interiors are a product of their era, but also very much reflect the philosophy of the ship as not being truly "military" by making concessions to home comforts. Colours and materials are one aspect of this, but also the spacious nature of them versus a traditional militaristic vessel. Consider the differences you see between colours and materials between a military ship versus a ferry or cruise liner, and that may help you continue to create a unique "identity" for your design and story.

I14R10

Thanks for your comments. They are most appreciated. Here are my latest renders. They may be a bit too dark. I don't have a very good monitor so I just rendered it that it looks nice on my monitor and don't know about the others. I'll render it later with wooden surfaces, and I'll be done with the corridors for now. I have to start on the engineering.

Samurai

They are a touch dark, but OK for their WIP-state.

I14R10

Samurai wrote: »

They are a touch dark, but OK for their WIP-state.

Harder for alien to see you while he chases you through the corridors

Samurai

You forgot the Inconvenient Steam Vents (TM) to further obscure and frustrate people during running battles. :shiner:

I14R10

One very very early render of engineering. Or should we call it reactor room to get away from Star Trek terminology?

I14R10

Just checking the general layout of the room

I14R10

Playing around with some ideas for reactor

evil_genius_180

I like the direction you're going with this. I especially like the lighting in that last image.

I14R10

Thanks evil genius!
This is another idea for the reactor. This one is more "technical", the first one is more "magical". Or something like that. I don't know what I'm talking about anyway

evil_genius_180

I like the magical one better, though both look good.

I14R10

How about the name of the ship? I don't like Electra, I only put it because it was the first thing on my mind. Anybody got some ancient words that sound great? I'll have to watch Stargate SG-1 again. They have a lot of ancient words there.

Samurai

Good question! Perhaps it would be helpful if you were able to share a bit more about your vision for the ship?

I14R10 wrote:

This ship is sent to investigate the fractures and see if they can be closed

I'm guessing from this line in your earlier description that it's some form of science/research vessel? I'm also guessing that it's "human" in origin (if not necessarily entirely in crew...) If so, you could consider "historical" equivalents and get some ideas from current research vessels. I can't speak for everywhere else, but in the UK these tend to be named for explorers, or related in some way to their role (for example, "HMS Echo" is a hydrographic survey ship), so you could go with "Magellan", "Watcher", "Endeavour" etc'...

I14R10

In my universe there are no aliens. Of course, signals had been received from distant civilizations, and they probably discovered our transmissions, but no communication was ever established. We have mapped nearest 50 light years, but that's all. We have colonized few closest star systems.

Yes, this ship is science research ship. Currently about 180m long with yet undetermined number of crew. Somewhere around 20-30 probably.

I would like to use a name that's not that familiar like Endeavour. Magellan could be a candidate though.

I14R10

Playing with lighting

I14R10

Couple new renders. You can see some new stuff added in the reactor chamber on the bottom part of the image. They serve to control the reaction in the reactor.
Reactor chamber is spherical area that surrounds the reactor.



I am really looking forward to completing this concept phase and start adding stuff that makes renders more real - normal maps and small scratches, IES lights, few stuf in the post production... This time I am hoping on rendering a short animation. Got to keep my room warm
I have some nice ideas about animating reactor, but I'll keep that a small secret until I do it.

This is another render with different bulkhead color and slightly brighter lights


I am thinking of buying Vray for blender in order to have higher render quality. Cycles is fine renderer, but Vray really does it more professionally, with less noise.

evil_genius_180

I really like how this is shaping up.

I14R10

I am considering making a walkthrough in Unity for Oculus rift. Nothing fancy.
I inspected it in Oculus Rift myself and it just looks massive and big. That's great since that's what I wanted.

And how about the name Solus? It's latin word meaning alone, only, the only. Which really goes with the general idea of this ship. And my universe.

I14R10

Mostly playing with lighting

Samurai

I like the name Solus- works well (from what we know so far).

Looking forward to seeing more of how the internals of the ship marry together to form a deck plan- will help to give more insight into the purpose of the craft.

I14R10

I'm going to give deck plans out soon. They are half finished right now.