Greetings!

Welcome to Scifi-Meshes.com! Click one of these buttons to join in on the fun.

3DSmithsonian USS Enterprise Challenge

scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
I was given a challenge by Adam 'Mojo' Lebowitz, can I make my tutorial USS Enterprise look more like the current state of the original 11 foot model at the Smithsonian Museum.

Here is what my tutorial Enterprise model looks like now.

mojoB01Credits.png
112765.jpg
Brandenbergshaved_ape
Tagged:

Posts

  • ChanurChanur191 53.33° N / 10.00° EPosts: 305Member
    Eyecandy!!! :)
  • The_meshmasterThe_meshmaster1 Posts: 0Member
    I have not heard of him for many years...he looked at some of my 3d work long ago...it was very positive feedback he gave me. Also, very cool work of the Ent...truly amazing...
  • trekkitrekki939 Posts: 1,394Member
    Very nice object. That's the best I've seen so far.
    Nice :thumb:
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    I have not heard of him for many years...he looked at some of my 3d work long ago...it was very positive feedback he gave me. Also, very cool work of the Ent...truly amazing...
    Wow, that's awesome! I also got a comment from Daren Dochterman who said that my Enterprise looked right to him!

    Thank you for the encouragement!
    Chanur wrote: »
    Eyecandy!!! :)
    Ha ha! Thank you!
    trekki wrote: »
    Very nice object. That's the best I've seen so far.
    Nice :thumb:
    Wow, thank you! That's high praise!
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Of course, with all the changes I've been making, I wondered what a straight render would look like, if you were to imitate one of the famous angles from the show. How would the effects look today, clear, no generational loss, and no loss of color.

    This sort of thing is always fun for me. I hope you enjoy!

    FamousAngleMojoShipAndStars01.jpg
    112782.jpg
    Brandenberg
  • MadKoiFishMadKoiFish9709 Posts: 5,302Member
    Liking that new surfacing on the deflector, and the tinted flare on those marker lights. Never agreed with the light bronze resto "dust" but I can see where it might have been that way on those viewmaster frames that are out there of the ship. I think if anything you just need to up the glossiness and bounce light off the bits of the ship to really match the resto images. If I remember things right they (the restoration team) said the ship was sealed with shellac (goop from a bugs butt) which would have left a really waxy like semi gloss or buff finish. Like old oil paint from the 60s It has that sheen you cannot get in modern enamels etc.
    Each day we draw closer to the end.
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Thank you, Madkoifish!

    I haven't changed much on the ship itself for this project. The deflector dish and its textures are new. I toned down some of the signage under the saucer hull, but all the "dust" and "space dirt" I have on my model is all fairly reflective of what was on there during production. It is WAY more pronounced with these renders, but then again, I'm not putting the images through a lot of desaturation and simulated film grain, so it shows up a lot more.

    Evil_Genius_180 said the same thing about the shine. I actually have more shine on this ship than I've ever used before, but I can increase it. Maybe turn up the light bounces a little? I might also have to model more items at the bottom of the display case and introduce more light sources that you can't directly see in the image, but are reflected on the model.

    Thank you for your help!

    MojoD01cCredits.jpg
    112785.jpg
    Brandenberg
  • MadKoiFishMadKoiFish9709 Posts: 5,302Member
    Yeah I found you have to have some environmental map to fake some of the look. I had at one time used a globe green/blue screen photo of a studio complete with people and clipboards. Probably be easiest to do vs setting up any sort of object/light rig.

    That photo you posted of the smith model in the same pose shows how the ships marker lights are reflecting or blooming across the hull.

    Looking at the attached image I am seeing some gloss kick just above that hardpoint thing. So I wonder if blender is ignoring your marker lights in the calculations. Might be a renderer not accepting the lum/emission materials and just marking them as black or as 0. Way to test is to make a chrome plane and see if it reflects the emissions materials. If not you would have to fake it or find a emission shader or something that will.

    As for the bounced light thing you might have to resort to high bounce numbers or using a environment map to add ambient light. I found depending on the renderer it can be done easily by increasing bounces in a roll out or more complicated like ramping up a setting elsewhere.

    Some times I think there might be something to how Doug did his where he modeled it EXACT to scale with the 11foot ship and set up his lights and scene to that scale.

    think this was the pic
    https://hips.hearstapps.com/pop.h-cdn.co/assets/16/26/4000x2666/gallery-1467144815-starshipenterprise.jpg?

    I think the only thing off is the amount of bronze gunge they have around the rim that is occluded by those hardpoints on the hull. Though I am not too keen on the smiths resto with the light grime in the sensor rings or whatever the deep grooves are in the lower saucer. Mine is probably more like the 90s resto as I really drab her down in post. I do like the idea of all the various shades of light on it and might do a refit later on. >_>

    A bit too much TOS though lately in my life atm tho.

    edit: oh HEY, did not know that image was so huge. Took off the php code on the end and boy those sensor rings are WOBBLY.
    Each day we draw closer to the end.
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    MadKoiFish wrote: »
    Yeah I found you have to have some environmental map to fake some of the look. I had at one time used a globe green/blue screen photo of a studio complete with people and clipboards. Probably be easiest to do vs setting up any sort of object/light rig.

    That photo you posted of the smith model in the same pose shows how the ships marker lights are reflecting or blooming across the hull.

    Looking at the attached image I am seeing some gloss kick just above that hardpoint thing. So I wonder if blender is ignoring your marker lights in the calculations. Might be a renderer not accepting the lum/emission materials and just marking them as black or as 0. Way to test is to make a chrome plane and see if it reflects the emissions materials. If not you would have to fake it or find a emission shader or something that will.

    As for the bounced light thing you might have to resort to high bounce numbers or using a environment map to add ambient light. I found depending on the renderer it can be done easily by increasing bounces in a roll out or more complicated like ramping up a setting elsewhere.

    Some times I think there might be something to how Doug did his where he modeled it EXACT to scale with the 11foot ship and set up his lights and scene to that scale.

    think this was the pic
    https://hips.hearstapps.com/pop.h-cdn.co/assets/16/26/4000x2666/gallery-1467144815-starshipenterprise.jpg?

    I think the only thing off is the amount of bronze gunge they have around the rim that is occluded by those hardpoints on the hull. Though I am not too keen on the smiths resto with the light grime in the sensor rings or whatever the deep grooves are in the lower saucer. Mine is probably more like the 90s resto as I really drab her down in post. I do like the idea of all the various shades of light on it and might do a refit later on. >_>

    A bit too much TOS though lately in my life atm tho.

    edit: oh HEY, did not know that image was so huge. Took off the php code on the end and boy those sensor rings are WOBBLY.
    By the way, that's the image Mojo gave me to try to match. It's a real photograph of the real 11 foot model sitting in the Smithsonian. The wobbly rings are from the age of the model. Yeah, it was never perfect in symmetry, but age has kind of beat it up. I still love it, though!
  • MadKoiFishMadKoiFish9709 Posts: 5,302Member
    Yeah I think that warp is new, well newish given its age. I do not envy the person assigned to pencil those grids.

    To think what the guys who made it would think that some 53 years later it would still be around.
    Each day we draw closer to the end.
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    MadKoiFish wrote: »
    Yeah I think that warp is new, well newish given its age. I do not envy the person assigned to pencil those grids.

    To think what the guys who made it would think that some 53 years later it would still be around.
    It is amazing to think that a television series (and the associated models and such) would have such influence. You are right.

    I've gone back and done a little work today (called out sick and can't quite concentrate) on the warp engine domes to make the material look a little more like the current plastic domes at the Smithsonian. Not there yet, but getting a little closer.
    WarpDomePrincipledShader01Credits.jpg
    112918.jpg
    BrandenbergLizzy777MadKoiFish
  • srspicersrspicer390 Posts: 335Member
    Beautiful!
    scifieric
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    edited July 2019 #14
    Chanur wrote: »
    Eyecandy!!! :)

    Agreed. I love the bussard effect and everything else. Saved every image to my reference library.

    Post edited by Brandenberg on
    scifieric
  • ViperViper1678 Posts: 717Administrator
    That looks great. This ship is on my list to do, but I haven't figured out how I want to do it yet. My idea is to have every Enterprise done in a way that looks like a real starship and not like a studio model. TOS Connie is the hardest one I think.

    Two comments, one is that I don't think the reflective surface is working that well. The green reflection looks like a smear. And shouldn't that plate on the bottom of the nacelle near the bussard be darker?

    scifieric
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Viper wrote: »
    And shouldn't that plate on the bottom of the nacelle near the bussard be darker?

    Yeah, that was the one question I had about the model. I wondered if I hadn't looked at the Smithsonian pictures closely enough.

    scifieric
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    srspicer wrote: »
    Beautiful!
    Thank you!
    Chanur wrote: »
    Eyecandy!!! :)

    Agreed. I love the bussard effect and everything else. Saved every image to my reference library.
    Wow! Thank you!
    Viper wrote: »
    That looks great. This ship is on my list to do, but I haven't figured out how I want to do it yet. My idea is to have every Enterprise done in a way that looks like a real starship and not like a studio model. TOS Connie is the hardest one I think.

    Two comments, one is that I don't think the reflective surface is working that well. The green reflection looks like a smear. And shouldn't that plate on the bottom of the nacelle near the bussard be darker?
    I was thinking of doing some sort of projection for the long green light.
    And yeah, a little darker.
    Thanks for looking in!
  • psCargilepsCargile417 Posts: 620Member
    Your work is an inspiration.
    scifieric
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    psCargile wrote: »
    Your work is an inspiration.
    Wow, man! Thank you! That's very kind of you to say!
  • shaved_apeshaved_ape433 USAPosts: 158Member
    I only wish I had discovered this thread back when you started it. I have a decent amount of up close photos I took of the completed ship, when my wife and I took a neighborhood tour to the DC Smithsonian. Looks pretty accurate though!
    scifieric
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    shaved_ape wrote: »
    I only wish I had discovered this thread back when you started it. I have a decent amount of up close photos I took of the completed ship, when my wife and I took a neighborhood tour to the DC Smithsonian. Looks pretty accurate though!
    I would have been (and still would be) interested in seeing those!

    Thank you for the compliment!
Sign In or Register to comment.