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  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    XFozzboute wrote: »
    The ships looking good so far.

    Thanks a lot, X. :)
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Work continues on the cruiser. I got the main parts all in place, now it’s just a matter of adding details. The thing that starts under the bridge, follows the saucer curve and has the impulse engines in it is based on a ship that I did more than a decade ago. The structure under the bride (deck 2) is based on the Ambassador class, as is the bridge itself. I did elongate the back, though. One thing that bugs me about the Ambassador class is how its bridge is basically a detailed dome. Unlike other ships, there’s no obvious indicator of the turbolifts. I’m assuming that’s because the model was designed and built in a hurry. Still, it bugs me. I’ll be doing all of that on my ship. The planetary sensor is also based on the Ambassador class, in its original configuration. They added more details for later use of the ship.

    24cruiser010.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser011.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser012.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser013.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser014.jpg?w=600
    FreakLizzy777
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Looking good Chris.
    I like what you did with those impulse engines.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks Dean. :)
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    I started on the shield grid lines with the upper saucer. This is long and tedious work, so it’s not going to go super fast.

    24cruiser015.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser016.jpg?w=600

    Since the upper saucer shape is pretty much based on the Excelsior, I based the grid pattern on that ship as well.
    Lizzy777ashleytinger
  • Vortex5972Vortex5972320 Posts: 1,201Member
    Looking good. Are you going to do anything with the space between the impulse engines?
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks. :)

    I'm going to do something there, I just haven't decided what yet.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    I started adding windows to the ship. I decided to start with the saucer perimeter. I opted for one row of windows here, as they did with the Enterprise-C, as I feel two rows would be too cluttered. I also broke up the edge with horizontal blue stripes, as they did with the Excelsior and Enterprise-C.

    24cruiser017.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser018.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser019.jpg?w=600

    I was going to keep the window size consistent with the Ambassador class (Enterprise-C) but I found there’s nothing consistent with that class as far as size. When Andrew Probert was designing the ship, he apparently went with roughly 524m for the size of the ship, which puts it nicely between the Excelsior at 467m and the Galaxy at 642.5m. When Rick Sternbach took over the design of the Enterprise-C, he apparently put it at about 478m. (Gary Kerr came up with that number based on the model sizes, and Sternbach agrees) The biggest issue with that number is that it’s only 11m longer than the Excelsior. I guess someone else decided that and increased the scale on Sternbach’s blueprints by 15%. So, the ship comes out to 526m. The problem with that number is that this image seems to support the Enterprise-C being smaller:

    yesterdays_enterprise_hd_114.jpg?w=600

    That, of course, is from the episode and it seems to support the notion that the Enterprise-C was built at a scale to fit with the Enterprise-D at about the size that Sternbach originally intended. Why a “stepping stone” ship that’s between the Excelsior and the Galaxy is so small is beyond me, but that’s what it looks like, at least to my untrained eye.

    So, to make a short story long, I can’t accurately determine what size the windows are supposed to be on the Ambassador without accurate figures, so I came up with my own number. They’re approximately 60cm by 1.2m. Eventually, they’ll have rooms behind them, but they obviously don’t now, that’s why they’re all dark.
    Lizzy777
  • trekkitrekki935 Posts: 1,392Member
    the ship is very nice ! clean modelling :)
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited June 2019 #41
    Thanks a lot, trekki. :)

    I found a shortcut to doing booleans in Blender without leaving behind a bunch of geometry I don’t want and it’s been a real time saver for getting these windows in. I figured out, if I separate the faces where I want to do my cut, it just cuts through and leaves a hole, it doesn’t leave me with more geometry added by my cutting object. I do the same thing for my windows themselves, and I wind up with just the faces I want when I intersect that with my cutter, then I can inset, extrude and bevel my windows in how I want them. Then I just re-join all of that with the main mesh and I’m good to go. 🙂

    So, since my windows started going faster, I also added some phasers and escape pods.

    24cruiser020.jpg?w=600 24cruiser021.jpg?w=600 24cruiser022.jpg?w=600
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    So, one last update before I call it a day. I’ve been thinking about how to add text to the ship. Of course, textures are always an option. However, I’ve heard good things about the “Shrinkwrap” modifier. So, I modeled the name and registry and used that to make it follow the curvature of the saucer. 🙂

    24cruiser023.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser024.jpg?w=600
    ashleytinger
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    So, despite my claim that I was done with this for now, I can’t help but be nitpicky. My escape pod hatches were bothering me. What really bugged me was that some of them were close to the phaser arrays. However, while I was fixing those, I decided to tighten up the spacing on them all, to put them in tight groups.

    24cruiser025.jpg?w=600

    24cruiser026.jpg?w=600

    Anyway, I think it looks less sloppy. Each pod holds up to six people and there are 36 pods (so far) on the top of the saucer, allowing 216 people to abandon ship using these pods. Of course, more will come on other parts of the ship, and possibly more on the saucer top.
    Lizzy777ashleytinger
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Excellent. Absolutely beautiful work.
    evil_genius_180
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Let me join in saying I'm glad you are ok and back up and running.

    I can certainly see the Ambassador Class roots in this one. I can't wait to see where you take it.

    It must be difficult to try to switch software. Even the changes in LW 2018 from previous versions threw me. So I'm impressed.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks guys. :)
    It must be difficult to try to switch software. Even the changes in LW 2018 from previous versions threw me. So I'm impressed.

    I've really only successfully done it once, when I switched from Truespace to Lightwave. Though, modeling in Blender is closer to LW than it was TS. I tried switching from TS to Blender ages ago, but the tools were vastly different and I didn't find many tutorials I liked. That was years before my buddy scifieric did his Enterprise tutorial. Funnily enough, it was a TOS Enterprise tutorial by another friend, Gerard Duffy, that got me into LW. LW and Blender do things similarly, with LW having advantages in some areas and Blender having advantages in others. So, it's been interesting, to say the least.

    This is the farthest I've gotten on a ship in Blender, with multiple attempts to build them over the past 8-9 years.
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    I didn't know that about Blender - that it was similar to Lightwave. Since it is free (is it still?) I may have to give her a go.
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Looking Good Chris.

    @Brandenberg yeah it still free and that unlikely to change. There is too big a community that help advance each new version. One of the benefits of being open sourced.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited June 2019 #49
    It's open source, released under the GNU Public License. Even if it were to go paid, which is unlikely, the versions released so far would still be free and someone could take the source code and release it and even work on it further if they took off the copyrighted branding.

    But, one of the core goals of the nonprofit Blender Foundation is to provide people with access to the software for free, so I don't see it going paid anytime soon.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    It’s not a massive update, but I’ve kind of been picking at the lower saucer grid lines all week. It’s tedious work, so I’ve been breaking it up. I also added the registry to the bottom. That will help me with my window layout, so I don’t have to guesstimate where that will be. Tonight I’ll start working on the windows, phasers and escape pods for the lower saucer.

    24cruiser027.jpg?w=600
    lewisnivenashleytingerLizzy777
  • lewisnivenlewisniven2491 UKPosts: 462Member
    awesome modelling, I like the mix of influences. I'd be tempted to make the registry on the top of the saucer smaller though, that seems to be throwing the scaling off to my eye.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks a lot for the kind words and advice. :)

    I'd thought about making it smaller. But, the scaling is actually based on the Enterprise refit.

    windowshot_2019-06-14_180614.png?w=600
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    This is a more substantial update than the last one. I got the rest of the saucer section windows in. I put quite a lot of windows on the saucer bottom, to fit with other Star Trek ships. And, to fit with other ships, some of them are at a more extreme “downward” angle than I’d like them to be, but that’s how Starfleet rolls, I guess. And, to finish up the windows, I did the structure under the bridge too. I also redesigned my phasers to be more like TNG phasers. The ones I had before were too “poofy.” These are flatter. And, of course, more escape pods. There are an odd number of those on the bottom, but I’ll even it out up top as there are still more to add up there.

    24cruiser028.jpg?w=600 24cruiser029.jpg?w=600 24cruiser030.jpg?w=600 24cruiser031.jpg?w=600 24cruiser032.jpg?w=600

    There are 55 escape pods in the lower saucer, added to the 36 up top and that’s a total of 91. As I said previously, the pods can hold up to 6 people for a total of 546 people. However, ordinarily the pods hold only 4 people, for a total of 364. The pods would only have to be filled to max capacity if the ship was carrying extra people. After all, the shuttles can also be used to abandon ship. I don’t figure the ship has a crew anywhere near as many as there are escape pods. That’s normal, though, as the ships do sometimes carry extra people. The Enterprise-D had enough pods for 1400 people, plus shuttles, and a crew of only a little over 1000. Even though this ship is the same size as a Constitution class, I figure it only has a crew of about 350, owing to modern automation and stations/departments that are no longer necessary in the 24th century. IE: the ships no longer have communications officers, as the tactical and ops officers usually handle communications. The helm and navigation stations were also combined into one flight control station. We have to assume other redundant departments would be combined and unnecessary ones removed. This trend is evident by the Galaxy class having a crew of only a little over 1000 when it’s much larger than a Constitution class. The Enterprise-A in Star Trek VI had a crew of 500.

    Anyway, that’s what I have for now. I may move on to the secondary hull next and get those grid lines and windows knocked out.
    ashleytingerLizzy777
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    edited June 2019 #54
    Looking good Chris.

    Just out of curiosity the picture you posted blew are they blueprints or a photo and if they are blueprints who?
    The one I am using are okay but they don't match up when viewed from different angles. (they are not all the same size. which is driving me a little nuts.)
    windowshot_2019-06-14_180614.png?w=600

    Post edited by Freak on
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Blueprints. They're the ones by Igor Marić on the bottom of this page:

    http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/scans/constitution1.htm
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Thanks Chris.

  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Anytime, my friend. :)
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    I bought another computer. This one is a refurbished Dell laptop. It’s been totally refurbished, cleaned up and it looks like they maybe upgraded things like the hard drive, RAM and WIFI adapter. They also put a brand new copy of Windows 10 Pro on it. That means I can once again run Windows only software, such as Lightwave.

    So, this is a ship I started in Lightwave 2018 before my motherboard in my desktop went kaput and needed replacing. Basically, it's the Enterprise from TOS, or at least my version of it. These days, I'm loathe to do anything canon, but I also don't want to completely redesign the ship, as has been done in the past, including a couple times by me. I want to pay homage to the original, but also put some stuff on there that I think it should have, like grid lines, weapons and thrusters. I'll also be doing some different stuff with the engines and sensor domes than was done before, either due to '60s tech or budget.

    Unfortunately, while I had the project files and blueprints backed up, I didn’t have the files to align the blueprints with the background. So, I had to line them back up. They’re not perfect, but they’re close enough. If I was after the perfect version of the TOS Enterprise, it may be more of a concern. But, that ship sailed when I started adding stuff to the model that wasn’t on the original. So, close enough will do. Anyway, I added the deflector and planetary sensor, before I got into dorking around with materials.

    enterprise2019_wip048.jpg?w=800

    enterprise2019_wip049.jpg?w=800

    enterprise2019_wip050.jpg?w=800

    enterprise2019_wip051.jpg?w=800

    This is after playing around with materials:

    enterprise2019_wip052.jpg?w=800

    Lightwave 2018 uses newer materials than Lightwave 10, the last version I had before purchasing the upgrade last year. It uses Principled BSDF materials, which is also what Blender uses with its Cycles render engine. I had been cheating in Lightwave and using the old style “Standard” materials, which were only left in there so that you didn’t have to redo the materials on older models that you imported. (unlike Blender) But, I decided to switch over to the Principled BSDF instead. Really, it has so many improvements over the older style materials that I can see why it’s the standard now.

    Anywho, it’s nice using Lightwave again. I don’t know what this means as far as my work in Blender. Buying this computer was a spur of the moment decision because the other laptop I have is terrible and I know people in the Linux community who swear by these Latitude E series laptops. But, it’s also not the speediest thing for rendering. It gets the job done, though. I also may purchase Windows 10 for my desktop computer, but the jury is out on that one. There are still things I like better about Lightwave than Blender, and that will never change. And, it’s not like I can’t either import that ship I’m working on or just rebuild it. (rebuilding it will probably be easier)
    Lizzy777FreakashleytingerBrandenberg
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Looking Good Chris.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804255 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks Dean. :)
  • ashleytingerashleytinger1989 Central OhioPosts: 1,225Member
    I like the paneling you've got there. It adds detail but it's subtle. I missed it the first time I popped into the thread to look at it.
    evil_genius_180
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