Oh my.. That's just magnificent, high level here, and not only on the 3D side but also on thinking of such complex paneling. Well done Lizzy !
Thank you! But I think I'm going to scrap this and go back to an earlier build and try again. There's just too much I don't like right now and I need to figure out how I need to go about it. I'm close, just not there yet.
Thank you! But I think I'm going to scrap this and go back to an earlier build and try again. There's just too much I don't like right now and I need to figure out how I need to go about it. I'm close, just not there yet.
Fair, If I had counted every time I had to change something I would have lost my mind. All that said, keep the good work, it's so inspiring to look at.
Completely redid the panels on a blank mesh (remember kids, save your older files and meshes. Ans save often!) using a completely different technique. I got the curves and angles I wanted via creating some 2D objects, using a boolean to weld them to the mesh, and then deleting the unneeded edges.
I then grabbed all of those lines, added a bevel to create a new set of faces (for later), and cleaned up all of the crossed lines and other geometry errors. Then used the inset tool to cut into the mesh to form the lines. Before, I grabbed the surface polygons and did an inset/extrude method which did more to mess up the wireframe than get the results I was after. This iteration has a cleaner mesh that maintains the integrity of the cage without too much distortion.
The kicker for me was when I realized that the edges on the dark panels in my reference images weren't panel gaps, but an entirely separate plate on the dorsal part of the engineering section. Creating a shape buck and making an intersecting object to form the plate was a LOT easier than trying to draw shapes into the wireframe. I still want to add the sub-paneling to match the saucer detail, but I'm not sure how and where I want to do it just yet.
So for the main surface shapes, all that's left to do at this stage of development are the belly plates.
Right! Panel work is pretty much done. Lower plates are added and all the little sub-panels are where I want them without overwhelming the surface. It might still be a little too busy, but it isn't as bad as before. That and decimating the geometry further on the blank hull object caused more problems than it was worth.
I suppose the next step before I move onto the shuttlebay will be detailing the keel and adding in windows and stuff.
Windows, rear navigation lights, and some minor edits as well as the hull pennants. I also added a lateral line across the upper part of the engineering hull that I had missed previously. A bunch of smaller details are still to be added along the keel and near the deflector.
The window cuts in the sub-panels are slightly larger than the underlying hull windows. I found it gave more definition to the shape when I originally did it on the saucer section.
Most of the hull detail is in. I feel like there's something missing, but that's most of the detail that I can see in the references. I want to do more, but comparing this to the saucer section, the detail level seems to be about even between the two. So...yeah.
Is the inset on the neck windows the same as the inset on the saucer and secondary hull?
They are! At least I think so... I took the face that makes up the windows, separated a copy, and made a new cut-out object so the shapes and sizes should match. The thing about the saucer that I noticed is the windows are vastly different shapes and sizes than the ones on the neck and hull. But I tried to get them to match (like the round portholes) where ever I could.
Wow. I am blown away at the level of detail in this model. This looks superb!
I feel like I could add even more bits here and there, but I'm not sure if I'm up to that level yet and I need it to look good if I do. Like, I don't have window boxes to show interior rooms for example. Though I have done it on other starship models I've built when I used truespace. But for now, it's just self-illuminating glass objects in the window ports.
There are two torpedo tubes between the impulse engines that I could beef up a little. I could make them look more like the launchers from the TMP version of the Enterprise. It's just I'd forgotten to do that until just now! LOL. There is also a tractor beam emitter that I'm forgetting as well just below the main shuttle bay. But I can get to that when I start work on the shuttle bay itself.
Also, what's a shuttlebay without shuttlecraft? I might have to get on that as well. Put my own spin on the classic TOS style Galileo and see if I can make it in the style of this ST: D/SNW starship.
Not a lot going on here. Just playing with a few ideas for the deflector. In that, I basically rebuilt the cowling and the rings that the dish sits in front of, and added a glow effect.
I'm also trying out a materials tutorial for Blender to get that copper color.
looks good, are you stil using that plugin to dynamically generate the hull plates?
Discombobulator, and yes I am! Though at this point in the build, I think I'm done with it. I don't think those subpanels would work out so well on the engines.
Working out the shuttle bay. Still tweaking the lights at this stage, but I feel I'm getting close. The landing lights are washed out and a host of other illumination issues I haven't figured out yet. But that's for later.
I supposed with this much done and more planned for the future, I'll need to build a shuttlecraft to go in there. The Class-C shuttles used in Discovery (and reused in Picard) seem a bit too advanced to me, so I'm thinking of redesigning the classic Class-F Galileo to fit this updated aesthetic.
Fantatsic model. Those impulse engines are really something.
Thank you! I've worked them a few times to get it to this point. I still feel like I could do better but sometimes it's better to push forward. "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good," sort of thing.
Right! Not a lot of progress build-wise. Tweaked the interior of the shuttlebay and landing pad some. Reworked ALL of my light settings and cleaned up the nodes in the process. Not quite where I want it yet, but simpler is better for me to get a grasp on what nodes actually do.
Then I upgraded to Blender 3, which meant re-learning all the settings that I'd forgotten and adding them back into this project file. Also, my renders were coming out darker than I expected, which meant messing with all of the light settings AGAIN. On the plus side, I figured out why my color settings were off with Blender's display device settings. XYZ saturated the colors (apparently for post-processing color correction work), and sRGB killed the contrast. So I set it to None and tried again. The Filmic Log sequencer stayed the same.
Imgur had to compress the PNG file into a JPG. For some reason, the render ended up at over 9MB in size. Pretty sure that means some of my other render settings changed with the software update. Considering Blender 3 is supposed to have faster render times, I'm guessing my longer output has something to do with increased samples and light bounces and all that fun stuff.
With all of that fiddly work done and more yet to do, this has been the result.
Looking great, yeah Blender 3 had some tweaking here too. I even decided to use a custom Color Management.
Seems promising for sure, if you want to get in touch (on the forum or Discord) about Blender 3 don't hesitate, don't have extensive knowledge but had some experience with it.
Note that despite having tweaking light and samples here it still felt a massive render time improvement despite only have a 1050TI.
The build stage for the shuttle bay is pretty much done. I did a few more tweaks, added in some structural ribs, adjusted the lighting (might be a little too bright), a pair of consoles and screens, and a trio of tractor beam emitters under the control deck, as well as a final emitter just below the landing pad.
Lastly, I constructed the clamshell doors to wrap things up.
I also figured out my render settings and got things back down to a more manageable level.
Thanks, guys! I've been wanting to do a higher level of detail model for a while now. Most of the work I've been doing has been more medium-level or whatever. Just enough detail to show shape and definition, but not so much that mass-produced plastic injection molding doesn't get gummed up.
Anyway, just a quickie today. A preview of the Bussard collector.
It took me a bit to remember how to do an inset like the one that contains the warp grill. It's a similar operation I used to add a fuller to a sword blade. But since I hadn't done it for some time I'd forgotten how I originally did it! The head-scratcher was the curved edge near the tail end. I solved it by creating a buck and using a Difference boolean. Luckily there was minimal cleanup after the operation was set.
Anyway, the major sections of the nacelle are worked out. The rest will layering and smaller details.
Posts
Thank you! But I think I'm going to scrap this and go back to an earlier build and try again. There's just too much I don't like right now and I need to figure out how I need to go about it. I'm close, just not there yet.
Fair, If I had counted every time I had to change something I would have lost my mind. All that said, keep the good work, it's so inspiring to look at.
I then grabbed all of those lines, added a bevel to create a new set of faces (for later), and cleaned up all of the crossed lines and other geometry errors. Then used the inset tool to cut into the mesh to form the lines. Before, I grabbed the surface polygons and did an inset/extrude method which did more to mess up the wireframe than get the results I was after. This iteration has a cleaner mesh that maintains the integrity of the cage without too much distortion.
The kicker for me was when I realized that the edges on the dark panels in my reference images weren't panel gaps, but an entirely separate plate on the dorsal part of the engineering section. Creating a shape buck and making an intersecting object to form the plate was a LOT easier than trying to draw shapes into the wireframe. I still want to add the sub-paneling to match the saucer detail, but I'm not sure how and where I want to do it just yet.
So for the main surface shapes, all that's left to do at this stage of development are the belly plates.
edit: 3/4 dorsal view
That's some fantastic work.
In the words of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, "I'm still learning."
Thank you!
Right! Panel work is pretty much done. Lower plates are added and all the little sub-panels are where I want them without overwhelming the surface. It might still be a little too busy, but it isn't as bad as before. That and decimating the geometry further on the blank hull object caused more problems than it was worth.
I suppose the next step before I move onto the shuttlebay will be detailing the keel and adding in windows and stuff.
And a profile shot of the port side.
The window cuts in the sub-panels are slightly larger than the underlying hull windows. I found it gave more definition to the shape when I originally did it on the saucer section.
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Here's the underside render.
I feel like I could add even more bits here and there, but I'm not sure if I'm up to that level yet and I need it to look good if I do. Like, I don't have window boxes to show interior rooms for example. Though I have done it on other starship models I've built when I used truespace. But for now, it's just self-illuminating glass objects in the window ports.
There are two torpedo tubes between the impulse engines that I could beef up a little. I could make them look more like the launchers from the TMP version of the Enterprise. It's just I'd forgotten to do that until just now! LOL. There is also a tractor beam emitter that I'm forgetting as well just below the main shuttle bay. But I can get to that when I start work on the shuttle bay itself.
Also, what's a shuttlebay without shuttlecraft? I might have to get on that as well. Put my own spin on the classic TOS style Galileo and see if I can make it in the style of this ST: D/SNW starship.
I'm also trying out a materials tutorial for Blender to get that copper color.
Current Projects:
Ambassador Class
Discombobulator, and yes I am! Though at this point in the build, I think I'm done with it. I don't think those subpanels would work out so well on the engines.
I supposed with this much done and more planned for the future, I'll need to build a shuttlecraft to go in there. The Class-C shuttles used in Discovery (and reused in Picard) seem a bit too advanced to me, so I'm thinking of redesigning the classic Class-F Galileo to fit this updated aesthetic.
Thank you! I've worked them a few times to get it to this point. I still feel like I could do better but sometimes it's better to push forward. "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good," sort of thing.
Right! Not a lot of progress build-wise. Tweaked the interior of the shuttlebay and landing pad some. Reworked ALL of my light settings and cleaned up the nodes in the process. Not quite where I want it yet, but simpler is better for me to get a grasp on what nodes actually do.
Then I upgraded to Blender 3, which meant re-learning all the settings that I'd forgotten and adding them back into this project file. Also, my renders were coming out darker than I expected, which meant messing with all of the light settings AGAIN. On the plus side, I figured out why my color settings were off with Blender's display device settings. XYZ saturated the colors (apparently for post-processing color correction work), and sRGB killed the contrast. So I set it to None and tried again. The Filmic Log sequencer stayed the same.
Imgur had to compress the PNG file into a JPG. For some reason, the render ended up at over 9MB in size. Pretty sure that means some of my other render settings changed with the software update. Considering Blender 3 is supposed to have faster render times, I'm guessing my longer output has something to do with increased samples and light bounces and all that fun stuff.
With all of that fiddly work done and more yet to do, this has been the result.
Seems promising for sure, if you want to get in touch (on the forum or Discord) about Blender 3 don't hesitate, don't have extensive knowledge but had some experience with it.
Note that despite having tweaking light and samples here it still felt a massive render time improvement despite only have a 1050TI.
Lastly, I constructed the clamshell doors to wrap things up.
I also figured out my render settings and got things back down to a more manageable level.
I second this, it's definitely and deliciously stunning !
Anyway, just a quickie today. A preview of the Bussard collector.
It took me a bit to remember how to do an inset like the one that contains the warp grill. It's a similar operation I used to add a fuller to a sword blade. But since I hadn't done it for some time I'd forgotten how I originally did it! The head-scratcher was the curved edge near the tail end. I solved it by creating a buck and using a Difference boolean. Luckily there was minimal cleanup after the operation was set.
Anyway, the major sections of the nacelle are worked out. The rest will layering and smaller details.