Greetings!

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

Local TutorialHow to build the Starship Enterprise in TrueSpace 3

1789101113»

Posts

  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    uh-ooooh..... that looked like.... like you used boolean substraction.... did you?.... anim8or doesnt have boolean substraction..... :( oh i'll find something to it :thumb:
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Yes I did. This tutorial is specifically for the free version of TrueSpace or later although I have been told that by changing the names of the tools, it can apply to other applications.
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    yea i know it was written for truespace and not anim8or.... yet, could someone give a suggestion on how to make the engineering without substraction? im thinking about adapting this tut for anim8or, but if i have gaps it wont work...
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Well, if anim8or doesn't have the tools, why not make the sections in another application and import them? Or, switch to the free version of TrueSpace? There's a big Blender community here and they have similar tools to TrueSpace. I've seen some really increadible stuff with Blender!
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    i've tried blender. too much buttons. and too small buttons. i think ill give truespace a try...
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    The only other thing I can think of is to create a spline for each section of engineering ... kind of a bunch of small cylinders joined up to make the engineering section. That way you just have to outline 8 or 9 sections to make what you want.

    Or use a different application. Either way is good.
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    8 or 9 sections?:eek: do you mean that includes the rings behind the deflector dish? cause i always make them out of a single spline together with the rest of the engineering hull. i was worried about the starfleet logo part on the sides, which is flat. i dont know how to do that without boolean.
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    test17rm9.th.jpg

    i've been doing the engineering section over. im figuring it out myself now. but i would really like to know how you are going to do the nacelle struts. i always tend to make them cheesy...:confused:
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    The Engineering Hull

    The engineering hull of the Enterprise presents many challenges to the beginning and intermediate modeler (how snooty does that sound? :D).

    The original was made of wood spun on a lathe. I have used many means over the years to create a good Engineering hull including starting with a cylinder or a circle and then using the sweep tool (same as lofting or extruding). This time, I used a spline (shocking, I know).

    There are two things to keep in mind when creating the shape. I have done this before where I would also include almost all of the detailing behind the deflector dish but this is not a feasible option for texturing. Also, you want to make the entire hull longer than the real thing so that we may cut out the details of the shuttle bay with Boolean subtractions later.

    I set up plans in TrueSpace as the background and created a spline outline for half the hull.

    engineer01.jpg

    Lathe this shape to form the general Engineering hull.

    engineer02.jpg
    engineer03.jpg

    Next, I formed the forward "arms" that hold the deflector dish from some simple primitives: cylinders and boxes.

    engineer06.jpg
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    I sized the arm section to the proper scale and positioned it on the model.

    engineer05.jpg

    engineer10.jpg

    I made the arm thicker than needed and duplicated it three times, positioning each of the arms in their desired location (with one extra) and then Boolean added them to the hull (except for the extra).

    engineer14.jpg

    The forward section of the arms will show inside the deflector cowling unless something is done about them so I created a "plug" shaped like the exterior cowling but slightly smaller. Placed it into position and Boolean subtracted it from the engineering hull.

    engineer11.jpg
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    I made the extra arm as long as the entire "arm" section, including where it "bites" into the hull. Next, I created two more duplicates and positioned them to overlap the original arms and end where they go just past the hull. This takes careful positioning.

    engineer12.jpg

    Next I Boolean subtracted the extra arms to leave the familiar three arms and their inset position in the engineering hull.

    engineer13.jpg

    engineer15.jpg

    Next, I created a cylinder at the same resolution of the engineering hull, positioned it and beveled the forward end.

    engineer16.jpg
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    The front cowling needs to hold up to a close camera for my model since I am going to use it to recreate some of the original shots in Star Trek episodes where the camera closes in on the deflector dish area. If you look at some of the images at Star Trek: NCC1701 "Enterprise" you will see that the ends of the cowling are rounded (I made mine too round, I'll have to go back and redo them). Instead of beveling, I created an outline of a cross section of the cowling with a plane and a circle (regular polygon). I Boolean added them together and selected the end of the plane with Point Edit: Edges. Then I lathed the cowling.

    engineer17.jpg

    I repeated the process for all inner sections of the rear of the deflector array. This has the advantage of keeping all the sections the same thickness. All you have to do is tighten the radius of your lathe and reduce the number of segments.

    This should be similar to what you have accomplished by following this tutorial:

    SoFar01.jpg

    Next: The shuttle bay and fantail.
  • backsteptbackstept2003 Posts: 916Member
    nice :thumb:
    can't wait to try it out . . . but school and work are dominating my life right now

    school from 8AM-3PM and work from 4PM-11PM . . . :(
    can't wait until I get a real job with normal hours :D
  • mcmillermcmiller331 Posts: 0Member
    yay! nice to see this continuing again!
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Thanks guys!
  • spsmythspsmyth1 Posts: 0Member
    This is beautiful work Eric. I hope I can incorporate some of your tips into my Cinema 4D version.

    Steve :thumb:
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Thanks spsmyth! Good luck with your Cinema 4D project. I've been peeking in when you post. Keep up the good work!
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    i tought i should post an update on my ent :D i finally got some neat windows in the engineering hull, with TOS interiors, and the shuttlebay has been finished (with far too much polygons, its like spaghetti, forced into position). Hope you guys like it.
    test18jw6.th.jpg
    P.S.: sorry Eric, i didnt use ur engineering tut for this. it was easier to think of something myself then to convert it this time. but dont worry; without ur tut i wouldnt have started it at all :thumb:
  • startrekfan001startrekfan001171 Posts: 0Member
    is this tut continuing or what? eric dont tease us!!
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Sorry startrekfan001! LOL!

    Yeah, I will be adding to it. There is more but I haven't posted it here. I will when I finish (should be withing a couple of weeks) and it will be in pdf format.
  • U.S.S. WINGERU.S.S. WINGER0 Posts: 0Member
    i need find hull textures for startrek starship's hull. i cant find it....
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    You've got to make them then! There are a number of very good texturing tutorials here and on other sites. For me, the texturing is the hardest part.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]2 Posts: 3Member
    Why I can't see any pictures on the tutorial??
  • Lee80Lee80193 Posts: 458Member
    you probably need to download the PDF...
  • Star Trek FanStar Trek Fan0 Posts: 0Member
    Is there a PDF somewhere?

    Thanks
  • StarshipStarship464 São Paulo - BrasilPosts: 1,976Member
    Is there a PDF somewhere?

    Thanks

    There is a problem with your ISP or a software that youA’re using. I can see all the pictures in this thread, no problem.
  • LonewriterLonewriter236 Posts: 1,078Member
    Starship wrote: »
    There is a problem with your ISP or a software that youA’re using. I can see all the pictures in this thread, no problem.

    I can't see any images.
  • Chris2005Chris2005675 Posts: 3,096Member
    Lonewriter wrote: »
    I can't see any images.

    Same here, I get "404 Error File Not Found"

    When trying to open the images in a new tab.
    AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
    Gigabyte RTX 3080 Gaming OC 12GB
    1TB NVMe SSD, 2 x 1GB SATA SSD, 4TB external HDD
    32 GB RAM
    Windows 11 Pro
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
Sign In or Register to comment.