Thanks Saquist, but it comes with a price . . the poly count is off the scale. when I started building it it was a concern, but computer power and speed have increased since then so the poly count isn't as much of an issue anymore.
Thanks Lonewriter . . cool to see you still out and about . . how are ya?
Doing good, thanks. I've been busy retexturing my nova class. Btw, what is the poly count on this mesh?
Originally it was up around 7 million and climbing . . .
after I finished the model and optimized it I think it is down to 5 million or so now . . . I threw out a lot of details, tons of the micro details I did were trashed. Things that would never be in the camera shot was dumped and just an overall backside poly and hidden poly reduction . . . it's a shame but poly's had to be deleted.
gp
Pylon Strut level one grunge and Space Dirt,
Is there dirt in space . . I don't know, but the studio model has it, good enough for hollywood good enough for me.
gp
Lookin' good, though the shadow aliasing is a little hard to look past.
As to your question about dirt in space -- yes! All the stars and planets in existence formed from the particulate matter (read: space dust) in a stellar nursery, coalescing through gravitational attraction. The star (typically) forms first, and then the planets form after the star from the remaining dust accumulated through attraction to the stellar mass. However, once all of this coalescing has finished, you get a mature solar system (like ours or Bajor), which has negligible amounts of space dust compared to baby solar systems.
That said, while natural dirt in a mature system is unlikely to accumulate in any great measure on the (galactically) short timescale that a station like DS9 would exist, DS9 has frequent traffic! This traffic uses exhaust-based thrust to get around, which means that particulate matter is being flung all over the place all around the station all the time! This will surely result in the accumulation of particulate debris, that might closely resemble dirt accumulation. It'll probably be radioactive, to boot.
McC . . well damn . . . that was an awesome explanation . . .
So I will ask this . . considering all the traffic the station gets and all the extra FOD flying through the worm hole when it opens . . How much mung would you say collects or could have collected on the hull of DS9, a lot or a dusting?
this could determine how much "Dirt" I add to the UV.
gp
McC I like that explanation, gp, your DS9 mesh is on par with Tobias Richters mesh. Keep up the good work. I've been trying to texture Ger's DS9 mesh for awhile with no luck, I can't get the station color to look right so I might hit you up for advice soon.
McC I like that explanation, gp, your DS9 mesh is on par with Tobias Richters mesh. Keep up the good work. I've been trying to texture Ger's DS9 mesh for awhile with no luck, I can't get the station color to look right so I might hit you up for advice soon.
No problems . . . I will be around . . .
Trying to finish off the Pylon Strut top . . . more dirt to add . . . If you see lines on the skin texture it's just the wireframe mesh left in the photoShop image . . just means I haven't finished that particular surface yet.
gp
I like this dirty textures,its give a good feeling about station,true deep space station feeling,nice job
I had some hesitation at first to adding the dirt but it's in the studio model so I said what the heck . . .
I onlu have the AA on 3 passes, but this looks good enough
I think Sisko needs to send O'Brian out with a pressure washer!
this is what it would look like to O'Brian when he got out on deck . . . I think I am 10 feet above the hull
This shot brought to you by detail . . edges as smooth as a baby's arse . . .
This is why my poly count is so high . . you can pull in on a closeup shot anywhere on the station . .
gp
Your model is looking great so far. I really like the grimy textures. Even when it was in good shape, the station always had that "old" look to it and the textures really help.
I really love all of the DS9 love being shown on the site of late.
I really love all of the DS9 love being shown on the site of late.
They are something aren't they . . . I think the ones that were done before are "old generation" they weren't conceptualized enough prior to being built, these next Gen models will be fantastic . . Each one has it's own attitude it's own builders flair. It's funny to see what everyone has come up with on certain sections of the station with the lack of good reference materials . . .
I really like Tobias Habitat Ring Windows . . . those look spot on.
-=sAs=- Pylon Dock looks robust . . very durable . . beefy . . .
And Nightfever's workbee pods are an awesome touch. This is all good stuff . . . It's going to be cool to see them all finished.
gp
I think it's ultimately up to you. The level of exhaust accumulation on the station is going to be dependent on the level of traffic it receives over its lifetime, weighed against the frequency that its exterior surfaces are cleaned. Further more, when DS9 was Terok Nor, it was used as a mining station, so that may have made it even more prone to accumulate gunk (or not--spacecraft are by necessity hermetically sealed, so it's somewhat questionable as to whether "dirty" mining spacecraft would have any impact on making the rest of the station dirty when they docked; internally, certainly, but externally?).
Ultimately, there are plenty of good, internally-consistent ways to justify any level of grime you please. If you want to go full-grit, you can say that the station gets a lot of traffic, and it's never/rarely/selectively cleaned due to the radioactivity of the accumulated dirt, or you can say that Starfleet and Bajoran maintenance crews go out and clean it monthly/weekly/daily to keep it looking pristine. Both are valid, as are any number of options in between! :thumb:
It's such a hassle to keep the INSIDE of the station clean and in working order, yeah, there's be a lot of dust on the outside. THough they would hose down the graffiti on the outside (maybe there's a "circle" spraypaint somewhere in one of the nooks they never found... or a Banksy or a Space Invader in some nook no one ever looks at.
finished building the UV's for the docking ring . . took almost forever. These images are just of the main hull the sensor pallet base and the thruster cases . . The individual sensors themselves are on one UV map by themselves, I am thinking I should make a single UV for each bay . . . it's a little more work and right at the moment my attention for UV's is full. Guess I will start the painting tomorrow. . today I am all set . . . :argh:
how are you doing your UVs? I can give you some tips
those greebly bits look great btw
Thanks IRML,
not sure I know what you mean by how, do you mean how am I creating the maps or how do I plan on painting the image.
Any tips you give will be awesome . .
gp
couldn't give any tips on painting - I'm rubbish at it haha
yeah how are you unwrapping the UVs, I've done a lot of unrwapping on big models like this and I thought I could offer some tips if you were struggling
couldn't give any tips on painting - I'm rubbish at it haha
yeah how are you unwrapping the UVs, I've done a lot of unrwapping on big models like this and I thought I could offer some tips if you were struggling
I am actually getting pretty good at unwrapping . . . it's amazing how after you do a process over and over the concept and method of a thing gets easier . . I am breaking my surfaces down and laying them out in an orderly fashion . . laying the surfaces out in a way that compliments my method of painting. If you look at the screenshots above you see the maps are neat and orderly. I am using fairly large images so there is plenty of room to spread out my surfaces and get them all in.
BTW this is great for flat and straight surfaces . . I'll let you know how it goes when I get to the round uvmaps like the core of the station . . LOL.
gp
I really believe this is the sort of detail the station needs.
Thanks Saquist, I thought so when I started the project in 2007. I didn't want to build a Cannon station, the lack of detail references made me want to kick the station up a notch. Not a huge change, just fudge the details a bit to make sense of the things I couldn't see. Anyway it's not 100% DS9 physical model it's DS9 ala gpdesigner
Posts
watching Tobias and Nightfever work on theirs made me want to finish it off . . .
did a quick side by side shot of the uv's and the render . . cool dual screen work . .
gp
It was the time.
Doing good, thanks. I've been busy retexturing my nova class. Btw, what is the poly count on this mesh?
after I finished the model and optimized it I think it is down to 5 million or so now . . . I threw out a lot of details, tons of the micro details I did were trashed. Things that would never be in the camera shot was dumped and just an overall backside poly and hidden poly reduction . . . it's a shame but poly's had to be deleted.
gp
Is there dirt in space . . I don't know, but the studio model has it, good enough for hollywood good enough for me.
gp
As to your question about dirt in space -- yes! All the stars and planets in existence formed from the particulate matter (read: space dust) in a stellar nursery, coalescing through gravitational attraction. The star (typically) forms first, and then the planets form after the star from the remaining dust accumulated through attraction to the stellar mass. However, once all of this coalescing has finished, you get a mature solar system (like ours or Bajor), which has negligible amounts of space dust compared to baby solar systems.
That said, while natural dirt in a mature system is unlikely to accumulate in any great measure on the (galactically) short timescale that a station like DS9 would exist, DS9 has frequent traffic! This traffic uses exhaust-based thrust to get around, which means that particulate matter is being flung all over the place all around the station all the time! This will surely result in the accumulation of particulate debris, that might closely resemble dirt accumulation. It'll probably be radioactive, to boot.
TMYK! :thumb:
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
So I will ask this . . considering all the traffic the station gets and all the extra FOD flying through the worm hole when it opens . . How much mung would you say collects or could have collected on the hull of DS9, a lot or a dusting?
this could determine how much "Dirt" I add to the UV.
gp
No problems . . . I will be around . . .
Trying to finish off the Pylon Strut top . . . more dirt to add . . . If you see lines on the skin texture it's just the wireframe mesh left in the photoShop image . . just means I haven't finished that particular surface yet.
gp
I had some hesitation at first to adding the dirt but it's in the studio model so I said what the heck . . .
I onlu have the AA on 3 passes, but this looks good enough
this is what it would look like to O'Brian when he got out on deck . . . I think I am 10 feet above the hull
This shot brought to you by detail . . edges as smooth as a baby's arse . . .
This is why my poly count is so high . . you can pull in on a closeup shot anywhere on the station . .
gp
I really love all of the DS9 love being shown on the site of late.
They are something aren't they . . . I think the ones that were done before are "old generation" they weren't conceptualized enough prior to being built, these next Gen models will be fantastic . . Each one has it's own attitude it's own builders flair. It's funny to see what everyone has come up with on certain sections of the station with the lack of good reference materials . . .
I really like Tobias Habitat Ring Windows . . . those look spot on.
-=sAs=- Pylon Dock looks robust . . very durable . . beefy . . .
And Nightfever's workbee pods are an awesome touch. This is all good stuff . . . It's going to be cool to see them all finished.
gp
Ultimately, there are plenty of good, internally-consistent ways to justify any level of grime you please. If you want to go full-grit, you can say that the station gets a lot of traffic, and it's never/rarely/selectively cleaned due to the radioactivity of the accumulated dirt, or you can say that Starfleet and Bajoran maintenance crews go out and clean it monthly/weekly/daily to keep it looking pristine. Both are valid, as are any number of options in between! :thumb:
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
next up docking ring . . .
F-Pylon1.jpg
Seriously, it looks good.
gp
those greebly bits look great btw
not sure I know what you mean by how, do you mean how am I creating the maps or how do I plan on painting the image.
Any tips you give will be awesome . .
gp
yeah how are you unwrapping the UVs, I've done a lot of unrwapping on big models like this and I thought I could offer some tips if you were struggling
I am actually getting pretty good at unwrapping . . . it's amazing how after you do a process over and over the concept and method of a thing gets easier . . I am breaking my surfaces down and laying them out in an orderly fashion . . laying the surfaces out in a way that compliments my method of painting. If you look at the screenshots above you see the maps are neat and orderly. I am using fairly large images so there is plenty of room to spread out my surfaces and get them all in.
BTW this is great for flat and straight surfaces . . I'll let you know how it goes when I get to the round uvmaps like the core of the station . . LOL.
gp
Dring1.jpg
update:
Dring2.jpg