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3DTrimaxian Drone Ship

MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
edited February 2013 in Work in Progress #1
Got inspired by Flight of the Navigator the other day and so decided to try and model the ship in Blender 2.65.

Seemingly quite a simple design - the shape is actually quite complex and difficult to get right.

Here is my progress so far

Flight_Test6.jpg
Flight_Test7.jpg
Flight_Test8.jpg
Flight_Test9.jpg
99336.jpg
99337.jpg
99338.jpg
99339.jpg
Post edited by Moonhawk on
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Posts

  • oldmangregoldmangreg198 Woodland Hills, CAPosts: 1,339Member
    I swear I thought that was Samus's ship for a second there.
    Your right to an opinion does not make your opinion valid.
  • SaquistSaquist1 Posts: 0Member
    Negative but I see the similarities.

    -Any desire to model the aerodynamic mode
  • MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
    Saquist wrote: »
    -Any desire to model the aerodynamic mode

    Desire - yes.............ability - hmmmmm we'll see.

    I would like to modify this mesh so I can morph between them - however it may be a difficult proposition - my underlying mesh is constructed in a very different way to the one used in the movie (based on how the wireframe renders in the movie are constructed).
  • MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
    oldmangreg wrote: »
    I swear I thought that was Samus's ship for a second there.

    Is there another mesh floating about - it'd be nice to compare notes.

    I searched around - but couldn't find a movie accurate version of this ship anywhere - hence the reason I took the plunge myself. Its puzzling given the classic nature of this ship that more people dont appear to have had a crack at it.
  • BlueNeumannBlueNeumann615 Posts: 1,275Member
    Very nice (I would respond in Pee Wee's voice if I could, ha ha!). Although I don't know how one would make it look "HD" or updated, it's not like the edges could be sharper or the curves any smoother, really.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    That's a great film. I knew from the thread title exactly what you're building. :)

    Great work so far. Are you going to do the interior and stairs and everything? I would love to see the liquid door/stairs in action, but I don't know if that's within your skill set (it's certainly not within mine.) It still amazes me that they did that with early 1980s CGI.
  • anystaranystar0 Posts: 0Member
    i always liked this movie! i've been working on my snowspeeder lately, and was surprisd last week when i was going through a misc refs folder and found a pic of one of the filming mock ups.
    look carefully behind the sand skiff! :D
    8384394.jpg
    99351.jpg
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    It's amazing how stuff winds up stashed in Hollywood. Two completely different movies by different studios, and yet the full-size mock-ups are in the same spot.
  • WizWiz28 Posts: 0Member
    What a classic Navigator is, and a great start mate, looking forward to seeing this progress :)
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    Agreed... I love the sleek and simple look of this ship, even if it isn't so simple to build.
  • anystaranystar0 Posts: 0Member
    lol, kindof like how the TOS shuttle ended up in an auto junkyard...
    but yea, the lineage had me curious too. because the Drone looks right compared to other old pics i'd seen (with the large opening in the port side for crane attach) and the sand skiff looks legit as well. but the speeder is one of the modern built replicas. i cant recall where that pic came from but if im about 60% sure there was a caption or post somewhere related to it with "was out behind the star-tours" etc...

    edit: heh, did a reverse image search on it, not surprisingly there was only one result, but by surprise that result was a photoshare site with a google earth plugin attached to where the pic was taken, you can birds eye zoom in and see it in birds eye view. the drone on the sat-pic is much cleaner and brighter too! :P
    http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8384394
    there's a few other screen gems with them there, its on the side of a road at Disney Hollywood studios.
  • IRMLIRML253 Posts: 1,993Member
    anystar wrote: »
    i always liked this movie! i've been working on my snowspeeder lately, and was surprisd last week when i was going through a misc refs folder and found a pic of one of the filming mock ups.
    look carefully behind the sand skiff! :D
    8384394.jpg
    when I was younger I went on a backlot tour at one of the theme parks in florida (I think it was universal or disney), they had that there, it was cool seeing it
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Great looking model.

    I loved this film as a kid.
    I heard romours that they want to make a remake of it.
    Not sure how that will work as this is such a classic film.
  • BlueNeumannBlueNeumann615 Posts: 1,275Member
    I believe they ARE remaking the film, but honestly I now Max would just interface with Google Earth or GPS satellites and the whole thing would be over in five minutes. Just get the kid, give him a mind enema, then drop him off.

    Another thing I was thinking of was that front view, it looked great in the 80s but now, I'm thinking after Planet Earth and the like that there'd need to be a 3D element to it, stretching out to the sides so that it looks like the seat is sticking out into expanse. No holographic HUD or anything like that, just pure view.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    I believe they ARE remaking the film

    :argh:

    It's in development, I just looked on IMDb. I hope they don't do it. BTW, Google Maps won't help you with star charts of unmapped parts of the universe. If I remember correctly, Phaelon was in another galaxy. There's no database on Earth that will have that information.
  • BlueNeumannBlueNeumann615 Posts: 1,275Member
    True, but it's a simple matter to download the galaxy maps out of the kid's brain the second he gets into the spaceship. The big thing was getting him home, which you could totally navigate with Google Earth (and Max would surely sense the GPS in orbit). That part was the actual "Flight of the Navigator" and in this day and age he isn't needed. I guess if he went to Phaelon again, but you gotta figure once he gets Max to loosen up and be funny, the other Trimax Drones would quarantine him and destroy him since he's malfunctioning.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Oh, gotcha, use Google Earth for the trip home. Why didn't I think of that? :shiner:

    The thing is, this is just one of those good, fun '80s movies. To try and remake it now is just pointless and it will definitely lose its charm. Your point about the resources available (GPS, etc.) is just one example of why it shouldn't be remade.
  • BlueNeumannBlueNeumann615 Posts: 1,275Member
    I agree. The whole time displacement thing is still pretty nice (and something I've been toying with) but yeah, a remake? No point. The fun of FotN was that it was unlike anything we've seen before.

    It WOULD be cool to see the TriMaxian Hive and Plane Phaelon though. I'm just imagining a spiraling beanstalk-like structure in space with TriMax drones growing like beans and solar panel blossoms... the great combined mental power of it is strong enough to rip open the fabric of the universe, sending their drones throughout the galaxies. The Phaelonites meanwhile reside on their deep blue planet, connected to the knowledge obtained by the drones via nodes in their brains.
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    I think a sequal would be better than a remake. David would in his 50's now?
    What happend to the little alien that stayed behind with him?

    They could do something like Max returns and needs David help.
  • anystaranystar0 Posts: 0Member
    the remake rumors came out at the same time as the Short Circuit remake was announced, last i read is that is going to be the same team, with the Navigator film in the pipe once the other film(s?) is/are done.

    i'm in the same boat though, i wish they'd just leave stuff alone. i'm tired of all my best memories being destroyed by overdone CG and bad storylines :(
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    @Dean: The guy that played David is going to be 40 this year. Even if he was 12 in 1978, he would only be in his 40s, not his 50s. (47 this year)
    anystar wrote: »
    i'm tired of all my best memories being destroyed by overdone CG and bad storylines :(

    I don't think I could say it any better than that.
  • MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
    anystar wrote: »
    i'm tired of all my best memories being destroyed by overdone CG and bad storylines :(

    I'm not sure how a remake destroys what has gone before - we have the option of not watching it.

    Hollywood is always going to remake movies - and people are always going to complain that the version they grew up with was the best/definitive version.

    The fact is - many of the films we hold dear are dated both in their special effects, the overall look and especially the cultural references. How many kids these days who have grown up with MTV, Ipods, music downloads etc are going to get the line about having never seen a music video.

    We may still enjoy them - but they are unlikely to make a big impact with many of today's kids (as i'm sure many of our parents favourite movies dont with us) - I mean, the target audience age for Flight of the Navigator weren't even born in 1986 - let alone 1978.
  • BlueNeumannBlueNeumann615 Posts: 1,275Member
    They announce that they're going to make and remake everything. Wait till it all goes through the pipeline, it's very tight at the other end.

    Of course, I'm a big believer in the remix, not the remake. And it seems now that all the rights are owned by a small conglomeration, we should be seeing similar old movies merged together, why make Flight, Short, and Explorers when you can merge 'em all together? (I'm actually surprised Max didn't show up in "Ready Player One," Johnny Five got a small part.

    BTW, in the vein of these kinds of movies, did anyone else here see this japanese movie called "Juvenile?" It was done by Robot Productions who did Returner and that amazing Onimusha 3 opening (and I believe they did the recent and awesome Space Battleship Yamato live-action flick). It's about a group of kids who find this little ball robot named Tetra who's a precursor to an alien invasion... but the robot's not an alien, he's from the future, and he uses his advanced knowledge to build a cool junk-robot that the main kid has to pilot (using a PS2 controller, no less!) to save the girl.

    1755.jpg
  • SaquistSaquist1 Posts: 0Member
    Moonhawk wrote: »
    Got inspired by Flight of the Navigator the other day and so decided to try and model the ship in Blender 2.65.

    Seemingly quite a simple design - the shape is actually quite complex and difficult to get right.

    Here is my progress so far

    Flight_Test6.jpg
    Flight_Test7.jpg
    Flight_Test8.jpg
    Flight_Test9.jpg

    I looked at screen shots.
    The nose is a bit too long.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Moonhawk wrote: »
    I'm not sure how a remake destroys what has gone before - we have the option of not watching it.

    Hollywood is always going to remake movies - and people are always going to complain that the version they grew up with was the best/definitive version.

    The fact is - many of the films we hold dear are dated both in their special effects, the overall look and especially the cultural references. How many kids these days who have grown up with MTV, Ipods, music downloads etc are going to get the line about having never seen a music video.

    We may still enjoy them - but they are unlikely to make a big impact with many of today's kids (as i'm sure many of our parents favourite movies dont with us) - I mean, the target audience age for Flight of the Navigator weren't even born in 1986 - let alone 1978.

    True, we don't have to watch them. Though, I have to say, I think Flight of the Navigator's effects have held up well over the years. I can get where they want to "bring the movie to a new generation," but that can be accomplished by parents showing it to their children. But, I digress. Like you say, Hollywood is going to do this stuff regardless.
  • MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
    Saquist wrote: »
    I looked at screen shots.
    The nose is a bit too long.

    Yeh - i'm in the process of fixing that.

    Flight_Test10.jpg
    99373.jpg
  • MoonhawkMoonhawk0 Posts: 0Member
    True, we don't have to watch them. Though, I have to say, I think Flight of the Navigator's effects have held up well over the years. I can get where they want to "bring the movie to a new generation," but that can be accomplished by parents showing it to their children. But, I digress. Like you say, Hollywood is going to do this stuff regardless.

    I agree the FX have held up better than many - but I think the bigger problem is the difference in culture and technology depicted in the movie compared to what exists now.

    Kids may get into movies that their parents introduce them to - but as with our generation - the movies that had the biggest influence on our lives tend to be the ones that were released and were contemporary with our childhoods, even if they were remakes.

    That's why most of my favorite kids/teen movies (Flight of the Navigator, Breakfast Club, Werid Science etc) come from the 80s and I dont get the late 90s early 00s ones. Its also why "The Fly" staring Jeff Goldblum and the John Carpenter version of "The Thing" are the definitive and best versions for me - even though they are blatant remakes of previous movies. Many older film fans would probably disagree with me.

    For my young nieces and nephews however - they tend to prefer the more contemporary remakes (i.e. the later versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Karate Kid) - even though they have seen the older versions. The newer remakes are just more relevant to them.
  • anystaranystar0 Posts: 0Member
    yea, i agree totally.
    one recent exception for me however was the Total Recall remake, with a few exceptions of scenes they should have left out (trying too hard to grab on to the original, like the way 3boob was thrown in, or the lobby scene with the friend) i really enjoyed that one.
  • SaquistSaquist1 Posts: 0Member
    What would be amazing if you could model the interior too.
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