Don't feel bad about the "professionalism" of other models out there. I wish that I was a talented at age 17. Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to your own original star trek creations...
Thank you much. I hope to get to some original designs soon.
I feel I must point out that it was VektorVisuals later bussards I liked, not the crappy opaque ones in his early builds. Post #227, the 25% opacity forcefield look.
I agree. That what I'm going to go for in version 7, which I've literally just started.
Version 7 has just begun! This version will take everything I liked from previous versions, notably 5 and 6, and put them together to make my best model yet. :thumb:
At the same time this will take a while, seeing as I just started my senior year of school, and I have an extra 1 year of credits I need to make up due to being sick so much last year. :mad: So updates will only come every so often.
Here is a screen shot of the very beginning of the model
So, I've restarted AGAIN, but technically this is still version 7, because I didn't get very far last time anyway. I decided that instead of making the whole thing, then adding details, I will make it in parts, so I can better work on the details. This eliminates a lot of time.
Here is what I have so far. It took about three hours, because I was trying different techniques:
I love that multi-layered bridge. I wonder how far you can go with layering a bridge of a ship so as to suggest increased size--with Star destroyer level detail while keeping elegant lines...
That looks really good. More like a TMP reboot than a TOS reboot, but it looks good.
That's the idea. I'm trying to better bridge the NX-01 and the refit. I'm adding more details, to match the NX, but not as many. My refit will have less detail than this one on the outer hull (except for the paneling)
I love that multi-layered bridge. I wonder how far you can go with layering a bridge of a ship so as to suggest increased size--with Star destroyer level detail while keeping elegant lines...
Really beautiful. I wish I could do things half this good, your lighting and modelling are hearbreakingly beautiful to a lot of blender users.
I was wondering if you're going to put the red stripes with the weird yellow arrow on the side that the original enterprise had on her sides.
BTW, dod you ever get a CUDA card?
The modeling techniques are fairly, simple, it just takes A LOT of time and planning. I will put the stripes, just not yellow. In my opinion it's the ugliest color you could put on a Federation starship! :P And no, I never got a CUDA card.
Very nice update of the original design. I especially like those bussard collectors. My only advice would be to watch out for that fine line at which it stops being an update and starts becoming a refit variant or something entirely different.
I noticed a few pages back that several people were lamenting the difficulties of modeling the cove and fantail at the back end of the secondary hull. I thought I'd go ahead and post a wireframe of the one I built using booleans and various polygon modeling techniques. This is my "modified" TOS Enterprise but the techniques are the same.
The biggest trick is getting rid of those long, skinny triangles that result from the boolean operation, which I accomplished via the colored edge-loops.
Gonna have to go back and finish that model one of these days...
Very nice update of the original design. I especially like those bussard collectors. My only advice would be to watch out for that fine line at which it stops being an update and starts becoming a refit variant or something entirely different.
I noticed a few pages back that several people were lamenting the difficulties of modeling the cove and fantail at the back end of the secondary hull. I thought I'd go ahead and post a wireframe of the one I built using booleans and various polygon modeling techniques. This is my "modified" TOS Enterprise but the techniques are the same.
The biggest trick is getting rid of those long, skinny triangles that result from the boolean operation, which I accomplished via the colored edge-loops.
Gonna have to go back and finish that model one of these days...
Thanks for the advice! I'm honored to be getting some from a professional. I too hate those pesky triangles. I try to have the least amount of those as possible. Right now there are no tris! I hope I can keep it that way (Though I doubt it).
Your version of the Enterprise is my favorite by far, because it kept all the original shapes, yet it was still modernized. If I can do half as good as your did, I'll be more than happy.
Well, I'm more of a hobbyist than a professional on the 3D modeling side, though I have been doing it for quite a while and I am intimately familiar with this particular ship. You're one of the few people I've seen try to model it with Sub-Ds and probably the only one to have done it to this extent. My hat's off to you for how well you've succeeded, even if I do think you're a bit nuts.
However, in the example I posted, the triangles refer to something different than they do for a Sub-D base mesh. Most people who use a boolean operation to cut the cove out of the back end of the secondary hull as I did wind up with long, skinny triangles radiating off the cut edge, which result in warps and ripples in the smooth shading when the model is rendered. The example wireframe was merely intended to show how those triangles can be controlled with manual cut lines similar to edge-loops in Sub-D modeling.
Anyway, it's looking great so far and I will definitely be keeping up with your progress. :thumb:
Well, I'm more of a hobbyist than a professional on the 3D modeling side, though I have been doing it for quite a while and I am intimately familiar with this particular ship. You're one of the few people I've seen try to model it with Sub-Ds and probably the only one to have done it to this extent. My hat's off to you for how well you've succeeded, even if I do think you're a bit nuts.
However, in the example I posted, the triangles refer to something different than they do for a Sub-D base mesh. Most people who use a boolean operation to cut the cove out of the back end of the secondary hull as I did wind up with long, skinny triangles radiating off the cut edge, which result in warps and ripples in the smooth shading when the model is rendered. The example wireframe was merely intended to show how those triangles can be controlled with manual cut lines similar to edge-loops in Sub-D modeling.
Anyway, it's looking great so far and I will definitely be keeping up with your progress. :thumb:
Thank you! And by professional I meant really good at.
I've had the same long triangle issue on some of my previous attempts. That's why I used subsurfs. But with my new version, I'm not going to use any subsurfs!
Here's a wireframe. As y'all can see, I like to use n-gons. I realize that your technically not supposed to use them, but they work for my purposes:
Who says you're not supposed to use ngons? I've always used them, back when I used TrueSpace and now that I use Lightwave. They work great and are much preferred to having a bunch of extra vertices, in my opinion. In fact, when I tried Blender, it was pre-ngons and that was one thing I didn't like about it.
Ok, so I was studying the NX-01 more, and looking at my 24th century reboot designs, and I realized that this ship was looking too advanced, and was leaving little room for the Refit and the 24th century designs to looksignificantly more advanced. With that in mind, I'm taking version seven closer to the NX-01 era, but still keeping the smooth appearance of the TOS enterprise. This time I'm going to use textures for the paneling (which will give me a reason to learn how to texture properly). Here's what I have so far:
Biggest piece of advice I can give you about texturing: UV as you go. Don't go back and do it later. Do it before you freeze your subsurf modifiers. You will hate life if you wait.
Still love what you're doing with this. Don't know how many different ways I can continue to say that.
Biggest piece of advice I can give you about texturing: UV as you go. Don't go back and do it later. Do it before you freeze your subsurf modifiers. You will hate life if you wait.
Still love what you're doing with this. Don't know how many different ways I can continue to say that.
Thanks! That's definitely what I'm gonna do the the texture. And good thing I'm not using subsurfs, I am so done with that. :P
At this point I'm kind of unsure of what I'm doing with this ship. It would be one thing if all the panels and details were mapped out already, and all I had to do was model it, but I have to design everything as I go. I've tried and failed so many times to get this how I want it. That's actually I good thing in my mind, since a good artist of any kind tries and fails more times than the bad artist even tries.
Anyway, I might have to take another leave of absence from the site to work things out, so sit tight everyone.
Have you decided on the number and locations of the weapons yet? I do advocate mounting the torpedoes in the engineering hull like all but the original constitution class did.
Posts
Thank you much. I hope to get to some original designs soon.
I agree. That what I'm going to go for in version 7, which I've literally just started.
At the same time this will take a while, seeing as I just started my senior year of school, and I have an extra 1 year of credits I need to make up due to being sick so much last year. :mad: So updates will only come every so often.
Here is a screen shot of the very beginning of the model
I really enjoyed your video showing the progression of models... you've come a very long way in a short time.
Can't wait to see it finished.
-Ricky
Good luck with school!
Thank you. I've enjoyed your models very much. In fact, I used your models in learning how to animate.
I appreciate the support guys!
I got them here: http://charlescasimiro.com/blueprints.html They are very helpful, and very accurate. I use these ones as well:
http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/wizardofflight/TOS1701.html
Here is what I have so far. It took about three hours, because I was trying different techniques:
That looks really good. More like a TMP reboot than a TOS reboot, but it looks good.
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
I was wondering if you're going to put the red stripes with the weird yellow arrow on the side that the original enterprise had on her sides.
BTW, dod you ever get a CUDA card?
Exactly!
That's the idea. I'm trying to better bridge the NX-01 and the refit. I'm adding more details, to match the NX, but not as many. My refit will have less detail than this one on the outer hull (except for the paneling)
Awesome!
Maybe I'll try it sometime.
The modeling techniques are fairly, simple, it just takes A LOT of time and planning. I will put the stripes, just not yellow. In my opinion it's the ugliest color you could put on a Federation starship! :P And no, I never got a CUDA card.
I noticed a few pages back that several people were lamenting the difficulties of modeling the cove and fantail at the back end of the secondary hull. I thought I'd go ahead and post a wireframe of the one I built using booleans and various polygon modeling techniques. This is my "modified" TOS Enterprise but the techniques are the same.
The biggest trick is getting rid of those long, skinny triangles that result from the boolean operation, which I accomplished via the colored edge-loops.
Gonna have to go back and finish that model one of these days...
Thanks!
Thanks for the advice! I'm honored to be getting some from a professional. I too hate those pesky triangles. I try to have the least amount of those as possible. Right now there are no tris! I hope I can keep it that way (Though I doubt it).
Your version of the Enterprise is my favorite by far, because it kept all the original shapes, yet it was still modernized. If I can do half as good as your did, I'll be more than happy.
However, in the example I posted, the triangles refer to something different than they do for a Sub-D base mesh. Most people who use a boolean operation to cut the cove out of the back end of the secondary hull as I did wind up with long, skinny triangles radiating off the cut edge, which result in warps and ripples in the smooth shading when the model is rendered. The example wireframe was merely intended to show how those triangles can be controlled with manual cut lines similar to edge-loops in Sub-D modeling.
Anyway, it's looking great so far and I will definitely be keeping up with your progress. :thumb:
Thank you! And by professional I meant really good at.
I've had the same long triangle issue on some of my previous attempts. That's why I used subsurfs. But with my new version, I'm not going to use any subsurfs!
Here's a wireframe. As y'all can see, I like to use n-gons. I realize that your technically not supposed to use them, but they work for my purposes:
Who says you're not supposed to use ngons? I've always used them, back when I used TrueSpace and now that I use Lightwave. They work great and are much preferred to having a bunch of extra vertices, in my opinion. In fact, when I tried Blender, it was pre-ngons and that was one thing I didn't like about it.
Still love what you're doing with this. Don't know how many different ways I can continue to say that.
Books: [ Ashes of Alour-Tan | Embers of Alour-Tan ] | Blender Tutorials | Blog
Thanks! That's definitely what I'm gonna do the the texture. And good thing I'm not using subsurfs, I am so done with that. :P
At this point I'm kind of unsure of what I'm doing with this ship. It would be one thing if all the panels and details were mapped out already, and all I had to do was model it, but I have to design everything as I go. I've tried and failed so many times to get this how I want it. That's actually I good thing in my mind, since a good artist of any kind tries and fails more times than the bad artist even tries.
Anyway, I might have to take another leave of absence from the site to work things out, so sit tight everyone.
On the last image your panel lines are really strong and this makes the saucer look too small in camparison to the detailed bridge. Reminds me more of a mini model than a big scale ship.
FREE-SHIPPING-Star-trek-ship-mini-model-Model-Toys-4pcs-in-one-box-beautiful-Decoration.jpg
Keep up your great work!