@evil_genius_180: I actually feel bad for the poor souls who have to stand up for 8 hours right besides the captain, better to just give them chairs. :rolleyes:
Season 1 greenish-yellow + blue, or mid-Season "guest ship of the week" oranges and purples?
I was never a big fan of the latter (that combination always looked obnoxiously un-starfleet to me), but I have to admit it might work well here against the muted greys of the bulkheads and carpet....
I love these designs! On your latest ships the side consoles are you following the established side console design for the Ent-A, Excelsior, Ent-B, Ent-E, Equinox, etc.?
I love these designs! On your latest ships the side consoles are you following the established side console design for the Ent-A, Excelsior, Ent-B, Ent-E, Equinox, etc.?
IMO while that console layout worked fine for Ent-A and -B, it shouldn't have cropped up again -- it wasn't the defacto design by the time of the Ambassador and later generations, and the only reason it appeared on new bridges was because of the need for the Voyager production team to recycle their expensive Excelsior "Flashback" bridge. It looks glaringly anachronistic after TNG.
As for why Zimmerman recycled those consoles (not to mention the turbolift alcoves!) for the Ent-E - several generations down the line technologically and with a motion picture budget to boot - Lord only knows. :rolleyes: That entire ship is an eyesore though, so meh...
greenish-yellow + blue, I don't like the orange and purple LCARS either.
The side consoles are completely original. On the older ships (Patagonia and Nomad) they follow that style closely, on the newer bridges (Galatea and Charybdis) they are less similar.
While I would've preferred a completely new design, they made the older console layout look good and TNG enough for the Equinox and Prometheus IMO.
However I agree 100% with the Enterprise-E, that bridge took so many elements from so many different eras (turbolifts from TMP, consoles from Ent-A, Light fixtures from Ent-B, details from the Ent-D) that even with the new chairs and central consoles, it lacks its own personality. I love the Ent-E, it's my favorite, but I hate that bridge, even the layout is awful and hard to read. The colors are cool, that much I would give them. I would love to have seen a version more faithful to Eaves' original concept for that bridge, with more separated consoles, and a far more consistent design style.
Rant over, returning to the Charybdis, all the UV maps for the LCARS are done, now I just have to produce them. :P
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
I've started working on the LCARS today. Also, I've made the lights half as much bright as they were before, in order to make the bridge more uniformly light and closer to the TNG brightness level.
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
greenish-yellow + blue, I don't like the orange and purple LCARS either.
Wow, I thought I was just about the only one who thought that! Happy to hear from a like mind
While I would've preferred a completely new design, they made the older console layout look good and TNG enough for the Equinox and Prometheus IMO.
The LCARS work was brilliant on them; you could see how much the technique has improved since the beginning of TNG - even for guest bridges like those. Shame DS9 didn't get the opportunity to use the set (or at least, I don't think they did? Someone correct me if I'm wrong!)
However I agree 100% with the Enterprise-E, that bridge took so many elements from so many different eras (turbolifts from TMP, consoles from Ent-A, Light fixtures from Ent-B, details from the Ent-D) that even with the new chairs and central consoles, it lacks its own personality.
Agreed. I don't understand either why they didn't even bother changing the design of the leather padded segments under the consoles - that and the lighting grills below, again, really stuck out like a sore thumb to me.
I love the Ent-E, it's my favorite,
This is definitely where we differ - I absolutely detest the Ent-E exterior. So much of it screams "throwback" out of some misplaced sense of nostalgia by Eaves (who admittedly was never a TNG viewer, let alone a fan). Such a wasted opportunity in that ship.
I hate that bridge, even the layout is awful and hard to read. The colors are cool, that much I would give them. I would love to have seen a version more faithful to Eaves' original concept for that bridge, with more separated consoles, and a far more consistent design style.
Definitely agreed on the layout. No ergonomics at all. Plus I've always been a little disappointed that they dropped the horseshoe rail, as I once read a report that they were keeping it (or an updated version) while FC was in production.
That concept art I always liked (and the same for his work on the Ent-D bridge concepts for Gen), but I imagined the 'E' bridge concept in tones and colors more similar to Generations or maybe even TFF, rather than the over-bronzed, heavily decorated eyesore that we got in FC (what was up with all the black tape markings on everything?!). That thing looks more Ferengi than Federation! The low lighting level didn't help with the cluttered appearance, either, I think...
That latest image is incredibly pretty! Wouldn't mind jumping in and having a 'play' on the consoles myself... Out of curiosity did you consider any alternate color schemes for the decor when you were thinking up the design?
@BlueNeumann: wow, thank you very much, I'm happy that my work is able to give such a big emotional response.
@Starscream: As for alternative colors, I originally intended the consoles and walls to be beige like on the Ent-D bridge, but then I saved that idea for another concept of mine.
More work on the LCARS. I've finished the main Helm/Ops consoles, as well as the bottom part of the surrounding stations and started with several other details. Still a lot to do.
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
Only one suggestion, if I may: Unless it's what you're aiming for anyway, the yellows on the LCARS look a little oversaturated in comparison to TNG, as per screencaps from TNG 'Brothers'. Image 074 (top-right) in particular nicely illustrates the shades and variations.
When I first started with the LCARS, the color was a lot more of a copy of the original colors from TNG. However, I didn't particularly liked how they looked with all the gray, so I changed them a bit (resembling more the LCARS from Parallels in the end).
If you all think it's too bright, I'll change them, so please tell me what you think
Other than that, I've finished with the Helm/Ops consoles, as well as the captain's chair and the standing consoles besides it. I've also laid out the remaining consoles, so I hope to be able to finish this by tomorrow.
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
Ahh, that makes sense then - I did for a second think it looked much more like Parallels, but then you'd said early TNG was your aim so wasn't sure! Nice update :cool:
I remember hearing that Voyager was designed to feel like you're inside a PC. With no disrespect to them, THIS feels like you're inside a PC. In the best possible way, of course.
Something I like about these consoles is that you could easily do punchouts for 16:9 monitors in the LCARs to replace the 4:3s without much difficulty at all.
First of all, here are all the finished renders for the Charybdis:
After that was done, I returned to an old design of mine. This bridge was started after the Patagonia, but I left it because it never looked completely right to me... It's the bridge of a Buenos Aires class ship, and I wanted it to have a TMP era layout but with TNG elements (just like the exterior of the ship).
Now, after re-scaling it and re doing a lot of it, here's how it looks:
I'm not completely sold on the side consoles, I might re do them entirely. Thoughts?
For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
No, what's the other word. Love. I freakin' love you.
For the Buenos Aires (Hellllooo Buenos Aires!), I'd suggest putting the nav/conn consoles closer together, like the Excelsior bridge. Might make the middle a little more unified. The side consoles might look different after that (I do like the idea of those back consoles being reusable like the movie consoles were... just stick 'em into a wall!) Maybe if they had the little chairs like TNG instead of the high backed chairs you have might fit better as well. I like the idea that the whole ship might be automated, so not all of those stations are in use all the time.
My only issue? The layout seems too flat, the steps seem too shallow. I'd make the pit a bit deeper, maybe raise the outer rim by a step to divide the space up a little bit.
Posts
Meh, I do that every day I work.
Final update for the day, I've added several more bits around the side stations.
I've finished with the front part of the bridge. Except maybe a few details, I think I'm done with the modeling part for this one.
I was never a big fan of the latter (that combination always looked obnoxiously un-starfleet to me), but I have to admit it might work well here against the muted greys of the bulkheads and carpet....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99878876@N02/26871956075/in/album-72157644542637766/
IMO while that console layout worked fine for Ent-A and -B, it shouldn't have cropped up again -- it wasn't the defacto design by the time of the Ambassador and later generations, and the only reason it appeared on new bridges was because of the need for the Voyager production team to recycle their expensive Excelsior "Flashback" bridge. It looks glaringly anachronistic after TNG.
As for why Zimmerman recycled those consoles (not to mention the turbolift alcoves!) for the Ent-E - several generations down the line technologically and with a motion picture budget to boot - Lord only knows. :rolleyes: That entire ship is an eyesore though, so meh...
The side consoles are completely original. On the older ships (Patagonia and Nomad) they follow that style closely, on the newer bridges (Galatea and Charybdis) they are less similar.
While I would've preferred a completely new design, they made the older console layout look good and TNG enough for the Equinox and Prometheus IMO.
However I agree 100% with the Enterprise-E, that bridge took so many elements from so many different eras (turbolifts from TMP, consoles from Ent-A, Light fixtures from Ent-B, details from the Ent-D) that even with the new chairs and central consoles, it lacks its own personality. I love the Ent-E, it's my favorite, but I hate that bridge, even the layout is awful and hard to read. The colors are cool, that much I would give them. I would love to have seen a version more faithful to Eaves' original concept for that bridge, with more separated consoles, and a far more consistent design style.
Rant over, returning to the Charybdis, all the UV maps for the LCARS are done, now I just have to produce them. :P
I've started working on the LCARS today. Also, I've made the lights half as much bright as they were before, in order to make the bridge more uniformly light and closer to the TNG brightness level.
Wow, I thought I was just about the only one who thought that! Happy to hear from a like mind
The LCARS work was brilliant on them; you could see how much the technique has improved since the beginning of TNG - even for guest bridges like those. Shame DS9 didn't get the opportunity to use the set (or at least, I don't think they did? Someone correct me if I'm wrong!)
Agreed. I don't understand either why they didn't even bother changing the design of the leather padded segments under the consoles - that and the lighting grills below, again, really stuck out like a sore thumb to me.
This is definitely where we differ - I absolutely detest the Ent-E exterior. So much of it screams "throwback" out of some misplaced sense of nostalgia by Eaves (who admittedly was never a TNG viewer, let alone a fan). Such a wasted opportunity in that ship.
Definitely agreed on the layout. No ergonomics at all. Plus I've always been a little disappointed that they dropped the horseshoe rail, as I once read a report that they were keeping it (or an updated version) while FC was in production.
That concept art I always liked (and the same for his work on the Ent-D bridge concepts for Gen), but I imagined the 'E' bridge concept in tones and colors more similar to Generations or maybe even TFF, rather than the over-bronzed, heavily decorated eyesore that we got in FC (what was up with all the black tape markings on everything?!). That thing looks more Ferengi than Federation! The low lighting level didn't help with the cluttered appearance, either, I think...
That latest image is incredibly pretty! Wouldn't mind jumping in and having a 'play' on the consoles myself... Out of curiosity did you consider any alternate color schemes for the decor when you were thinking up the design?
@Starscream: As for alternative colors, I originally intended the consoles and walls to be beige like on the Ent-D bridge, but then I saved that idea for another concept of mine.
@evil_genius_180: Thanks mate!
More work on the LCARS. I've finished the main Helm/Ops consoles, as well as the bottom part of the surrounding stations and started with several other details. Still a lot to do.
Only one suggestion, if I may: Unless it's what you're aiming for anyway, the yellows on the LCARS look a little oversaturated in comparison to TNG, as per screencaps from TNG 'Brothers'. Image 074 (top-right) in particular nicely illustrates the shades and variations.
When I first started with the LCARS, the color was a lot more of a copy of the original colors from TNG. However, I didn't particularly liked how they looked with all the gray, so I changed them a bit (resembling more the LCARS from Parallels in the end).
If you all think it's too bright, I'll change them, so please tell me what you think
Other than that, I've finished with the Helm/Ops consoles, as well as the captain's chair and the standing consoles besides it. I've also laid out the remaining consoles, so I hope to be able to finish this by tomorrow.
I've finished the LCARS for the Mission Ops, Science, and Engineering stations, only two to go!
@evil_genius_180: That's right, I use Inkscape for all the graphics.
Aaand the Charybdis is finished! Here's how the two remanining consoles look, now I'll go prepare all the high quality renders.
Sweet! Inkscape is a great program.
First of all, here are all the finished renders for the Charybdis:
After that was done, I returned to an old design of mine. This bridge was started after the Patagonia, but I left it because it never looked completely right to me... It's the bridge of a Buenos Aires class ship, and I wanted it to have a TMP era layout but with TNG elements (just like the exterior of the ship).
Now, after re-scaling it and re doing a lot of it, here's how it looks:
I'm not completely sold on the side consoles, I might re do them entirely. Thoughts?
No, what's the other word. Love. I freakin' love you.
For the Buenos Aires (Hellllooo Buenos Aires!), I'd suggest putting the nav/conn consoles closer together, like the Excelsior bridge. Might make the middle a little more unified. The side consoles might look different after that (I do like the idea of those back consoles being reusable like the movie consoles were... just stick 'em into a wall!) Maybe if they had the little chairs like TNG instead of the high backed chairs you have might fit better as well. I like the idea that the whole ship might be automated, so not all of those stations are in use all the time.
My only issue? The layout seems too flat, the steps seem too shallow. I'd make the pit a bit deeper, maybe raise the outer rim by a step to divide the space up a little bit.
The Patagonia looks really good so far too.