Arsenal Class Warship

[CyAn1d3]

not yet, shes still somewhat in parts. the models not quite done yet. the saucer section is, but theres still some detailing to do on the main hull and ive decided to completely redo the nacelles.
 

id love to do the textures... but i dont have a copy of a good program to do it in.

[CyAn1d3]

heres an update for yall with the new nacelles. enjoy!

[MarkyD]

ur right about it looking different mate,  8)

think you need to do ur smoothing groups and check the mesh for overlapping verts etc.

Nice design

[Shino Tenshi]

i really start liking this design ;)

[Aeries]

As already stated, get them verts and smoothing issues sorted and you're golden. :] Nice work so far.

[FourChan]

Nice, now you have to do two versions. A Twin Nacelle and the original planned four Nacelle.

[CyAn1d3]

Nice, now you have to do two versions. A Twin Nacelle and the original planned four Nacelle.

honestly, that thought had crossed my mind.

but heres the updates to drool over with the new hull..... i felt like re doing it... it didnt sit completely with me.









yes i see the seam in the saucer.. theres a few like that and their getting taken care of in the final detailing, as well as a few other nit picks.

[FourChan]

So how many tubes are you planning to put on it? Since it's an Arsenal Class it's going to be armed to the teeth I presume.  Is anything special going to be on the front of the ships teeth? (Those two protruding parts on the saucer)

[CyAn1d3]

ok, so far on the front theres 4 tubes on the saucer (just above the "teeth") and 4 just above the deflector.
NOW, i am stuck in the decision to put the remaining 4 either at the front of the saucer at the tip of the "teeth", under the deflector, or at the front of the bridge.

as for the aft section, (going to) 2 under the shuttlebay, 2 at the bottom of the hull, and 4 up the spine. which would make 12f/8a
i dont want to go completely insane on the torpedo tubes, tho i think the concept of having 14 fore and 12 aft would be appropriate without going COMPLETELY overboard.
theres also 6 phaser arrays on the saucer alone, 4 medium, 2 heavy, and in between the "teeth" will be something like the borg cutting array that the armored voyager has.

maybe the remaining tubes i have yet to place, will be fore and aft quantum turrets since this baby will be packn phase torps.

im open to anything else, other than the few little things that need to be done shes pretty much ready for texturing

[Nexxus21]

Its not the number of tubes that count but how many torpedoes you plan to launch per tube and reload time and you have Quantum turrets :shock:  That is scary :lol:

[CyAn1d3]

idk jack bout hardpointing, but i think something like 2 or 3 torps per 20 - 30 sec reload, or something like that. i want this thing to be a beast, but not ridiculously insanely over powered.

think of the torps a war soverign can unload plus a bag of chips.

[CyAn1d3]

ok, just one quick thing before i get started with the textures, i wanna make sure i do this right

note that im working in max 9 32bit. sp2.
1. make sure EVERYTHINGS pristine with the model
2. do a uvw wrap on the model, then unwrap and export ( to where tho? is the .uvw map openable in photoshop? )
3. figure out what goes where and get to painting textures.
4. apply said made textures.

am i on the right page here? cuz this is the FIRST time ive done ANY kind of texturing whatsoever... ( i can hear the laughing now ) ive read ALL the tutorials and i ve got the jist of it, but im not 100%, so im going to b askin questions.

i have my old textbooks from school ( Inside 3ds MAX, and 3ds MAX fundamentals )
id know this, but i had to drop out of school... motorcycle accident and frozen student loans, nuff said on that subject.

[CyAn1d3]

detailings DONE. here she is lookin all nice and perrrty. now on to my nightmare of uvw mapping....

[FarShot]

Oh wow!  Many improvements over the previous.  Looks like you got your smoothing groups in order.  The only complaint I have is that it isn't high enough poly for me.  Still looks too boxy in places.

[MarkyD]

Oh wow!  Many improvements over the previous.  Looks like you got your smoothing groups in order.  The only complaint I have is that it isn't high enough poly for me.  Still looks too boxy in places.

Agreed, although a nice model and design mate, it looks a little sharp on the poly count..

note that im working in max 9 32bit. sp2.
1. make sure EVERYTHINGS pristine with the model
2. do a uvw wrap on the model, then unwrap and export ( to where tho? is the .uvw map openable in photoshop? )
3. figure out what goes where and get to painting textures.
4. apply said made textures.

In answer to ur questions, :-

1. Yes, ensure the model is unified and the mesh is clean, run the STL Checker to show obvious mesh errors you may have missed
2. Yes UVW Unwrap the mesh, just ensure ur smoothing roups are in order first. with max 9, you have a uvw map exporter.
3. Just draw them
4. you dont need to apply them as they should already be done on mapping.

good luck

[FarShot]

Oh wow!  Many improvements over the previous.  Looks like you got your smoothing groups in order.  The only complaint I have is that it isn't high enough poly for me.  Still looks too boxy in places.

Oh, that doesn't mean that I won't download though.

[CyAn1d3]

thanks! unfortunately ive hit another road block and am forced to put this on hold for a few days, i have to move out in 5 days. ill get back to it as soon as i have the time

[CyAn1d3]

okle pokles, got some things rollin in the time ive had lately. quick question tho, what am i supposed to do with the EMPTY space in the uv map? is there a certain color its supposed to be so it wont show on the model, or am i supposed to stretch it and fit it so the "unused" space is not visible?

[MarkyD]

No you can leave that colour whatever you like... I normally just delete it in photoshop once I add the map as a layer.. 

But as a general rule of thumb, try to use as much of the free space as possible, I think Adonis had a good ref to his uvw maps on the apollo thread 

[CyAn1d3]

alrighty, is there a way to expand the size of the map renderer? or is that at a set in stone type of deal?  when i go to render the uvw map i only have enough space to do 1/4 of the saucer. its not stopping anything, its just annoying that i can only do that much of the map at a shot.