Bridge Commander Central
BC Forums => BC Modding => Topic started by: Vortex on May 12, 2013, 12:37:27 PM
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Well, after being around since 2007-ish I figure it's time I give this modding thing a shot. Also, I just really want to learn to 3D model, so prepare for some very noobish looking stuff. That said, I've finely got my head around the Boolean tool. (Only taken me two days. xD )
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/1_zps1c617134.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/2_zps4cc4805c.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/3_zps1daa8aab.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/4_zps5deac101.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/5_zps8d7e7b1d.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/6_zpsafbc65ad.jpg)
Edit: Here's a break down of the ship.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Components_zps6c173204.jpg)
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you'll be better off by using a geosphere for the nacelle collector... it smooths better, uses less polygons, and it's easier to map.
orient it's positive Z forward.
also, don't "extrude" things from previous things... try modelling things separately and then weld their unions.
instead of "growing" as you go, try "clay-ing" in.... if you know what I mean :P
of course there's no "right" way to do things, and you might want to use the tool you're most confident with,.... but if you can get past that and forget the tools, and instead just focus on the procedure and tecnique, you'll nail it in no time.
you will notice that you sometimes get used to geometric proportions, measured structures and consistent volumes, and it might come a time where you just have to weld in that particular piece, and it either breaks your structure, or ruins the design.
solution: don't take the structures for granted.... just know the limitations of the tool and the mesh, and use them to work your way around the problem.
:thumbsup:
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Thanks Nighthawk. I shall look into this "clay-ing" of which you speak.
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I'm getting a "TOS Voyager" vibe off of this, so far.
and he means to think of it like modeling clay, Vortex
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I'm getting a "TOS Voyager" vibe off of this, so far.
Interesting. Not what I was going for, but an interesting notion.
So basically, build separate components of the ship, join the separate objects together and remove doubles?
EDIT: Is an Icosphere the same thing as a geosphere? Basically a polygonal sphere.
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Interesting. Not what I was going for, but an interesting notion.
dude, you even cut the deflector dish into the saucer. the e-hull looks like Voyager's, and you've even got the nacelles in a good position for it.
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EDIT: Is an Icosphere the same thing as a geosphere? Basically a polygonal sphere.
the name might differ... one is made of squares, the other of triangles.
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Okay, clear on that now. KCS, I'll give a bit of a think on that. I don't think I've seen a TOS Voyager before.
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hey, even defiant has been "TOSed" by GMunoz. I'd check with everyone who's done a TOS style ship, here, when it comes to texturing time. btw, I'd stick with the fixed pattern bussards for now instead of the rotaters.
what are you going for with the nacelle pylons?
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I vaguely recall the TOS Defiant. I was planning on fixed textures for the bussards.
I was thinking something between NX and TOS for the pylons, as this was intended to be my own interpretation of the NX class.
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So, whilst looking around the net for tips etc, I came across this: http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?80043-Star-Trek-Model-Ship-with-Cycles-materiasl-needed&p=571471&viewfull=1#post571471 (http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?80043-Star-Trek-Model-Ship-with-Cycles-materiasl-needed&p=571471&viewfull=1#post571471)
Something about the geometry on the ship grabbed me so I thought I'd try something similar. (Nowhere near as simple as the design looks.) *Note; making my own original design*.
I used two planes to create two objects that currently comprise the secondary hull:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/LostEra1_zps5c38cbab.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/LostEra2_zps03717097.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/LostEra3_zpse5077295.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Wireframe_zpsadb9e771.jpg)
Both objects are still separate.
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oh i see you too are using blender. let me know if you have any questions. my technique is to use the mirror modifier, and then use extrude / scale based off of the blueprint of my ship. for my edges i just separate them if they are supposed to be smooth or definitive edges to save on poly's.
for cutting out holes: avoid the boolean tool, it will destroy your model in blender. instead take your area that you want to cut the hole, create the hole shape, delete the faces that you want to cut into, select the edges for both the hole and edges of the original mesh, then use the F hotkey to fill in between the two.
note: make sure your faces are faced the right way that was an issue with my ships.... otherwise the faces will be invisible when brought in game... you do this by going into edit mode, hit the n key, go to normals, hit the face icon. your faces will have a line growing out of the direction that the face is facing, you correct any issues by hitting flip direction.
and thats the start of a few things i learned from building the envoy.
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I haven't used the mirror modifier on these, but it does seem that extrude and scale is the popular method for Blender. Nice tip for creating the wholes, I'll try that. Thankyou.
How do you go about smoothing? I'm given to understand that subdivide is bad for BC.
EDIT: Incidently, the next free weekend I get, I'm thinking of doing this: http://cgcookie.com/blender/cgc-series/modeling-sci-fi-vehicle/ (http://cgcookie.com/blender/cgc-series/modeling-sci-fi-vehicle/)
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under shading click smooth. if you have enough poly's it'll look correct, if you dont it'll look weird. if you know you have enough polys and the smothing looks weird, then click recalculate normals, which will recalculate the edges and direction the faces are facing.
I can tell you right now from your last images you do not have enough polys in your mesh.
my advice is to create your ship design first in illustrator, as a blueprint use that for background images, then build your ship off of that.
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Ah, so it is just smooth then. Thankyou.
I've got some Constitution Refit plans that I'm working from. I've got the main body of the saucer, just need to work out how to do the structures on the top and bottom. I've tried it using a plane, but not sure whether that'd be the best way.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Saucer_zps841d18ec.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Saucer2_zpsb26f5ad0.jpg)
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another approach would be to create the outline radius, then move the cursor to the the center point then extrude via radius ALT+R this works best for saucer sections that are perfectly circular like the constitution.
another approach would be to take the edge of the top of the saucer, extrude that down for the edge of the saucer, then use hotkey P to separate the edges to correct smoothing errors.
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For the saucer itself I used a circle and series of extrusions and scaling. I'll probably rebuild it tomorrow and separate the bottom as you've suggested. The super-structure is what I used the plane for.
So if I've got this right, for better smoothing, the top, bottom and side of the main saucer should be three separate objects?
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thats what i normally do to make the shading look right, otherwise you'd have to add additional polys for it to calculate how you want it to look.
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Here's the rebuild. Main saucer is done with a circle, currently in three sections (though one object), super-structure has been done likewise. It was during this phase that I found the reference images aren't in exact alignment, so I'm working done one side of the ship and doing both sides as I go.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerA1_zpsd3464e5d.png)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerA2_zps7e1c5eac.png)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerA3_zpsa66a18bb.png)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerA4_zpsf2bdb500.png)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerA5_zps9318c00d.png)
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much better
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Thanks, Andy.
Here's an update, started work on the bridge module. Again, used a circle for this. Proving to be the most challenging part so far. It's not much, I know, but didn't get anything done over the weekend. Damn not knowing what I did on Saturday and spending all of yesterday at a Drink and Food Fair in Derbyshire. Double damn because I was driving and could therefore only have half a pint of cider from the cider bar. xD
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Bridge1_zpsccec7f62.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Bridge2_zps8c2368a2.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Bridge3_zps9d235002.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeWire_zps52326fb5.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeWire2_zps5f01a617.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeWire3_zpsbb69f2da.jpg)
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I would separate out these faces, they appear to all currently use the same verts, otherwise the program attempts to make it smoothed, where it should be more defined....
i would separate them like this:
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/8758941827_a15fc5a299_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/81282251@N08/8758941827/)
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I'll do that when I rebuild tomorrow. I'm thinking about rebuilding the superstructure as well, so that I can try modelling in the rec room windows.
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its not really a rebuild, you just need to select the faces by the color from my image, then hit p
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I've been going by: Build once to figure it out, then build again to refine.
I was playing earlier to try smoothing separately by selecting the faces in groups and doing it one at a time. Didn't work. Smoothing groups would be a nice feature in the next Blender.
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Here's a small update. Nothing big, but I've started to rebuild the bridge module. I've taken a slightly different approach this time as well. This seems to be following the lines a little better. Just need to figure out how I'm going to join it all back up.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuild_zpsaaaf25b1.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuild2_zps1953f354.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuild3_zpsd5b3739c.jpg)
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Nice! I would recomend selecting the top verts of the outer section , and then also select the verts from the inner outline,up to where it starts curving up. then use the F hotkey. for the curve, use extrude, but also use the snap to feature, which is the magnet icon. from there extrude the back edges, select the sides, fill, then fill the top. then separate by what faces should be defined edges and use hotkey P.
if that makes sense.
Hope my blender expertise is coming in handy. If i get to be too much, let me know :angel
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Thankyou, I'll play around with snap and then give that a go.
Yes, it's coming in handy, I'm slowly picking things up, so keep going please. :p
Something I've come to realise about WIP threads is that they tend to show just progress and little to no process. Not saying it's a problem, but it would probably help and maybe encourage other people who are starting out if some more experienced modelers showed their workflow a bit. Just so that we aren't fooled by how easy they make it look. :p
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I've split them off as you suggested. Doing this section, particularly the curves showed how horribly out of alignment the background images are. I had to generalise a little.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuildA_zps9c90fe4d.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuildA1_zpse652ca1a.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeRebuildA2_zps4ed9ae96.jpg)
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Amazing! :yay: i do see a smoothing error, can you post a wireframe?
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Thankyou. Pretty sure that I know where you're on about, I noticed it when I did the renders. No progress to show for today, spend most of it watching CGCookie Sci-Fi ship series, picked up some tip and tricks. Also went out with camera, so that took time away from the computer. :p
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/BridgeWire_zpsb4856afc.jpg)
More work tomorrow. (Where's today gone?)
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I re-sized and realigned the images, they seem to be much more in line now. I've also rebuild the saucer from scratch.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SaucerModule_zpscbbeb6dc.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Module_zps4821b501.jpg)
What I need to figure out next is how to accurately get the rise in the bottom of the saucer.
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Well, I've redone the ventral of the saucer and made a start on the sensor dome. Annoyingly, the sensor is bigger on the ventral view than all of the other views on my references, even thought the saucer size line up with the other views. Strange thing.
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I think your making good progress
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Thankyou. Here's the photo that the um... board... fogot to post on Tuesday. :banghead:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/UnderSaucer_zps50a3b838.jpg)
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Some more work done on the sensor area. This part is proving to be damned tricky.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Sensor_zps5ab4951a.jpg)
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I've decided to leave the sensor dome for a bit and start on the secondary hull instead. Here's my first pass at it:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SecHull1_zpsa9034f7d.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SecHull2_zps74ba2cee.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SecHull3_zps92a616d4.jpg)
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Very nice. The saucer rim and the secondary hull needs more polies (needs to be rounder).
Areas to be careful on the secondary hull:
-the 3 forward sensors around the deflector (mainly how they connect to the hull)
-pylon connection to the secondary hull
Good start.
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Thankyou, Wiley. How many segments do you tend to use for the saucer? I've got 40 on this one.
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Agree with Wiley. On mine I lath the line to about 32 and them select the lines of the rim and chamfer them. This will give you a rim of 64 polys whilst not over loading the rest of the saucer with unnecessary polys.
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Sadly, Blender doesn't have a lathe modifier, so I'll have to figure out a different way of adding polies to the rim.
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Haven't given in, just been busy with other stuff.
Something I've noticed in the orthographic's that I'm working from is that even the the saucer outline matches up, other parts of the ship don't. The secondary hull isn't so bad, it's just a bit higher up in the front view than the side, but the ventral saucer is an odd one.
The rim fits fine, but the sensor area is bigger on the bottom ortho than on the front or side view.
After a bit of a play, I've found that it's a similar thing with the NX Intrepid:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Front_zpse670769c.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Top_zpsf81487c5.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Aft_zpse9e238f8.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Side_zpscdf30c71.jpg)
The side view seems to be way off.
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Well, I couldn't resist doing this one. xD
I've always liked this ship, there's always been something about it that I could never quite put my finger on, but it was nice. The only thing I object to is how far forward the nacelles are.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/1_zpsbb72085c.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/2_zpsa506a142.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/3_zps4464bc38.jpg)
Since Ent is a relatively untouched era until recently, and this is one of those "minor" ships, I wanted to take a shot at it. I'm still going on the Constitution, but since the last two or three years has seen at least three or four versions a year (About 90% of those probably being Baz and Wiley. :p ) I may finish this one off first.
I'm actually a little more proud of this little bit than I was the Constitution saucer.
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I've spent the last three hours or so rebuilding. Liking this much better.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/1_zpse62ef5e6.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/2_zps2b1c8775.jpg)
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Nice dude! Keep at it!
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Solid work
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Thankyou guys. Didn't have time to work on it today (Fell asleep and then went fencing.) but should have an update tomorrow.
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Look forward to the progress, blender is an great tool but is very difficult to master so take pride in what you are doing
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I tried Gmax a few years back but couldn't get in to it. From what very little I've been able to gleam, Blender has more the approach of being a sculpting tool than other software. It's damned good, though.
Annoyingly, not as much progress to show as I'd hoped for. I ended up spending quite a bit of time cleaning up the mesh a bit and trying to figure out how I did the deflector cut out the last time.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/3_zps1c691e15.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/4_zps5e4c3ca2.jpg)
After staring at the side view and some pictures on Google, I can see that I've been approaching the "spine" wrong where it drops off the back of the saucer. Rather happily, I stumbled across some rather hi-rez ortho's about half an hour ago, so when I get to rebuilding this after I've finished this one, I'll go off of them. Hopefully they line up a little better.
For anyone that wants them:
http://www.fourmadmen.com/gallery/index.php?cat=10010 (http://www.fourmadmen.com/gallery/index.php?cat=10010)
I'm hoping to have finished shaping the saucer and have made a start on the "secondary hull" by this time tomorrow.
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Here's a little more progress on the back of the saucer:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/5_zps196be25c.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/6_zps877dfb2a.jpg)
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I don't know if it is too late, but the saucer rim could use a few more polies. Everything else looks pretty good. :thumbsup:
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Thanks Wiley. I was thinking about the rim yesterday, need to find out whether I can add more.
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neat progress :thumbsup:
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Thankyou, Trax.
I ended up getting nothing done on this over the weekend. Saturday; It took about 13 hours to back up my hard drive. Sunday; I needed to recharge, but I did try to rebuild this from scratch using the higher res ortho's. Turned out this afternoon that I forgot to save it. xD Not all a loss though, I found that scaling the side view up seemed to make it fit almost perfectly with the rest. I thought that it would have the opposite effect. Anyway, went into it this afternoon and scaled the side view up in the one I'd been working on. Sure enough, it works a treat and has helped massively to develop the spine.
I've also tweaked the underside of the saucer along the back edges to fit better. Slowly starting to come together now.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/7_zpsdd307e99.jpg)
Wiley; I don't know how to add polies to the rim. Google was no help. Could you please explain how you do it in 3DS and I'll try to adapt it?
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You select the segments (lines connecting verticies) and click "Connect." An extra line was added, dividing the segment into two parts.
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Thankyou. I believe I've got something similar. Just selected the edges on the rim and used sub-divide.
Does this look better?
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/8_zpscc18ed00.jpg)
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Vortex, that looks really smooth and nice.
Adam
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Thank you. I believe I've got something similar. Just selected the edges on the rim and used sub-divide.
That looks much better. Good work so far.
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Thankyou, guys. Good to know that I'm on the right track. :D Here are a couple of wire shots:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Wire1_zpsc8df56aa.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Wire2_zps5bc1d97d.jpg)
Hopefully the pictures show, but the first one isn't showing on photobucket itself. All I get is a grey image, starting to think I need to look into other photo-sharing sites.
Currently trying to work out how best to fix up this section. Initially, I had to extrude further down to get the two objects to meet and maintain the right curves. Still needs some tweaking, though.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Wire3_zpsd63881ee.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Wire4_zps5a42e315.jpg)
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I so can't wait for this, no offense, but i hope u finish this before the connie :D
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I'm definitely going to finish this before the connie. There's plenty of those out there already and not very many of these. I should hopefully have more to show tomorrow. I really want to get this done. I'm trying to balance chronic procrastination, lack of self confidence and impatience. xD I am, however, getting excited about this.
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A bit of work for today.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Back1_zps20c829e8.jpg)
I need to reshape the back where it flows from the saucer, I don't have it flat enough at the minute. Also, the piece you see underneath; I had the ortho's scaled perfectly and it fit in every angle. Then I accidentally undid it all and couldn't get it back. xD
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I've had an idea for an Oberth variant for some time now, and I couldn't stop thinking about it at work today. I also wanted a small break from the Intrepid and to see what I could whack out of my head. Twenty minutes later, this is where I'm currently at. (Add half an hour for tea and trying to get the net back up. BT is crap, have to reboot the hub all the damned time.)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/1_zpsefc45e59.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/2_zpsf3d6ec0e.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/3_zpsa1d68412.jpg)
No great detail yet, just blocking out the shape. You may have noticed it's not exactly Oberth-ish. I'm thinking of making this a Lost Era ship, since I like the idea of that era. This'll probably come into service sometime around when the Ent-B does.
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Blocked in a weapons pod, and I think that's me done for today.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/4_zps134e39d3.jpg)
Tomorrow I shall be back onto the Intrepid.
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let me introduce you the u.s.s. gardian i build for legacy a damn long time ago now lol, she won me first place in one of the few modeling comps over there
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/36986_1470577640205_5337784_n.jpg)
she has a weapons pod at the bottom too
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You preemptively stole my idea!! :p She looks nice.
I'll be adding a small secondary hull to the underside and having just the one weapons pod.
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that's good progress your making
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let me introduce you the u.s.s. gardian i build for legacy a damn long time ago now lol, she won me first place in one of the few modeling comps over there
she has a weapons pod at the bottom too
You're such a romulan, next think ull claim u invented star trek
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You're such a romulan, next think ull claim u invented star trek
Actually, Phoenix , waited to see how it looked, and then jumped into his time Machine :funny :funny :funny :funny :funny
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Ah, so that's where my TARDIS went. :p
Thankyou guys.
So, uhm... A slight confession. Ended up doing other stuff today, walk, workout etc. I wanted to block out a secondary hull for this thing. I'm not particularly happy with it, I think I need to get my hands on some decent Excelsior ortho's do find out how to built that style of secondary hull.
Anywho, some pictures. (I also shrunk the pod somewhat so it's not so huge.)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/5_zps4d9c42b2.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/6_zpse8f9fc01.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/7_zps45c0a1ea.jpg)
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I know that I promised to get back to the Intrepid but... I'm having way too much fun with this ship.
I wasn't intending domes for bussards. I was going to cross something similar Connie Refit for the front end and Excel/Ent-B for the rest.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/8_zpsf0e00bf9.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/9_zps700b1ec3.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/10_zpsf14cba3a.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/11_zpsf969b2f6.jpg)
Edit: So I stumbled upon Blender's transparency. :D
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Transparent_zps312f268e.jpg)
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:thumbsup:
Adam
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Just a couple of ortho's. I've taken some of the depth out of that secondary hull. Other than that, nothing else has changed.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/OrthoSide_zps11a9fd0d.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/OrthoFront_zpsfc5b6202.jpg)
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This sort of reminds me of a Lost Era Saber (or Sabre) class in a way.
Nice work :thumbsup:
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This sort of reminds me of a Lost Era Saber (or Sabre) class in a way.
Nice work :thumbsup:
now u mention it
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You guys trying to call my ship a monstrosity? :p
It makes me think of Serenity. Particularly from certain angles.
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She's looking good :thumbsup:
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Thankyou Viper.
Realised at work that you guys were on about the Sabre, my mind was showing me Steamrunner. xD
Anywho, today's update. New weapons pod and pylons. Cowel over the nacelles and a shuttlebay.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/12_zps1ab8df33.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/13_zps4665dcb6.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/14_zpsbb825df8.jpg)
For this ship, I'm thinking of it being a pre-cursor to the Defiant. It'll have that sort of role and several of them shall be patrolling the Klingon/Romulan neutral zones. I've been thinking of naming it the Avenger class.
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I wanted to block out a secondary hull for this thing. I'm not particularly happy with it, I think I need to get my hands on some decent Excelsior ortho's do find out how to built that style of secondary hull.
The secondary hull is easy once you think of the basic shape. The front is 1/4 of a sphere, where it is curved on the front and sides. Just aft of the deflector area, you extrude more faces (by selecting a line and holding down shift or Ctrl **not at my computer at the moment**) to complete the side view. For the scoop, use the cut tool on the lines/faces you just extruded (this makes the side view of the scoop). Then select the lines of the scoop, extrude the lines to create faces (same process above) to create the "aft wall" of the engineering section. Use the symmetry modifier to make the engineering hull a correct solid shape, and you are done!
Since you are using Blender, this process will be different.
It also doesn't hurt to add more polies.
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I rather like this fusion of different designs. Nicely done.
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Good work Vortex, coming along nicely!
Cookie
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Thankyou guys. And thankyou Wiley, I'd have never thought to try a sphere. I suppose it makes more sense than using a cube like "someone" did.
Here's the new secondary hull and a couple of comparisons to the old one (wireframe).
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/15_zpsdd4a10a4.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/16_zps5b8353df.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SecHullComp1_zps16848e86.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SecHullComp2_zpsa1e4a3d4.jpg)
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A little bit of detailing on the dorsal.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/17_zps5b7b9045.jpg)
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what does it look like with smooth shading on?
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Ugly, I haven't broken her down for smoothing yet.
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Redone the cowls and pylons. More to the original look now.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/18_zps0a756450.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/19_zpsf547472c.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/20_zps02b15c10.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/21_zps97a67da8.jpg)
Here are a couple of quick shots with smoothing on. Apart from the separate objects that make up the ship, I haven't broken anything up for smoothing yet.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Smooth_zps547d3198.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Smooth2_zps3392f785.jpg)
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I really dig this design. It's got a really good sense of balance to it. It looks like it could pinwheel on a dime if it needed to.
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Wonderful ship, very creative. I really like it.
Adam
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Agreed!
Really cool design... slicker, more modernized derivative of the Oberth.
Nice!
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Are we talking scout, science or patrol?
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Thankyou guys. :D
I'm hopefully formatting my computer today so I made sure to back this up last night whilst I was thinking about it. Shall hopefully be back up and running and have speed on my computer again soon.
Once that's happened I'll block in the impulse engines and deflector. After that it's hopefully just a matter of refining everything and then breaking her down for smoothing. Still need to decide on final phaser placements and where to put the RCS thrusters.
Adam:
For this ship, I'm thinking of it being a pre-cursor to the Defiant. It'll have that sort of role and several of them shall be patrolling the Klingon/Romulan neutral zones. I've been thinking of naming it the Avenger class.
Eloi, she'll be maneuverable. She has 6 decks so is a fairly small ship.
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you know you said its a pree cursor to the defiant? it kind of does sit well as tha it even has similarities (to my eyes at least) to the defiant pathfinder. [maybe the nacelles]
great job
and try and keep some oberth-iness... love that little ship :D
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Hey Vortex, I noticed you mentioned breaking her down for smoothing. Do you know how to set up smoothing groups?
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Not in Blender, no. I didn't think it had it.
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Ah, I'm not sure about blender either.
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I've rechecked. Blender doesn't currently do smoothing groups. It is something I hope that they add in the future.
Hobbs: I like to think that this could have been an alternate design to the Defiant. Not that I don't like the canon one, but this is much more traditional Starfleet design but still rather different. I want this ship to have that kind of vibe, so glad you see that.
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Great design, I agree the balance looks spot on.
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Thankyou. I opened this file yesterday and have started tweaking and fine tuning the ship. Hopefully some updates worth showing in the next couple of days.
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Re-opened this late last week.
Just a couple of minor updates. Rebuild the back section of the bridge module and tapered the ends of the nacelles.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/25_zps65253ee2.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/26_zps322036c9.jpg)
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lol from certain angles it looks like a federation version of a romie warbird lol
or am i just crazy lol
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No, you aren't. I think it's the roll bar that give it that Romulan "wings" look. Interestingly, I've been thinking of how I'd approach redesigning Trek ships in my own way, and I was thinking of having the Defiant been a joint design with the Romulan's. I'll get around to those someday.
For now though:
Having read the 150 Years book, I got inspired by it. It stated that Captain April served on an Einstein class. I had a picture of what that may have looked like in my mind, then they went and said the Kelvin was an Einstein class. I've never been a huge fan of the Kelvin, so that left me somewhat dissapointed. I decided to go ahead and build my own version of what that class could be.
The idea is that this is something to bridge the gab between Daedalus and Constitution. Yesterday I started a quick concept model to get it out of my head, today I've started trying to work out the neck. I'm liking the overall shape, just not the way it was modeled.
Anyway:
EINSTEIN CLASS
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien1_zps5168acd2.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Side_zps1d3d36bd.jpg)
Oh, and I'm not going to start another ships until I've got one of my current WIPs done. xD
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Nice looking ship, reminds me a bit of that Metaluna class that Ricky Wallace did over at madshipyards
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Nice job, look forward to seeing how this progresses
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Thanks for the comments. I've just given the neck another go.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien2_zps62d36316.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien3_zps78baef70.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien4_zpsd6e604db.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien6_zps7b7f87b6.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien7_zps3c1e9848.jpg)
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Nice stuff, stick with it.
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It looks like you successfully connected the neck to the saucer! :thumbsup: That is difficult to do, and you can use that same process for the Enterprise-D neck.
Good work!
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Thankyou. With the saucer being oblong, it's looking a little Galaxy-ish. xD
At the minute, the neck is a separate object. How do you go about overlapping polies like these? Are they an issue or not?
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Side2_zpsb4ea61a6.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Aft_zpse1d6c8e0.jpg)
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I am not an expert on this particular game engine but a general rule in modelling for games:
If its a moving element, springs on suspension etc. or an element that needs animating then it should not be unified (a single mesh)
If it represents a solid piece, and has no intention of animation or movement then it should be unified (made one piece in a clean fashion)
So in your case, in my opinion you should unify, and make it one piece.
At the minute, the neck is a separate object. How do you go about overlapping polies like these? Are they an issue or not?/quote]
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unfortunately, unifying the mesh often makes it nearly impossible to get a good texturing done, from what I've seen. I'll bet someone will argue the point, though.
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Trax, I believe that BC's engine requires(or at least works better with) a unified mesh.
As Blender doesn't support smoothing groups and subsurf is no good for gaming models, things have to be separated out manually to smooth.
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Knocked up something for the pylons. Needs a lot of work, but should show roughly what I'm aiming for.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien8_zpse73c21fc.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien9_zps768acb5e.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien10_zps78a02416.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien11_zps38eec24a.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien12_zps688db0e2.jpg)
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looking classic Vortex :yay:
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Thankyou. Having seen Killa's New Orleans, it's struck me that this looks (unintentionally) like a TOS version.
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unfortunately, unifying the mesh often makes it nearly impossible to get a good texturing done, from what I've seen. I'll bet someone will argue the point, though.
Not really, Once the model is unified it can then be detached into separate elements to make the texturing and mapping easier. once your fully mapped you can then just re weld the verts and you will nave no uvw issues etc, it is a method I was taught a fair few years ago and it has served me very well.
Back on topic.
The model is getting better and better, nicely done.
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Not really, Once the model is unified it can then be detached into separate elements to make the texturing and mapping easier. once your fully mapped you can then just re weld the verts and you will nave no uvw issues etc, it is a method I was taught a fair few years ago and it has served me very well.
Ah, cool. I'll have to try that when I get that far.
And thankyou. I do need to find a better way to build the pylons. At the minute, they're just extruded from the neck and they have a really odd tilt to them.
I'm also thinking of bringing the nacelles forward a little more. At the minute, they feel too far back:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Side3_zps5d38fc04.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Top_zpsb2e97684.jpg)
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id say the nacelles are fine where they are... if, to my eye, a bit high.
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The height bugged me as well, but it gives the nacelles clearance over the saucer.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Front_zps7dbda03d.jpg)
I have thought of slightly reshaping the saucer in order to lower the nacelles. Something like so:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/FrontA_zps66f571e6.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SideA_zpsb37db0c5.jpg)
Oh, just thought, I still need to add a bridge module at somepoint. xD That may help to sell the nacelles height a little better.
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The new shape reminds me of the Niagara.
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Had to look that up. Ugly ship. :p
Okay, so I've extended the neck, nudged the nacelles forward a little and given the pylons another try. I'm liking this result much better.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien14_zps7cc808a8.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien15_zpscfe33573.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien16_zps0a91cf37.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien17_zps77a67359.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Einstien18_zps096a22e7.jpg)
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A few ortho's.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Back_zps38c5ebe1.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/SideB_zps4d8ffdb2.jpg)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/Top1_zps4f5886ce.jpg)
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EDIT: Currently having issues with Photobucket, can't even get on the site.
I have also experienced this throughout the day. I'm accessing from Canada.
Usually, after a few refreshes, it seems to load up. Perhaps just a high traffic day. :idk:
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Seems to be okay now. I've noticed PB has been having issues for the last month or so. Glad it's not just me. :p
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Been playing with Blender's Render Cycles.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/EinsteinCycle2_zps94108745.jpg~original)
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Here's a pass at the deflector:
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/EinsteinCycle3_zpsf8d7c94f.jpg~original)
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What ever happened to your Oberth Upgrade?
Adam
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Need to do the deflector dish, and phasers, the. It should be ready for smoothing out.
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:thumbsup:
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Update on the Avenger. I've cut the Deflector housing, just needs some cleaning up. Also blocked out the impulse units.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/27_zpsbf7cee49.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/28_zps55f82451.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/29_zps618fcfd5.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/30_zpsb5fe6805.jpg~original)
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this is really good :yay: cant wait for her to rip the enemies of the Federation a new one :D
she looks fast and solid.
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Can't wait to recreate the battle of Genesis Planet using your model, hmph, lets see the Klingons win now. Hmph!
Adam
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Thanks guys. More progress coming soon.
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Reshaped the impulse engines a bit and started to add some detail.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/31_zps3563691c.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/32_zpseb1b24f1.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/33_zpsdfbd4137.jpg~original)
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Here's an alternate take on the impulse crystals.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/34_zpse504a95e.jpg~original)
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Looks a little crowded, perhaps just have one larger one each
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lol where as i would say the double looks good
if you went back one maybe have a built up "U" shape around the crystal
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I like the double, just looks better to me. However, I was also concerned that it may have been too much.
if you went back one maybe have a built up "U" shape around the crystal
What do you mean?
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something like this
(http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u383/ussgriffin/engineideaforvortex_zpsb401f939.jpg)
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You can also drop it down from 4 to 3.
A center impulse and two excelsior b types sticking slightly out.
Just a suggestion.
Adam
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How's this?
Adam, I'll give that a thought.
EDIT: Brain was one step ahead there. PHOTO'S!!
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/35_zpsbb443341.jpg~original)
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/36_zps0ac5c624.jpg~original)
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Thats pretty cool :thumbsup:
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I like it. I think it fits for this type of ship :thumbsup:
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*Blows dust off and chokes on it*
Blimey, that needed doing. :p
So I upgraded my computer over the weekend and have essentially started with a blank computer again. I've got around to re-downloading Blender, but haven't transferred everything back onto the computer yet, so had nothing to play with. Since I haven't even opened Blender for a couple of months, I decided to get some practice in.
I've taken the opportunity to start fleshing out a concept that's been stuck in my head for a couple of days now, so here it is after a couple of hours of work. Definitely going to need a rebuild, but I like where it's heading.
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/USS_Serenity_NX/VortexConceptWIP2_zps1f58d1c4.jpg~original)
(Don't worry, I'll be getting back to the Avenger this next fortnight. I want to re-familiarise myself with the program before screwing up something I like. :p)
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This looks intriguing. Based on the Intrepid no doubt?
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That it is. I was browsing the web the other day and came across this:
http://mark-rademaker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/poll-voyager.html (http://mark-rademaker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/poll-voyager.html)
I also read some of the comments and someone stated that in the post Nem books, Voyager was stripped down for a few years and the put back together. This got me thinking of what Voyager could be like with a refit like the Enterprise had in TMP.
Don't know whether this shall be an Intrepid refit or not. Pylons shall be fixed, though.
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*Cough*
(http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/025/4/7/untitled_by_vortex5972-d73o8bh.jpg)
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Vortex,
Please finish that Oberth/Avenger. You are doing an excellent job with her. :thumbsup:
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Thanks, I restarted her two days ago. Want to at least have the main part of her down before I have to redecorate my room.
Turns out 2014 is the year of redecorating. :help:
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Lol the year of redecorating ehhhh
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Slow progress, but I'm liking the way that it's shaping up. Deck count has gone from 6 to 7 on this version.
(http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/030/a/6/mark_ii___01_by_vortex5972-d74e3ai.jpg)
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Hey, I like it, can you show other angles please.
Adam
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Thanks. Lucky for you, I've been working the underside today.
Changed the shape of the secondary hull slightly, so that it blends better into the rest of the front. Deflector housing is temporary, but I'll probably keep it as something similar. I was surprised at how well it worked.
(http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/031/7/e/mark_ii___02_by_vortex5972-d74irvk.jpg)
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:thumbsup:
Verry nice
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And the roll bar is now blocked in.
(http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/032/d/c/mark_ii___03_by_vortex5972-d74mzr4.jpg)
(http://th00.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/032/1/e/mark_ii___04_by_vortex5972-d74mzu9.jpg)
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That's a very cool design. I really like it.
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Thankyou. I'm loving how well this version is turning out. I need to decide what I want to do with the impulse engines next, and that should be the ship mostly blocked.
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I like too
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Again, thankyou. :)
I wasn't particularly happy with the way that the pylons dropped down onto the nacelles, so I moved the weapons in and angled the pylon. I also moved them down a little to put more of a curve on the bar, so it isn't to square.
Just for fun, I duplicated the pulse emitters and moved them in. Might keep them, it fills up space and, well, she is called Avenger. :evil:
(http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/033/f/1/mark_ii___05_by_vortex5972-d74sxce.jpg)
(http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/033/e/1/mark_ii___06_by_vortex5972-d74sxf7.jpg)
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That looks too crowded now, and feels like overkill. I would remove the ones above the warp nacelles
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Does the rollbar have to be connected to the warp engines. Can it be connected to the hull instead?
And quick question. This ship, what is it classified as?
Adam
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Does the rollbar have to be connected to the warp engines. Can it be connected to the hull instead?
And quick question. This ship, what is it classified as?
Adam
I kinda like the rollbar. Harkens to the Reliant, another perimeter action vessel, which is what I'm guessing this would be classified as.
For the impulse engines, might I suggest some small nacelle-esque structures above and below the deck that holds the warp engines? Sorta like Intrepid's?
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That looks too crowded now, and feels like overkill. I would remove the ones above the warp nacelles
:yeahthat: It really screams overkill right now...
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Thanks for the input. I'll probably do a couple of variants.
@Locke: I'm thinking of doing smaller versions of the Excelsior impulse engines and flipping them upside down. I'll put them in a similar arrangement that I had on the first model a page or two back.
@Adam: Avenger will be a precursor to the Defiant. She'll come into service around the time of the Enterprise-B and and be decommissioned a year or two before TNG takes place.
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Thanks for the info
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A quick bit of pushing vertex' and this is where it's at:
(http://th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/038/5/2/mark_ii___07_by_vortex5972-d75hdla.jpg)
(http://th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/038/2/f/mark_ii___08_by_vortex5972-d75hdlt.jpg)
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I like it. :dance
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I was thinking of something like this:
(http://imageshack.com/a/img809/2959/29qt.jpg)
An under-over arrangement, with another pair on the starboard side. It would make them protected from enemy fire since they would be hidden by the nacelles on a broadside run and would present a low target during fore or aft attack runs. If an enemy were to get behind you, it would also present a much smaller target than a wide, single-array impulse system. Four small engines versus one large one would allow for multiple redundancy when faced with a larger opponent.
Plus it fills that empty area between the nacelles and the primary hull which will be unoccupied otherwise.
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Not set on placement yet, but here's a quick knock up of the impulse units:
(http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/039/2/9/mark_ii___09_by_vortex5972-d75ku0h.jpg)
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If you make those engines that wide, they should be longer
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If that is a Miranda-styled weapons pod, I would suggest to reshape it.
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It was based more on the Constitution than the Miranda. I'm open to suggestions, so long as it fits the Lost Era aesthetic.
Quick update to the impulse engines, now longer.
(http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/039/d/9/mark_ii___10_by_vortex5972-d75lfh2.jpg)
(http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/039/4/c/mark_ii___11_by_vortex5972-d75lfhj.jpg)
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Like everyone else has said, this is a really good design, however I do like the nacelles on the first version you did better than the ones on here. They seemed to fit the 'lost era' design, and so far the new ones seem to be more TMP'ish. I'm attaching a photo....they definitely seem more integrated into the overall design.
Cookie for sure!
(http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag354/cmdr1/nacelledesigncool_zpsa65243a2.jpg)
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Thanks. I'm glad that the design is liked.
As the Ent-C is the only ship from the LE that we see with Red bussards and glowing grilles, I tend to think that that design aspect came back with the Ambassador class. Since this ship pre-dates that, it's more in line with the movie aesthetics. However, I may do a refit. I do have ideas for a 25th century version called New Avenger.