Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Donny, I'd like to say that you're doing excellent work here. Very realistic.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Of most blueprints I find them to be sensors(lower left):
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine It did seem nicely fitting to me that the NX-01 had its' deflector dish in roughly the same spot on the bow.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Based on those two screens the board appears to be black and reflective. And weirdly, also raised at one end. Is it McCoy's ergonomic foot rest prescription for himself?
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine These are from the FASA RPG maps for their old Star Trek RPG. They were heavily influenced by the FJ work. To my knowledge, FJ was the first to suggest these were scanners. Personally, I'm all for it. I love the idea that these round lights are sensors. In fact, in my deckplans project, all of the round portholes on the ship are windows for sensors and scanners. However, nowhere in the show, or, as far as I know, MJ's notes, was any identification made for these three lights. I prefer scanners, myself, but TPTB at TOS/r seemed to prefer the idea of them being windows. In either case, seems to me that Donny is trying to model the sets we actually saw on-screen, so I imagine that what lays behind those three circles is entirely out of the scope of what he's trying to do. --Alex
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Actually, I plan on making quite a few areas we never saw. It just makes sense to build the sets we are familiar with first, since each area we have seen requires me to make so many assets (chairs, beds, props, computers, textures, materials, etc). It will be much easier after all the canon areas are done to make the new areas with all those assets already made and at my disposal. Regarding the three circular lights at the saucer's edge being sensors, I'm not against the idea per se. I just didn't want to be going against any official facts if I decide to place something other than sensors there. I always wanted to imagine a lounge with a spectacular forward view in that spot, but after thinking about it, that seems a little too unlike TOS and more like TNG.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine I didn't find a picture of it at TrekCore but I thought I remember a tiny insert shot in DS9:Trials & Tribbleations showing an animation of a sensor "ping" coming from that spot. It's either when Sisko and Dax are on the bridge using the ship's internal scanners or when O'Brien is talking about beaming someone during a phase in the Enterprise's shield/sensor cycle.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine I thought it was coming from the main sensor array of the engineering hull.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Yes--the Enterprise's old-style Duotronic sensor array would send out sensor pings: one radiating radially in 360 degrees from the main hull, followed by one emanating from the bow of the ship--allowing the Defiant crew to beam about the Enterprise during that narrow time period between scans. The radial "ripples" that are portrayed are actually below the warp engines, so it seems these radiate from the lower sensor dome. Since it's just a two-dimensional schematic, it's a little hard to tell if the pings are meant to be emanating from the bow of the ship, or from the engineering hull beneath it. But I think that the dish on the front of the engineering hull has been generally accepted to be a "deflector" dish, not a "sensor" dish.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Plus, should you decide to help Gambit Realm out with their interior (which is awesome in and of itself, by the way), it would be a good idea to know what you want to do with certain areas of the ship.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine The Making of Star Trek is very specific on that: It's the "main sensor-deflector". And if you don't like the double function then it's the main sensor. The Jefferies schematic with the descriptions may not have identified the three lights at the bow, but the parabolic dish is identified as "Main Sensor". I can't see why windows for the three bow lights would seem "too unlike TOS and more like TNG". On the contrary, the whole idea that sensors or deflectors light up is a post-TOS concept introduced in TMP and TNG, IMHO. Bob
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Just a little news to bring you guys. I'm currently at a weird spot with the project. I hate leaving rooms unfinished before I move onto the next one, even if it only requires a few more props to call it complete. McCoy's office is mostly complete, but we all know that the shelves are missing several props, mostly very organically shaped alien skulls. As I've discussed before, most of my 3D experience is with very linear objects, mainly Trek related. Therefore, I will need to learn new skills to construct things like the alien skulls, and, more importantly, character models. Character models will definitely add life to these otherwise empty rooms. Also, on a more personal note, I am trying to expand my skill set as a 3D modeler, with the hopes of one day working as a paid game artist. So I will be taking a short break from the interiors of this project to begin learning how to use a powerful digital sculpting program called ZBrush. I've already invested money into the program and some online courses. I'll start off by learning the basics, and then doing simple things like modeling the alien skulls, then move on to working on building the base models for some classic Trek characters to live within the interiors. At some point, after I've gotten the hang of ZBrush, I'll simply bring the program into my daily workflow and continue on as normal, working on interior sets, props, and character models simultaneously.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine Well, the following image isn't related to this project, but this is what I've done after one day of following along with some tutorials: At least we now know I can populate the Enterprise with an alien infestation, if necessary. But in all seriousness, I'm really enjoying using the new program. It's very different than the traditional, linear modeling I'm used to. Far more expressive, and the digitizer tablet I bought really helps out. A lot more to learn, but I think I'm getting the hang of it quickly.
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine After about 5 days of overloading my brain with ZBrush tutorials, I decided to go ahead and tackle the standard Starfleet uniforms. I have to say, I'm liking what I'm able to do with this program... These are of course super-high-resolution models (millions of polygons), and will have to be reduced to size that a game engine can handle. However, with the modern tools available, the difference will be negligible. I'm sick of video games making everyone so incredibly buff,, so I tried to model these so that they look like the average "fit" crew member of the Enterprise. How are these looking? This is my first time building a character model of any sorts, so I need input. Thanks!
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine I see you've stuck to the same seam lines as the actual costumes, excellent! Were you planning to make the concealed zips slightly visible (as per the constraints of a TV series) or make them truly "invisible"?
Re: TOS Enterprise Interiors -- Unreal 3 Engine They'll be truly invisible, for now anyway. Until I get to be a master at this sculpting program, intense details will have to wait ; ) I'd like to finish up the uniform (with all its color and rank variations) and model a head and hands to go with it, just so I can start to plop this guy into my render screenshots.