Does your rendering engine have any anti-aliasing properties in it? It's looking rather jagged around the edges in the shot above. Some AA will help that a treat.
It's not rendered yet. I have a rendering program called Maxwell, but I'm also thinking of installing Sketchup Pro just for rendering.
It's a modeling tool I guess, the Pro version has more tools and options but is still a model maker at heart. I like Lightwave because it is actually 2 completely separate programs, the modeler and the layout/render program. I cant wrap my head around other programs where the one thing does everything. With it separated you're not cluttering the GUI with stuff you're not using at the time. If you find a decent rendering program for Sketchup you'll be good to go without needing to pay for Sketchup Pro.
I'm experimenting with Maxwell now, but it may take a little bit to get the hang of it. Also I will have to get a more upgraded program. The free version of Maxwell limits your rendered images to 800x399. I'd like the option for something larger.
My first render. I need a more advanced rendering program to get larger images. It's not bad for a first effort. I like how the forced perspective makes it look a bit more dynamic and evokes the TAS original I think.
That's much more like it. It's a shame Maxwell costs nearly a grand, but there are quite a few rendering engines out there for Sketchup so I'm sure you'll find something cheaper or free if you look around.
Maxwell costs only $95 to upgrade. Thats why I'm considering the purchase. Note, too, that the above image was enlarged a little to see more. At its original size it looked sharper, but it was too small. I do like how all the visible imperfections on the Sketchup model disappeared when rendered. And one thing that is rather nice with Maxwell Fire is that you can see it rendering in real time in the preview window. And you can stop the rendering midstream if you change your mind about something.
That's not too bad a price I suppose. The price on the main Maxwell page must be for the full version that does Lightwave, Sketchup and about 14 other formats as well. If you're planning on sticking with Sketchup it is an investment.
Overall, and for a first effort, I'd have to say I'm pleased with the end result. Yeah, there are some small little things I will change when I do this design again one day, but they're not drastic. If there's one thing I'm not happy with (which you can't see in the above image) it's the aft end. The aft hatch and plain aft section doesn't sit well with me. It's mostly true to the original onscreen design, but it just looks so bland. It's the one area I will have to add more detail and try to massage into something more interesting. After all it goes without saying that details had to be added all around because the original was so plain and simple to begin with. It's the basic overall shape that made the concept interesting and thats true of all the TAS designs.
Totally fantastic. Awesome work. I will be looking forward to you next project on the Heavy Lander. Once again, fantastic work.
A sense of scale. If we accept Kirk as about 5'-10" then the scoutship would be scaled something like this (assuming I stick with my 29.58ft. for the ship's length overall). It's a good thing I'm not ready to do full up HD renders yet because I still want to add a few more details. I just have to do something to the aft end on either side of the access hatch. I also want to add a bit more to the underside. The next time I model this design one change I have to make is restore the aft hatch to its original width. When I narrowed the hull a bit for better proportion the aft hatch also got narrowed. I don't feel like going through the trouble of fixing it now, but when I revisit this deign I will fix that.
I once considered this. I sat down and figured that if I did everything I'd like to do concerning shuttlecraft---and this is just pre TOS to TMP era---I could easily fill at least 100 pages. But to do it justice it would have to be on good quality paper. Unfortunately I can't see any publisher today going for such a book, particularly since it wouldn't have TPTB's "official" stamp of approval on it. What I could see is doing it as part of a website (a distinct possibility) and/or as a downloadable pdf file. I also find it amusing that this design also looks like it would make a nice model kit, but again not being officially recognized it will never see the light of day as a kit other than as an individual scratch build. Call me nuts, but I'd really like to see this design animated. I can easily envision seeing a nice flyby of it coming out of the distance, panning past the pov then approaching a planet in the distance, accompanied by music from TAS or TAS. Maybe also show it landing and the aft hatch opening up...
I remember seeing your Class F line drawings on The Vault, maybe the webmaster would let you add these there to. You do such fine work and it is really thought out. Just a thought...
Excuse me, you saw these drawings where? I never gave anyone permission to host my drawings other than Phil Broad of cloudster.com. Oops, my bad. You are referring to The Vault on Phil Broad's cloudster site. And, yes, when he first hosted the plans we had discussed my TAS drawings (which had not yet been drawn) and he was interested in them.
Yes, that is the place. I hold you designs in the highest regard and it was on his site. Yes, Phil Broad and cloudster. I was not trying to cause any problems. My bad.