A question was asked of @Donny as to why he creates low-poly models. He primarily models for games, which usually require the fewest polys possible in order for complex games to run smoothly. I, on the other hand, model for 3d printing, which, if you hate facets like I do, requires extremely high-poly models, especially if they have complex curvature. I actually admire Donny's ability to create convincing low-poly models. That's a skill I have never developed. I've only recently, in the last few months, discovered normal maps, which look great in renders, but they do me no good when it comes to printed models. I need to create geometry for every detail that is to be printed. I wish I had ZBrush for that.
I found a stash of my OLD work (at least 15 years ago or so). This was my feeble attempt at the TWOK bridge: And me, being silly: And my first attempt at the chairs in TWOK: And the very first image I posted online, and my first serious attempt at modeling...ANYTHING, many moons ago:
I really appreciate your comments, everyone. I was proud at the time but got frustrated because I couldn't figure out the actual construction geometry of the consoles, and I was also stumped by many of the controls. I wanted them to be as accurate as possible, but much of the wording (labels) escaped me, and a bunch of the controls were different between TMP and TWOK, so even Lee Cole's The Enterprise Flight Manual was of no use in those cases. The only reason I was able to get the Helm console as accurate as I did was because of the, "Where's the override?!?" scene in TWOK on the Reliant. Great shots of the controls if you catch the frames just right. I rebuilt that bridge at least three times, all using my horrid old modeling techniques, and never finished. I do need to work on it again (from scratch) as I have some plans for it, what with my newfound capabilities.
Ah, the captain's beanbag! And are those a couple of lava lamps, I see? Has the Enterprise been taken over by those Space Hippies from The Way To Eden again?! For a "feeble attempt" I think your bridge is still pretty awesome. But I can definitely see the difference in your skills from then to now. Looking forward to seeing your new version!
Ya missed the bead curtains and the water pipe next to the Captain's bean bag chair. And thank you for noticing the improvement in my skills. I have learned a TON in the last two years (more than the first 18 combined), and it's ALMOST all thanks to Arrimus 3D on YouTube and his videos on hard surface modeling. The first time I attempted to soften the edges on those film/cassette holders was a disaster. Thank you.
Oh, that's what they were. I was wondering why you'd installed metal grates in front of the turbolift doors.
For some reason, it was more apparent back then. Monitors were smaller, I guess, and details from those renders popped out a little more. I hate to say, but it was also that much closer to the times when people actually used bead curtains (I've walked through many in my life!).
Ah, that's what they were! Like @cardinal biggles I thought it was some sort of grating or grille, too. I guess I was too fixated on the beanbag to notice anything else I used to love walking through bead curtains when I was a child. We never had them at our house, but the babysitter did which made every day spent there exciting!
Well, crud...things have not gone as planned these last few hours. 2:50 am and I'm about to open CorelDraw to do some finish work on the vectors before bringing them into 3ds Max for modeling. Happy New Year, all! I hope I can get some serious work done today.
The good news is that in scouring my computer for the vector file again, I found a more updated version with most of the work I was planning on doing this morning already done. So now, it's basically onto modeling.