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Building the USS Enterprise in Blender 3D

Yeah, there many ways to get the same results. I usually free form without prints as I don't do existing models, so I can't say with method best produces the target outline.
Got it. Thank you very much for the help! I enjoy this all very much!
@scifieric that sounds about how I build the BC. Anything that has to be smooth, I use as low poly as I can and let the machine do all the work.
Cool! I will absolutely keep that in mind. I may need to round mine out in the back a little bit, but other than that, I'm ready to go.
 
I was watching the materials videos and noticed you aren't using the principled shaders, which I find easier to use as it incorporates features of diffuse, glossy, and glass, thus eliminating mixing nodes. Andrew Price has a good tutorial on the principle shader, as well as videos that came out prior to the shader's release for creating node groups for realistic metals and dielectrics.
 
I was watching the materials videos and noticed you aren't using the principled shaders, which I find easier to use as it incorporates features of diffuse, glossy, and glass, thus eliminating mixing nodes. Andrew Price has a good tutorial on the principle shader, as well as videos that came out prior to the shader's release for creating node groups for realistic metals and dielectrics.
I don't know. Would principled shaders make me feel like I'm back in high school? Would they send me to the office? LOL!

I shall look into it. Thanks!
 
Yeah, hit up the Andrew Price channel on YouTube. He has a lot of great basic tutorials. Thing about the principled shader is the metal slider, it should be 0 or 1 as anything in between would be something that doesn't exist in reality. Maybe a nanotech metamaterial would have properties of dielectrics and metals.

Now if Blender would add the Blackbody, Wavelength, and Falloff to their Emission shader, I'd be happy. I started using blackbody for more realistic lighting, which meant a lot of time looking at light bulbs at 1000 Bulbs for color temperature.
 
In between issues with my iMac over the past couple weeks, I've been trying to append items from other blend files into my Enterprise file, but I quickly ran into some issues when I learned that trying to ctrl-J all the geometry in my Nomad model will make my Mac crash! Ouch.

Does anyone know the limit of pieces of geometry that Blender allows to be joined?

Here's my take on the Nomad as is: https://www.deviantart.com/irishman20/art/NomadWIP6-693066797
 
In between issues with my iMac over the past couple weeks, I've been trying to append items from other blend files into my Enterprise file, but I quickly ran into some issues when I learned that trying to ctrl-J all the geometry in my Nomad model will make my Mac crash! Ouch.

Does anyone know the limit of pieces of geometry that Blender allows to be joined?

Here's my take on the Nomad as is: https://www.deviantart.com/irishman20/art/NomadWIP6-693066797
That looks great!

How about joining two things at a time (or maybe three) and just moving through it in order?
 
We finish the detailing on the warp engines and the Engineering Hull before moving on to creating lit rooms behind the windows.

33 Warp Engines and Other Details
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34 Rooms and Lighting
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This one is for the landing lights outside the shuttlebay.

35 Shuttle Bay Landing Lights
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Eric, a couple of tutorials back, you discussed and displayed some photos of what appeared like a phaser barrel extending down from the lower saucer dome. Is that your understanding of where the phaser was during the show? VFX shots not withstanding, that is. :)
 
Eric, a couple of tutorials back, you discussed and displayed some photos of what appeared like a phaser barrel extending down from the lower saucer dome. Is that your understanding of where the phaser was during the show? VFX shots not withstanding, that is. :)
Yeah, that's what it was SUPPOSED to be, was a phaser turret. Although this is from TOS-R, it is accurate enough to show the phaser:
changeling_enterprise_cgi.jpg


Ignore the photon torpedo, the phaser nipple can be seen on the planetary sensor dome.

I'm one of those lunatics that thinks that the ring above and around the planetary sensor array could be a phaser strip. I've seen MARVELOUS fan models that add both phaser turrets and photon torpedo tubes behind moving doors in the hull so that they emerge from where we most often saw them in the series. Even Matt Jefferies had drawn where he thought phasers should go in the design.

But the phaser nipple and the little turret were apparently real! As a matter of fact, here's the real thing:

8437706774_d46f649df6_z.jpg
 
My most sincere and abject apologies to Charles Casimiro. His drawings are indeed closer to the original 11 foot model than I had suspected. But, Petri Blomqvist built his digital USS Enterprise using photographs to try to make the most accurate version he could, then he worked with Gary Kerr and used his measurements and observations to make his model even more accurate.

You can get EXCELLENT renders from Petri and Gary's collaboration here:
https://culttvman.com/main/tag/gary-kerr/

You can get Charles Casimiro's excellent drawings here:
https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/ccd-enterprise.php
 
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