Unreal is just the final real time rendering program. But for modeling I use 3ds Max, and for texturing I use Substance Painter. Never used Blender, although I’ve heard good things. Also keep in mind that my models are all game resolution, and are considerably lower polycount than traditional CG models, relying on baked normal maps to simulate extra geometric detail that isn’t actually present on the model.
I have never noticed any lower polygon count, so whatever you are doing to simulate the difference, it is doing an incredible job. What I have been most impressed with thus far is how you actually managed to make the Undiscovered Country stations look like there were actually TV monitors behind only certain screens, while the rest were clearly flat backlit plexis. That and the worn vinyl paneling below the consoles <3
I don't. I find it boxy, ugly and graceless.
Speak for yourself.
Oh man! That looks spectacular!
Really? Honestly I find it as a nice balance between the season 3 TNG shuttlecraft and the longer TOS type without being boxy. Hell, the TOS shuttle and the TMP shuttle are the boxiest of all. Aside from the swishing lights on the underside, I find it rather elegant externally, certainly moreso than the Season 1 TNG shuttle, which just felt... odd. Internally they could have done a much better job with the STV shuttle, but I do like the displays.
That was also a big problem, yes. The Season 3 shuttle had a similar problem, where it had a large section underneath to keep it flat on the floor while that did not exist on the shooting model. Nowhere near as bad as the Season 1 one though. The inside was also rather empty.
Blender user here. Unreal and Blender are two pretty different tools. Unreal doesn't have any real modeling capabilities. You have to use an external 3D tool to create all your models like Donny does with Max. I'd say that if you don't have any experience with 3D, avoid Unreal for now. It is very powerful, but also extremely technical and not beginner-friendly. I've been using it on and off for a while now and can't make any scenes look half as good as Donny's. But blender is a great place to learn and you should definitely look into it. Since it's free there's no harm in giving it a try.
I appreciate the advice. I have already downloaded Blender some time ago based on the suggestion of my roommate, which was very similar to your suggestion. I just haven't gotten around to really diving into it, as my focus has been Flash (now Adobe Animate) with my current project
Speak for yourself.
SW7? I know you’re referring to the wedge shuttle, but where does it get the SW7 classification from?
Done painting. Now just to place the hundred or so decals!
EDIT:
Getting things into Marmoset Toolbag as well. I'm falling more and more in love with that as a showcase renderer every time I use it (the same renderer I used for the recent batch of props)...
Oh, yes.
