They remind me of those giant "track balls" used on a few tabletop oriented arcade videogames (waaay back when), the ones which one had to furiously and continuously "swipe" to have a game icon advance across a field.
Happy Saturday! Finished up the port and starboard "tactical" consoles today, which were also a challenge to model due to their pedestals' exotic curviness, but I think I got it right. Thank the gods for the fact that all these free-standing consoles were auctioned off, as the auction pages provided me with rough measurements to start with. I've been messing around with real-time ray-traced reflections in Unreal lately, and I've got those turned on for the following renders. First Contact Version: Insurrection Version: Getting close! Now, to model those command chairs!
I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I always have hated how those free standing consoles are placed on the command chair level. I wish they were on the upper step...
There's an optical illusion on the CON/OPS consoles where the furthest one appears more upright and "square" than it's neighbour. It took me a moment to realise what was going on! All those weird shapes and angles must be a nightmare quite a challenge to model, but the end result is gorgeous!
Poor old Worf, in Generations he finally got a chair, after seven years of having to stand up all day, and then as soon as First Contact comes along he's back on his feet again!
I think those trackballs are supposed to be 3-dimensional axes controls (pitch, yaw, roll). They were also on the flight controls for the Type-7 shuttle on TNG.
I remember reading that the bases of these consoles were sheet metal construction, as apparently the bases for things like the TNG transporter or desk consoles were. Does this make sense based on your understanding of their geometry? Meaning that they could be made with simple curved sheets, rather than more complex shapes that would be best achieved with carving or sanding the form out of a block of something? Also, do you intend to do the Nemesis version with the added display box?
Screw Worf, he's just along for the ride. He gets a nice cushy chair every time the Defiant goes out.
Along those lines, I don't understand all of the stairs and multi-levels in short distances they put in. I work in television control rooms full of monitors and often dimly lit. One such room that I worked in had steps instead of ramps, and, 15 years later, I can still hear the sound of peoples' toes hitting that step every damn time. Plus, steps + failing gravity compensators + get across the bridge = recipe for tripping.
I was actually amazed when I found out the base (at least of the tactical console) was created with sheet metal, given that it would seem it would've been easier to just carve such a complex, curvy shape out of wood. But then again, my knowledge of real-world crafting of such objects is very low, and I wouldn't put it past professional artisans to be able to construct such a thing out of sheet metal. At least not now. There may be a day in the distant future when I come back and do a "Nemesis pass" on everything, but as I said from the outset, there's just too many display panel changes between the first two depictions of the bridge and the Nemesis depiction. Creating the displays for the FC/INS versions has so far been the most time-consuming part of the process (and I'm still not done; remember I still have to generate the animated monitors and the animated MSD), and generating a second set to adhere to the Nemesis version is just time I don't want to spend right now. Therefore, generating the Nemesis version of the tactical console isn't a priority, but I have plenty of references to help me do so if I ever decide to undertake the task. Indeed, all three of the console shapes had unique challenges to them, and I'm glad I've gotten them taken care of, as I was not looking forward to them (I say that, but I had a lot of fun modeling them, truth be told )
As far as I can tell, there are two things that prevent alerts from refreshing. One is that if you haven't looked at a thread since your last alert, you won't get a new one, and two, you won't get an alert if someone on your ignore list posts, so if someone who you're ignoring happens to make the next post after the last time you checked a thread, you won't get an alert for it until you happen to look at it again on your own and reset the alert, which can be a problem for followed threads in forums you don't normally look at.
These days I just go to the "watched threads" section after checking my notifications, in case any have been missed.
Getting an alert for a watched thread for every new post created in it wouldn't be very practical. Say a watched thread is having an active discussion and amasses 30 new posts overnight. Your notification box would be flustered and almost unusable the next day. Now imagine being away from the board for a week and looking at your notifications then. So I don't know why it should be the expected behavior of the “watch thread” function to show every new post. I suspect what you're actually looking for is a way to just track one specific member's posts and be notified about them. As far as I know there isn't a way to do exactly that with the current board software.
First pass on the command chair cushions. Another challenging modeling project, but happy with the results so far. FYI, this is how the upholstery appears in the films. I've noticed that the photos floating around of the chair post-auction suggest that the chair was re-upholstered before being sold, and that the head-rest on the captain's chair was completely replaced. Just a note for those that have studied the those photos or used them when modeling their own. Here's some comparison shots Film: Auction/Post-Auction Note the padding below the open hole in the backrest is slightly different, and the padding feels a little...different in its tautness. The upholstery near the "shoulders" is more pronounced in the film, and the headrest is also shorter and more angular.