3D interiors in Blender

[Rekkert]

@batboy853: Mostly just grates with spotlights behind them.

@Bry_Sinclair: Yeah, I quite like it myself, hope to eventually tackle it as well.

I've tweaked things quite significantly from last time. I was worried about this being way too similar to the Pasteur's bridge, with the only conscious changes I had done was to remove one of the floor levels (leaving 3 instead of 4) and making the room more compact. So I decided to change things up a bit more. I removed the central aft console, leaving only the top displays where I'll probably have either some small ship schematics or Starfleet Medical symbols, as they'll be visible behind the Captain when communications are open.

I've also brought the sides in a bit more, removing the space for the second door at each side, I now plan on having a large LCARS display on one side, and a replicator + isolinear chips on the other. I also decided to go with a significantly less Defiant-esque style, so I removed the horizontal fabric lines on the side walls. There are some more small tweaks, and I have yet to continue with the ceiling.

Oh, and I made the wall colors significantly less yellow, I think I'm fairly happy with the combination now.

 

[Mr. Phraust]

This is looking good. I like the removal of the center stations behind the captain's chair.

Maybe a console right behind the captain's chair, like Worf's station on the Ent-D, That would be kinda cool.

Really digging that captain's chair by the way. Great angles on that design.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Maybe a console right behind the captain's chair, like Worf's station on the Ent-D, That would be kinda cool.

Since the Olympic-class is supposed to be a lightly armed (or unarmed?) medical ship, maybe just a small console, like that auxiliary station on the railing behind the command area on Voyager's bridge.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Is it just me or with the bridge being so compact it looks a little strange to have the Captain's Chair on the same level as the Conn station? On the E-D bridge there was so much space between the command centre and forward consoles that it worked, but with space at a premium on this bridge it feels (to me at least) that the big chair would look better raised up by a single step, to help give it a little more prominence.

 

[cardinal biggles]

They made it work on the Defiant bridge. (Though there, both the captain's chair and Conn were on a raised platform.)

 

[blssdwlf]

They made it work on the Defiant bridge. (Though there, both the captain's chair and Conn were on a raised platform.)

Now that you mention it, I can hear half the conversations on the Defiant Bridge being, "Dax move to your left, I can't see what is on the main viewer." The sight line for the Captain to the main viewer on the Defiant looks a bit odd, IMHO.

 

[David cgc]

Now that you mention it, I can hear half the conversations on the Defiant Bridge being, "Dax move to your left, I can't see what is on the main viewer." The sight line for the Captain to the main viewer on the Defiant looks a bit odd, IMHO.

IIRC, the reason for the captain and XO chairs both being on the side rather than the captain being centered on Voyager was so the pilot's head wouldn't block the viewscreen. Apparently they decided that wasn't an issue for the Defiant or NX-01.

 

[Jedman67]

@Rekkert Coming together nicely. My only suggestion would be to place a pot of petunias on the viewscreen just to confuse the crew

Ever since we saw the Pasteur bridge in "All Good Things" I loved the large conn (or is it conn/ops?) console.

OOPS CONSOLE

 

[B.J.]

@Rekkert Coming together nicely. My only suggestion would be to place a pot of petunias on the viewscreen just to confuse the crew

"Oh no, not again."

 

[Rekkert]

@Bry_Sinclair: That's literally how it was on the Pasteur. Just as on the Defiant, the Captain can't really see much of the viewscreen.

@David cgc: Nope, that was good-old-fashioned misogyny; the UPN producers didn't want a woman on the "center seat". Their idea was for Janeway and Chakotay to be "co-captains", luckily this was eventually toned down. All concept bridges for Voyager were thus done with the two chairs, even those with two officers at the front that wouldn't have blocked the viewscreen.

Tested out a standing console behind the Captain, as an alternative to the rails which to be honest I never quite liked. I had to adjust the floor curvature somewhat but I think it looks a lot better and fits in more with the forward console. The idea is that it's a comms console that can be manned by up to two crewmembers for coordinating transporter activity during mass transport of injured/sick individuals from other ships or planets onto the medical facilities.

I'm also testing out some side extensions for this new console (the UVs are still in progress, as you can see), to serve as handrails and also perhaps to have the caduceus symbol on them like the Pasteur had. I'm not sure if I prefer them or not yet, thoughts?

 

[Mr. Phraust]

I'm really liking the added console. When it comes to the extensions on either side - I both love them and am unsure about them. I love them because they really help bring in the station forward of the captain and give the bridge a more organic flow. But it also makes it feel slightly cramped if you were stepping up to go behind the captain.

It also seems to make the captain's chair look small and lonely there. Maybe a couple bench seats for guest? It's really hard to say what would look good here. But I really love the direction you are going with this. I think the console behind the captains chair is better than no console.

 

[Finn]

Maybe remove the back panels or make it less solid... for the consoles to make the captain's chair look less small?

 

[cardinal biggles]

I like the console, but I'm not sold on the extensions. Maybe if you had the rail-and-pillar setup for the extensions (in the style from what you had at the top of the page) it would open those spaces and avoid the "small and lonely" appearance that both @Mr. Phraust and @Finn mentioned.

 

[batboy853]

I’ve always thought a layout in this style; the captains chair would be up a level, the ops lowered, and add the defiant’s side consoles.

 

[Rekkert]

Ok, the side extensions grew on me the more I looked at them, so they're staying. I did test out some alternatives including making them hollow with only the top and columns, but that just looked awkward IMO. I've corrected their UVs and added the caduceus symbol in the same metallic blue as the other labels on the room. I'm still not sure what Captain's chair I'll be using.

Speaking of chairs, I did a new version of the Enterprise-B/Defiant boat seats, as the previous mesh I had was almost 10 years old and very bad. I think they work a lot better here than the Capsisco saddle chairs.

I also started modeling the outer ceiling ring, with the front end of the bridge having some grated lights, and some more traditional emmissive panels above the side greeble walls. All the ceiling light panels are now properly UV'd as well, so lighting levels are slightly dimmer and colder.

 

[Mr. Phraust]

I'm glad you changed the chairs to solid posts anchored to the floor. My wife and I were looking at those and thinking -- one blast from an attack and those people are gonna go rolling off the edge!

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Ok, the side extensions grew on me the more I looked at them, so they're staying. I did test out some alternatives including making them hollow with only the top and columns, but that just looked awkward IMO. I've corrected their UVs and added the caduceus symbol in the same metallic blue as the other labels on the room. I'm still not sure what Captain's chair I'll be using.

Speaking of chairs, I did a new version of the Enterprise-B/Defiant boat seats, as the previous mesh I had was almost 10 years old and very bad. I think they work a lot better here than the Capsisco saddle chairs.

I also started modeling the outer ceiling ring, with the front end of the bridge having some grated lights, and some more traditional emmissive panels above the side greeble walls. All the ceiling light panels are now properly UV'd as well, so lighting levels are slightly dimmer and colder.

If you're sitting in the "Captain's Seat", won't the Helmsmen body & head be blocking a giant chunk of the center of the View Screen?

If that turns out to be "True", then a easy solution would be to use a Japanese Style Floor Seat and lower the console height to match the seat.
Leave a opening underneath the console for their feet to spread past the console.

Then the Captain's view of the View Screen wouldn't be obstructed by the Helmsmen's Body/Head.

 

[Jedman67]

If you're sitting in the "Captain's Seat", won't the Helmsmen body & head be blocking a giant chunk of the center of the View Screen?

If that turns out to be "True", then a easy solution would be to use a Japanese Style Floor Seat and lower the console height to match the seat.
Leave a opening underneath the console for their feet to spread past the console.

Then the Captain's view of the View Screen wouldn't be obstructed by the Helmsmen's Body/Head.

Better yet, put Helm & Ops sitting on the floor with the consoles in their laps!

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Better yet, put Helm & Ops sitting on the floor with the consoles in their laps!

In my Ideal Modular Bridge setup, I have them on short Elementry School Height Consoles while the Captain's Seat area is elevated on the central Platform like the ST:GEN Enterprise-D Bridge.
The Helms Console is in the center and uses Japanese Style Floor Seating.

Nobody who is sitting in the Command Area has to look at the back of anybody's heads when looking at the Main View Screen.

Stadium style seating FTW!

 

[Rekkert]

@Mr. Phraust: Hahaha, yeah those chairs with casters were often used on ship sets but they always looked like a terrible idea to me.

@Kamen Rider Blade: Yes, the person crewing the helm does block part of the viewscreen, same as on Defiant, Pasteur, and as I found out this week, Voyager. I did play around with the levels, but at the end of the day I just like how this looks right now. Yes part of the viewscreen is blocked, but It's one of those things that, for better or worse, they never paid much attention when designing sets.

Not a massive update, but I created a pattern for the floor carpet. Mind you I have yet to add the finer details such as curved edges on these, plus I want to test out different colors, but I must admit I'm liking this grey-on-grey, reminds me of the Sao Paulo.

Also, I've written the backstory for the ship, in case anyone's interested in that sort of thing. I might further tweak the working here or there:

Spoiler

USS Leloir NCC-58906

During the Cardassian border wars, Starfleet Medical saw a need to increase its production of medical ships. Leloir was one of these new ships, commissioned in 2354 and assigned to humanitarian missions alongside conflict areas. Following the establishment of the Demilitarized Zone, Leloir was reassigned to Starbase 35, where it would mostly serve as a medical transport and training ship for the next few years.

With the outbreak of the Klingon War in 2372, Leloir returned to the role it was originally commissioned for. However the larger scale of the conflict meant that Starfleet could not always provide adequate escorts to medical ships; and unlike the Cardassians, Klingons would often target support vessels indiscriminately and even ambush them during rescue operations.

On stardate 49302.3, Leloir and Grierson were attacked while providing relief efforts on Ganalda IV. Starfleet vessels already in the system were able to secure the area in a matter of minutes; but not before Grierson was completely destroyed and Leloir was heavily damaged, with most of its primary hull completely blown apart, including the whole bridge superstructure.

The damaged Leloir was towed back to Starbase 12 for repairs, where the ship spent two months undergoing a major refit. A new primary hull was installed, but the structural integrity of the secondary hull was also reinforced and new shielding systems were installed, all in an effort to increase the survivability of the ship. The medical facilities, which had already been modernized at the start of the conflict, were expanded further to make up for the loss of other medical ships such as Grierson.

Leloir left Starbase 12 in early 2373 as a fully modernized medical ship with a completely new crew complement; it suffered no further attacks during the conflict with the Klingons. The ship would go on to serve with distinction during the Dominion War that would start less than a year later.