Alright, played with a few things... I played with back-lighting some of the parts, and got rid of the really heavy glows. I also tried to add some of that diffused glowing look, thanks to Gep Malakai's link... I think it turned out OK. I also upped the spec (which is what the ramp shader is applied to) and turned up the Index of Refraction. Better?
Well, yes, that was me, sorry...I wandered off the normal "treknology" path, and rather innocently made up my own "heretical"(?!) rationale for how/why deflectors and collectors work, how they interact, also at one point since it was older tech, perhaps redundant units were required...I don't know (You should see my writeup on impulse engines and transporters...not to mention just what "warp drive" is... funny stuff, but it was veering too far away from established trek specs.)
Yes, I really like that. It looks very "electrode"-electrical, and that blue color is very nice-reminds me of those old antique cast glass insulators.
Judexavier, could you post up those rationales you wrote up? I think it would be interesting. I'm glad I got those worked out. I was worried for a while there that I'd hit a wall. I'll start on textures, soon. A question, though... the impulse engines don't seem to fit very well... they're too close to the windows on the saucer. Any ideas? I was thinking that maybe this ship has them incorporated into the warp nacelles... kind of like a runabout, or something. Have fun, guys.
LOL, yeah I'll have to actually correct my horrid spelling, and add proper grammer... Ooops on the impulse engines...(actually the windows, probably, I threw them in after I realized I had forgotten to). I'll draw up a sketch or two, but, yes, having them in the nacelles would be a nice change, also open up some room in the saucer. (More rooms to model)
Good deal. I'm building those radiators on the top of the nacelles, then I'll start the texture job. Any ideas about any more detail on the top and bottom of the saucer?
Hmm..you know, I was trying to stay away from the typical radial lines and so forth on the saucer...mostly small "access panels", with all sorts of tiny label "decals"...? I had imagined a rather boring, smooth "1950's stainless steel UFO" type texture, but, as you have a real model with lighting and textures to experiment with, have fun with it . Perhaps some radial grooves and rings would look good?
I really, really like this original drawing you came up with. OK, it's frakkin' brilliant. It caught my eyes (so to speak) in a way that few others have! But I'm not thrilled with where the model has ended up so far. I think it's because the model isn't the drawing! (OK, well, it IS. But it looks modern and has too much cool "sizzle.") Do you think you could finish the model - which is actually, in all fairness, really very excellent - and then go back and make a second model and stay very close to your original drawing? I'm thinking, let it stay looking as close as it can to something that modelmakers in a 1950s prop shop would have crafted - then punch it up a bit (but not TOO much) with surface detailing.
Gotcha. I'll stay away from the radial lines, and other traditional things. I'll try to think of a panel / hatch arrangement on the saucer that is similar to the pattern you have ont he secondary hull.
Hmm... I'm not sure I understand... are you saying you preferred the original drawings over Judxavier's final one that's got the shiny gunmetal look? I'm just curious, because I'm trying to match his final drawing as close as I possibly can.
Yes, that final drawing would be the one to go by. On top, those 4 covered window niches would be prominent, but otherwise the textures would provide the "look"...gunmetal, stainless steel, etc. Maybe I could try some texture maps, since I didn't "render" a top view. *The top and bottom saucer would have the registry and name, I forgot to add those in On bottom, the blue dome would be the main, prominent feature. *Oh, I finally noticed the "Greetings, puny human" at the bottom of my igoogle page
Oh, ok. Yeah, I usually put that in all of my IM status boxes. *Oops, meant to quote the other guy... the one that was saying he preferred your original drawing. I should go fix that.
About that, and in regards to some of the crits I read earlier, the place in the model where pylons protrude from the secondary hull does seem more tucked underneath the saucer than in the drawing. ETA: not to say I find this problematic, just something I noticed. Having nearly zero xp with modeling, I may not be aware of the possible obstacles one may run into when converting a 2d image into 3d.
Maybe that's what he meant. The main reason I did that, was just so I could connect the other end of the pylons to the nacelles a little farther back.
Major update time! I started on the textures. I had to rebuild them from scratch, of course... the only thing that came out of the original file is the blue stripe, and the little signs that are around different places. Judexavier, what do you think? I thought you would get a kick out of this. It's a combination of 3 layers... a color layer, a spec layer, and a bump map layer... Possibly more later.
Oh, wow, that's pretty! I imagine it dropping out of warp and firing upon Mothership Zeta from Fallout 3.