Weren't they always supposed to be windows? Granted, I don't have the cloth mesh covering the windows yet, but wasn't the entire idea behind the "windows" to show lights in the tubroshaft passing as the turbolift moved throughout the ship?
Hypothetically, it could be just a screen or light effect to show the passengers that the car is actually moving and the direction it's moving (as I believe it was in later shows). Nothing wrong with it being a window though, which I assume it was originally intended to be.
That was always my assumption! I liked the idea that lifts were self-sustaining lifeboats in an emergency. Not sure where I picked that up.
Yes, the fact that there is a "woven cloth mesh" covering the side windows with which the moving light shines through has always conveyed the idea that it's a portal or window in the turbolift car itself, IMO at least.
I agree with your points and probably it was always intended to be a mesh covered window However, I am a Trekkie of a particularly fussy variety that actually counts the amount of lights that go past when they travel up or down. Since the speed and frequency of the lights only allow for about one per deck, this means that there are several episodes where the turbolift travels far beyond the confines of even the tallest turboshaft on the shaft. Hence, I interpret the "window" as a mere motion indicator, which gives the occupants general information on the speed and direction of the cab, but not a specific one.
I'm sure the idea was floating around somewhere before we actually saw it happen in Beyond, but I never remembered where I'd seen it. I'm assuming situations like that where someone happened to be in the lift as the ship went down was the design case, and it wouldn't be anybody's first, second, or third choice to escape a ship in a turbolift car. That reminds me of a story from the production of Insurrection. They had a turbolift-and-talk scene near the beginning of the film, and they wanted to show the car moving around the diagram of the ship in the back of the cab, a la TMP, but there was only one deck's difference between Picard's quarters and the reception area, so they left the big diagram blank, and added windows to the display showing a looping animation of a turbolift traveling through a generic section of ship, so it could go for however long it had to.
Saw this the other day and thought how much better (and more accurate) it would be if they used Donny's model. Donny, you should call them!
So, laying in bed last night with insomnia, I started thinking, as many others have before me, of how a turbolift car would move throughout the ship. And it immediately became clear to me that a turbolift car itself couldn't be taller than one complete deck of the ship, and therefore my concept above had to be scaled down due to being too tall. After a number of decisions, I've settled on a more compact, traditional approach to the TOS turbolift car. It honestly looks like something out of NASA's early days. When creating non-canon TOS stuff, I'm going to think about the following things in the following order: A) What would the producers of the show design? (with the knowledge, budget, and materials they had, if a script in the late 60s called for the prop/set in question) Keep it simple, but don't make it look cheap, necessarily. B) How to marry this new design with other designs we saw on TOS. Reuse other greebles from the the actual sets, make similar choices in color, typography, and shape language. C) Take that design, imagine it as a set or prop on the show, and now make it look real. How would you make, what is obviously a fake prop/set, look real? By careful choice in building textures and materials to make these items and sets look like real-world objects, and not the wooden set pieces they were. Also give everything a very slight weathering so they look like actually used items upon closer inspection. Just some thoughts as I work.
Windows or not, those are now some beautifully TOSified turbolifts! I think the yellow handles really sell it. I'm totally with you on the shallower bottoms too. Some of the turbolifts I've seen in cutaways over the years have quite ridiculously rounded lower ends, to the point where it would be impossible to stack horizontally The idea of the turbolift cars also being lifeboats was first mentioned in the Officers Manual, I believe: http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcar...l/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual_Page_040.jpg Now THAT car has some SERIOUS ballast!
Yes, with each deck being 10 feet tall (as most set walls were this high) and with a conjectured 1 foot space in between decks, the turbolifts would HAVE to fit within that height range, to both be stackable and to travel horizontally throughout the ship (if they were any taller, the horizontal turbolift shafts would have to cut into the below or above decks to have enough space, which isn't very feasible). I don't want to worry TOO much about "making it all fit" but some things have to make sense, especially if I decided to model some of these things we never saw on screen (like the turbolift shafts themselves)
I like the turbolift car design you've come up with! Although I'm missing the red alarm lights on the second version. And yes, I, too, always assumed the moving lights we saw in the turbolift were supposed to be the actual decks passing by.
I'd put in a hidden door on the left interior side (I believe we rarely or never see that part of the turbolift interior) to let Kirk run around freely in "Wink of an Eye" Just kidding. Keep up the good work
Yes! My biggest complaint of many turbolift cars (including the canon one seen on screen in TMP) is that they can't fit where they are supposed to fit. As to your design methodology, I think you've got it. Although I'm not sure they would have built an actual curved car. Star Fleet would have but Desilu wouldn't. I remember watching Giligan's Island's version of a Soviet space capsule. Not a curve on it!
Screenshot time! So below, you'll see I have the corridor setup as it was near the end of Season 3. However, there are geometry pieces and earlier versions of the greebles from previous seasons that I've constructed as well. I've basically got all the assets needed to build corridors throughout the ship in many different configurations. For demonstration purposes, however, you'll just see the corridors as they stood on Stage 9. You'll also see the finished Jefferies tube and the turbolift as well. I haven't gotten around to the Brig yet though, even though it was part of the corridor set. Looking down a radial corridor, near the transporter room. A view down the concentric corridor, just outside the briefing room. I'm super happy I decided to actually model the hex grating (cheaply) instead of using a faked version via parallax occlusion. Down at one end of the concentric corridor, just outside the sickbay examination room. Another view from the opposite direction, down the concentric corridor, at the intersection of the Engineering corridor. Same spot, opposite direction. The vertical Jefferies Tube. The diagonal Jeffereis Tube corridor Closeup of the A-Frame, with accurate fabric mesh The Engineering Corridor I've always loved this prop! Here, you see my conjectured "unseen side" of the greeble right below the Jefferies tube. Toward the end of season 3, this distinctive greeble appeared with a red border around it's yellow mounting plate. I modeled the earlier version, without the red, as well, which also has the correct lettering on it. Another greeble that survived from the beginning of the show's production. Note the edge wear I'm giving the greebles. It's nice because these wear-and-tear details aren't really that noticeable until you're right up on them Another greeble, seen here in it's red-and-green bordered version from late season 3. This greeble actually didn't appear in the corridors after season 1 (it was moved to a small lit alcove in the sickbay examination room for the remainder of Star Trek's run) but I thought it would be nice to include it. A greeble that was also featured in the Engineering set: The infamous "flower pot" greeble, which appeared in so many different locations throughout seasons 2 and 3. Right outside the officer's quarters set was this greeble Shots of the Jefferies Tube and Turbolift below!
Don't miss the shots above! Had to break up the posts due to more than 20 images This was my first ever attempt at modeling the diagonal Jefferies Tube. It was tough, but well worth the time I put into it. Another view from outside From inside the tube. There were two lit control panels that show up in Day of the Dove, but I haven't modeled them yet. Everything else, however, is accurate, AFAIK. Looking straight up the tube. Note the hexagonal hatch I designed at the end, seemingly leading to a vast array of tubes. Inside a turbolift: And the finished turbo-car (I imagine it would be hyphenated if it was actually built during the show's production) ALSO! Bonus shot of the turbocar parked outside the bridge:
Wow. That's some really nice work on this! Love the little details you put in, especially with the Jefferies Tube. The wear and tear gives it that little punch too that makes it feel more like the real deal.
I like the use of the hexagonal hatch in the Jefferies Tube - that's not a shape we see too much of in TOS. Of course, you could also go all Phase 2 and make it a pentagon instead!