I really like that Ingram--it makes more sense than Excelsior. That saucer should be on an Ariel-type refit era Discovery Wedge ship--with the bevel front section of the wedge body--but with that Excelsior /Ingram type lower deflector/sec hull at the bottom--tapering back into the main body of the wedge--with Reliant type saucer raised section--but only on the wedge top--blending into Nacelles.
Thank you! Yeah I'm far from an engineer but I like to make sure I don't have to TARDIS away my interiors if I don't have to. Speaking of which... So after looking at the bridge dome and turbolift/escape pods for the umpteenth time, the bridge was really REALLY bothering me. My dome on top of my saucer isn't exactly large. The bridge of the week (Enterprise C/Bozeman) won't fit, the battle bridge from the Enterprise D won't fit, the Defiant bridge from DS9 was also too big, so I sketched out a variant of the Defiant that drops two whole stations cause this little ship won't really need them. She's not a combat ship. I don't even know that I need the Captain's chair for the civilian version really. You've got the conn which handles the nav/helm and some ops, an engineering station, and a science station that also doubles as tactical and communications. In a pinch almost everything can be run through the conn by rotating out the controls. I need to adjust the rear of the bridge to accommodate the turbolifts better and the emergency launch tubes (the turbolift shaft tops and turbolifts double as escape pods) and trim a bit up front and maybe the sides, but this one for all intents and purposes fits. Wow she's a cramped command center. Even the Raven from Voyager has more space. I'm actually thinking I might just forego the main viewscreen and have like a drop down viewer for the Captain or something and make the conn part of the front of the bridge. I MAY cheat a bit on this as a physical set since it really DOESN'T actually have to fit in the ship because the bridge is completely enclosed and just build around what I've got here so far and call it good for 'filming' purposes. I'm debating on keeping it all flat and one level like the Defiant bridge or dropping the crew stations down a level or two like was standard on other bridges. I have room going into the next deck especially since the deck right below the bridge is the computer core and life support machinery and not many people will crawl in there.
I had a suggestion from the DAZ forums to nix the Captain's chair and make this a 'working class' ship and bridge where everyone pitches in. So I borrowed a bit from the Hathaway and Enterprise C's back half of the bridge and made it the front part of mine. The center console is still the Conn and the screen above it also functions as the main viewscreen as needed. The left is Engineering and the right is Science. Don't know if I'm going to kit this out entirely or go back to working on the rest of the ship but I do like this too. Might have to try dumping the stations into the first bridge layout I did and see what that looks like.
That's a pretty interesting solution you came up with, looking forward to see how you continue with this.
Ask and ye shall receive! I get busy with work and my modeling play time declines. So unfair. Plaque for the now dubbed Liberty Class, designed by the Starfleet Civilian Engineering Corps to provide capable ships to Starfleet citizens. This is actually put together using parts from FuryofaSeraph excellent PSD file. I was trying to kill some time during a work conference I was atand took my Truespace files with me, and while I was looking at my little Civilian Scout bridge and remembered that I'd just aped the consoles from the Ent-C bridge and was curious what it'd look like using those as a full bridge with two turbolifts. This uses a similar arrangement to the Motion Picture bridge with one console between the two lifts as opposed to sticking them to the side like on the Ent A and the later Excelsior bridge. I also built a modified helm that matches the wall console more with an extra display panel on it since I didn't build an astrogator, which I probably will for a final version. Like I said, this was more to see how it'd look and I think I'm going to end up building on this for my Destroyer bridge to have it be something different than the regular Connie bridge from TOS but look something like an in between as this feels a bit more primitive than the TMP bridge but maybe trying to be more advanced than the original TOS bridge. It's also not going to be one level. I'm going to have the helm and nav console sunk into a pit, but don't expect handrails. I want a slightly different look. I decided before I get distracted again with another bridge that I really needed to work on the one I was poking around with so I loaded up the Civilian Scout Bridge and worked on the turbolift. This is probably one of the more complicated parts I've built for my ships interiors in the simple fact that it HAS to work with the escape pods that launch off the bridge deck containing the turbolifts. I did render up a quick sequence here so you can see the airlock door is synced with the turbolift doors. There's a space there so the Escape Pod can launch after the turbolift is in place and it has room to close it's own doors before it separates from the Scout ship. Obviously once the airlock is sealed there's no way off the bridge through that lift. Which reminds me, I need a small Jefferies tube toward the back of the bridge that lets a crewman descend through the ship if they get left behind by the escape pods. So this bridge wasn't quite ready to export into DAZ yet, but she's almost there. Back to the tech in the lift, there are gravity plates along the walls of the turbolift running on their own power that work in tandem with the floor plates as well as plates in the ceiling so that when the escape pod launches, the occupants are held in place. Wouldn't do to have your people launching in an emergency escape vehicle to be bounced all over the interior walls. I'm re-doing the paint scheme on the escape pod to match modern day lifeboats like you'd find on cruise ships. The shuttle is getting the same treatment since it's part lifeboat and part tender. A few things to unpack here At this point I've started loading up the bridge from Truespace and porting it over to DAZ Studio to make sure everything was coming over like it should. So then I loaded up my Lt. Soras and played around with making her uniform leather, because I lack self control mainly and it amused me to have Starfleet discarding their fiber clothing for animal hide. This is the starboard wall of the bridge, nothing exciting really, just a display, but I needed to make sure my regular lights were ok. So this one is a pulled back camera shot from the previous bridge load to illustrate just how barebones the set was at the moment. Tried something new with my console export and actually tagged the textures to the specific console parts as opposed to doing a complicated overlay later in DAZ. This has the added benefit of being able to swap out a single screen texture instead of having to redo a whole texture for that tier on the console. Bonus. Obviously these are all placeholders for a proper functioning console and display panels. I imagine this is what you'd get on first bootup when it's first being assembled before it ties into the ship's main computer.
I loaded in the airlock door and the aft wall of the bridge. I think the back wall is a bit too reflective, or just too bright a color, though as that's a LOT brighter than I thought it'd be. I am pleased with the dedication plaque and how it looks though, so bonus. You can also see the Jefferies Tube access to the bridge in the floor in the event of turbolift failure or say someone prematurely launched the escape pods and you need to try for the shuttlebay. Made some adjustments both to the position of the aft wall and to it's material settings. A lot less bright now, which is good. I also loaded up the turbolift, the escape pod hatch doors, and then moved the floor and Jefferies hatch forward a good 3 to 4 inches. Other than the door the turbolift is one solid unit and it exported and converted over on the first go, which I was amazed it did. Might still play with the lighting a bit in there but overall I think it works. With this though the starboard side of the bridge is loaded up and good to go. Now to work on the center console and the port side of the bridge, and eventually better graphics other than 'standby' or 'offline' on the consoles.
Port side import has begun. I have to admit to simply duplicating and flipping the turbolift and airlock rather than importing the port side from Truespace to DAZ. Two more consoles to go, decide on chairs, and then give the consoles some real textures.
Arcelyn dropped into the starboard bridge chair. They'd been waiting for 6 hours for the new computer core to sync with the new bridge stations and all they kept getting from the consoles and the Engineers was 'Please Stand By'. Well, she'd had enough of standing. When she volunteered for this refit she didn't think she'd be babysitting a bridge with nothing going on for days on end. Emily had warned her that it'd be boring, and come to think of it so had Challenger's Chief Engineer, Janelle Westhauer. Arcelyn had done pretty well for the first few days but now there was nothing left to clean, she'd polished the dedication plaque way too many times, and nothing was out of place in the entirety of the bridge space. Slumping she rested her head on her hand and stared at the floor hoping for it to erupt in a sea of sparks so at least something was going on. "Bored?" asked Lisbeth. "And the science officer wins a point for not using her tricorder to figure that one out," muttered Arcelyn. "You know, we all tried to warn you," smirked Lisbeth. "Oh my gods, I know!" ***************** All the important bits are loaded up. Now I just need to lay down some functioning console textures and the bridge will be ready for her civilian crew.
I can't believe I've missed this thread! I'd completely forgotten about Truespace. An old acquaintance of mine used to use Truespace and he did a LOT of interiors (SeanR). I'll be keeping an eye on this from now on. Keep it up!
They are my favorite of all the bridge chairs. Who needs seatbelts when you have lap braces? The three following movies kept using them but the seat covers kind of killed all that detail work that went into the TMP chairs. I like the bumpy look. Truespace is what I learned on back in the late 90s and it's what I'm used to and I don't have the time to learn a whole new modeling package, (I've tried and get frustrated that I can't just model and have to learn) so I've figured ways around exporting it and converting the files over to something DAZ will at least import with minimal fuss and tweaking so I get the added benefit of the lighting and self-illumination. And thanks! *** Did some texture work on the displays last night finally after fighting with iTunes and iPhone and the iCloud all of which I currently despise *hugs my android* Lisbeth leaned forward suddenly as she noticed the displays starting to change. "Looks like your long ordeal as bridge babysitter is over, Arc. There be communication here!" she mocked Arcelyn. "Don't play with me right now," muttered Arcelyn. "I wish to suffer in silence." "I'm not kidding, Arc. Take a look for yourself," said Lisbeth. *********************************** Started with the 'easier' re-textures of the flat regular shaped displays at the back of the bridge. The sector map turned out pretty well. I think the Damage display is a work in progress especially since the final exterior of the Liberty class isn't quite done yet.
Arcelyn turned in her chair to look at the consoles coming up one by one. She allowed herself the brief celebratory moment. They were still going to have to test each of the systems to make sure they were working correctly, but this was a huge step up from having nothing to do. Lisbeth moved to the comms and got a hold of Emily who was working down in the computer core. "You owe me a week's worth of the late shift" Emily's voice came through clear over the Engineering station's internal comms. "She did the fist thing didn't she?" "You'll eventually learn not to take that bet, Emily. Today is not that day," smirked Lisbeth. Emily sounded annoyed and defeated. "And here I thought the six hours I'd spent down here goofing off would have worn her down. Oh well, back to aligning the core with the ship's network." Arcelyn stared with an annoyed expression at her friend. "You know this bridge isn't that big. I can hear you two." ************** Finished up the textures for the bridge so one last render, well maybe second to last, while I go work on another part of the ship. A few of the monitors had a red alert version that takes the place of the 'System Nominal' there. The lighting would also probably subtly change as well. Took me a bit longer to tackle these than I thought it would but I think the result was worth it. Does seem a bit weird seeing the 2270's interface working on the 'Hathaway/Enterprise-C consoles instead of the Trek IV Okudagrams, but I'm liking it the more I look at it. And now I'm seeing some mesh errors in the support beams. Grrr... That'll need to be fixed, but other than that then this bridge is good to go. EDIT: I fixed the support beams but at this point I'm not re-rendering the scene as I want to model and my PC chugs while it's rendering.
After some hemming and hawing and careful placement I've decided that the Saucer Section of the Liberty class is going to be just 3 decks and that the bridge is going to sit about 6 ft below the actual height of the 'bridge' dome. I figure that gives them some room for the launch systems for the escape pods, an alternate life support system for the bridge and room for long and short range sensor systems above the bridge. The open space will be for life support and other equipment with hatch access in the corridors below them, no direct bridge access that way, but it gives me an excuse to make short horizontal curved Jefferies tubes at some point. Deck 2 (B Deck) of the saucer will house Sick Bay, a mini transporter, main engineering, some minor holds, all of the quarters for guests and crew as well as a mess hall towards the bow. Deck 3 (C Deck of the saucer) will be the main science section that will tie into the planetary sensors among other things. I coped the bridge just to see how much wiggle room I'll have for a lab in there. I haven't decided yet if there will be a turbolift going into the Secondary hull yet or if it'll just be a ladder/stairs combination. We'll have to see how spacing works out. As it stands right now, the saucer is 180.025 ft in diameter and 39.980 ft from dome to dome. If you're looking for a comparison, the original TOS Enterprise Saucer diameter was 413.386 ft. I'm going to poke more at her exterior before I start laying out her interior decks, but we'll see how that goes. While I had some down time between cleaning and clearing out the old house, I put some more work in on the Liberty class. I actually completely rebuilt the saucer from scratch. You can see the old saucer hanging out just above the new one. When I first did it up it was one solid object. That doesn't work so well when you want to have windows in the rim looking into rooms. Sure I could have done it with images, but screw that. I'm doing it right on this one. So you're looking at a brand new saucer with an actual hull about 4 to 5 inches thick and a hollow interior. Which means I get to start building more things to detail her without marking up her pretty white hull, well other than to paint her id on her anyway. The top leftt portion is a quick render of the long and short range sensor within the dome on the top part of the saucer. The blue parts will be lit up in DAZ. I'm going to make the 'glass' cover clear but I made it yellow so I could see it and make sure it fit properly. The bottom right is the planetary sensor array, built similarly to the long and short range, but there's grating between it and the science lab that will dwell in the lower portion of the saucer. Yes, it's my Destroyer's transporter grating, no I'm probably not going to make something new, and this kind of ties the technology together in a way. I imagined that to have some kind of shielding properties anyway, so it works. I did keep the sensor design pretty simple, but I don't want too many details clogging up the ship and it's going to get drowned out 89 percent of the time by the light it'll be emitting. Played a bit more with my ship between cleaning and binging Game of Thrones on the free HBO weekend. She's got saucer markings now, gravitational thruster packages on the saucer (why would they use a conventional thruster system when they have grav plating and artificial gravity? In a ship this small keeping that much spare fuel for the thrusters wouldn't be practical either way) along with the running lights. And she's finally got an impulse engine. I might refine the grill after I import it into DAZ cause it's pretty much on the thin side right now. I started adding some detailing to the secondary hull. Tried a refinement on the torpedo/probe launchers but I think I'll need to rebuild them as it didn't quite work as well as I thought it would. I am not done with the saucer as it's going to have windows, but I wanted to work on the rest of the ship a bit first as there's going to be a LOT of interior work on the saucer between the corridor placement as well as room arrangements before I put any windows into her hull.
So I was planning on cutting windows into the saucer, planned out a room for deck 3 and ended up building out the bulk of the lab in like a day. Created a scanner, library computer access, two displays tied to each and some bottles with mysterious liquid in them. Add in a PADD that I already made and we have ourselves a 'stocked' science lab for the Liberty Class. Here's the Liberty exterior with the Deck 3 windows in the Science Lab carved into her. I've got the science lab internals pretty basic here, most of it is there but is missing some higher poly but smaller items to cut down render times. It is a full interior with lights as opposed to just some textures. Probably a little overkill but she is a smaller ship. And I've got her lab imported into DAZ so have the start of some beauty shots. Science lab is located on Deck 3 of the Liberty class. It's a room with build out options for the ship as it's a multi-purpose room and really depends on what you want in it. When a Liberty class is slated for construction, the default selection for this area is a Science Lab. It could also function as an observation deck with the right lounge equipment installed. Most Captains go for the Science Lab just to have that option when you're out in space on you're own and don't have back-up nearby. This is the view looking into the forward window. More renders to come. Credits: Rank and combadges by RSchulte V4 and Genesis from DAZ New Adventure Uniforms by Uzilite TOSReboot Textures for UNA by RSchulte Bridge built in Truepace 3.1 Rendered with DAZ Studio 4.9 and iRay
That's a much smaller ship than I thought it was. I guess as long as it fits your needs, it's perfect.
Yeah she's not very big, well in comparison to Starfleet's big ships anyway. Here's a size comparison with my unfinished Galaxy class. She could actually fly right between the neck of the Galaxy and the warp nacelle and have plenty of room to spare.
I've been plugging away at the saucer section. It has 12 living quarters lining the exterior, each with a window. There's also a crew's mess in the bow, also with windows. The airlocks on either side aren't done yet but I'm working on some ideas. I think what I'll do for the exterior is have a set of retracting doors that reveal a flat area where a travel pod could dock with the standard Starfleet airlock set-up underneath. I started working out some of my warp engine details. They are far from done, but I did lower them on the secondary hull a little bit. I'm toying with an idea I've seen from the new super cars where they're using an electric engine alongside a gas powered engine but instead of making them fuel efficient they instead use the electric engine to boost the hell out of the gas engine's power. So what exactly does that mean? Along with the standard fusion powered Impulse Engines in the primary hull, the Liberty is going to have a set of experimental warp powered impulse engines built into the nacelle struts. It's an idea. We'll see how bulked up that looks when I put it on there. Anyway, the saucer has windows and little rooms behind each of those windows with tables, chairs, food dispensers, beds, and off to the side room behind a wall a sonic shower and a toilet
Work continues on the Liberty The saucer now has two airlocks on either side, both capable of hosting a travel pod. It's a tight fit, but it's a fit. I do have an option to move plates in to cover the airlock hatches because I thought I'd have to cut too much out of the saucer rim to get it to work, but I think she looks more... functional? this way. It feels more like a real ship to me, and let's be real, are you going to have yet another set of doors and mechanical parts that could gum up the works for a civilian vessel? I think I'm done with the exterior of the saucer at this point. So from here I'm focusing on the back end of the Liberty. Work has started on the secondary hull. I've tried a new smaller and sleeker looking deflector housing. This one makes it look more modular, like it's an option and not part of the standard build. You can see the old design hanging out off in the space below the new one. I'm not sold on it entirely yet. There are definitely things I like about both of them. I'm also working on new probe/torpedo launchers that aren't quite as set into the hull as the old ones. I might carve a bit into the hull for them as well but haven't decided yet on that either. I've got a lot more freedom to play with the back end and my imagination may actually be a bigger stumbling block than all the little details that went into the saucer. So I'm testing out some of the Genesis 3 stuff I've got and my old standby Uzilite uniform with a variation. This is the dress and the male pants for a more slightly casual but still in regulation uniform. Nothing new to this really, I was just testing her out to see how she looks. Renders hella fast, well comparatively. 1 hour render with her in iRay instead of the standard 4 with V4 and Genesis. Credits: Uzilite New Adventure Uniform texture by Rshulte Genesis 3 from DAZ Reimagined Connie by MKF