@Gibraltar: @penguin44: It is quite a dark bridge, however the light levels haven't changed from the previous renders, it should be the same. I've finished the new chairs for the bridge, which are actually some very old chairs! Yes, I've finally done the classic movies era chairs which were reused all the way to the 24th Century (and back to the 22nd Century in Enterprise!). These were a pain to do as good references are super elusive, and despite all efforts I was unable to positively identify and verify their brand or model. Just like on the real chairs, both the backrest and seat can be adjusted along the angled support in the model, and the chairs used on the perimeter stations are adjusted taller than the ones used on the central pit, just as they were on set for the Prometheus bridge. I have no delusion of these being perfect reproductions, but I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. Per @Gibraltar's approval of course, now the bridge is finished. More renders will have to wait 'till 2020, have a good one everyone!
Love the chairs!! A terrific taste of that 23rd century aesthetic. Thank you for all your work on this render. I’ve been writing about this ship for 15 years and it’s breathtaking to finally get to see her ‘in the flesh.’
Beautiful work on the chairs. Short of someone actually acquiring one and taking detailed measurements, your model is as close to the real deal as we'll probably ever get.
@ashefivekay: Hahaha, they look uncomfortable but are endearing to look at. @Jedman67: Thanks! @Lt. Washburn: Thanks! I'm this close to confirming they are Ergoform, I've been following up on a lead and hopefully by next week I'll get an email with confirmation and some more info on them, which of course I'll share when (if) it arrives. @Gibraltar: Thanks to you for the chance of working on it! @The Librarian: Thanks! @cardinal biggles: Until Donny works on them, of course. Here are the finished renders of the Gibraltar bridge!
One more tiny adjustment; add a bit of contrast, perhaps subtle lighting strips on the walls of the steps.
@Jedman67: The steps here don't have lighting underneeth them as that was the way it was on the Prometheus, and how @Gibraltar wanted them to be. I'll be taking the week off from any commission work, as next week I will be going away on vacation (for the first time in years), so I'd rather not start another job just to leave it halfway done and get all anxious while away. The commissions I have pending will have to wait till I get back. Still, I can't simply do nothing for a week, I get bored... Given the work done on the Gibraltar I kinda toyed around with doing the Prometheus, but as I mentioned before that's still way too much work to do as a personal project, as the entire perimeter area and ceiling need doing in some form or another. The idea of doing a Prometheus-Class based on the parts I already have was tempting though. So I've started looking for other Prometheus-Class vessels in Memory Beta, and came across the USS Cerberus. According to the DS9 relaunch books, this ship was Admiral Ross' flagship following the end of the Dominion War. I decided to go ahead and model a bridge for it, as I liked the name, and it would give me an excuse to work on a big, original new bridge. This is by far the biggest bridge I've done, as I believe an Admiral's flagship, used for coordinating an entire fleet, would come prepared for the task with several communication officers posted on the bridge. The aesthetic is very much inspired on the Nemesis era Enterprise-E, though keeping the Prometheus style helm (with some modifications, like the central status display), and adding in tactical consoles behind the command chairs which share the same aesthetic design. Pretty much every section needs some work, but the main idea is in place. Also, I haven't found a registry number for the ship listed anywhere, so I went with NCC-74915 for it, making it a first batch Prometheus-Class starship. What do you think about this bridge? I've also started working on the main shuttlebay of the Potemkin, but that'll be left on the back burner for another time.
I remember some book, don't think it was trek, but some other space ship book.. that a ship has a bridge, but a "Flag ship" has an "Admiral's Bridge" that is seperate from the actual bridge. So, said bridge may not have a Helm, maybe more "Office" looking, or something like a spacestation "Bridge" So while the captain is taking care of his ship, the Admiral is directing the fleet.. Remember Voyagers relaunch novels that in the fleet that was sent back to the Delta quadrant that the admiral of the fleet has a large "Office" to direct the fleet.. not really a command center though, just a large office for her maybe her assistant.. So just an idea, maybe an "Admirals Bridge" a command center that was used during the dominion war?? Could be on any ship, Promethus, Galaxy etc.. Just a thought
A fantastic start on what promises to be a beautiful bridge! Love the layout and the color scheme. I especially like the little Prometheus-class silhouette between the Flight and Ops stations. That makes sense in a variable geometry ship, you'd want a quick-reference on what part of the ship you were flying at a given moment.
I've always loved the Enterprise-E bridge, so it's nice to see that influence in this project. Enjoy the time off!
It's shaping up to be a lovely bridge. Your 2380 USS Galaxy bridge remains my favourite, but I'm liking this a lot too. It looks cleaner/less cluttered than the Nemesis bridge, whilst definitely maintaining that Sovereign Class look. On a tangential note, I wonder if there will be any Starfleet bridges in the new Picard show. It would be neat to see some bridges that serve as a transitional stage between this bridge and whatever it is they come up with on the Picard show. Going back to this bridge, have you ever played around with lighting setups? A strong lightsource (like the ten-forward scene in generations) could add some dynamic looking patterns of light and dark across the bridge. Just throwing some ideas out there, no idea if they would pan out or not though!
Fantastic! I love the layout, it feels like you've got all the essential stations there in the middle without too much distance between them. It reminds me of a more compact version of one of the STO concept art bridges.
@valkyrie013: I thought about that, something more akin to a CIC than to a traditional bridge we see in Trek. However, I decided against that for a number of reasons. Firstly, from what little I could gather the novels establish that Ross commands the ship from the bridge (I haven't read Avatar, which is the book where it appears most prominently, so if someone can correct me please do so). Plus, we always pretty much see Admirals commanding their flagships from the bridge (most notably Riker in AGT), same thing when there's any sort of fleet action, it's always commanded from the bridge of a starship. This is obviously due to budget constrains, but nevertheless it's an established pattern in Trek, which I intend to follow. I do imagine Ross has a big office just outside the bridge though, something like a glorified Ready Room. After all, the Prometheus-Class has quite a large deck 1, considering it has a whole Warp nacelle on it! @The Primeval: So do I! The swapped LCARS work a lot better with the brownish walls IMO, the blue offers a far more interesting contrast. @Gibraltar: Thanks! Yeah I really wanted to add something in there reminiscent to the ship status panel between the Nav and Helm consoles that the Enterprise-A had. @cardinal biggles: Thanks, I will! @SCE2Aux: Thanks! Oh yes, the Ent-E bridge, while I love the aesthetic, has some weirdly placed elements that don't really fit in, not to mention how much I dislike the complete lack of rails or uniformity around the steps. I'm sure we'll see a Federation bridge on Picard, even if it's not the main ship of the show. Perhaps it won't happen 'till the end of the season, similar to how Disco waited to introduce the Enterprise. We'll have to wait and see! Regarding the light sources, oh I definitely have to tweak the lighting still, that's the last part as even the LCARS can give off light I have to take into account. I always refrain from adding any outside lights to bridges though (such as a big sun on the screen), as I want to present them in a neutral lighting. @The Librarian: If you mean this one from Ryan Dening, it's one of my all time favorite non-canon designs, so I might have been unconsciously inspiring myself on it somewhat. Dening is working on DIscovery for season 3, I hope he's also doing Picard and making an iteration of that design a reality (one can dream). More work on... well, other than the chairs, just about everything. -The colors have been tweaked all over -The ceiling struts are in place, and other than the centerpiece that area is pretty much done -The aft wall has been completely redone and features a far bigger MSD than what I was gonna do before -The light columns are finished and feature a pattern similar to that from the Prometheus Conn console -More LCARS all over -Finished the alcoves, with new dedication plaque, and the doors received new labels with once again a pattern similar to that of the forward consoles I'm using the word 'finished' a lot though everything's still open to change. Things are a bit darker now, but once I add the overhead lights they should help significantly. Still not sure how to tackle the consoles for the XO/Specialist chairs. I might leave them without consoles as homages to those on Admiral Riker's Enterprise. There they were clearly unused most of the time and just intended for VIP guests, though they didn't have enough chairs for poor Worf. Even as an ambassador he doesn't get to sit on the bridge of the Enterprise!