3D interiors in Blender

[137th Gebirg]

I realize the DS9 production crew wasn't able to use the Enterprise-D bridge because of filming on Generations, but that set seems so ridiculously cramped for a Galaxy-class starship -- and I rewatched "The Jem'Hadar," and you never see anything forward of the command area, you don't see the viewscreen or Conn/Ops -- that even though you know what the set blueprints are, maybe you've got some license to fudge with it.

edit: And I just restated most of what you already said. That's why I shouldn't post at 5:00 in the AM.

The Nebula-class (USS Sutherland) that Data commanded in "Redemption II" should have also used a Galaxy-style bridge, since Nebulas appear to have the same kind of bridge module based on the exterior structure. However, it also appeared quite small and unnecessarily cramped.

I'm sure the producers once again thought the idiot fandom would get the two ships "confused" if they used the same sets. Same reason nobody ever saw the USS Sovereign or any of her sisters during the main battles of the Dominion War, despite being framed as one of Starfleet's most powerful and advanced ships.

 

[Lt. Washburn]

You're right that the Ent-D bridge wouldn't have been available, in a normal sense.

All Good Things filmed from March 11 through April 5.
Generations began filming March 28 and ended June 9.
DS9 wrapped for the season on April 25.

And after Generations wrapped, it was torn down to make way for Voyager.

I have a few behind he scenes pictures, but this forum doesn't allow uploading. I'll message you on the Fleetworkshop.

 

[batboy853]

Behind the scenes of Odyssey Bridge? I would love to see those too, or posted somewhere, maybe Redgeneral might allow you to post on the ST Blueprints Flickr account.

 

[Rekkert]

Wow, the images @Lt. Washburn provided will be very useful! Thank you very much! Here they are, I've hosted them in my deviantArt stash:

Spoiler: Image

The viewscreen area looks to be a lot bigger than it seems on the episodes. This is probably because we never see the viewscreen from any angle other than really up close or from behind the conn/ops consoles, so it seems to be much smaller than it really is. As you'll see on the renders below, I haven't even started with this area, I'll do a quick test to try and match the full set, and see how cramped it really is, I have a feeling it'll be more spacious than we anticipated.

I've been focusing mostly on the horseshoe (well, I guess it's not really a horseshoe...) for now. This is how I've interpreted the design. It's not finished yet as the side stands are missing, but the general shape is in place. It's curved horizontally, but it's elevation doesn't change. I've also done the basic shape of the bridge, particularly the back area, but it's still very rough at this stage.

Spoiler: Image

 

[FormerLurker]

How much of that set did they steal from TUC? That looks like the entire back wall from Excelsior!

 

[cardinal biggles]

They stole the front wall, as well. That's the viewscreen from TFF/TUC/GEN for the Ent-A/Excelsior/Ent-B.

I think that one photo must have been from the bridge of the USS Janky... they got stuck with two consoles with the base positioned to the officer's right.

 

[Rekkert]

@cardinal biggles: On both the USS Saratoga and USS Prometheus, both consoles have the base on the right. I have no idea why... it's so awful...

Okey, wasn't entirely sure on the scale I was using for the bridge, so I picked up a blueprint of Stage 18 during DS9's run, found out how much the stage measured, and then adjusted my bridge accordingly. It ended up being a lot bigger than before, and now it fits in a lot better with screenshots from the episodes. Also, the conn/ops consoles appear to fit very comfortably in there in the end.

Spoiler: Image

 

[cardinal biggles]

@cardinal biggles: On both the USS Saratoga and USS Prometheus, both consoles have the base on the right. I have no idea why... it's so awful...

I just rewatched the beginning of "Emissary," they did a good job of hiding it there. The only giveaway is when the Ops officer gets thrown from her chair when everything on the bridge blows up.

 

[The Librarian]

That doesn't look too bad. Not a lot of room for walking about while making speeches, but the shorter distance will also make up for the smaller screen size and the captain doesn't have to yell to talk with conn and ops. I'm liking the tactical arc too.

 

[Rekkert]

@cardinal biggles: Yes, it's only really seen on the Saratoga during the Prophets vision.

@The Librarian: I must admit, I'm loving that tactical arc myself.

I've moved the Captain's chair forward a bit more in order to better recreate the position it had on the show. Also, in order to not impair the vision of the First and Second Officers, the forward consoles were dropped a step, while the forward wall was moved half a meter away to make the whole area a bit bigger.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Rekkert]

And I've started working on the aft consoles...

Spoiler: Image

 

[Rekkert]

I spent a long while making sure the aft consoles were correct, and improving the topology. I've also added the Excelsior style floor lights and padded elements at the back of the bridge.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Rekkert]

I've finished the overall shape of the tactical station. I completely redid all the elements except for the central column, it was a pain to get it to align with all the references...

Spoiler: Image

 

[Sibyl]

One of my only crits to you at one point (in a PM) was your chair cushions. You've improved those immensely!

Your modeling is excellent, as usual, but I need to comment on your carpet texture...it looks amazing. Is it a noise pattern or something else?

 

[Rekkert]

@Scribble: Hahaha, thanks! Ironically all these chairs aren't particularly new, but yeah I've been trying to have them look more comfy.

Regarding the carpet, it's a fabric texture (you can see it more clearly near the bottom of the renders) but indeed it has a noise texture mixed in a bit.

I've added most details on the aft consoles. I was surprised when I noticed that the pillars at each side of the consoles don't have the usual 'holes' they had on the Excelsior/Prometheus. At least some effort was made to make them more 24th Century.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Rekkert]

I've worked on the side walls. It's really hard to see the wall colors so they might be beige or grey like on the Prometheus, I'll have to keep looking at it for a while.

One odd thing to notice is that these walls have a different texture on the right side than on the left one. On the left side of the bridge, as you can see on the render below, there are two rows of a grey textured material, similar to the one used everywhere on Voyager. This textured material was always there, as we can see on the Saratoga and Norkova. On the right side however, a different pattern was used, and starting with the Norkova, illumination was added behind it. This illumination was changed for the Prometheus.

I have no idea why this asymmetry was done except perhaps to only film some ships from one side and make them look more different because of the changed textures. This does make sense as the left side on the Saratoga and Norkova was only seen very briefly during action shots with a lot of movement, and we can only appreciate them today going frame by frame.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Lt. Washburn]

Interesting observations!

 

[Jedman67]

Wow, the images @Lt. Washburn provided will be very useful! Thank you very much! Here they are, I've hosted them in my deviantArt stash:

Spoiler: Image

The viewscreen area looks to be a lot bigger than it seems on the episodes. This is probably because we never see the viewscreen from any angle other than really up close or from behind the conn/ops consoles, so it seems to be much smaller than it really is. As you'll see on the renders below, I haven't even started with this area, I'll do a quick test to try and match the full set, and see how cramped it really is, I have a feeling it'll be more spacious than we anticipated.

I've been focusing mostly on the horseshoe (well, I guess it's not really a horseshoe...) for now. This is how I've interpreted the design. It's not finished yet as the side stands are missing, but the general shape is in place. It's curved horizontally, but it's elevation doesn't change. I've also done the basic shape of the bridge, particularly the back area, but it's still very rough at this stage.

Spoiler: Image

That was the Nebula-class Prometheus bridge which was slightly redressed from the Miranda-class Saratoga set

 

[Jedman67]

I've worked on the side walls. It's really hard to see the wall colors so they might be beige or grey like on the Prometheus, I'll have to keep looking at it for a while.

One odd thing to notice is that these walls have a different texture on the right side than on the left one. On the left side of the bridge, as you can see on the render below, there are two rows of a grey textured material, similar to the one used everywhere on Voyager. This textured material was always there, as we can see on the Saratoga and Norkova. On the right side however, a different pattern was used, and starting with the Norkova, illumination was added behind it. This illumination was changed for the Prometheus.

I have no idea why this asymmetry was done except perhaps to only film some ships from one side and make them look more different because of the changed textures. This does make sense as the left side on the Saratoga and Norkova was only seen very briefly during action shots with a lot of movement, and we can only appreciate them today going frame by frame.

Spoiler: Image

Try putting the screengrab into photoshop and add sharpen and change the white balance/saturation to match skin tones. From that you can probably get a good idea of set colors.

 

[137th Gebirg]

One odd thing to notice is that these walls have a different texture on the right side than on the left one. On the left side of the bridge, as you can see on the render below, there are two rows of a grey textured material, similar to the one used everywhere on Voyager. This textured material was always there, as we can see on the Saratoga and Norkova. On the right side however, a different pattern was used, and starting with the Norkova, illumination was added behind it. This illumination was changed for the Prometheus.

I have no idea why this asymmetry was done except perhaps to only film some ships from one side and make them look more different because of the changed textures. This does make sense as the left side on the Saratoga and Norkova was only seen very briefly during action shots with a lot of movement, and we can only appreciate them today going frame by frame.

I think it's quite common for set designers to sometimes cobble together multiple patterns and textures - whatever they can do to scrape by, never assuming that there work would be scrutinized to such detail many decades later.

The cockpit of the Millennium Falcon is a perfect example. In Episode 4, the lightbar is woefully misaligned between walls. They didn't even attempt to make it a symmetrical misalignment, just a straight-up mistake on a shoestring budget that they couldn't afford to fix and go back and re-shoot all the footage:

...Which, of course, was later fixed for ESB:

Wouldn't sweat the little things...the pro's don't!