3D interiors in Blender

[Rekkert]

@Lt. Washburn: Because of things like those, I'm finding this a very interesting set to work with!

@Jedman67: Indeed. The image with Drexler on the Captain's chair is from the Saratoga, while the remaining three are from the Prometheus version of the set.

@137th Gebirg: Well, yes and no. Nobody expected the shots to be analyzed frame by frame back in the early 90s, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the set designers were very dedicated in their jobs, I've found several details on these bridges that are only shown in one or two shots, they were added despite not being in any way needed or noticeable on a single watch. Not to mention the fact that the misaligned lights on the Millennium Falcon don't stand out as much because the aesthetic choice for representing the Rebels in Star Wars was 'rugged and with old equipment', hence something like that wasn't out of place, while it would be out of place in the generally pristine looking Starfleet ships.

At the same time, I can't afford to 'not sweat the little things', remember that this is a commission I'm doing for someone, who is paying me precisely to analyze and reproduce as best as possible the set. Once I realized the difference between the left and right, I had to communicate it to see if he wanted me to reproduce this difference or keep it symmetrical (given that we didn't actually see the other side of the Odyssey bridge). And even though I'm talking with him in another forum, I also communicated it here because I found it interesting, and I thought other people might find it interesting as well.

Speaking of which, in the end I've kept the bridge symmetrical, and I've done the first prototype for the ceiling. This isn't final by any means as I've already identified several inaccuracies in it, but the general shape is correct. Also, I've changed the overall set color to beige, with just some details left in grey. After further analyzing the bridge scene, I think this is more accurate to how it looked.

Spoiler: Image

 

[CaptainSerek]

Excellent work.

 

[Rekkert]

@CaptainSerek: Thank you!

I've continued to work on the ceiling, adjusting the shapes and adding in the secondary light sources. I've also noticed that the little wall supports near the entrances had extruded panels in them, probably added to hide the holes these supports originally had on the Saratoga/Prometheus.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Jedman67]

This was supposed to be Odyssey? I don't see Rick Anderson's chair anywhere
We had approximately 2.5 seconds of bridge footage of the Od. Nonetheless, nice job!!
A bit late, but i posted another "horseshoe" ref in the SFM thread. Keep it up @Rekkert!!

 

[Rekkert]

@Jedman67: Not THAT Odyssey!

I noticed that when the set was given it's final use as ALL THE INTERIORS for the Defiant, we see a lot more details on the ceiling area. Those details probably didn't exist back on the Odyssey, but I decided to add them in to have something interesting to the ceiling (I could be wrong and these details could be there since the Saratoga, but I have no evidence of that).

Spoiler: Image

This proved to be a challenge, as it's a fairly complex pattern of shapes that has taken me several days just to properly sketch out, checking a ton of DS9 episodes for good shots. Given that the Odyssey bridge is a bit longer than the Defiant ceiling design, I changed the front area layout a bit. There's still a lot to do, but at least the main layout is complete.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Jedman67]

Great job! Never realized that the defiant sickbay was converted from the Saratoga bridge (not that i can recall seeing that bridge much, but whatever).
Looks like the DS9 set crew had a more robust ability to create "guest sets" especially bridges (*cough* Sutherland) than the TNG crew (probably had a higher budget for guest ships).

 

[Michael]

@Rekkert, I know I'm repeating myself, but wow, that ceiling looks all kinds of awesome! Really looks like a chore to model that structure.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I never noticed the similarities, but now it's so obvious (but expertly done).

 

[CaptainSerek]

I went through your other bridges and art. Great work, yes, I am repeating myself.

 

[Rekkert]

@Jedman67: Indeed, probably a bigger budget and more assets from movies were available to create these sets.

@Michael: Thank you! Wasn't the most pleasing thing to model, but it got done.

@cardinal biggles: Yes, they changed a lot of the set, only the ceiling struts give it away.

@CaptainSerek: Thank you very much!

More progress on the ceiling, which I think is done now.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Sibyl]

What can I say? Fantastic!

Question for you...how important is it for your model to be all-quads, or doesn't it matter? Not that familiar with the rules for game models--that is if those are the rules you go by. The only reason I even bring it up is because of the Farpoint bridge you posted recently.

 

[Rekkert]

@Scribble: Thanks! Regarding the quads in the meshes, I try to model as cleanly as possible, but on some shapes it's impossible to get 100% quads without increasing the polycount dramatically, so when I have to use ngons I try to keep them in flat surfaces to make them less noticeable, and if possible only have them in non visible parts of the models (like at the bottom of a chair). Why did the Farpoint bridge made you ask that? Is there some awful visible ngon there that I missed?

Going back the the Odyssey, I'm still not entirely satisfied with how accurate the side/front area of the bridge is. Knowing that at least one unique image of the Odyssey bridge came from the Fact Files, I went to try and find if they had any other unique image. I found some pages of the FF as PDFs and luckily the Odyssey page was among them.

Now, the first image was the one we already knew, but I had never before seen the bottom one. It gives a good panorama of the bridge at the sides of the Captain, and I noticed that the tactical station stand appears to be a lot thinner than the one on the Enterprise, clearly it was done to be filmed just in a very limited angle.

I know that the FF also includes files on the Nebula Class Prometheus with some unique pictures, and maybe even something from the Saratoga, but I wasn't able to find good quality scans of them online. If someone has the Fact Files and is able to provide pictures or scans, they'll be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sibyl]

@Scribble: Thanks! Regarding the quads in the meshes, I try to model as cleanly as possible, but on some shapes it's impossible to get 100% quads without increasing the polycount dramatically, so when I have to use ngons I try to keep them in flat surfaces to make them less noticeable, and if possible only have them in non visible parts of the models (like at the bottom of a chair). Why did the Farpoint bridge made you ask that? Is there some awful visible ngon there that I missed?

Nope, nope, nothing like that. I was more curious about the aspects of gaming models rather than anything else.

It was just a question about your modeling technique and not a criticism at all. Some people religiously keep to all-quads for subdivision, and some people don't give a damn.

 

[Rekkert]

@Scribble: Oh, nice to hear. I panicked there for a moment. I don't adhere THAT much to gaming modeling standards, as I model for Blender most of the time so my meshes are pretty high poly. For Stage9, Unreal Engine has some really clever Level of Detail tools that automatically lower polys regarding player distance, so all those polys are there but can be hidden away when they aren't really necessary. Regarding subdivision, yes, in meshes where I use it, I try to keep 100% quads.

Checking the Prometheus again, I noticed that the LCARS panels at the back of the bridge are actually a reuse of the shuttle interior seen in 'Second Sight'. They're the same graphics as in the back stations, but arranged in a unique way.

Spoiler: Image

So, in order to get those graphics (and hence the size of the back wall) correct, I've UV mapped the consoles and started laying out the LCARS. It's still very early with just repeated sections, and I haven't even changed the colors, but it's enough to get an estimate of the size needed for the rear panel.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Lt. Washburn]

Rekkert, I found a few more images for you. They're over at the Fleetworkshop.

 

[Lt. Washburn]

Just posted a few more over there.

 

[Praetor]

@Rekkert this is fantastic. Loving seeing this great work!

 

[Rekkert]

@Lt. Washburn: Thanks very much for looking for and sharing these mate, I really appreciate it!

@Praetor: Thank you!

We now start to get into the less seen areas of the bridge so progress is a lot less straightforward, as I'm checking the few references available not wanting to do only to then have to do it again. More specifically, I've started work on the aft section of the bridge and on the side door alcoves.

Spoiler: Image

At the same time, and driving home the idea of "measure twice, model once", I might have to redo the ceiling completely.

I'm still not sure as there's literally only one reference of the side of the bridge, but I believe I made a mistake there. The space between the door alcoves and the buttresses at each side of them seem to be bigger on this photo than they are on my mesh. I would have to move the forward buttress further to the front, but that would misalign it to the ceiling strut which I believe connects to the wall directly above said buttress. I'm trying to find another reference to confirm the ceiling is aligned to the buttress or not.

Spoiler: Image

 

[Rekkert]

I kept working on the door alcoves. Per my client's suggestion, I've added in the ones from the Enterprise-D, with two doors on each side. Unlike on the Saratoga/Prometheus, the doors were not shown on the Odyssey, instead we saw that the alcove opened up (and was covered with debris), so it doesn't contradict what was seen on screen to add these in.

The colors however might be further tweaked, particularly the doors.

Spoiler: Image

 

[ashleytinger]

I kept working on the door alcoves. Per my client's suggestion, I've added in the ones from the Enterprise-D, with two doors on each side. Unlike on the Saratoga/Prometheus, the doors were not shown on the Odyssey, instead we saw that the alcove opened up (and was covered with debris), so it doesn't contradict what was seen on screen to add these in.

The colors however might be further tweaked, particularly the doors.

Spoiler: Image

The door alcoves are a nice addition I think. Makes it feel more like a variant Galaxy Class bridge than a simple Bridge of the Week.

I am in awe at your modeling speed.