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3D interiors in Blender

@137th Gebirg: Well, true, but then it wouldn't be the Lower Decks aesthetic I was aiming for. :p

@publiusr: Glad you do!

Been working on the Lafayette aft corridor quite heavily last week, but in the end the test designs I did weren't entirely to my client's liking, so now we have a new idea which I haven't quite yet finished, so I'll be sharing that later when it's approved.

Meanwhile, it's funny how things work out sometimes. As I mentioned several times I quite like the "First Contact Fleet", aka the Saber, Norway, Steamrunner and Akira classes, and I tackled the bridges for the vessels of those classes that appeared in First Contact as personal projects; the USS Yeager, USS Budapest, and USS Appalachia respectively. The only one missing was the Akira-Class USS Thunderchild, which I started two times, but never finished because I never found a design that 'clicked' to me.

Now (well, quite a while back, to be honest) I was contacted with a request to actually do the USS Thunderchild bridge, as it would've looked like in the 2380's after a refit. The client requested the room be based on the USS Temeraire bridge, but with some structural and color changes.

To be more specific, the request was for the 4 side stations to be placed together, and the light column currently between them be moved so that it's right next to the forward door. This change is to be done at each side, to keep the design symmetrical. In my opinion, this will end up with the design flowing a bit better than it did on Temeraire, as that forward-most station ended up looking a bit awkward in-between the door and column. On the other hand, both the ceiling structure and the top lights will have to be modified, so it's a longer process than that previous bridge was.

As far as color changes, I went a bit mad with those... The original request was to simply swap the carpets around, so that most of the floor was blue, with the borders in red. After doing that I started experimenting... I wanted to remove the "Prometheus pattern" that I used in all the lights for Temeraire from this bridge, as it would've been an Akira-Class and I wanted it to be more unique; so after testing some alternatives I decided to go with an STO inspired metallic grey replacing the lights. Then I swapped all the beige colors with greys, keeping the red accents for the doors and rails, as I thought those complemented the carpet nicely.

So that's how the bridge is looking right now, I still have to change the top lights in order to replace the Prometheus pattern with the Enterprise-E one, plus finish changing the LCARS to the proper Akira graphics, and swapping the side column and do the structural changes requested.

I started work on the Thunderchild sickbay as well (for the same client), which is a redress of the USS Venture sickbay I previously did, though likewise with some structural changes, and heavily modified to replace all the Voyager inspired details with Enterprise-E inspired ones. Overall that's a smaller job, which I'll hopefully finish alongside the bridge.

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Some more progress on the Thunderchild bridge, as I moved the column in-between the side consoles. You can now see all 4 seated consoles are right next to each other. The LCARS are all wrong now, but that's next to be worked on. :)

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Also, here's a side comparison of how the ceiling ended up looking with the moved columns. The original Cerberus/Temeraire ceiling is on the left, with the new Thunderchild bridge on the right.

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@The Librarian: Yeah, now I kinda wish I always used this design for the side areas haha. As for the color scheme, I must admit I love it myself, even though it was kinda accidental.

A user on another forum mentioned that the command chairs flanking the Captain's weren't centered to the consoles behind them, and they were correct. Back when I originally did the Cerberus bridge I had those chairs centered that way, but for Temeraire my client for that commission asked for them to be moved closer to the Captain's chair. I totally forgot that, but after reading that comment I messaged my client for this bridge about their preference, and now the chairs are back to being centered.

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cool!
Will one of the stations be for Flight Ops? maybe with a Top view of the shuttle bay showing shuttle positions? A bit much for a graphic buy hey :)
do love the color scheme as well, nice muted grey and blue.. very homey.
 
@Csalem: Thanks! Agreed on the hatch, I love those. XD

So, I've been working on the Thunderchild sickbay. This evolved somewhat into a more complex commission, as I've been updating the original Venture sickbay model to fit a ship in the mid 2380's. This includes a new surgical light assembly; added glass dividers between the biobeds; changed columns and replicators... a lot of things were either modified or replaced, with a lot more to come.

As for structural changes, the original request was to add another surgical area connected to the ICU next to the entrance door. Even assuming that an Akira-Class doesn't have a corridor going through there as a Galaxy does, adding this would've rendered the two doors on that wall useless, as this quick and dirty mockup showed:

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So, as an alternative, I proposed placing the additional biobed back at the center of the room (as its placed on TNG), with the nurse station moved to a new alcove in that wall next to the door. While still making a corridor there unlikely, at least the doors would be more usable with it there.

The changes to the main ICU are mostly done, though I might add some more lights. The office will still require some more changes (and probably new chairs) but the bulk of the work is done. And yes, I know, it's blue. :p

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@Lt. Washburn: Glad it is! It's certainly been an evolving one all the way from the USS Galaxy sickbay it originally was haha.

Finished modeling work on the ICU and surgical areas. I've replaced all the screens with more era-appropriate versions based on the Nemesis sets, with an included keyboard area for the main ICU screen (which is actually the small handrail console placed behind the Captain on the bridge, rotated around). I've also added more lights to the surgical room, and started working on the office.

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I like how you've tied this sickbay in with the bridge by bringing in architectural elements like the lighted columns and those upper light panels with the horizontal stripes. It makes it feel like they're part of the same ship in a way that the Enterprise-E sickbay never did (to be fair, they were probably very limited as to what changes they could make since the FC/INS version was the redressed Voyager sickbay).
 
Looking excellent!
Only crit is, it seems a bit dark, analogy of It should be an 8 but its at a 6 in brightness. Using a blue light? If so, go more white. maybe a more of a spot light effect over the beds? Up to you and your client. just my 2 cents :)
Other than that is stellar!
 
Looking excellent!
Only crit is, it seems a bit dark, analogy of It should be an 8 but its at a 6 in brightness. Using a blue light? If so, go more white. maybe a more of a spot light effect over the beds? Up to you and your client. just my 2 cents :)
Other than that is stellar!
I've been thinking the same thing, but I bet if this were an actual set, it would help actors pop out in contrast. Especially if they were wearing yellow/beige or yellow/orange uniforms.

You know, it just occurred to me: electrophoretic surfaces might allow walls and rugs to change color with lighting situations. Perhaps as a deliberate attempt to reduce eye strain for the crew.
 
@cardinal biggles: Thanks! Indeed, given the usual reuses, I think the only ships that have truly fitting sickbays that match the bridge are the TOS and TMP Enterprises, and Discovery.

@valkyrie013: I totally agree with you there, and the light levels were increased a bit since the last renders. :)

@Psion: True! And both lighting levels and glass transparency can be changed in a bed by bed fashion depending on the need.

Finished the nurse station, I changed the detailing on the wall to reflect the exit corridor on the other side of the room, while the chair was swapped to a more comfortable (or at least more imposing) model.

On the waiting area, I finally got the chance to do something I've been meaning to for a while: add AI generated art to a set. I took an image of the STO Akira-Class model posted by Thomas Marrone on ArtStation, and uploaded it to DeepArt, after which I modified the "painting" somewhat in Gimp. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and so is my client. I tested some contrasting colors as well, but unsurprisingly the chosen one was blue. :)

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Yep, let me add my voice to the chorus of fans of the artwork! I know it was a simple procedural filter on an image in GIMP or Photoshop, but it's a damned fine choice, and feels like a modern update on work originally done in NextGen.
 
Well, as stated above, it's not a filter or anything of the like; it's a brand new image generated from the starting one by an online neural network. Simple filters wouldn't look as good or as "artsy" IMO, they always end up looking cheap in 3D environments if you ask me. That's the beauty of using AI generated stuff, the end result is of a much higher quality. Plus as someone who programmed a few basic neural networks for game dev stuff several years back, it's very exciting to be able to use one like this IMO.

Finished with the redecoration of the CMO office. Similar to the new nurse spot, I swapped the back wall for the same pattern. The diplomas are modified with the pertinent Thunderchild CMO information, plus I added a femur bone as part of the decoration, as it was requested. I have to finish the LCARS for the new screens, but other than that I think this set is finished.

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How about for the screen, instead of a physical screen, you have a floating holgraphic screen, something "Slightly" transparent, with a holo module on the desk projecting it?
loving it!
 
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