My entry was purely 2D, hand drawn on my Cintiq tablet in PhotoShop, but I'm flattered you were that convinced it was actually a 3D model. I must be getting better at linework and shading.
Oh, yer good, alright!
(Don't get cocky, kid!)
Design the Next Enterprise
- Thread starter Shikarnov
- Start date
Oh, yer good, alright!
(Don't get cocky, kid!)
Not only is it 2D but it's pixel painted!?! 
How did you establish that perfect perspective without splines or vectors? It can't have been done freehand. 
Did you use Photoshop's vanishing point tools in some way? Or maybe a radial blur set to zoom on a random noise field or something? Can we see some wips pretty please?
Somehow I think if I had a rough idea how you got it to look so exact (shadows too, good god!) maybe I could learn how too, given enough time and practice, but right now I'd have no idea where I'd start!
People with your level of skill really ought to be working for ILM, or teaching classes, depending on your sense of altruism
At the very least, you should have info on your site concerning your availability for contract work, assuming you aren't already working as an artist full-time. Some employment info or a resume is sorely lacking from your site. At least I haven't been able to find it, so if it's there it should be more obvious.
How did you establish that perfect perspective without splines or vectors? It can't have been done freehand. Did you use Photoshop's vanishing point tools in some way? Or maybe a radial blur set to zoom on a random noise field or something? Can we see some wips pretty please? Somehow I think if I had a rough idea how you got it to look so exact (shadows too, good god!) maybe I could learn how too, given enough time and practice, but right now I'd have no idea where I'd start!People with your level of skill really ought to be working for ILM, or teaching classes, depending on your sense of altruism
At the very least, you should have info on your site concerning your availability for contract work, assuming you aren't already working as an artist full-time. Some employment info or a resume is sorely lacking from your site. At least I haven't been able to find it, so if it's there it should be more obvious.
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My apologies, I didn't plan for any unexpected urination. I'll send you the money for some new pants
Thanks, though! I wanted a cross between the Sovereign and refit Constitution. ...Funny story, I was so tired when I finished painting it that I wrote "Dedication Class" instead of "DECLARATION Class," like I was planning. D'oh!
...And I realized I can link straight to it, for those that wish to see it without searching:
http://www.startrekonline.com/enterprise/gallery?share=869
Cheers,
-Moe!
I think we have our winner. An Ent J done in the Refit era with a hint of Sovereign and JJ thrown in the mix. This is almost exactly what I thought the 1701-A should have looked like at the end of Voyage Home.
I much prefer John Eaves' Somewhat-MVAM-Capable Sovy refit.
I like that as well.
The design here has a very visually rewarding side view. http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4667628&postcount=596
I have often thought about a three level ship, with a flat shuttlebay hull up top where the nave deflector is. A weapon only front of the secondary hull, with nav dish in the saucer would look nice. Haing Vecto's dual quad nacelle arraingement out to either side gives you something like a Federation Warbird.
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Here's the idea I'm playing around with...
What can I say, I'm a traditionalist.
Hm,, it looks like you're stuck in a creative rut. It looks like the same combination of elements we've seen for 40+ years.
I like those elements; Here is a different take:
http://trebuchestarships.blogspot.com/2010/12/constitution-style-uss-constellation.html
http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=2023&page=4
I like Madmans, but also want to see other takes. Have the structure aon the spine of the saucer rise from the secondary hull, or one to either side...perhaps a bit less tall.
You all have so much talent that it amazes me. I think what has happened in terms of peoples designs being stolen is that some kids actually wanted ships they saw you guys make in a game they enjoy. So they submit it. The site asks for their name and they just type theirs in without thinking.
The side view of the Enigma is as "antagonizing" as the fore end of the K'teremny. It looks great.
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Not only is it 2D but it's pixel painted!?!
All three views were basically done freehand, believe it or not. I did sketch in some rough vanishing points and perspective lines, and the middle and right-hand views went through several iterations until I got the angles I wanted, but nothing more sophisticated than that.
Okay, as an extremely rough explanation of my technique, I just start scriblling lines onto the paper until I've established the overall shape. If the angle of a particular line or curve looks off, I correct it a little with progressively darker strokes until it looks right, then I go back with a soft eraser and sort of reverse the process for further refinement. Eventually, I wind up with a clean line drawing and can move on to shading, colorizing, etc.
Some good examples of this are the design sketches I did for the Polaris. I started with rough sketches like these, which progressed to more refined versions like these, and ultimately the nearly finished versions here.
People with your level of skill really ought to be working for ILM, or teaching classes, depending on your sense of altruism
At the very least, you should have info on your site concerning your availability for contract work, assuming you aren't already working as an artist full-time. Some employment info or a resume is sorely lacking from your site. At least I haven't been able to find it, so if it's there it should be more obvious.
My ultimate ambition is to make a living with this type of work, but right now I have almost no time to spare from my regular job to pursue it. Quite honestly, I could really use some formal training to hone my skills to a professional level, but circumstances have been getting in the way of that as well. I am taking steps to address all of that and move myself closer to achieving those goals, but it's going to take a bit more time.
Ironically, no. Little progress has been made on the place in the last four years. Part of that has to do with finances and part of it has to do with a good friend who was diagnosed with cancer and needed a place to live. Long story.
However, as of last fall, the friend has moved into a place of his own, I've gotten my finances in order and work is proceeding. I just finished replacing every window in the house and I'm about to start on the electrical work. I have to do one thing at a time because I'm paying for all of it out-of-pocket rather than financing it. With luck, it'll be mostly finished within another couple of months.
However, as of last fall, the friend has moved into a place of his own, I've gotten my finances in order and work is proceeding. I just finished replacing every window in the house and I'm about to start on the electrical work. I have to do one thing at a time because I'm paying for all of it out-of-pocket rather than financing it. With luck, it'll be mostly finished within another couple of months.
FTW!!!I've REALLY been liking this one, though some may say it's too TMP.
Can't top that one.
Would like to see some red on the front of those warp nacelles, though.
@Vektor: Those three polaris wips really demonstrate the technique. I'm floored. If you ever browse through conceptart.org you'll see breathtaking works of art, but nothing as clean as yours, and many of those guys are seasoned pros.
I don't know what your 9 to 5 is now, but unless you really love it, start browsing help wanted ads for graphic designers, desktop publishers, concept artists, etc. Get a foot in the door.
Life is too short to waste on work we don't love. Ditch your job. Get a career. And don't worry about taking classes to hone your skill, get the job and you can develop as an artists while getting paid for it
[edit]
I'm hesitant to post this here, as I'm new and don't want to step on any toes, but I'd really like your impressions of my own Enterprise F. My tablet work is still very, very rough, and used only to touch up my Maya renders and overpaint photo composites. This is also the first time I've modeled exclusively with poly extrusion rather than performing boolean operations on lofted objects (which worked great in Rhino, but often breaks Maya models.)
What I really want to learn is how to get clean lines like yours (the Grandeur and Vanguard especially) My entry looked okay on the contest site, but at full resolution you can see a great deal of distortion, crooked lines and general lumpiness, especially along the back of the neck. It's even more apparent at the start of this video.
Basically, she looks good from a distance but ugly up close, whereas your lines and textures always seem to be razor sharp from any distance. Any suggestions? Thanks so much
[edit] Reading your site you model in 3ds Max and render in Lightwave? What modeling techniques are you using? (Poly Extrusion, Nurbs Lofting, Primitive Booleans, etc) and what texturing methods are you using? My UV unwrapping skills are virtually non existent, so I tend to texture everything with pure orthographic planar textures, and I try to model with this in mind to avoid excessive texture stretching on the opposite axis, but really I just need to learn how to unwrap UVs properly, though the process may be different in Max than it is in Maya.
Thanks again I know that's^ a lot of questions. If I could eat your brain and absorb your skill I would 
I don't know what your 9 to 5 is now, but unless you really love it, start browsing help wanted ads for graphic designers, desktop publishers, concept artists, etc. Get a foot in the door.
Life is too short to waste on work we don't love. Ditch your job. Get a career. And don't worry about taking classes to hone your skill, get the job and you can develop as an artists while getting paid for it
[edit]
I'm hesitant to post this here, as I'm new and don't want to step on any toes, but I'd really like your impressions of my own Enterprise F. My tablet work is still very, very rough, and used only to touch up my Maya renders and overpaint photo composites. This is also the first time I've modeled exclusively with poly extrusion rather than performing boolean operations on lofted objects (which worked great in Rhino, but often breaks Maya models.)
What I really want to learn is how to get clean lines like yours (the Grandeur and Vanguard especially) My entry looked okay on the contest site, but at full resolution you can see a great deal of distortion, crooked lines and general lumpiness, especially along the back of the neck. It's even more apparent at the start of this video.
Basically, she looks good from a distance but ugly up close, whereas your lines and textures always seem to be razor sharp from any distance. Any suggestions? Thanks so much
[edit] Reading your site you model in 3ds Max and render in Lightwave? What modeling techniques are you using? (Poly Extrusion, Nurbs Lofting, Primitive Booleans, etc) and what texturing methods are you using? My UV unwrapping skills are virtually non existent, so I tend to texture everything with pure orthographic planar textures, and I try to model with this in mind to avoid excessive texture stretching on the opposite axis, but really I just need to learn how to unwrap UVs properly, though the process may be different in Max than it is in Maya.
Thanks again
I know that's^ a lot of questions. If I could eat your brain and absorb your skill I would
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Oh! Well that's certainly a foot in the door. There is a bridge to be crossed from CAD for the sake of real-world design to "art for the sake of art" of course, but I'd say he's on the right track
Fuzzy Modem, I think you have some genuinely good stuff going here. I believe you managed to create a design that qualifies as the Enterprise from a distance (i.e., it's still the same "character" we expect from a ship by that name) while at the same time trying some bold and new approaches. It's fair to say that the "Dedication Class" vessel that helped start this thread, although beautiful, didn't push the envelope near the breaking point in terms of new concepts.
Your "F" has a kick-ass (literally) hangar concept, which evoked to my memory something I never thought a Trek ship could evoke: the classic painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. That or a Ford showroom circa 1948. It has a wonderful op-art style to it that you don't expect; while a lot of Trek ships go '60s with the Mustang look or '50s with the Bel-Air look, you managed to go '40s with a Plymouth look (in places) that, in my opinion, really works.
And there are some other great touches here that others probably wish they'd thought of. Making the "neck" into a kind of pouch which holds an entire third module, protected over the top by an almost flat bat-wing assembly instead of the V-shaped wing we typically expect, is brilliant. And yet the profile maintains the same shape we expect.
And yet...I think on the whole, your idea is about 85% complete. When I watched the video where your "F" is floating atop a blue sea, I thought that was an astonishing render. When I looked at the ship from a distance, it really captured my attention. My mind filled in a lot of potential details, making me think, "Ooh, do you see where he's going with that?"
Then I saw the close-ups and I thought, no, I guess he didn't. There are certain things about the polish and finish of this design that end up being too conventional, or perhaps as placeholders for better ideas to come. Granted, if this is the ship that's being rendered in the ST:Online game, then it might not be able to bear too much finish and polish anyway. But outside of that context, as a design in its own right, this "F" deserves to be as breathtaking up close as it is from a distance.
For example: From the side, your neck module (which is structurally a brilliant idea) looks like a long, plain office building. There's a whole segment of ship from the middle to the bottom that lacks drama. It's sedate. The deflector dish...is just a deflector dish. It looks like a one-cupped bikini, or at least a good location for the CBS logo. And from the top, the "lid" over the hangar deck (which itself is beautiful from the side) looks like a blister pack for cold medicine. This while the "bat-wing" struts have a lot of bold lines and superb drama.
Suggestion: Try doing some of the stuff that Vektor does, sketching your ideas on paper. What makes him a world-class modeler is his ability to translate an idea in his mind to something he can hold and touch before he digitizes it to a machine. Now, with respect to this particular contest, my views on Vektor's design are, um, a matter of record. (I have to walk like Burgess Meredith in Batman while thinking about it.) But that was just this one time; in terms of a "career," he blows away many of the people in CBS' own art department.
If you could imagine yourself touching this ship, your mind will do things with your design that your software isn't allowing you to try just yet. And then this bird will be paradise.
DF "How Much for That Shuttlecraft in the Window?" Scott
Your "F" has a kick-ass (literally) hangar concept, which evoked to my memory something I never thought a Trek ship could evoke: the classic painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. That or a Ford showroom circa 1948. It has a wonderful op-art style to it that you don't expect; while a lot of Trek ships go '60s with the Mustang look or '50s with the Bel-Air look, you managed to go '40s with a Plymouth look (in places) that, in my opinion, really works.
And there are some other great touches here that others probably wish they'd thought of. Making the "neck" into a kind of pouch which holds an entire third module, protected over the top by an almost flat bat-wing assembly instead of the V-shaped wing we typically expect, is brilliant. And yet the profile maintains the same shape we expect.
And yet...I think on the whole, your idea is about 85% complete. When I watched the video where your "F" is floating atop a blue sea, I thought that was an astonishing render. When I looked at the ship from a distance, it really captured my attention. My mind filled in a lot of potential details, making me think, "Ooh, do you see where he's going with that?"
Then I saw the close-ups and I thought, no, I guess he didn't. There are certain things about the polish and finish of this design that end up being too conventional, or perhaps as placeholders for better ideas to come. Granted, if this is the ship that's being rendered in the ST:Online game, then it might not be able to bear too much finish and polish anyway. But outside of that context, as a design in its own right, this "F" deserves to be as breathtaking up close as it is from a distance.
For example: From the side, your neck module (which is structurally a brilliant idea) looks like a long, plain office building. There's a whole segment of ship from the middle to the bottom that lacks drama. It's sedate. The deflector dish...is just a deflector dish. It looks like a one-cupped bikini, or at least a good location for the CBS logo. And from the top, the "lid" over the hangar deck (which itself is beautiful from the side) looks like a blister pack for cold medicine. This while the "bat-wing" struts have a lot of bold lines and superb drama.
Suggestion: Try doing some of the stuff that Vektor does, sketching your ideas on paper. What makes him a world-class modeler is his ability to translate an idea in his mind to something he can hold and touch before he digitizes it to a machine. Now, with respect to this particular contest, my views on Vektor's design are, um, a matter of record. (I have to walk like Burgess Meredith in Batman while thinking about it.) But that was just this one time; in terms of a "career," he blows away many of the people in CBS' own art department.
If you could imagine yourself touching this ship, your mind will do things with your design that your software isn't allowing you to try just yet. And then this bird will be paradise.
DF "How Much for That Shuttlecraft in the Window?" Scott
Great stuff, man.
Like DFScott, my attention was really drawn by the hangar deck and the pylons.
Like DFScott, my attention was really drawn by the hangar deck and the pylons.
Fuzzy, you have a great frame of a ship there (reminds me of my own rough design from last year)
But I think your ship looses a lot in the details.
Firstly, those nacelles have to go. They're basically excelsior class nacelles, and for something which is supposed to be ahead of the E, it really doesn't fit. Same with the hull texture, if this were a ship between the D and E, or even the C and D, it would be fantastic. It has a perfect TNG aesthetic, but First Contact did away with that and STO did away with First Contact, so its a few "generations" out of date at this point in the time frame.
But hey, at least you put a tonne of effort into yours (and it shows), unlike 90% of the folks who entered the damn contest. I'd rather it be yours than the Excalibur class which was seemingly reposted a billion times...
But I think your ship looses a lot in the details.
Firstly, those nacelles have to go. They're basically excelsior class nacelles, and for something which is supposed to be ahead of the E, it really doesn't fit. Same with the hull texture, if this were a ship between the D and E, or even the C and D, it would be fantastic. It has a perfect TNG aesthetic, but First Contact did away with that and STO did away with First Contact, so its a few "generations" out of date at this point in the time frame.
But hey, at least you put a tonne of effort into yours (and it shows), unlike 90% of the folks who entered the damn contest. I'd rather it be yours than the Excalibur class which was seemingly reposted a billion times...
Thanks DFScott and Herkimer Jitty
I agree that certain aspects are very vanilla. Since that video was completed I've put a bit of work into the deflector dish. You can see the changes more clearly here and here. Do you think it's an improvement?
Other mistakes I've made:
The texture is very "The Motion Picture" those subtle variations in hull panel specularity are my favorite style, but were abandoned after the Enterprise B in favor of much higher contrast variations in color without any difference in specularity. This, in combination with a few other elements, makes my ship look too retro. It almost looks like a step back from the D, rather than a step forwards from the E.
The other major problem once you get up close is that the model is really rather low quality. It lacks definition, both with details like the escape pods and phasers, which are simple bump and color maps rather than individual 3d objects, and with the seams and lines of the model itself, due to my inexpert application of the smooth function, and my lack of knowledge of Maya's more advanced modeling tools. My kid brother is an art school grad, and is far better at Maya than I am. He was able to give me a few pointers, which helped dramatically, but also served to remind me of how much I have yet to learn. Hence my hope that Vektor can point me in the right direction
I wish I'd had more time to work on it. They really should have let people continue to submit up 'till judging begins on the 26th (4 days from now.)
[edit]@Dac: That looks cool! And yes, very similar. A lot of people have compared my nacelles to the excelsior, but I had intended them to look like the D's, only "squinting."
I agree that certain aspects are very vanilla. Since that video was completed I've put a bit of work into the deflector dish. You can see the changes more clearly here and here. Do you think it's an improvement?
Other mistakes I've made:
The texture is very "The Motion Picture" those subtle variations in hull panel specularity are my favorite style, but were abandoned after the Enterprise B in favor of much higher contrast variations in color without any difference in specularity. This, in combination with a few other elements, makes my ship look too retro. It almost looks like a step back from the D, rather than a step forwards from the E.
The other major problem once you get up close is that the model is really rather low quality. It lacks definition, both with details like the escape pods and phasers, which are simple bump and color maps rather than individual 3d objects, and with the seams and lines of the model itself, due to my inexpert application of the smooth function, and my lack of knowledge of Maya's more advanced modeling tools. My kid brother is an art school grad, and is far better at Maya than I am. He was able to give me a few pointers, which helped dramatically, but also served to remind me of how much I have yet to learn. Hence my hope that Vektor can point me in the right direction
I wish I'd had more time to work on it. They really should have let people continue to submit up 'till judging begins on the 26th (4 days from now.)
[edit]@Dac: That looks cool! And yes, very similar. A lot of people have compared my nacelles to the excelsior, but I had intended them to look like the D's, only "squinting."
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That's not a mistake. And neither are the nacelles (which rock, by the way).
I'd say the deflector's improved, but it doesn't necessarily jump out at me as one of the ship's stand-out features. It kind of looks like it's an ornament bolted to the front of the engineering hull, rather than an integrated component.
Since you mentioned "touching this ship" I though I'd share the scale model I'm working on. Here and here.
Proportions are a bit off, but she's a first draft.I did do some initial sketches, but none of them come close to what I ended up with. My hand drawing ability hasn't really improved since highschool. I fear I've become reliant on computers.
I'm happy with the nacelles, but I should have found something more "futurey" for the hull texture. I like how Vektor's looks like stainless steel in places, and his color variation has a sense of purpose, while I just sort of stuck stuff here and there to fill the negative space.
Yeah, I actually stole it from the top of this ship (from my webcomic.) I had intended it to be a placeholder, but it was still there when the deadline came, and now I'd rather improve it than replace it for consistencies sake.
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