Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I've finished most of the graphics in the reactor room, but I'll admit it: I'm stumped.



The octogonal viewers in the room feature rather unique graphics. I can't quite put my foot on what they are supposed to represent, or how they were made.





My best guess is that they are some sort of a graphical representation of the crystal structure of dilithium crystals. But, it turns out, these displays were simply carried over from the Amar bridge in TMP, so who knows what they were originally intended to represent.



I'm also guessing that they are made of actual 3D objects with a metallic surface inside the viewer (like tin foil), lit by colored lights inside the viewer frames.

Does anyone else have a better guess? Or any insight into these strange viewers? A better understanding will help me build an accurate representation...

 

[137th Gebirg]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Honestly, they look like sonograms or old weather radar patterns to me...

 

[QuinnTV]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I've finished most of the graphics in the reactor room, but I'll admit it: I'm stumped.

McCOY: No, Spock. He means that he feels safer about your 'guesses' than most other people's facts.

I have faith you'll have it looking just right, Donny.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Since they're holdover TMP graphics, I wonder if Rick Sternbach might know?

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

A representation of Vger?

 

[largo]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

close-up photos of pyrite or something similar?

 

[Albertese]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I also always assumed they were showing the crystalline structure of the dilithium. On the Amar? Maybe those were scans of the V-Ger cloud.

What were they in real life? No idea. I'll tell you what it looks like to me: I'm a dental technician and I've cast a lot of gold over the years; and those look like what happens when molten gold is splashed onto something. Now, I kind of doubt they just splashed a bunch of molten gold on something and put it up there, but who knows? Maybe splashes of solder and lit yellow? Maybe a photographic element of splashed metal that is backlit?

Maybe something totally different and I'm on the wrong trail entirely.

--Alex

 

[Basill]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

You could always sneak a whale or two in there.

(That's a little joke)

More seriously... (btw... awesome work) I wonder if you couldn't just put some sort of tight but irregular geometric pattern in those screens, or maybe something "fractal" (but not too "swirly fractal" if you know what I mean)?

Also, are you planning on giving those column rods with the glow tips any sort of mobility, or just presenting them in that retracted state? They were clearly retracted during the ship's inspection, but were quite extended during their visibility during the Mutara Nebula battle scenes. They were retracted again and considerably dimmer during Spock's death scene.

I don't actually remember seeing those on the Amar bridge off hand, and have wondered if they weren't just added to the TWOK set as some analogy to the nuclear reactors depicted on sea vessels (or in general) in other movies.

 

[Zanzibar106]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Holy mackerel, I've been lurking here for a long time but finally registered. Donny, lemme add to the chorus of 'thank yous' for this, it's just wildly fun to see one of my all-time favorite ship layouts resurrected.

There's a decent straight-on shot here of one of the screens, over to the right, but I think beyond that you're not going to get a lot of data. If the camera ever dollyed/trucked in any shot that included these it would help determine if it's a lit 3d object, although I don't think the camera moved that way in any of the 3 movies in which these set pieces appeared.

EDIT: Or here, but I'm sure you've seen it. In the Enterprise Refit section near the bottom, there's a decent straight-on shot of 2 of the panels, low res, not animated. As others have alluded to, you've earned the right for us to take your 'best guess' as official Star Trek canon.

 

[xvicente]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

To me, they look like they are some kind of inspection windows not monitors and those are the actual dilithium crystals.

This of couse helps Donny exactly nothing, but...

 

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

All good ideas so far. Thanks guys. This is really helping me formulate the design in my head.

I do hope Rick Sternbach chimes in. I'll send him a message on Facebook.

 

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Just got word back from Mr. Sternbach. He didn't work on the Klingon bridge set at all, so he has no idea. Damn!

 

[137th Gebirg]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Does he know who did? You still might be able to contact someone who knows.

 

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

Does he know who did? You still might be able to contact someone who knows.

He didn't offer the info, so I doubt he knew. I always feel like such a pestering fan boy when I message him so I didn't press the issue.

 

[blssdwlf]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

You could just take what's shown on the screens and blow them up a bit and apply a sharpening/blocking filter on the image map and then back light it. We never get close enough to get the fine detail so you can approximate it.

In-universe it could be anything from a magnified crystal to an energy pattern.

 

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I did some searching on google and came across this:

http://cosmicweb.uchicago.edu/filaments.html

This is kind of what I want to go with. Thoughts?

[EDIT] I whipped up some materials and am pleased with the results:

 

[cardinal biggles]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I could see that.

I also did a quick google image search on crystal forms as seen through an electron microscope, and came up with some really cool pics (some of which aren't even crystals), and some of them are reminiscent of the graphics used. Most of them you'd need to color in, but check out some of these:

http://minerals.caltech.edu/Mineral_Pictures/Cristobalite_Mayen_Germany_125x.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Surface_of_a_kidney_stone.jpg

http://www.microscopy-analysis.com/sites/default/files/30-10-14-coral-image2.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lq3C5JTfv...00/electron+microscope+image+chloroplasts.jpg

 

[Zanzibar106]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

To the surprise of no one, they look great.

I like the idea that these are representations of Dilithium Crystal photon outputs, kind of what you'd see at around 0:20-0:45 of this goofy video (please forgive the odd music). Just patterns of bursts of energy that would give our intrepid engineers information how to tune the matter/antimatter streams.

 

[Donny]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I'm going to keep them like they are for now, thank you for the shots cardinal_biggles...I may end up using them later.

I've almost completed the reactor room, except for the central column Spock fiddles with before dying. Things are looking good...





"Don't grieve, Admiral..."

 

[137th Gebirg]

Re: Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors

I've almost completed the reactor room, except for the central column Spock fiddles with before dying. Things are looking good...

DUDE! SPOILER CODE!!!! WTF?!?!?! There are still some people in Armenia that haven't seen this movie yet, I'm sure!

No, seriously, this continues to be a positively beautiful creation. My only regret is not being able to afford a machine or video card right now that are powerful enough to walk through it. Maybe one day...