Hmmm...Guess I am showing my...experience...there. 
Donny's TOS Enterprise Interiors
- Thread starter Donny
- Start date
Ha! Yes, my computer is a beast (I built a new one this past February), but because I bake all my high-poly information onto low(er)-poly models, I can run it all in a real-time game engine. Plus, the Unreal engine is just great and can handle a lot, but not everything. Modelling for rendering in a real-time engine is a different process from modelling for traditional 3D, and takes more texture trickery to make it appear as if the engine is rendering far more geometric detail than it actually is.
The tricorder model I just showed, for instance, is a high poly model made up of tens of thousands of polygons. The in-game version will probably be around 7500 polys in the end, but will appear to have all the detail and rounded corners of the high-poly model.
@Donny, I can't remember if I've shared this on this thread before, but I went to see James Cawley's Star Trek sets in Ticonderoga last October & took a lot of pictures of them. They may help you out on your project a bit. Most of the best shots are here:
http://atomicjunkshop.com/star-trek-boldly-goes/
I have others that I could email to you. If you're interested, PM me.
http://atomicjunkshop.com/star-trek-boldly-goes/
I have others that I could email to you. If you're interested, PM me.
I highly recommend it! I had a great time!
Here is the classic tricorder, based on details from several screen-used tricorders. There were no two tricorders used in TOS that were the same, so I came up with my ideal version.
Here they are in-game, and you can see I've got a version with only blue lights as well.
You can also go to my Artstation page if you'd like to view it in 3D with the Marmoset plugin. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZEkNN
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZEkNN
I'll have an in-game video soon.
Here they are in-game, and you can see I've got a version with only blue lights as well.
You can also go to my Artstation page if you'd like to view it in 3D with the Marmoset plugin. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZEkNN
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ZEkNN
I'll have an in-game video soon.
Long story short, I modeled the entire strap as a straight piece with a tileable texture strip, gave it plenty of segments so it would bend properly, and then set it to deform to a path/spline I created with each end connected to the tricorder and the midpoint far above the tricorder. I then used 3ds Max's cloth simulation to simulate the strap falling onto a table. I then cleaned up the resulting geometry and added additional segments where needed. I did this a few times until I got a couple different variants of the strap. Does this make sense?
Yeah. I've been needing to do that for a model. What you described is basically what I had in mind. It's good to know I was on the right track.
Let's have a show of hands. How many of us accepted the idea McCoy's handheld scanner had a tiny convex "disc" that rotated upon a "spindle" due to Franz Joseph's "best guess" depicted in his "Star Fleet Technical Manual"? And how many of us were stunned to learn the true design years later, what the skillful Donny has presented here? I'm raising a hand for each of those questions...which just allowed someone to steal my wallet. 
Let's have a show of hands. How many of us accepted the idea McCoy's handheld scanner had a tiny convex "disc" that rotated upon a "spindle" due to Franz Joseph's "best guess" depicted in his "Star Fleet Technical Manual"? And how many of us were stunned to learn the true design years later, what the skillful Donny has presented here? I'm raising a hand for each of those questions...which just allowed someone to steal my wallet.
I was originally surprised a couple years ago when I realized it was a simple cylinder with a red stripe and what appears to be a pair of holographic stickers. I also have a Playmates McCoy's Medical Kit, and the scanner that comes with it is, in fact, the FJ version.
There are rectal thermometers and oral thermometers, so I think there can be FJ scanners and MJ scanners.
Just don't get them confused.
Just don't get them confused.
IIRC there was also another sensor type that came with one of the other non-medical tricorders (either Science or Geologist flavor, can't remember exactly which) that had a single LED on top that changed color.
In due time, sir. However, there was a third hand scanner, known informally as "The Tormolen Scanner". Expect both to be done this weekend with screenshots. ;-)
That's such an amazingly cool analog-looking thing. I wonder if it was an actual device from back then that was redressed to serve as a prop.
It (the "Task Monitor") looks like a radio. 
