Modelling and Rendering the TMP Enterprise

[Science Officer]

Thanks guys.

Progress is still very slow, but at last the impulse engines are taking shape. The side pods are incomplete and there are no grilles.

Cheers,
S.O.

 

[ST-One]

This looks really good.
I like the dramatic lighting - most people go for a very flat, bright, no-shadows lighting-scheme for their WIP-renders.
Yours is much more interesting.

 

[Psion]

Yep. The other thing I like is that he textures as he goes. Look at the little red rings around his navigation lights!

 

[ST-One]

Yep. The other thing I like is that he textures as he goes. Look at the little red rings around his navigation lights!

That's not necessarily a texture-map.

 

[Science Officer]

Yep. The other thing I like is that he textures as he goes. Look at the little red rings around his navigation lights!

That's not necessarily a texture-map.

Correct - with the exception of the lettering/decals, the model is textured by assigning materials to individual polygons. There are reasons for this:

1. In the case of the saucer, you would need a very large bitmap (at least 4096x4096 pixels) to prevent pixelation becoming obvious.
2. The materials are not final. I've yet to crack the pearl finish so that it works under different lighting scenarios. Building up bitmaps can be time consuming.

The lighting was to help with the pearl finish. However it also helps with picking up modelling errors that sometimes can be hidden by a flat/basic light.

I have made more progress - the top of the sidepods are now complete and integrated into the rest of the impulse drive. That leaves the rear to sort out.

Cheers,
S.O.

 

[Science Officer]

Managed to get some more work done today and at last the impulse drive is nearing completion!

The wireframe is at the following link:

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8978/wireframe.jpghttp://img836.imageshack.us/img836/2438/wireframen.jpg

I'm really pleased with how this is turning out. But I've had a devil of a time modelling some of the parts! It struck me that the model was lacking in detail in the glowing section, so I've taken a different approach by using a hexagonal pattern (a bit like that used on the new Enterprise).

Got lots of cleaning up to do and I need to fix up the rim around the drive.

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[Science Officer]

Hi Folks,

At last I've finished work on the impulse drive. Seems to have taken forever!

The following links contain the same images at 1024x768, which show a little bit more detail.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8276/impulsecomplete1.jpg
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2876/impulsecomplete2.jpg

I've modified the rim, so that the three sets of grids don't run behind the impulse drive. On the saucer I've now added the two large hatches and the two arcs. Rather than etching the arcs into the saucer, I've laid them on top. I didn't like the thought of trying to do a boolean operation for that. I've also added a few more details (suppose they are catches) to the hatches on the drive.

Guess I'd better start work on the bridge and deck two!

Cheers,
S.O.

 

[MadMan1701A]

I think it looks great... I especially like that pattern you used inside the Impulse Grilles... much better than just glowing lines.

 

[Science Officer]

Thanks Madman - btw like your new iteration of the new Enterprise!


I have done some work on deck 2 and the bridge. Deck 2 may need to be reworked as there are a couple of small problems:

1. Back needs to be flatter.
2. Extruded the green mid-section too much.
3. Front isn't quite circular which throws the shadows from the forward spotlights out. Only talking about mesh errors of a few centimetres, but that can lead to shadows moving by metres.

The top has a slightly more curved lip than the model to provide a better line of sight between the spotlights and the saucer.

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[Santaman]

She's coming together slowly but surely, I hope it will go smoothly.

 

[Starship]

Fantastic!

 

[wjaspers]

Very nice S.O., the bridge and deck 2 always gives problems with any one who is modeling it, usually it takes a few attempts to get it right

 

[Science Officer]

Thanks and it's good to hear from you again Wil!

I'm now onto the second iteration of deck 2 and the bridge. Deck two now has flatter sides and the spotlight housing and bridge have got wider. It all looks a little primitive at the moment, but I want to make sure everything works before starting on the details.

The new shapes are below...

Of most importance to me is the lighting. The shape of deck 2 and the spotlight housing allows spotlights to be put in the housing and have a clear line of sight to the saucer.

As you can see, the saucer is poorly lit primarily due to the angle of the lights to the saucer (low flux density). But I think this is probably a good representation of what the ship would look like in deep space.

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[Mytran]

Those last two are particularly awesome. Love 'em!

 

[Science Officer]

Those last two are particularly awesome. Love 'em!

Thanks Mytran,

Tonight I've done some more work to deck 2. Almost 100% happy with it.The only thing out of place is the curve down to the rear windows is just a tad abrupt and therefore not a smooth curve. This is obvious in the second image.

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[Psion]

Lovely, meticulous work, Science Officer.

Does the grid on the top of the saucer line up with the bottom? The third picture seems to show the top 3 o'clock grid not quite in line with the bottom.

 

[Science Officer]

Lovely, meticulous work, Science Officer.

Does the grid on the top of the saucer line up with the bottom? The third picture seems to show the top 3 o'clock grid not quite in line with the bottom.

Hi Psion,

Yes - I'm using a proper camera (perspective view) that's fairly close to the edge of the saucer and a little behind that 3 o'clock position.

The grid on the bottom saucer is partially hidden by the rim, so you're comparing a line that terminates at half the saucer radius on the bottom with a line at almost full radius on the top. Towards the middle the centre sections are different radii, so the same type of thing happens.

It wasn't a good camera angle to use!

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[Science Officer]

Hi Folks,

A quick update - as usual progress is slow, but progress is progress. Deck 2 and the bridge are finally taking shape!

Deck 2 is finished apart from texturing. It's not quite as accurate as I'd hoped. The rear windows needed to be a little wider at the bottom and the corners rounded. But to do that would have messed up the mesh and probably lead to smoothing problems down the line. The sides are also just a little too curved and that downward slope to the rear windows too abrupt. But it will do for now.

The bridge dome just needs a few docarations adding to it and that will be complete.

The spotlight housing and the docking section need a lot of work yet. But I don't anticipate any major hassles apart from cutting out that curve in the docking section.

I might actually get the saucer finished for Christmas!

Cheers,

S.O.

 

[MadMan1701A]

Looks great.

What's your polycount up to? It looks like it's a pretty dense mesh.

 

[Science Officer]

Looks great.

What's your polycount up to? It looks like it's a pretty dense mesh.

Thanks MadMan,

The polygon count for all components so far is 283285.

Soucer Bottom - 24532
Saucer Top including small scale additions - 23868
Saucer Rim including windows and thrusters - 107056
Deck 2 and bridge to date - 52544
Impulse drive - 53867
Sensor Array - 16810
Navigation Light - 4608

and a few others elsewhere!

To put that number into context, here's a wireframe of the deck bridge components so far. I don't know how well this mesh compares with others. There are a few objects that could be optimised (i.e. some parts of the bridge dome).

Cheers,

S.O.