WOW...I mean...WOW...you're doing it almost like how I do it just...on purpose... GET OUTTA HERE! You DID THAT....with CAD? We're going to have to talk in more detail....that stuff was...beautiful...You guys make it look so....effortless. Like I said...a doozey. It goes larger as it goes back and the cross-section has three distinct curves get larger conicly from front to back. It's still the most ...amazing construction I've ever seen. I love that both of you are working on the same ship...they have such a character. WOW....this is going to be a great teaching thread Anystar. So I've got to star planning these cross-sections...
several years ago, somewhere around '99 or 2000 i downloaded the trial version of Rhino and I remember liking it a lot, it was also remember it was insanely easy to use. it was only like a 10 or 20 day trial, but i was already able to create some decent stuff!
no, not by a long shot!!! in order to keep continuity and on topic, in a few minutes ill post a more detailed explanation and some better images over on the non-trek wip thread i started the other day.
I'm a CAD drafter and am decent at modeling. What free or cheap software would you recommend to import my models into to do textures and rendering?
^ thats a question i could get some use out of too! i dont really "do" textures, other than to assign a color/material. i'm one of those detail or greeble freaks... i always think like "if you can see a detail, you can model it." which then usually gets me in over my head i've read a lot of users here and elsewhere talking about Kerkythea (i think thats spelled right) i've been meaning to check it out myself!
I've got a TOS Big E I'm working on and I actually modeled the markings into the hull a fraction of an inch. Big pain the the butt and opens up a whole new set of problems. So far I have the secondary hull pretty much done and am working on the primary right now. I'm going to leave the markings until last so I can reuse my geometry for Franz Joseph's other Class 1 ships.
It's been on the back burner for a while. I should bring it back out. It's an exterior only but is hollow to allow internal lights to shine through.....;-)
After seeing your model from CAD...I got nuthin ;-) I'll make one up tonight and post some renders of what I have now.
thanks for all the compliments guys, but seriously: i'm just a guy who likes to draw that has WAY too much time on his hands...
been a hectic day, about all i managed to do was pay around with some materials... haha but i did label it!
What technique do you use to do your lettering? I do a series of very thin shells and subtractions and actually etch it into the hull. I'm looking for a better, less poly intensive method.
i just entered the text with the text tool. then conveted the line of text to a poly object, and extruded the faces. then just rotated the letters around separately to align to the saucer. instead of etching, all i did was float them till the surface poked above the saucer surface.
Nice concentric reduction on the saucer wireframe, though I think you could stand to do it one more time.