Ahhh, well - I was going for more "practical" with this one. It's a rigger's belt for rappelling. I thought something like that would be very useful on a starship, and add some functionality to the uniform. However, it's not very well-centered on him in the photo, haha.
No not really, just streamlined and integrated into the outfit. Why would one need to be rapelling on the ship? At second glance it looks fine, now that I know the functionality, which I'd see more for away missions to certain topographies.
Just remember the transporter room is small... is the rest of the ship so huge that you'd have to have as a standard belt rapelling gear? Looking great though as stated...
Haha, there's really no place on the ship that has a cross-section of more than five decks. But there might be times where it'd be useful to have something like that anyways - like working in a location where it might be easy to slip and fall. Or latching onto something so you don't get blown out if the hull depressurizes.
I just like to share what goes through my mind with this stuff. But at this point, it's all up in the air. Feedback is always appreciated! And don't worry - more is coming soon!
Nice corridor. Not sure what the crossbars are for. Is the giant red panel a red alert light? A quick aside about that second item. It brings to mind the problem with practical and prominent alert type lights on sets. It's one more continuity thing someone needs to make note of in all the shots where the ship is at alert. Since films are typically shot out of sequence, and sometimes shots within the same scene are shot at different times, this has to be carefully tracked and frequently fails to be (all the corridor alert lights in TTI had to be added in post, for instance). The actual "beat rate" of the lights can introduce hiccups when editing different angles in the same set. Your ideal moment might be to cut away from a dramatic line in the middle of an alert flash, but the same light is OFF in the ideal start frame of the shot you're cutting to. Sometimes it can be realllllly noticable; as bad as a jump cut in fact. As such, I recommend keeping such blinkers to a minimum on sets, as that will be one less think to worry about.
Perhaps the crosbars are for using the corridors of the gravity goes out? Handhelds, so you can propel yourself forward? I know, makes no sense, since without gravity, a slight push of the wall will set you in motion. But still....
Some really helpful feedback! It'll certainly be helpful to keep in mind for other things, but the red panel is actually an emergency cabinet that would have stuff like first aid gear and a fire extinguisher. The lack of detail in this concept doesn't make it clear that it's actually a door (as I didn't add a handle or hinges or anything). Yeah, the idea was that they'd be useful when the gravity went out. Even if you don't need them to push off, you'd need something to hold onto to keep you steady and reorient yourself. But at any rate, the handlebars aren't set in stone yet. I might yet rearrange them. And when it comes time to actually build the set for real, things might get rearranged again!
They could also be used as a ladder if you plan on having the ship vertical in atmosphere at some point.
What you've done so far looks very nice. What you've done with the hand-held props (communicator, tricorder, padd), to make them look somewhat older and more primitive than TOS in an interesting choice. I've always thought that the TOS look, while good for its time, is very outdated even by today's tech. The movies tried to update it, then TNG tried again, and caused a current day graphic revolution which now makes TNG look a bit dated. So what's a good fan production to do? I'm not trying to knock you, just waxing a bit philosophic on the whole issue. Good luck with your production.
Sure thing! Thanks for the feedback! My general response to this sort of thing is understanding that what the tech DOES or how it WORKS can still be futuristic, even if it looks outdated. For instance, the tube TV monitors in TOS are big and bulky compared to modern screens. We can easily rationalize this and say "The monitors in TOS have unlimited resolution and can display holographic images and other things modern display devices can't do (to which, while unsupported, there is no contradictory evidence in the show). The same treatment can be given to tricorders, padds, communicators, and so on. And I have my own special plans to visually show how the tech is super-advanced, despite looking dated.
Something new and (hopefully) exciting! Mainly as an excuse to string together some test renders of the NCC-201 in motion... here's a very brief look at Pacific 201! http://youtu.be/JZWn4f5BPHE