I was thinking some of Earth's first forays into the Galaxy. Maybe a nice museum shot of Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, Ares, and the Phoenix. All North American endeavors.
I would also like to see the Titan rendered by someone who did art for the series.
What would you like to see in the 2010 SOTL Calendar?
- Thread starter Probert
- Start date
I was thinking some of Earth's first forays into the Galaxy. Maybe a nice museum shot of Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, Ares, and the Phoenix. All North American endeavors.
I would also like to see the Titan rendered by someone who did art for the series.
I would like to see some original designs for the conjectural classes from the Star Trek Encyclopedia, like the Apollo, Rigel and Renaissance classes. I would like them to conform to a design equivalent to their registry numbers. I would like for only Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert to design them, because they're the only two graphic artists I trust to get the designs right. And then I'd like them to be shown in Star Trek: The Next Generation - Remastered.
I'm not asking for too much, am I?
I'm not asking for too much, am I?
I actually rather liked most of what I saw.
As for what I'd like to see...
1] Vanguard art
2] Titan art
3] More TOS and Movie Era images, but not just the Enterprise
4] More 22nd Century
5] Images for previously-unseen ship classes
6] As a general note... Things we haven't seen on-screen before, or situations the films and episodes weren't able to show, for whatever reason.
Well... You asked...
Best,
Alex
I think the SOTL calendars are at their best when they mostly feature views that we don't see elsewhere: Familiar ships and scenes from unusual perspectives (e.g., the 2009 cover) and showcasing ships and craft that we rarely (sometimes never) got a good look at, plus the occasional "beauty shot" of one of the signature ships to round it out.
New ships can be fine, but if they're not grounded in something more familiar then it's just another ship design, with fewer "hooks" to get viewers poring over its details.
Now, for a more specific wish list:
Something based on Matt Jeffries original shuttlecraft design (seen in The Star Trek Sketchbook), which was all curves and thus too expensive to build (doesn't that sound familiar);
Of the ship models that were put together for "The Best of Both Worlds" to film the wreckage of the Federation fleet, three designs stood out as pretty good on their own, especially as smaller pre-TNG ships that weren't re-uses of TOS-movie models: The Okuda encyclopedia listed them as the New Orleans-class , the Cheyenne-class, and the Springfield-class. Any re-appearance of those ships would be welcome;
I'm partial to a few designs that Rick Sternbach created for the (now obsolete) 1980 Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology: I wouldn't mind seeing some of those designs revived (even if their "historical context" needs changing), especially the Horizon-, Marshall-, Tritium-, Mann-, and Baton Rouge-classes;
There are a number of ships from the later seasons of Enterprise and from the remastered TOS that we glimpse, but don't really get a good look at, and no magazine had "techie" pages to show them off, so the calander would be a good place to see more of them;
The calendars have also shown us "nifty ideas that never made it to screen", such as Voyager's aeroshuttle, or the Calypso. In this category, one vehicle immediatly springs to mind: the Sphinx, "big brother" to the work bees.
Then there are some of the "frankenstein" kitbash models used in Deep Space 9. Some of them, particuarly the ones based off of Voyager models (the Eakins and Yeager), combine parts of wildly different scale: a Voyager model combined with F-14 fighter model parts, or parts from the Maquis Raider kit. The kitbashes were sufficient for how they were used (as ships in the background in long shots, where you don't really need more than a textured silouette), but are real monstrosities when you look at the actual model. It'd be interesting to see someone take those general shapes and mold them into something unique, not just parts of something else. (I'm also of the opinion that these would be small ships, if for no other reason than we have plenty of big ships -- Miranda-sized and larger -- so let's populate the lower end of the size scale instead: Defiant-sized or smaller.)
And to end this laundry list: a scene that would probably work better painted than CGI, how about a Federation fighter (from DS9) flight- and maintenence-crew posing with their ship, either on the ground or in a large landing bay.
Thank you.
This has been a pleasant glimpse into the positive side of what you all are hoping to see in upcoming calendars... a great list for all of us.
Me? I'm accumulating a bunch 'o stuff with the top of my list featuring something Romulan in nature... and, of course, that "something" has never been seen before. So, if I'm invited to contribute next year, well then.....
Meanwhile, keep this fantastic feedback coming because there's probably an increasing number of other Calendar Candidates who also have this thread bookmarked, so your input will not be wasted. Heck, I have three or four years worth already and looking for more.
NEVER stop wishing.
Andrew-
This has been a pleasant glimpse into the positive side of what you all are hoping to see in upcoming calendars... a great list for all of us.
Me? I'm accumulating a bunch 'o stuff with the top of my list featuring something Romulan in nature... and, of course, that "something" has never been seen before. So, if I'm invited to contribute next year, well then.....
Meanwhile, keep this fantastic feedback coming because there's probably an increasing number of other Calendar Candidates who also have this thread bookmarked, so your input will not be wasted. Heck, I have three or four years worth already and looking for more.
NEVER stop wishing.
Andrew-
What about a group shot of you, Matt Jefferies, Rick Sternbach, Greg Jein and all the other model designers and model builders/kitbashers, maybe all wearing a engineers uniform with a Connie in Spacedock as a background, totally done in CGI of course, kinda a tribute to the people who gave us the ships and technology.
What about a group shot of you, Matt Jefferies, Rick Sternbach, Greg Jein and all the other model designers and model builders/kitbashers, maybe all wearing a engineers uniform with a Connie in Spacedock as a background, totally done in CGI of course, kinda a tribute to the people who gave us the ships and technology.
This would make a great image for the centerfold (don't mean that kind of centerfold, you perves) image of the calendar.
By your command... here are a few more suggestions.
I agree that seeing the smaller Wolf 359 ships would be just awesome... that is something I've always wanted to see as well.
But in regards to TOS-era art... I would love to see some (HIGH) quality CG renderings of some of my favorite fanon TOS designs... the Loknar, Larson, and Surya. I fully realize I'm in the very wee minority of Trek fans that actually like those FASA designs, but I firmly believe that if they were depicted with GREAT quality CG, in a stunning composition (maybe an fantasy fleetwide battle against the Doomsday Machine, or a fleet of Romulan BOPs, shown together with a few Connies, it would be something truly spectacular to see.
After all, it wasn't until the films, and TNG, that we got to see any other class of true Starfleet ship, than the Connies... something like this would help to show that Starfleet did indeed have a "family" of ships in her glory days.
That sounds pretty good, but I wouldnt limit it to just that, id include some of the USSR rockets (replica of Sputnick 1) as well as models of historic starship classes and some of the shuttles from the series, say the NX-01s shuttlepod, the TOS Galileo and the E-Ds Goddard....if you set it further into the future than the end of Vouager you could even have the Delta Flyer
^^ Bolian Admiral I like that idea a lot. It would also explain why there were only 12 other ships like the Enterprise (as Kirk mentioned in one episode ("Tomorrow is Yesterday"?), but an entire fleet of ships out there.
I agree with you on the general perception of the FASA ships. They may not meet the standards to which we have grown accustomed to in this day and age, but in the early '80's (aging myself here), when there was nothing else out there, it was all I had to use as a guide for what could be.
Also, why not show some ships getting serviced in the field, so to speak? For example, a ship receiving a resupply of antimatter from a resupply craft, a craft damaged during the Earth-Romulan War or a Klingon insurgency being towed to drydock.
Beauty shots are nice and all, but how many times can you see the same ship in the same shot?
Mr. Probert, the things I like about your entry are that they show something we haven't seen, but could have seen, in an episode of TNG (I am guessing that is the correct era, right?), it is fresh without being a "kitbash," plus there is extra eye candy in the background (the sub/sealiner).
For that matter, I wouldn't mind seeing your sub/sealiner on its way to Project Atlantis (wasn't that the name of the Project that Jean Luc was considering taking over during his recovery from his Borg assimilation?). I would even be interested in seeing what a luxury starliner might be like as it takes its passengers by an asteroid field or nebula (instead of glaciers).
BTW, I happen to like all of the pics in the calendar. Granted, there are some I like better than others, but I would still buy the calendar unless all of the pictures were utter crap (low resolution, rehashed shots from the series, for example).
Mr. Probert, one other suggestion has more to do with the format. In years past, the picture was on top and the dates were on the bottom. Now the dates seem to rest on top of the picture to allow a widescreen version of the picture. While I appreciate the larger size of the pics, the dates can interefere. Any chance we can go back to the old way and save the larger pics for a coffe table style book?
I agree with you on the general perception of the FASA ships. They may not meet the standards to which we have grown accustomed to in this day and age, but in the early '80's (aging myself here), when there was nothing else out there, it was all I had to use as a guide for what could be.
Also, why not show some ships getting serviced in the field, so to speak? For example, a ship receiving a resupply of antimatter from a resupply craft, a craft damaged during the Earth-Romulan War or a Klingon insurgency being towed to drydock.
Beauty shots are nice and all, but how many times can you see the same ship in the same shot?
Mr. Probert, the things I like about your entry are that they show something we haven't seen, but could have seen, in an episode of TNG (I am guessing that is the correct era, right?), it is fresh without being a "kitbash," plus there is extra eye candy in the background (the sub/sealiner).
For that matter, I wouldn't mind seeing your sub/sealiner on its way to Project Atlantis (wasn't that the name of the Project that Jean Luc was considering taking over during his recovery from his Borg assimilation?). I would even be interested in seeing what a luxury starliner might be like as it takes its passengers by an asteroid field or nebula (instead of glaciers).
BTW, I happen to like all of the pics in the calendar. Granted, there are some I like better than others, but I would still buy the calendar unless all of the pictures were utter crap (low resolution, rehashed shots from the series, for example).
Mr. Probert, one other suggestion has more to do with the format. In years past, the picture was on top and the dates were on the bottom. Now the dates seem to rest on top of the picture to allow a widescreen version of the picture. While I appreciate the larger size of the pics, the dates can interefere. Any chance we can go back to the old way and save the larger pics for a coffe table style book?
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Sadly, unless some kind of deal could be done to get SFU designs featured, wishing won't help much, in my case - unless ADB make a calendar out of Adam Turner's awesome art anyway! (Dunno of that would ever happen, though.)
But in any event, it seems I'm the only one to have even mentioned the Star Fleet Universe so far, so it probably doesn't matter either way...
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See, now this is still my favorite SotL calendar ever.
I'd like to see more "around starfleet" type shots. Like someone said here, the stuff we're less likely to see here. Or maybe some "around the corner" shots from the shows. Wolf 359 has been mentioned, but maybe other stuff like Pike's training ship. I really dug Mr. Probert's shot from 2007. Stuff we'll never see on screen.
And I'm a TOS guy. So anything TOS or TOS movies is ok with me.
EDIT: Oh, and as always, I'm STOKED about my new Ships calendar. I just don't get them until Christmas.
I just got my SoTL calendar. OMG... what a waste of what could have been a magnificent calendar.
I'm sorry, but I speak the truth, when I say I bought it for the sole reason of Andy Probert's image. To be blatantly honest... the rest of the calendar sucks... bigtime.
What happened to high quality CG? This calendar is replete with cheap cop-outs, to avoid showing any detail or quality...
Almost EVERY image is partially shrouded in too much darkness, to avoid showing detail, and the CG models we DO see are so low-poly, it's not even funny. The ONE exception, being the 1701-D and maybe Voyager.
The image with the Klingon D-7, entitled "Too Close for Comfort"? Indeed. The model is so low-poly, that nothing is "round" on it... all the circles have straight edges. The image with the "effects model" of the 1701 against a blue screen? What the heck is that??? It's like someone just took a set photo of the model, and added an out-of-the-box cheap Photoshop filter to it, to make it look like a (bad) painting. That had to be the laziest attempt in the whole thing.
C'mon, people... get some imagination.
And please... NO more fan-contributed ships. It just doesn't work well.
There are SO MANY original and imaginative images out there, just begging and waiting to be realized... I don't see how something as disappointing as this year's attempt could have been produced.
Use GOOD quality 3D models... show us images that are NOT cloaked in darkness, to avoid showing all of us your lack of talent. Give us something visually interesting to look at, and maybe even remark about.
Sorry, but I have to be honest in my review.
-BolianAdmiral
I'm sorry, but I speak the truth, when I say I bought it for the sole reason of Andy Probert's image. To be blatantly honest... the rest of the calendar sucks... bigtime.
What happened to high quality CG? This calendar is replete with cheap cop-outs, to avoid showing any detail or quality...
Almost EVERY image is partially shrouded in too much darkness, to avoid showing detail, and the CG models we DO see are so low-poly, it's not even funny. The ONE exception, being the 1701-D and maybe Voyager.
The image with the Klingon D-7, entitled "Too Close for Comfort"? Indeed. The model is so low-poly, that nothing is "round" on it... all the circles have straight edges. The image with the "effects model" of the 1701 against a blue screen? What the heck is that??? It's like someone just took a set photo of the model, and added an out-of-the-box cheap Photoshop filter to it, to make it look like a (bad) painting. That had to be the laziest attempt in the whole thing.
C'mon, people... get some imagination.
And please... NO more fan-contributed ships. It just doesn't work well.
There are SO MANY original and imaginative images out there, just begging and waiting to be realized... I don't see how something as disappointing as this year's attempt could have been produced.
Use GOOD quality 3D models... show us images that are NOT cloaked in darkness, to avoid showing all of us your lack of talent. Give us something visually interesting to look at, and maybe even remark about.
Sorry, but I have to be honest in my review.
-BolianAdmiral
My gripe exactly, for almost every calendar so far.
And howcum the windows on the E-D have square ends instead of round?
^
I am not at all lying or exaggerating, when I say I have seen work 1000 times superior to what is in this calendar on Sci Fi Meshes.com and here in Trek Art, every day... seriously... there have been grand "widescreen" battle scenes done at Sci Fi Meshes, that would make such awesome centerfolds, and the CG models are high-poly, and the quality is next to, if not already, film grade.
I mean, the image of the 1701-D fighting the Klingon ship... the Klingon ship LOOKS like it's a new design, but there's no way for me to really tell that, or appreciate the design, because it's SO frigging DARK!
I mean, take this image, as an example, by Mr. Wilde, from Sci Fi Meshes... this would make a great centerfold, and shows us lots of cool stuff we may never have gotten to see, is not at all darkly lit, and the CG models are of enough detail to satisfy the image.
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/gallery/data//501/good_day_to_die_1920_low.jpg
Image edited to link - board rules expressly forbid hotlinking images not hosted on the poster's own webspace, as members are reminded in this thread, which is currently pinned at the top of all forums. Also, the image itself was wayyyyyyyy oversize - Ptrope
I am not at all lying or exaggerating, when I say I have seen work 1000 times superior to what is in this calendar on Sci Fi Meshes.com and here in Trek Art, every day... seriously... there have been grand "widescreen" battle scenes done at Sci Fi Meshes, that would make such awesome centerfolds, and the CG models are high-poly, and the quality is next to, if not already, film grade.
I mean, the image of the 1701-D fighting the Klingon ship... the Klingon ship LOOKS like it's a new design, but there's no way for me to really tell that, or appreciate the design, because it's SO frigging DARK!
I mean, take this image, as an example, by Mr. Wilde, from Sci Fi Meshes... this would make a great centerfold, and shows us lots of cool stuff we may never have gotten to see, is not at all darkly lit, and the CG models are of enough detail to satisfy the image.
http://www.scifi-meshes.com/gallery/data//501/good_day_to_die_1920_low.jpg
Image edited to link - board rules expressly forbid hotlinking images not hosted on the poster's own webspace, as members are reminded in this thread, which is currently pinned at the top of all forums. Also, the image itself was wayyyyyyyy oversize - Ptrope
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How about a full frontal shot of the ship seen in the ENT intro flying in over the camera angle above the moon? Those that saw a wire model of what was called the "USS Emmette" said it had a "pillbox" saucer up front, though some versions floating around fandom had a delta nose. It would be a nice mystery to put to bed.
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