What would you like to see in the 2010 SOTL Calendar?

[Clawhammer]

Regarding BolianAdmiral's posts:

I havent seen the 2009 calendar IRL yet, but I got my image (august) printed on 80x40cm to check, and it came out pretty visible. (not too dark.)
It should look close to this: www.ewe-squad.com/spirit900.jpg

I can only speak for my own image here, but the quality of it should be good, ofcourse the design of the ship is a personal opinion, but I have done all I could to make sure it would be crisp/detailed at the size of the calendar. That's a problem with CGI print in general, the amount of surface you have is at least twice the resolution of full HD. This is also one of the reasons why I create "concept" or "could have been" designs. Not all current models are up to standard for print. You might get away with it by creating an image where multiple ships are shown from a distance, but 13 months with images of ships from a distance can't be nice either.

It's great to honor the past but every now and then it's good to look at the future(s) also. In my favorite era (2380-2420) it's unlikely that Starfleet ships are designed by a 100% human team, I think that alien influences certainly will change the way ships look and because of all this "crossbreeding" it will increase the diversity of ships.

 

[BolianAuthor]

Regarding BolianAdmiral's posts:

I havent seen the 2009 calendar IRL yet, but I got my image (august) printed on 80x40cm to check, and it came out pretty visible. (not too dark.)
It should look close to this: www.ewe-squad.com/spirit900.jpg

I can only speak for my own image here, but the quality of it should be good, ofcourse the design of the ship is a personal opinion, but I have done all I could to make sure it would be crisp/detailed at the size of the calendar. That's a problem with CGI print in general, the amount of surface you have is at least twice the resolution of full HD. This is also one of the reasons why I create "concept" or "could have been" designs. Not all current models are up to standard for print. You might get away with it by creating an image where multiple ships are shown from a distance, but 13 months with images of ships from a distance can't be nice either.

It's great to honor the past but every now and then it's good to look at the future(s) also. In my favorite era (2380-2420) it's unlikely that Starfleet ships are designed by a 100% human team, I think that alien influences certainly will change the way ships look and because of all this "crossbreeding" it will increase the diversity of ships.

Clawhammer,

I never put down your image specifically. You are correct in that it is not too dark.

I like your design as a work of art. But I am being honest, when I say that I don't want to see "fan" designs in a calendar that is supposed to represent "canon" ships. And I'm not in any way singling you out... I felt the same way about the ice-runabout we saw in a previous calendar. IMO, that kind of stuff just doesn't fit.

But again... that is not to say I don't like your work as a design in and of itself, and as art.

By the same token, I wouldn't want to see another Gabe Enterprise or Titan in a calendar. Both artists and creations exhibit great talent, but IMO, don't belong in the SoTL calendar. And, admittedly, this is just my own personal opinion.

But I am NOT alone in griping about the darkness of nearly every single other image, or the low-poly quality of the CG... it is way substandard from what we've come to expect from the calendar.

 

[Mysterion]

Picked up my copy of the 2009 SotL Calendar last night.

And, except for the work of Probert and Clawhammer (good work guys!) I gotta say I'm pretty underwhelmed. And, as always, am disappointed at the underrepresentation of DSN.

 

[B.J.]

And I'm not in any way singling you out... I felt the same way about the ice-runabout we saw in a previous calendar.

I do believe that one was also done by Clawhammer.

 

[Tallguy]

And I'm not in any way singling you out... I felt the same way about the ice-runabout we saw in a previous calendar. IMO, that kind of stuff just doesn't fit.

Wait for it...

I've got no problem with new ships. That said, there are a few old ships we haven't seen enough of. More from TAS would be awesome. Especially if it's TAS by way of TMP, if you take my meaning.

I'll chime in with my preference of brighter over darker. I miss sunlit space like we had in 60's and 70's sci-fi.

 

[Tallguy]

I do believe that one was also done by Clawhammer.

I knew I should have posted faster.

 

[Probert]

But I am being honest, when I say that I don't want to see "fan" designs in a calendar that is supposed to represent "canon" ships.

Since many of us contributors are trying to understand what you all want to see, generally,... what makes my Fed fighter any different from a "fan design"? Does placing it in a 'canon' (type) environment help ease the sometimes jarring effect of seeing something totally fresh, like Clawhammer's entry? A lot of you have asked to see something new but is something new automatically non-canon?

What I have in mind for my next year's entry involves a canon item in a never-been-seen setting which I am "designing", post production. Technically that would make it non-canon. Would that be acceptable if it were created by someone who did not work on the show? Would it only be acceptable because I did work on the show?

Please help us understand (in a friendly way) what really works, here.

Andrew-

 

[tenmei]

What I'd be inerested in seeing would be a calendar where TPTB hand over the mandate to twelve different artists to design their version of the Enterprise F. It could be a side project to SOTL - but IMHO, it would be interesting to do.

 

[BolianAuthor]

And I'm not in any way singling you out... I felt the same way about the ice-runabout we saw in a previous calendar.

I do believe that one was also done by Clawhammer.

The ice-runabout might have been, but the Gabe Enterprise was not.

 

[BolianAuthor]

What I'd be inerested in seeing would be a calendar where TPTB hand over the mandate to twelve different artists to design their version of the Enterprise F. It could be a side project to SOTL - but IMHO, it would be interesting to do.

That would result in there being something for everyone to dislike.

The best thing to do, is to do what they have done before... show us ships from the show, in shots that we either would have liked to have seen, but never got to, or that are really creative and imaginative.

The problem is not so much with content, as it is with quality.

 

[shipfisher]

I think many of us see inclusion in a SOTL calender as giving a ship design pseudo-canon status at the very least, but I'd rather see canon ships that have had relatively little screen time. The most obvious of these is the ENT intro ship (ie. "USS Emmette") referred to in my previous post. The screen montage it's in infers it was a relatively significant ship in earth spaceflight history. I'd rather have a better look at ships like this before seeing totally new ones.

 

[Venardhi]

I wouldn't mind seeing some ships set between Enterprise and TOS. Or maybe a refit NX-01 with a more (but not completely) TOS-looking hull and nacelles. There is a nice big time gap in there for a designer to go wild with.

 

[Ptrope]

Since many of us contributors are trying to understand what you all want to see, generally,... what makes my Fed fighter any different from a "fan design"? Does placing it in a 'canon' (type) environment help ease the sometimes jarring effect of seeing something totally fresh, like Clawhammer's entry? A lot of you have asked to see something new but is something new automatically non-canon?

What I have in mind for my next year's entry involves a canon item in a never-been-seen setting which I am "designing", post production. Technically that would make it non-canon. Would that be acceptable if it were created by someone who did not work on the show? Would it only be acceptable because I did work on the show?

Please help us understand (in a friendly way) what really works, here.

Andrew-

To be honest, you've hit on many of my personal concerns, Andrew. IMO, the "Ships of the Line" calendar should really be just that: ships of the line, the grandest ships of the fleet, and, frankly, ones that do have some sort of "official" connection to the franchise, whether by appearance onscreen or by the intrinsic, professional association of the artist with Star Trek. New designs are always exciting, but they don't feel like they belong in the SotL calendar when they are done, no matter how well, by our fellow fans, who have no more connection to Star Trek than the rest of us. But I also know I'd be all over a calendar which was exclusively by fellow fans, whether it's ships, people, alien planetscapes, whatever - as long as it's of the highest quality. Again, this seems like a no-brainer to me - we have the "Strange New Worlds" imprint to present original fan-generated fiction, so why not extend that imprint to the artists in fandom? I can't believe that the market for the SotL calendar is considered big enough while one based on fan designs, judged by professionals, is not. I mean, I really want to see Vektor's designs in a calendar that I can hang on my wall and admire - but I still wouldn't think they were appropriate in the SotL calendar, so what alternative do I have?

I don't know why, but this seems not only like a blind spot amongst TPTB, but something that they give the impression of being actively against, and I can't understand that; how much of a logistics "nightmare" can publishing 12 pictures from fans be, especially when they are already doing it in limited numbers in the calendars, anyway?

Clawhammer, please don't take this as an insult, because I seriously admire your work - if the Pleiadess is also yours, it's definitely one of my favorite non-canon 3D designs/renders - but I didn't think it belonged in SotL, regardless, esp. since I had seen it online more than a year earlier. Including it and others like it just doesn't seem ... appropriate ... when the rest of us aren't even offered an opportunity to compete.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Well for SOTL, the TMP-era doesn't seem to get a lot of love. A shame, for the neo-deco designs of the era are very nice. I'd also throttle back on the NX-era stuff. TOS can have a big spotlight for another year, since the movie is coming up and all, then everything can be shifted to an even balance.

I actually like some of the non-canon designs, since I got to see their genesis from WIPs to actual products on the calendar (I was very surprised to see Clawhammer's runabout on SOTL!). In fact, the non-canon ships and Probert image of each calendar are the highest quality images of each respective year. I always look forward the most to them. Not to rain on the other artist's parades of course.

 

[AlexR]

I also quite enjoy the original designs we've seen in the SoTL calendars. I very much enjoyed Meni's Bonaventure-class, and the Spirit is a very cool concept, too. I can understand wanting to be sure that canonical designs aren't under-represented, but I think one or two original concepts a year isn't a bad thing at all. I'd also very much enjoy seeing some space given to designs referenced in other Pocket Books projects, e.g., the station and ships of Vanguard, the Titan, the Aventine, etc. But that's just MHO.

 

[Maurice]

Yo Andy:

How's about these ideas:
--The TMP refit doing the saucer separation as per your storyboard sketches for TMP
--Looking INTO the open main shuttlebay of the D
--The D looming over a TOS Enterprise to show the relative scale the new ship behind the old), as per another angle of your lovely "Maiden Voyage" painting

 

[Starscape]

My favourite images in these calendars have been those that are more than just a starship placed against a starfield. It's the ones that trigger my imagination into thinking of the story behind the picture... a good example of that would be the image showing the discovery of the crashed Columbia and there have been several others.

I don't mind non-canon ships, but I'd prefer that they'd be shown in context, i.e. accompanied by a canon ship or event from the appropriate era. Clawhammer's ship for the 2009 calendar is great, but without any context it's not immediately clear what the image is about or what period it's from.

Thanks for letting us have some input into the SotL calendar, it's one of the best around!

 

[Tallguy]

Would that be acceptable if it were created by someone who did not work on the show? Would it only be acceptable because I did work on the show?

Please help us understand (in a friendly way) what really works, here.

Andrew-

Thanks for seeking fan input, Andy.

I think that your history with Trek, to say nothing of your ability with the Trek "feel" would let you go farther afield, yes. Rick Sternbach would have those credentials as well, obviously. I'd imagine that other artists like Daren Dochterman would also get a little more slide.

Maybe it's the perception that "This is what They WANTED to do but they didn't have the budget / they wouldn't let them" etc. Not a fanboy saying "Dude, that would ROCK!" (1) not to denigrate fanboys, and 2) I know most of you guys are fanboys too. )

What I personally DON'T want to see so much is (for example) the Excelsior chasing the Enterprise out of spacedock, only from a new angle. If it's "from an episode or movie" stuff I'd like to see "before or after". (I may have written this already, but subsequent discussion has focused my thoughts.) Oh, and as someone said, the TMP / Movie era doesn't get enough love. Let's see some of that post-TMP five year mission!

Oh, and I hope our input is being sought because someone wants to make a better calendar, not because someone thinks we don't like them anymore!

And I want to see more of your Ambassador class next year.

 

[Blip]

I'd love to see a calendar completely designed by Vektor, but knowing how fast he works we probably wouldn't get to see it until 2110...

 

[Tallguy]

I'd love to see a calendar completely designed by Vektor, but knowing how fast he works we probably wouldn't get to see it until 2110...

Oh, we'd see it, but he'd start over 17 times.